Fishing + Stradbroke. Aaaahhh – for Pip and David there can be no more heavenly match. There was beach fishing (for those “fishing challenged” folk), rock fishing (for those “life challenged” folk) and boat fishing (for those “God challenged” folk). It is true what David says that somehow you do feel closer to God when you are boat fishing – that’s because death seem so b*%$#y near. Particularly for yours truly Mr.”squelchy toes”. David had decided that Tom and I should share some of the divine experience that is boat, water and sky. We left from the beach at 2nd Cylinder and made our way around to the point. We arrived at a place that Pip and David would often describe as “out where the big ones are”. David stopped the boat and set up Tom and my lines with fish bait, the size of which I would have been happy to have caught. So, out went the lines and we settled back into the boat to enjoy the serenity and peace of the soothing ocean swells. Nothing happened for a while and I was beginning to come around to David’s point of view – when BANG!! My line was racing. No doubt about it folks – whatever was on my line was not going to stop until it reached South America. David yells in a Captain Ahab type excitement
“Let him have it Sam, give it to him”. See, I was with the professionals now – so do as you are told Pete! I stood up bravely, braced myself and pulled back with a mighty heave. You know, it was clearly a sufficient yank to at least turn the head of whatever was on my line – because within a few second I was face down in the boat and the creature and my line was continuing its course for those warm waters off Chile. Tom by this time had reeled in his line and had jumped to the challenge. He picked up my rod and he was really into it. No mere ocean going creature was going to beat our Tom. I had decided to remain seated on the bottom of the boat while this titanic struggle took place over me – when THUMP, all of a sudden, there was Tom sitting right beside me in the bottom of the boat – rod pointing straight up – line as limp as a cotton thread – and us looking at each other in that rather bewildering exchange. I tell you, I’m not sure how many teeth I saw on the monster that had decided to attach itself to the back of our boat – and I didn’t really care! But what happened next showed me that we were protected by a supreme being all along. Because something jumped over me and Tom, grabbed a knife, cut the line, started the motor, jumped over us again and had us zooming for the beach in such quick time that I never had time to get my prayer said, let alone have it answered. It just goes to show that sometimes when out fishing, a supreme being can come in the form of a big brother.
