You know an afternoon of fishing isn’t likely to go well when, five minutes after throwing in a few lines, the fishing inspectors turn up.
Phil and four mates had just walked to the end of the San Remo jetty last weekend when two inspectors came up and asked to see their fishing licences.
“Mine was current, as was a son’s, but the other three, who never go fishing, didn’t have one,” Phil told The Long & The Short.
“They had to go online and buy them before they could continue.
“So one of the boys rigs up his line with an $8 lure he’s just bought and casts it out about 30 metres, but he only has about 20 metres of line on his reel.
“It comes off and the whole lot disappears. While he’s bemoaning 10 minutes of expensive fishing, the lid blows off his Esky and it sinks.
“And we didn’t catch a single fish.”
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When it comes to colourful characters who deserve a movie in their honour, we’d like to suggest Henry Hopwood.
In Echuca, on the Murray River, Henry’s story is well known among the locals, even though he died in 1869, aged just 55.
Try this on for size and see if you reckon Henry should have a movie about his life:
- in 1834, he was convicted in England of receiving stolen silk and sentenced to 14 years’ transportation
- he was sent to Tasmania and, for good conduct, was made a police constable
- in 1838, he was sentenced to a road gang for living with a woman who wasn’t his wife
- in 1839, he was sent to Port Arthur for two years for aiding in the abduction of his master’s daughter
- after serving his sentence, he went back into the police force
- he moved to Port Phillip and was largely responsible for the setting up of Echuca, becoming patron of the town and owning a butchery, bakery, river punt and pubs.
And his story didn’t end with his death because Henry has a monument in the Echuca cemetery and another in the Melbourne General Cemetery, raising questions as to where his body actually lies.
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We talked last week about pet names because, well, we all like a clever pet name.
Ozirules said he/she has a friend and her dog’s name is ‘Fido’. “But she spelt it ‘Phydough’ just to pee off the vet’s receptionist.”
PH told of a German shepherd called Prints, not Prince, and a beagle called Darwin.
And Alex has a new neighbour: “I call her ‘Peninsula’ because she has a long neck looking out to see – and her poodle is called Lilly.
“That’s my daughter’s name and I just can’t pat that dog and call it by its name. It feels wrong.”
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Terry has a pet hate. It’s watching a politician on the news and, behind them, seeing two or three colleagues listening intently and nodding their heads in agreement.
“It’s obvious that the image-makers think this is a good look – solidarity, united, a team in agreement …
“I think they look like those clowns in a sideshow arcade game.
“I bet they’d keep nodding and smiling if the person being interviewed said, ‘And these people behind me are just clowns’.”
Do you have any fishing stories to share with YourLifeChoices? Or any other observations? Know any amazing characters? Do you have a milestone birthday or anniversary coming up? We’d like to hear from you.
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