MY FIRST CATCH

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 36, 26 February 1937, Page 9

MY FIRST CATCH

Ian Mac.)

(By

Quite recently I have taken up trout fishing, and rather • optimistically ex« pected to.flndthatthegamewould be played according to Queensbury ru'.es, bnt I kavo come to the- c'onclusion, reluctantly, . that I must match cunning with cunning with the little devils, - The way in which ■ 1 -first came into contact with- the wily 'finsters happen-ed-thus; T had been fishing since early evening witn no suggestion' of a bite, •and though the fish. wero rising' all -round me they persisted in ignoring 'my •fly At the time I was thigh deep in , swift, cool water, and the soothing' lift, swing and ilick of -casting had lulled my min,d beyond suspicion of any results until a quick jerk and the angry snarl of reel brouglit me'to palpitating life. This was the moment for which I had been longing/the chan'ce to pla'y a good i'oh to the limit of ' Bis endurance, thon to bring him gently to bank and sit beside him, smoking and refleeting on the joys of conquest. Behind me the birds stilled their evensong, the wind whispered encouragement, and the willows leaned forward on the water to watch; I i'elt I must not fail. By the feel of him ' my fish would take a good. deal of handling for the inexperienced fisherman, so I let him have all the line he wanted and he took it with a swift downstream rush that ran out my line to the.last few yardaj and I saw the steel reel bars gli.tter through the thinning silken coils. Not content with that he turned back upstream and I began to reel for my .life. for his very life, as he came head on for the slack coils of drifting line with a speed that made my heart thump for fear lest he become entangled and broak free. How I kept him from snarling np thirty yards of'line is eyen now beyond me, Dut it was done, and he came into the shallow end of my pool with a flash of siiver and a flick of tail that told me' he was wearied to the death. Then I gathered in the thread of his life as gently as could k be, out of respoct for a atricken fighter. He was almost at my feet and within reach ot my eager fingers when he f elt the gravcl nn'der him, and with a swift twisting jerk and a defisive eplash he was free and away, and as the birds winged into the dusk* there came a dry rustle of seorn from the willows as they settied back again and whispered among themselves, leaving me to tell myself regretfully that it was Ehs lnck of the game and to hope I migbt profit next time by the mistakes, in the over-. eager handling of a jod by a new devotee of the eport. That was the fish I hooked and lost— the fish which came to bank but .which is at present feeding in the river. Perhape soon I shall be able to write and tell you how I won that fight, bnt the action must be fought before the chronicler records it,