A VERY MOVING PICTURE

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 6, 20 February 1952, Page 5

A VERY MOVING PICTURE

GRANNY'S TROUT Mrs Darienne went fishing. Her grown-up grandson and two other j young men made up the party, or | perhaps, in view of what happened, they should be called the audience. The air in Taupo gives health and energy. Residents live to a great age yet remain active. To be seventy is just nothing. As for fifty — "Poof — a mere chicken!" Perhaps when > well over eighty or having reached ninety, one may begin to boast. But not much. Mrs Darienne neither showed nor told her age, but the boys always insisted that she eame with them on all outing^s. It was always far more fun when "Gran" was present. On this occasion they all went fishing at the Waikato Rivers just below the bridge. For a long time no one had a touch, and Mrs Darienne did not like the place anyway. So she went down to where a punt lay on the beach, about three feet from the watprs edge. HNo chance in a thousand of taking a fish from there," advised the boys but the old lady was determined to try^ She climbed up on to the punt with the agility of a young girl, and was casting in an absent-minded way; when suddenly "Whiz — z — zz — zz — " the reel screamed as the line ran out. "Look," yelled one of the boys, "Gran has a fish!^ Mrs Darienne played her trout, reeling in, letting out, and keeping the lin,e taut whenever the fish rose leaping from the water and splashing back in a glittering arch of green, pink and silver. She felt nothing* but exhilaration and forgot that she was standing on a punt. Reeling in the trout, Mrs Darienne walked slowly backwards on the deck. Suddenly over the edge and down she fell in a double back somersault onto the hard sand beach. And that wasn't all. Gasping for breath and mentally counting the bruises, she saw her precious fishing rod' being rapidly drawn .towards the river in a sigzag movement. The daurtless -gf-andimother sprang up and went after it. Catching and lifting the rod just in time, she carefully played the trout (a fine deep hen-fish weighing 71 pounds) safely on to the shore. There was loud and prolonged applsiuse from the audience.