Friday 8 December 2017

Gone fishing




Our Sepia Saturday prompt this week shows us a little boy holding a freshly caught fish. As he was in Ontario, it could well be a salmon, but I am no fish expert.  I have included fishing photographs in a few earlier blog posts, so this time I will just feature a couple of older photographs together with a couple more recent ones.


Above is my late father-in-law Bob Featherston standing beside the tent and proudly displaying his catch. I believe this was taken near Cowes on Phillip Island Victoria in May 1948. It comes from a collection of negatives saved by Bob, although I imagine that this particular shot must have been taken by his wife Mary. Bob enjoyed fishing in later life also and would head down to fish on the beach in the early hours at Malua Bay on the NSW South Coast, where he and Mary had built a simple beach house in the early 1960s. I sometimes joined the family there on  weekends in the 1970s (see next photo) and I think I remember Bob returning with a fish or two, but there was also the old joke about going fishing and coming back with fish and chips.


 Above are a couple of shorts-clad would-be surfers, standing in front of the Malua beach house in about 1972, and below is a painting of the house by an unknown artist that was observed on display in a local South Coast gallery. It must have been one of the first places built at Malua. In those days the facilities consisted of a temporary tent with a can inside, the contents of which had to be emptied and buried at the end of the weekend, but the luxury of an internal sewered bathroom was added in later years, which was a relief!  Mary is now 92 and still quite regularly catches the bus for the 3 hour trip from her home in Canberra to Malua Bay to check up on and clean the house.


Bob's children and grandchildren do not appear to have inherited his enthusiasm for fishing, but we still have a holiday unit at Hawks Nest on the NSW coast about 2 hours' drive north of Sydney, and the rods and lines stored there are evidence of our occasional attempts to go fishing there with the children, without much success I must admit.

Unfortunately you need a licence to fish in NSW unless you are just assisting children under 18, so these days we would have to go to the trouble of purchasing a licence online and can't just spontaneously throw a line in the water without risking the possibility of a fine.  By contrast, down here in Victoria fishing licences are not required if you are over 60 and entitled to a Seniors Card, and the Victorian rule specifically includes residents of other States with the equivalent card. 
The photo below was taken last year at Bennetts Beach Hawks Nest and shows another gentleman in shorts naturally, trawling for worms which presumeably he would then use for bait. 




Now check here for more lines that other Sepians may have thrown into the deep on the topic prompt this week.

Postscript:
A photo of the beach house from Google Maps, flanked by more recent and much bigger homes.



Post postscript:
Water has surrounded the house a few times after heavy rain resulted in the nearby creek flooding. It didn't come inside luckily, but someone could have fished off the front porch if they had wanted to! This photo appeared in the local paper after flooding in the area last year.



13 comments:

Helen Killeen Bauch McHargue said...

The painting is a treasure. Love the photo of the worm trawler.

La Nightingail said...

That last picture, especially, is a gem! But now you've got me wondering if Calif. has a fishing license exemption if one is over 60 or 65. Hmmm? I think I shall have to check!q

Anne Young said...

Holidaying just a few miles from Malua at the moment. No fish this holidays yet. Obtaining the licence is not hard here but is a nuisance and excludes spontaneity and makes the fishing expensive especially if not very successful.

Jofeath said...

That's a coincidence! If you happen to be driving though Malua, the house is easily seen from the main road, on the right hand side across from the shops after you come down the hill from Bateman's Bay direction, now surrounded by much larger homes of course. We haven't been there for about 8 years.

Anne said...

I thought I recognised it :) So few of the original cottages left.

Barbara Rogers said...

Goodness, a dozen adults and children squeezed into that tiny cabin/house? Glad to hear of plumbing improvements. It is certainly a practical little place...and seems to have stood up to time...even if not given any decorative qualities. The last I knew, in FL at least, we have no licenses for salt water fishing, just needed for fresh water. But I haven't been around fishing for years...so take that with a grain of sand.

Jofeath said...

The railed set of steps were added at some point, before which it was just a 2 step entry at the front door.

Kristin said...

Bus riding for 3 hours at 92, hats off to Mary.

Jofeath said...

Yes, she's very little and hunched over these days and thankfully doesn't drive any more. When she occasionally comes to visit us she prefers to take an 8 hour bus trip rather than catch a plane, which is less than a one hour flight, but of course there is the hassle of getting to and from the airport, and costs more.

Mike Brubaker said...

I just did a Google Map tour of Malua Bay and it looks like a lovely beach community. However some of the homes look very close to sea level. Does it get high tides of storm surges? I used to live on the Atlantic and the ocean might come up 6-8 feet every few months, and more with a hurricane. Saltwater fishing needs no license in the US, only fresh water and then by state rules.

Jofeath said...

don't think high tide surges are a particular problem at Malua but the beach house has been surrounded by water a few times after heavy rain, due to flooding from the local creek that runs behind it. See added photo. Luckily the foundations are high enough off the ground so no water came inside, but at times like this you could have practically fished off the front porch!

ScotSue said...

Happy family memories!

Jofeath said...

Nice. Not sure I'd call it a cottage, but it has accommodated many happy family visits over the years, with sometimes a dozen or more adults and children somehow squeezed in.