MEMORABLE BATTLES
By the time that I was 10 years old I’d probably caught about ten trout – consequently, I’d have learned a little bit about the challenges in bringing a fish to the net. I know this was so because I remember one day standing on a raised bank on the Clutha River and asking my father how would I land a trout if I was to hook one at that particular spot. The water that we stood beside looked ‘particularly fishy’ but was festooned with a variety of threatening snags.
My father was quick to reply. ‘Son,’ he said, ‘I think that you have the order of things in reverse. You hook a fish first then we’ll ponder the landing.’
I processed his words while still surveying the gnarly water I
