My introduction to fishing began back in 1983, with dad, at a salmon competition at the Waitaki river mouth. Heading off, trudging over the stones, we met two anglers walking towards us with broad smiles and two of the biggest fish I've ever seen, the salmon heads on their shoulders and the tails dragging on the ground. Dad looked down at me and said, 'You don't have to catch one that big – just catch a fish.'
Reaching the mouth I found a spot nestled between the vast line of anglers. My first cast landed okay but I needed more distance. So I mustered up the energy, put a fairly decent effort in and, amazingly, it wasn't long before a salmon was on my silver lure and off it went. I looked round to find dad grinning his chops off and so it began; other fishers swapping spots so I could keep up with the salmon; a huge cheer from the crowd after it was landed. The weigh in master was beaming, 'Well done, young lady. 13 pounds. Good effort for your first ever fish!' With that, the fascination started a string of fishing trips with dad to go floundering, eeling and kahawai, whenever he had the time off work.
Fast forward quite a few years between work, family and
