Last fish for the year

Apart from too much ham and beer, Christmas means I get to head out for a fish with my mate Gus whilst he visits his family here on the south coast. This year was no exception.
The masses that flock to the south coast over the holiday period usually drive us to seek a quite corner for a fish. 
I have know Gus for a few years now and in that time we have seldom discussed anything but fishing, it is a simple reltaionship but it works and we enjoy fishing together.
We usually target bream but are happy to just be on the water and will adapt to take a shot at any fish silly enough to swim by :-).
and it is often the case we end up with a variety of species, 
Thanks for another great days fishing Gus, see you next christmas.

Contemplative fishing

I have been obsessed with fishing since I was three years old, that's almost 43 years now.... but I still sense the same boyish excitement with every trip. The extension of my fishing adventures to include exploration travel has led me to a different appreciation of it nowadays; the landscapes, water, weather, ebbs and flows of nature all get noticed more. I am lucky to live in a part of the world that abounds with places that are just beautiful to fish. The fishing in these locations can be spectacular but I would still travel there regardless of whether the fish were there or not. Although I never go off bushwalking or rafting without a rod, the fishing is sometimes a distraction. I often find myself drifting about, calm and contemplative, just listening and looking, the chase forgotten. I am sure the distractions of nature mean I catch less fish, it does not seem to matter though, it makes me a worse fisherman but a better person. I feel with some unease that we are going down the path we are on for the last time and to experience peace and tranquility is becoming increasingly a rare experience. Fishing gives me such experiences.... and the occasional fish