The wrong end...

Well the last few days I've spent in Christchurch, getting over the saddle soreness and waiting for the rivers to subside from the floods. Today the conditions were almost perfect for salmon fishing so John (who has renamed himself the 'Master' since his recent lucky catch) and I went down to the 'Banana Hole' on the Waimak. Having put in the hours I was due my reward and hey presto, around 8 O’clock I hooked a prime salmon, fresh in the river. I was elated when it ran downstream and heard the cries of 'jeeze she's a whopper' from the guy fishing next to me. I was deflated when he shouted out 'but hooked by the tail mate'. Now there are certain standards to be had in salmon fishing, and one is that you can't keep a fish that's foul hooked. Actually it is a punishable offence, so reluctantly I put the fish back and cast my lure again. I say reluctantly, because it seems to my way of thinking almost a crime to put a magnificent creature like this through such stress for no purpose. Some people's purpose is that of 'sport'. They catch and release all their fish, but I can't help but feel that this is cruel. I suppose it is no less cruel to kill the fish, but if you eat fish, you have to accept that somewhere down the line an animal has been through a similar and usually much worse fate than this. I consider it far preferable to catch and kill a wild animal myself, knowing that it has led a natural and free existence, rather than leaving it to the vagaries of the food processing industry.

Anyway, none of this changes the fact that I caught a very reasonable meal which would have fed us for a week…… then discarded it!