Fish and firsts

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Since we arrived at Venus Bay last Saturday, we have been waiting for the wind to drop so that we can go fishing. That day finally came today. In the meantime, we have entertained ourselves by doing pretty mush nothing. We did have a go at fishing from the jetty, We caught nothing, but had lovely fresh whiting and salmon trout for dinner. They were donated to us by some of our fellow caravan park residents. As we walked to the jetty, I started talking to a woman from the site next to us heading the same way. We had seen her earlier in the morning fishing from the beach with a beer in her hand at ten in the morning. Impressive. Anyway, as we walked, she told me that she loves fishing, but doesn’t eat fish as she is allergic. I of course responded with the offer of taking any unwanted fish of her hands. Within five minute of arriving at the jetty, she presented us with a lovely King George Whiting for dinner. Before we left, she gave us another. How nice was that. She may have been a rough diamond, and trust me, she was, but she was a very generous person. She has ben fishing her way around Australia, feeding strangers. The salmon trout came from a man in the park who we have been talking to. He doesn’t like them and thought that we might. He is another generous person, not only because he gave us fish, but because he his happy to share his knowledge and experience.

As I said earlier, today was the first chance we had to get out and do some serious fishing. We went out for four hours in a hire boat. It was Sally’s first boat trip and she carried on like an idiot, as one would expect. We had her tied near the front of the boat and she winged and panted and looked demented. Finally, I sat on the front seat near her, and she settle down for the rest of our time. I caught my first King George whiting. And then I caught man more. We came home with 17 legal sized whiting, and threw back more than that. Frank caught the biggest flathead he has ever caught – 44 cm long. Our catch also included a couple of trevally and a salmon trout. All in all, we had a very successful fishing trip.

The problem with catching so many fish is that they have to be cleaned. So, another first for today – I scaled a fish. As a matter of fact, I scaled a lot of fish under the supervision of our new neighbours. When we finished, we gave them two of our whiting for their dinner. They were delighted, just as we were when we were given fish.

As it was such a lovely day, and there was still some day left, we headed over to the jetty to see if we could catch some squid. Yet another first – Frank caught his first ever squid. And then I caught a bigger one. A passer-by said mine was the biggest he has seen caught from the jetty. That was confirmed by Vic, the man I mentioned earlier. When we (Frank) were cleaning them, Vic came over and gave us advice on how to clean and prepare them. He told us that the tentacles make the best bait for whiting and he had been trying for three weeks to catch one. Tomorrow morning before we leave, we will give him half the tentacles. There is something very heartening about the ‘pay it forward’ philosophy.

Today has been a big day for us. With the sunshine comes sunburn. We both have our fair share. I look like Rhonda from the commercial with white circles around my eyes. We will have to be more diligent about sun protection. Sally is exhausted, and has been a lot quieter this evening.

Tomorrow we will be leaving Venus Bay for Port Vincent on the Yorke Peninsula. Now that that the weather has improved, we are sorry to go. However, we have new locations to discover and people to meet.

Final thought for the day. There are advantages to the windy days we have been experienced over the last week. 1. Your bedding dries quickly if you happen to wet it (see previous blog). 2. You don’t have to do your hair. Nobody can tell if a comb has gone anywhere near it.

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