Thursday 4th December 2008- Guess what Noel did this afternoon

A visit to the Physiotherapist Genna was the plan this morning and it was a quick visit as she is pleased with my progress and I was effectively discharged. Just keep up the exercises and activity, she instructed.

So I was reading a book in mid afternoon and the phone rang, it was Gary, to say that he had not gone fishing this morning but was considering to go this afternoon and would I be interested?. "Oh yes" I cried.

We met at the Taipa landing stage and put Gary's 17 foot aluminium fishing boat, with a huge outboard on it, into the water and headed off out. A quick stop to fish for bait which in itself was an interesting experience as he put in a rod with four hooks and lures, shook it a couple of times, and pulled up four fish about 8 inches long. He did this a few times and this was the fish bait for the day.

This catch which we are going to use as bait would have normally delighted me but more was to come.

Gary has a handheld GPS unit which he uses to not only track where we are travelling but also mark on it places where fish are normally available.

Gary said I would know when a big fish bites, as never having caught anything more than a 7/8 inch fish in my life, It was useful information. I got a couple of bites and pulled up a couple of small red snapper which he immediately returned to the water as being too small (there is a strick rule about which size of fish you can keep and those that have to be released) and I was nearly in tears having been delighted with this catch. Wait he said until they swallow the bait and start running away with it and then you will know you have a big fish. Of course he was right and we spent the next two hours catching some great fish. Apart from several large Red Snapper, I caught a Gurnard and also several other fish with names that I cannot remember. I also lost two big fish as they took the hooks and weights and so I will have to replace some of Brian's loaned equipment.

Gary caught a Barracuda which did not please him as they are dangerous fish and not so good to eat.

We got back to Taipa around 8.30 and home about 9pm. Jennifer was very impressed with the amount of fresh fish we had.

You should have seen the look on Noel's face when he got home. Talk about the cat who got the cream! He was like a young lad grinning from ear to ear, he will be talking about it for months to come or until he catches some even bigger fish. While he was out fishing I went for a long walk along the beach watched the birds and then went home to get tea ready for when Noel got home. Noel was quite tired when he got back but he had had a great time.

We watched TV for a while and went to bed to dream about the next Big One.