In For A Penny – By permission: Tim Rolston Inkwazi Flyfishing I like to imagine that I am open to new ideas, suggestions, hypotheses and such, although I must admit at the same time that I am not overly keen to listen to foolish notions without logical backup. So it happens that some months back […]
Author: John Black-Fishing
Wetting a line in Rugby Territory
John Black – Fly fishing Cape Town, South Africa If Rugby Union is indeed the sport for thugs played by gentlemen, then fly fishing in small streams for nervous trout would have to qualify as the recreational activity for mugs, albeit played by the same gentlemen. And did I mention gentlemen and their love of […]
Men Carrying Rods
Twelve years ago at a Vancouver airport lounge, a tall Prussian looking gentleman strode past me, carrying a four piece fly rod tube. At the time, I was carrying a six piece fly rod tube, so we started talking, as fly fishermen tend to do in out of the way places. Herbert by then was in […]
Camp Lake Fire
There’s probably more important things than spending the weekend chilling with your kids, after they’ve grown up and left home – but I can’t think of too many. Despite the time apart over the last few years, my adult son Steve and I still share a few interests, including a love of fishing and camping. […]
Australia’s Statistical Research Hub
At ADS last year we were head down and tail up with statistical profiling of churches, finance companies, the 2010 Australian election, the ABS monthly unemployment survey and several private schools. By last November (or Movember as you may be able to detect from my dreadful moustache at right) I finally escaped to Anglers Rest in Victoria, […]
Lumix Camera
When it comes to electronic thingies, I’m an old boomer. This means I am midly technophobic when it comes to computers, software and digital cameras. I used to handle the cameras with film pretty well 30 years ago when I worked as a journalist. But then my intellectual development in these matters was pretty much […]
Lightload towels
Lightload Towels When I’m fishing, personal hygiene is not normally my major concern. Wild trout don’t like the scent of fancy soaps, insect repellents, anti-itch creams or sunburn lotions, so washing of hands is out. No need for towels here. When I’m staying at a lodge, I get the sulks when there are no clean […]
Creel Lodge
I discovered Creel Lodge about 20 years ago and I keep coming back. It’s called a lodge and although it doesn’t have the traditional lodge styled dining and lounge areas, I love it. It’s right on the mighty Tongariro, the best fly fishing river in the world for libidinous steelhead on their winter spawning run […]
The Barracks’ Pool Pike
It wasn’t the best of starts, really. Here I was, with the bride to be, in the heart of the Scottish highlands, trying to pronounce the Gaelic names of my dad’s Scottish ancestors and getting to know the new Pommie in laws. In a lay bye café en route to Loch Rannoch, we had seen our […]
College’s Crossing 2005
Fishing College’s Crossing 2005 Half an hour from Brisbane’s CBD, Mount Crosby Road crosses the Brisbane River. It’s a little bridge just north of Ipswich, called College’s Crossing. There’s a picnic and recreation ground, plenty of clean water for kids to splash in … and there’s fish. My intrepid fishing mate and I headed out […]