Page 84 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing mag

The author’s kind of Christmas tree, hung with decorations by mother nature. Why would you want to be sitting indoors?
A Christmas tradition for the Schultz family
* from P83
Becoming uncomfort-
by a short stint on local freshwater in the kayak. Our sons are grown and out on their own now, so I fish solo and leave the boys to spend time at their respective
diately prior to Christ- mas, so I tended to be a little short of stamina by Christmas Day.
the limited time avail- able, I opt to throw the Hobie on the trailer and head to the Brisbane River, close to home.
falcons down to diminu- tive red-backed wrens and beautiful firetail finches, all are wel- comed diversions from the casting of lures.
able and getting into a rut, we again looked for other venues, fish- ing various locations including Lake Cooby for Murray cod.
homes.
At that time I was
Instead of a pressing urge to catch memorable fish for my deckie as in previous decades, lat- ter Christmases became more about rest and re- laxation than the pursuit of angling success.
Each pool will usually see the resident platypus bobbing up, occasionally quite close to my kayak, as we eye each other for a moment before resum- ing our respective activi- ties.
Using the pedal-pow- ered Hobie gives a good cool down workout to rid the legs of lactic acid build up from the early run, while being a reasonable muscle- building exercise too.
More recent Christ- mas mornings have seen me out for an or- ganised very early 5km running ‘race’, followed
working in a fast-paced manufacturing environ- ment with its peak sea- son in the month imme-
To make the most of
High points of these mornings often come in the form of wildlife or bird watching rather than angling successes.
Surface luring the Brisbane River for bass is a great way to enjoy Christmas morning.
Page 84 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, December 2020
From awe-inspiring white bellied eagles and blindingly swift black
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Koalas are a common sight in the blue gums and ironbarks along the riverbanks, with those same towering euca- lypts used as perches and hunting platforms by various native avian species.
Tradition upheld each year, I often smile to myself while driving home, pondering on having come full circle from fishing the local river in 1985 to being in this millennium, and then wondering where I’ll be fishing on Christmas morning in another 34 years.
Exercise, as with com- muning with nature, is good for the mind, body and soul.