Bay Bitch: Hooked In

Opposite Nield Park I spied three fisherman casting their lines right over the path of the sportsters. It looked like they were trying to use them as bait!

I was touched they were engaged in an activity that could potentially feed their families, unlike all the rest of the people swarming around the Bay.

When I approached the anglers they said they were fishing for Kingfish. They could detect their presence by the bubbles created on the surface of the water. The Kingfish were edible as they had come in from the clean waters of the Pacific and were untainted by the contaminants of Iron Cove.

The fishermen were positive they would nab a few. It was impressive to hear such knowledge of nature from these seemingly ordinary blokes from the ’burbs.

I couldn’t hang around as I was on my Sunday morning circuit desperate to lose those extra kilos I had gained after devouring a packet of chips while watching Finding Dory. It did make me think about the nature of the exercise we participate in. Few choose to walk an hour and a half to work or even 20 minutes to the shops, instead most will choose to drive in their gas guzzlers and then do the Bay for exercise. How crazy it is to waste our precious energy literally walking in a circle!

As I approached the footbridge surrounded by tree stumps, wood chips and dirt from the recent devastation of the natives dividing the City West Link from the Bay Run, I admired another angler from a distance. He also seemed so purposeful, not wasting energy like all the exercise enthusiasts. I asked if he was after Kingfish. “No,” he replied. “I’m catching bream, but only for fun as you can’t possibly eat them. I just throw them back in!” Hmmm…perhaps, the pretence of purpose is enough after all!

Got Bay anecdotes? Message baybitch@ciaomagazine.com.au.