Heres a story that I was told years ago when I was a young fella living in St George. Ive been thinking about it a lot lately and thought I would share. It was told by an old gentleman that loved fishing and had been around the traps in his day. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Still to this day Im not sure if it was true or not, Ill let you be the judge. The Monster Moonie River Cod It was back in the 70s, Dale and Dave were on their annual shearing stint on a property along the Chelmer Rd, between the Moonie Highway and Nindigully. They were a couple of the handy young shearers, shearing a couple thousand head of sheep on a property along the banks of the Moonie river. The two boys were avid fisherman and after a hard days work, if time permitted, the two boys would head down the Moonie from the shearers quarters and chase the native Yellowbelly and mighty Moonie river Jew. This particular Friday night the boys had slaved away untill almost 7pm, hit the showers, had their grub and began their mission to polish off a large bottle of scotch. After much conversation the topic of the Big Murry Cod that was legend around those particular holes in the Moonie was brought to light. Mate I swear to god Bazz recons its 100 bloody pound, bastard breaks dog chains Dave explained to Dale. Bullshit mate was Dales reply. After an hour long argument it was decided then and there that the boys would set a cod line and try to catch this legendary monster fish. With a bit of searching and half the scotch bottle gone the boys had found a long length of rope and a big rusty cod hook. Next came the dilemma of what the best bait would be. Lets go shoot a duck and hook him on said Dale. But Dave had already solved the problem and came walking around the side of the quarters with a half rotten sheeps heart from a mutton kill they had the day before. Shell do remarked Dave as he flicked off the remaining meat ants. Dave threaded the rotten sheeps heart on the hook and stumbled down the river bank to the nearest tree. With only the light from the quarters to aid them, it was hard to tie the knot around the trunk as they had chosen their sturdy anchor for the rope. After a couple more swigs from the bottle, Dale stood back with the bait and began to twirl it around in the air Stand back and watch this for a cast he exclaimed as he launched it over the water and into the darkness. Dave remarked at what a good throw it was, as it went so far he couldnt even hear the splash when it landed. Not even realising that hed launched it onto the opposite river bank. The boys returned to the quarters and again engaged in story telling and bloke like conversation for the next few hours. Upon reaching the bottom of the bottle, Dale thought it wise to go and check the cod line before they hit the sack to see if the monster Murry Cod had bitten. The two boys got to the tree and noticed that the rope was tight and slowly moving up the river. Weve got the barshtard said Dale drunkenly as they both moved in and grabbed the line. The next five minutes an epic battle unfurled, the two men doing battle with this mighty cod. The fish stayed high in the water but was silent in his fight. The boys heaved heavily until they heard an almighty splash. Were gaining ground puffed Dave. Soon the boys had the monster cod tired and he could be heard splashing on top of the water. With no light the boys could make out the dark silhouette of this monster that they had fought so hard to pull in. They both got to the waters edge and with one last heave they pulled. Suddenly a huge tusky Boar Pig of about 70 kilos burst from the water, chasing the two lads straight up the nearest tree that the rope was tied from. The boar was angry, as the cod hook protruded from his mouth. No one actually knew how long the two boys were up that tree but not much was ever said by Dale and Dave. The next year they returned to shear, and did so for many years after, but strangely never fished for cod, ever again. Dedicated to Don Isles, a true bush gentlemen.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 21:34:14 +0000
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