Like all of us, Starlo is looking ahead to brighter days on the other side of the pandemic.
REFLECTIONS ON FISHING AND THAT VIRUS Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling
T
he following piece draws heavily on content from one of Starlo’s editorials in a recent edition of the “Fishotopian” newsletter that he and his wife Jo send out to their growing army of subscribers every month, as part of their Fishotopia website: If 2020 was a product I’d bought on-line, I reckon I’d be within my rights to ask for my money back. It’s not fit for purpose, it doesn’t work, and bits were broken when I unwrapped it. The opening scenes should’ve provided a clue about what was to come. Jo and I spent New Year’s Eve dressed in full fire-fighting gear, sitting on folding chairs in our backyard next to a vehicle packed with our most important possessions. Our worried eyes were intently fixed on a western sky that was cycling through the full spectrum: from orange and red to an angry, demonic black. All the while, burnt leaves and twigs rained down around us and acrid smoke stung our throats. Three times in two weeks, we found ourselves in the same position, even receiving an ominous text message at one stage telling us that it was “too late to leave” and we should “shelter in place”. In the end, we were incredibly lucky. Our little town dodged a fiery bullet. Many others weren’t so fortunate. Fast forward a few weeks and we were on flood watch! It took the ash-choked local estuaries nearly a month to clear after that one, and the fishing (already suffering after years of drought) remained well below par. Fishing News - Page 28
Through all of this, I watched with increasing alarm as news reports told of a nasty new virus spreading through China and reaching out beyond its borders. I had a particularly bad feeling about this one, and confided in Jo that I doubted our long-planned midMarch jigging trip to Rote Island in Indonesia with a dozen fellow Fishotopians would be happening. For once, my crystal ball was tuned to the right frequency… I wish it hadn’t been! Since then, we’ve been living in what can best be described as “interesting times”. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold across the globe like a slow motion train wreck, and it feels like nothing will ever be quite the same again. As recently as the third week of March, I was still sneaking out for an occasional fish close to home, targeting things I could bring home for the family to eat as fresh grocery supplies dwindled in the supermarkets and prices went crazy. I posted on line offering my cautious opinion that others could probably do the same, so long as they stayed local, were ultra-careful about social distancing and practiced strict hygiene measures. But I soon realised that I was wrong, even to share that faint hope. The cut-through for me came in the form of a single response to a social media post from a high-profile angler posing the simple question that was on so many of our minds: “To fish, or not to fish?” Another mover
The author with a lovely Tassie rainbow taken a month or two before the pandemic.
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