Campaspe stories - Aidan & the Rochester Cod Capers.

	Aidan and the Rochester Cod Capers One day in Rochester, that wonderful, old town, in northern Victoria, on the banks of the Campaspe River, a young boy called Aidan and his Dad were going fishing. They had dug some worms out of the vegie patch in the back yard and put them in a recycled butter container, put on some sun-screen and their hats, picked up their fishing rods and fishing bag and started walking towards the river. “I’m glad my brother isn’t coming, Dad,” said Aidan. “Why’s that Aidan?” said his Dad. “Well he’s always running around, or throwing things, or making too much noise when I’m trying to catch a fish,” said Aidan. “I think he’s too young to go fishing yet.” “You might be right,” said his Dad. They walked upstream along the Campaspe River Walking Path to their favourite fishing spot on a bend of the river just behind the show grounds. “Wonder who will catch the first fish today, Dad?” said Aidan. “Hope it’s not a carp,” said his Dad, “ I want to catch a big fat Murray Cod today.” They sat down on a Red Gum log, got out the container of worms and threaded one on each of the hooks. Just as Aidan bent back to cast out, a kookaburra perched on a branch of a Red Gum tree on the other side of the river started laughing, “Kook, kook, kook, kook, kook, kook, kook, kook, ka, ka, ka, ka.” “Don’t laugh at me, you silly kookaburra. I’m going to catch a Murray Cod or a Yellowbelly. You watch,” said Aidan. He cast his line out towards the middle of the stream. The hook and worm flew in a big arc through the air and down towards the muddy water where there was a whirl and a swirl and a fish's head popped out of the water, opened its mouth and swallowed the worm before it even touched the water. “Dad, Dad, I’ve got a fish!” “Already? Pull it in, quickly.” Aidan reeled in a big shining fish towards the shore but as it lay flapping on the grass he said, “Oh, it’s only a carp.” His dad put down his own rod and put his boot on the carp to hold it still as he pulled out the hook, but, as he took his boot away, there, on the grass lay, something shiny and round. Aidan bent down, picked it up, rubbed it on his shirt and said, “Look Dad, it’s someone’s ring.” “Goodness,” said his Dad, “ I wonder how that old carp swallowed it? Oh well you can keep it and we’ll put an advert in the paper and see if anyone claims it. You might get a reward.” As Aidan went to slip it on his finger he looked at the silver ring with the green stone in the top and said, “There’s some writing on the inside. It says ‘fish, fish, fish’.” “What a strange thing for someone to engrave on a ring.” Aidan slipped it onto his finger and said, “Maybe I’ll catch three fish.” “You’ve already caught one but maybe a carp doesn’t count.” Aidan put another worm on his hook, cast out, and had hardly sat down on their favourite log when there was a tug on his line. He gave the rod a jerk and started to reel in. The tip of the rod bent over as the fish got closer and closer to the bank. His Dad grabbed the landing net and scooped up Aidan’s catch. “Well done Aidan. That’s a Redfin. It’s good to eat and it’s legal size.” He pulled the hook out and Aidan wrapped it in a wet cloth and put it in the tackle bag. He slipped another worm on the hook and cast out again. His Dad said, “It’s my turn now Aidan. Stop catching fish for a while.” But Aidan didn’t stop. There was a tug on his line, a swirl of water and he was pulling in another fish. This time it was a Yellowbelly. “Wow. This is great. One more and it will be a hat-trick. I’m going to try and get a Murray Cod this time.” Aidan cast out over the other side of the river near a snag where Murray Cods like to sleep. They say there are not many big Murray Cods left in the rivers but every now and then someone still catches one. Nothing happened. The kookaburra was still up on its perch. Flies were buzzing around. A kingfisher flew down like an arrow, splashed in the water and flew back up to its favourite branch. Aidan was getting impatient. “Come on fish. Come on fish, fish, fish. Come on fish ....... There was a jerk on the line. Aidan pulled back and started to reel in. The end of the rod bent over and dipped into the water. “Dad, I’ve got a big one this time!” “Give it a little bit of line Aidan, not too much!” From behind the snag there was a great surge of water and a Murray Cod flew up into the air and splashed back into the Campaspe. The reel whirred as the line zinged out faster and faster. The Cod was swimming down river. Aidan could hardly hold onto the rod. More and more line flashed out until it hit the end. But the fish didn’t stop, Aidan was pulled into the river so fast he was water skiing along behind the Murray Cod. “Help Dad!” His father dropped his fishing rod and ran along the bank. “Let go of the rod Aidan!” But Aidan was on a hat trick and anyway he had never caught a Murray Cod before. How could he let it go? The fish swam around a bed and Aidan leaned to the left and skied around the corner too. The fish swam around a huge log in river. Aidan held on tight to the rod and jumped over the log and kept on skiing. “Weeeeeeeee! This is fun!” Aidan’s Dad had got to the park. He saw a police 4WD on the road and yelled out, “Help! Help! A huge fish has got my son, Aidan. It’s swimming that way!” The driver slammed on the brakes, spun the 4WD around and sped off towards the bridge with its lights flashing and the siren going. It stopped in the middle of the bridge and two police officers jumped out and ran over to the side of the bridge. Around the corner came the huge Murray Cod and skiing not far behind was Aidan slowly winding in the line and pulling himself closer and closer to the fish. “How are we going to help him?” said the sergeant. Just then two fishermen came riding their bicycles along the path from the caravan park. The sergeant held up his hand to stop them. Grabbed their fishing rods, gave one to the other policeman and they both cast out. The lures flashed through the air and landed just in front of the huge Murray Cod. The Cod opened its mouth, scooped up both the lures and swam off so quickly it pulled both the policemen off the bridge into the Campaspe River. Now they were skiing along either side of Aidan as well. “Weeeeeeee! This is fun!” he said. Now you’re probably wondering how the story ends. Did Aidan complete his fishing hat-trick of a Redfin, a Yellowbelly and a Murray Cod on successive casts or did the Murray Cod get away and live on by the snag in the bend Campaspe River behind teh show grounds? Now if you want Aidan to catch the Cod, click here. If you want the Cod to get away, click here.


Created by Daryll Bellingham with the assistance of Aidan Borger, Ellanor Warner and the audience at theRochester Branch Library Vacation Activities Storytelling Show. Wednesday 7th January, 2004. © Daryll Bellingham (Thanks to the Echuca Friends of the Library for helping to make the storytelling sessions possible.)

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