KEY POINTS:
It was a shock to the system walking down Queen St with my son when he was in his late teens and realising that all the women were looking at him and never at me.
Today, 20 years later, the shocks are even stronger: he catches more trout than me.
Even worse: he catches bigger ones.
Fishing families don't phone each other at 1 in the morning unless they have something major to report.
When the mobile flashed up my son Anthony's name from his fishing spot at Ruato Bay on Lake Rotoiti, I knew something big had gone down.
"I landed a 14-pounder dad. Took about half an hour to get it in. We've had quite a few fish between seven and 11 pounds. They've been hitting like B52s."
And I know that later, when he showed the fish to Michael, owner of the Waiteti Trout Stream Holiday Park, he told him: "The old man's gonna be gutted!" Bet they had a good snicker.
A work colleague intimated it wasn't just the fish being stuffed, so was the father.
A totally unfeeling relative observed: "Hmmph ... he's been outfishing you for years!"
So it looks like the end of my reign. One must accept life's great blows philosophically, pick oneself up and stagger on round the next bend in the river to the next pool and have a quiet sit-down on a deckchair.
Anthony's catch took a scotch poacher about 10.30pm. It is a wild rainbow jack of 6.28kg, a prime example of the high-quality fish and fishing this winter around the Rotorua region's hotspots. It leads the O'Keefe's fortnightly weigh-in contest, the nearest to it being 5.8kg.
All the traditional winter spots around Rotorua have been fishing well, especially at night, but the trout can hit at any time. Favoured spots are Ruato Bay at Rotoiti and from the dump round to the pipe; at Rangiuru Bay, Stoney Pt and the Landing at Tarawera; along the beach at Okataina; and at the left corner of the beach at the end of Rotoma, although the trout here are a little smaller.
You need to read the winds and how they affect the lake and food supply, and you could try ... but hang on, why am I telling you this? You should be talking to my son! And hey, let's not forget who taught him.
