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by the annual auction of donated items participants dug deep into their pockets this year raising a record amount of r85 000 for a number of worthwhile causes the last day day four there had been reports of a good number of small mouth yellows still hanging around at the confluence of the sterkspruit bell and the kraai at mosheses ford clem had never caught a yellowfish so the decision for the kzn boys to book the beat was easy clem with rob and andrew fished upstream to the confluence of the sterkspruit and bell while jay grant and myself had a long walk downstream along the sandbanks left dry with the water so low grant wasted no time and soon well ahead of jay and i who were both suffering in the soft sand with wonky knees but we did eventually find a few fishable runs i left jay who was tight into a decent rainbow and found a large pool with signs of surface feeding yellows despite my best efforts and number of fly changes from dries to heavily weighted nymphs on jig hooks there i said it i couldn t move a fish jay passed me and was about a 100 m downstream fishing a narrow seam as it exited the pool above walking down towards him i came across a deepish run with a large boulder at the head the water bulged slightly as it flowed around the edge and into a blind spot behind the boulder that sixth sense kicked in and something about the spot said there s a fish in here i cast the little hopper into the current seam with enough slack line so it could drift around the boulder into the blind spot the water was clear and the sun high i had nowhere to hide my intentions were clear but if there was a fish there i couldn t see it and it couldn t see me the second the hopper disappeared from sight the leader straightened i heard a splash and felt the weight it came out from behind the boulder in a spray of silver as it jumped i immediately knew it was my best fish of the trip a short strong fight and i netted it a lovely brightly coloured rainbow of 16 inches or just over the walk back to the vehicles was painful i had obviously done some further damage to my knee when i fell the previous day nursing it i sat back against a tree and finished a soggy ham cheese and lettuce sandwich and a warm liquifruit from what was left in my walkerbouts lunch pack just then clem arrived from upstream grinning like a cheshire cat he rob and andrew had each caught a number good yellows clem s centre axis boshoff bamboo and net had once again been put through its paces and won the sky to the east was bruised and threatening the storm that had been brewing for awhile changed direction with a strong wind that came out of nowhere with a few close lightening strikes and loud claps of thunder we hurriedly broke down our rods packed and left for rhodes in the safety of the vehicles it had been another good day and memories to bank that evening after dinner we said our farewells to friends even some i m not quite sure of we were on the road home by 6am going through barkly east and onto maclear for a quick stop at the dachshund our favourite breakfast spot clem was flying back to the uk the following day so those of us in grant s vehicle said our goodbyes at the fuel stop in kokstad we were home by 4ish in the afternoon tired after 4 days of fishing in difficult conditions and long hours on the road but relaxed and happy it had been another good trip and festival all images and copy in this post are copyright peter brigg photography 2024 all rights reserved the good doctor tom posted by peter on april 19 2024 posted in uncategorized 2 comments tom has gone but will never be forgotten if i have one regret it is that we never fished together it was not for the want of trying but as fate had it our stars never aligned notwithstanding i fished with him many times through his written words and long conversations on shared interests at these times and through the pages of his books we walked upstream along small streams high in the mountains taking turns on the runs and pools there were times when he d disappear around a bend or other times he d point out a shadow on the streambed or a bird or flower that had caught his attention he cast effortlessly and worked the water methodically like a heron patiently stalking its prey sometimes i would see him sitting on the bank in thought other times watching me fish and offering guidance he transported me to the places we both loved sharing a stream with a good friend is one of life s most enjoyable things tom has now moved on to fish pristine celestial waters but in the quietness and solitude of a mountain stream he will always be remembered and with me in spirit i am ever grateful for his friendship inspiration encouragement sage advice and more thank you tom see you upstream yesterday the 18th april 2024 i together with many others got to say farewell and to pay our last respects to tom here is the beautiful and outstanding eulogy by his good friend stephen boshoff at the celebration of tom s life held at st andrew s church newlands cape town dearest kathy your and tom s children grandchildren and family friends in speaking about tom as often in other matters i cannot help but to be drawn to tom s own thoughts and writing for guidance in 1984 tom wrote an obituary to john beams a close friend of kathy and his who passed of cancer i quote the death notice in today s paper read simply beams john gone fishing left peacefully without him can we even think of fly fishing without him each friend of kindred spirit fly fishing itself is suddenly poorer end quote we can say the same and more about you tom can we even think of our lives and fly fishing without you not knowing john beams but having listened to tom about the nature of their relationship i think that should they meet onstream now john would ask tom what took you so long competitive as they were tom will reply i finished what you did not to appreciate the impact of a large part of tom s life we must consider how he approached trout and fly fishing he did not agree with sentiments that our trout and fly fishing are merely as often said about a colonially introduced fish and associated past time pleasuring the privileged to tom trout and all that surrounds it were intrinsically part of the capeness of the cape and our south africanness the fish and place mutually constitute one another for over a hundred years tom and his predecessors used trout and its networks to attract investment and visitors enabled research into understanding local fauna and flora and its protection through tom and other men of trout critical public infrastructure and facilities were built war victims supported fledgling democratic movements financed and solace provided in response to many a misfortune they worked to make a better home what we now have over the long term at times trout provided the stage and shared networks for deliberations and securing support on hefty challenges facing our society we know that tom quietly used trout as the flotant to further much in public health through people like the erstwhile minister of health dr willie van niekerk the uk ambassador robin renwick and others tom s support for the red cross war memorial childrens hospital was important he used what he had to enable and direct including substantial contributions by the fly fishing community not least the contribution of his fly fisher friend clem booth and his wife deborah to establish the new icu at red cross trout and fly fishing were an extension of tom the doctor he saw trout the survival of which depends on the cleanest water in turn determined by optimum conditions of nature and its use as a proxy of health and goodness surrounded by illness tom the healer sought health to him the methods writing art human relationships and institutions of fly fishing were the instruments and medicine for attaining and sustaining health tom sought the health that trout brings with a passion achieved mastery in its instruments and medicines and made an impact wherever he found himself unmatched among the high priests of trout globally to tom fly fishing was a way of being fully present in the natural and human world with all the ethics of care compassion and value that that worldview entails the time he spent fishing was spent working in thinking of tom i am reminded of his keen eye spotting trout holding in a stream not noticeable to most he suggested we look for the shadow not the trout itself i think of his prowess recalling the distinct details differentiating trout from different streams his love of the karoo where he saw much in a land barren to many his sense of loss of friends gone reminding us that we are because of each other i think of tom the reader he loved a passage by his friend publisher nick lyons which could also describe tom s soul living between the two worlds of city and nature i quote i do not want the qualities of my soul unlocked only by this tense cold gray noisy place full of energy and neurosis art and anti art getting and spending in which the business part of my life must necessarily be lived i have other parts of my soul nothing in the world so enlivens my spirit and emotion as the rivers i know they are necessities in their clear swift or slow generous or coy waters i regain my powers stillness patience green thoughts open eyes attachment high drama earthiness wit the huck finn i once was end quote forever the doctor i think of tom rushing to assist arranging care for countless a fly fisher or friend when in need i recall my awareness while spending considerable time in icu plagued by hallucinations of the contemptuous politicking of high public service office tom s voluntarily being there a shadow behind leonie a watchful and supportive rather than directive presence recently in us wading beats of the river chemo lounge together the way he engaged with our guides the loved sisters and carers tom i recall kathy entrusting you with cutting her hair beyond fly fishing tom s love of cricket and astute analysis of especially the five day game eleven aside chess played on a board of green when tom phoned me he would always end a conversation by saying almost formally and in a manner as if to accentuate and our very best and love to leonie as well on tom s last trip to rhodes and the maclear district with chris bladen mario cesari and i we saw and lived the fullness and nature of the man yes his mastery on the water at jurgens s lake with tom announcing time for lunch and us all reclining in the grass he casually made a short cast as if just wanting his tackle out of harm s way promptly he hooked the best fish of the trip but also his compassion for all that lives the little maltese at donie and juan marie naude s vrederus whom we thought was shorn with sheep sears sharing a specially prepared place in tom s bed nightly the mindful tom engaging fully with the moment on two occasions first when leaving beaufort west following his beloved r61 to graaff reinet and then on starting the gravel road at barkly towards rhodes tom asked to drive chris consented albeit we knew that tom was taking morphine to calm pain steering a trusted truck along the rich landscape of the troutless central karoo identifying local birds plants a mysterious farmhouse and the somewhat treacherous gravel road to rhodes is every much as part of hunting trout as the first take enticed on stream his dry confident moments of humour at the famed walkerbouts i was instructed to remove a treasured oil painting of proprietor and rhodes legend dave walker affectionately called dawid stapper by tom from the dining room wall so that tom could adorn the establishment with another trout over pebbles wall painting the deep unwavering respect in which he is held donie and juan marie accomplished and distinguished people my age would still after decades address him as doctor tom not tom an act portraying much more than afrikaans cultural tradition his manner of sharing last week in speaking to chris we concluded that to tom fishing was an incidental reason for taking us to rhodes and vrederus he wanted us to share his medicine the fullness of place and the human relationships he forged in pursuing trout again he acted as the generous emissary for the full health of trout mostly he wanted us once he was gone and he saw that coming to care for his medicine and to share it even with tiny acts like placing a floating fly on basie vosloo s grave the legendary english chef marco pierre white reflecting on the chefs he met and worked with through his life suggested that very few are artists he proposed that the person who works with the hands is a labourer the one who works with hands and brain a craftsman and the one who employs the hands brain and heart an artist on and off stream tom was an artist while not fishing since our trip there was no stopping to tom when he fractured his right arm in a fall and could not paint daily he responded poorly to my cheeky suggestion that he takes up casting and painting left handed suffice it to say in my eye a two month break at the time brought a new dimension to his work a new realness translucence and life life and its portrayal merged and tom became one with trout underlying it all i think was his awareness which enabled truly seeing both the specific and pattern and things beautiful this in turn bred care and the will to experience and share more i find solace in that tom left us with lived examples views and directives if you will on many things including managing loss through death and how to live in shadows on the streambed he reflects on having lived a long life i quote the other fact when you cross the 65 year divide is the chances are you re going to have known a lot of anglers who now fish celestial beats in other parts of the universe and that some of them will have been real good friends of yours you miss them you give them thought but basically you don t spend too much time moping and being nostalgic that they re not around because you suspect none of them would be pleased to know that you are down there behaving like a wistful wimp they d rather know that you re down there on trout water somewhere trying not to act your age and getting on with things like enjoying yourself collecting a few more memories in how we should live he suggested i m closer to a personal philosophy now than ever before which is that you re okay if a packet of tobacco and a bottle of whisky lasts you a week and an hour on a river still feels like ten minutes i m also dabbling more with the notion that shadows on a stream bed can be a lot like the opportunities in life itself in that they re important to success in their own way are mostly fleeting often get missed or wasted can turn up unexpectedly and sometimes go unnoticed because you took your eye off the ball i still work but only on my terms doing consulting and then only in those aspects of medicine that i like most or is the right word here no...