Wild Light

I wanted to explain the origins of Wild Light, which is what I named this website, my Instagram account, and my boat.

Until May 2019 I lived in Sydney for nearly 5 years. I did a lot of fly fishing while I lived there, both in NSW and abroad. In fact I'd say that while living in Sydney my interest in fly fishing went from being a part-time hobby, to a main focus in my life. My experiences of trout fishing in the Snowy Mountains and in the Central West formed some of my fondest memories. I would regularly leave work early on a Friday afternoon and head for the hills for the weekend. Often without any sort of formed plan, and occasionally I would only make the decision on which hills I was headed for once I was at the intersection on the motorway.

If I have one regret from my time in Sydney, it was discovering saltwater fishing too late. In my final year before I moved back to Perth, I did two fly fishing charters on Sydney Harbour and Pitt Water. One with Sydney Fly Fishing and the other with the Endless Session. Both days really opened my eyes as to just how incredible the fishing in Sydney's inland waters could be. The fact that you could catch a Kingfish right under the iconic Harbour Bridge is truly unbelievable. My dream (still unfulfilled) has always been to live close to world class fly fishing and unbeknownst to me at the time, I had been! So when I first experienced just how good the fishing was right on my doorstep, I knew I had to get in on it, but to do that I really needed a boat.

In November 2018 I took the nerve-wracking plunge into ordering a 2019 Model Quintrex Top Ender 450SC. In the four months it took to be delivered I dreamt of fishing the Harbour and Pittwater, as well as trips to the Snowy Mountains Lakes, and even taking the boat across to Tasmania.

Naming the boat was a secondary thought. It was only as I took delivery, that someone asked me what I was naming it, and I didn't have an answer. In fact I didn't even have any ideas. So I started to think about fly fishing and what made it so important to me. I wanted something that encapsulated the peace and joy that I derived from fly fishing, and to have that forever immortalised in the boat. I recounted episodes of A River Somewhere until I remembered a scene that really stuck with me.

My partner Melinda christening Wild Light on Sydney Harbour. March 2019

There is a line in the Howqua River episode where they talk about the magic of the river in the afternoon. In classic ARS fashion, they show shots of water droplets flying off the reel and the glistening of fly line in the sun, as it is cast in slow motion. This particular scene captures exactly the hypnotic feeling of being on a high country river on a summer's day. If you don't know it, check it out. It's at around 21:15 in Season One, Episode One. While the unmistakable soundtrack plays in the background, Rob Sitch says...

"As the day moves into evening, a combination of the low sun, sparkling water, and flashing fly line produces a light... a Wild Light"

Wild Light in Pittwater. The perfect boat for New South Wales' inland waterways.

Wild Light didn't stay in Sydney long. After about 2 months and only a handful of trips on Harbour and Pittwater, we moved to Western Australia. Here we are in Exmouth, WA