DAVE RAE
98 | fishingworld.com.au | March 2015
EVERY town needs a Wally. Without one, life
would be far less worthwhile. So while I’m
going to tell you about our own Wally, this
month’s column is dedicated to all the Wallies
out there. Those hard working men and
women (by the way, what’s the feminine of
“Wally”?) who get things done on for us all,
often with little thanks or recognition. So, if
you know a “Wally” who’s also working hard
behind the scenes, now’s your chance to show
some appreciation for all he or she is doing or
has done.
But back to “our Wally”. The Rae family
moved to northern NSW in 1995. It was
December and all I knew about the fishing
was summed up in an expectation of beingable to catch large Spanish mackerel on a
regular basis.
My first trip to sea was over our tricky bar
and the first fish I hooked was a big mackerel
that left me with a burned thumb, melted line
and one less lure. It was about then that
I knew I needed to chat to a local, and the
name “Waterhole Wal” kept coming up.
Finding the Waterhole was easy. “Head to the
bowlo on Friday night!”
As it turned out, Waterhole Wal was,
and remains, a larger than life local legend.
He’s been the president of our local angling
club for 32 years and this year was always
going to be his last, although rumour has it
that the membership might just force him
into a continuance.
Wally Tyson is one of those
guys who thrive on working
through government bodies in
order to gain the most
beneficial outcome for local
anglers. He works closely with
Fisheries and acts informally
as a liaison between anglers
and Fisheries officers. If you
ask Wal he’ll tell you that the
Fisheries staffers are far more
interested in educating anglers
than they are in persecuting
us. Although he will say that
those who “do the crime,
deserve the time”.
In 1981, Wally was
instrumental in pushing
changes through the local
club’s competition rules
whereby anglers could only
weigh in one fish of each
species. The purpose of this
was twofold: obviously to
conserve fish stocks, but also
to make anglers expand their
skill base into new areas.
The guys who targeted
f lathead and snapper now
add tuna, trag and pearlies
into their mix.The next year the regional Mid North
Coast Association followed suit. Wally
laments the fact that the Australian Angling
Clubs state competitions remain based around
NSW Fisheries bag limits.
Chatting with Wally is always a pleasure.
I’d always thought he’d started fishing from
the banks of the river adjacent to his family’s
dairy farm. I knew he’d chased “perch”
throughout the Great Depression on
handlines baited with cicadas. I knew that
he’d had trouble with cicadas f lying into trees
during the cast, and I knew that a favourite
spot was around a big old willow tree.What I didn’t know was that he started off
fishing with his grandad in a putt-putt
clinker on the river. They’d troll a handline
with a rag and hook to catch tailor and when
they’d have sufficient on board, Grandad
would pull up against the breakwall. Young
Wally would be sent off to find driftwood
and the old bloke would pull out a piece of
f lattened corrugated iron to use as a hot
plate. They’d cook the fish on the spot,
eating it with their fingers.
Wally moved into dairy farming and he’d
fish in every spare moment chasing mulloway
from the beach at night and blackfish from
the wall during the day. The largest mulloway
he was involved in was caught by a mate and
went 72lb while his personal best was two 65
pounders in the one trip.
Wally turns 80 this year and he’s stopped
taking people to sea in his boat. My daughter,
Rosie, and I are going to take him and we’ll
make sure we get him back to the farm in
one piece.
So why the “Waterhole” moniker?
According to Wal, it’s “because I played in it,
drank it and worked in it.” Fair enough!
Thanks for everything, all you Wallies
out there.Everyone Needs a Wal!
Here’s a brief personal history of a great old fisho
named “Waterhole Wally”.
BY DAVE R AEy first trip to sea was
over our tricky bar and the
first fish I hooked was a big
mackerel that left me with a
burned thumb, melted line
and one less lure.”
M
Wally Tyson cleaning a fresh caught luderick. In between working on
his dairy farm and fishing, Wal has spent decades working tirelessly
for the benefit of local anglers.