Fishing at Sunrise

Fish Painting - Mangrove Jack

ANSA Record fish Paintings - Australian Bass

As the ANSA recorder I am responsible for testing the line samples and certifying Australian Record claims. The certificates required an image of the captured fish and after difficulties finding non-copywrite images I decided to paint my own. These images of fish are all original Phil Turner paintings.

Installing an Angel Ring

At some of the location I fish, many fishermen have been washed off the rocks when fishing at unsafe times, which has resulted in many deaths. At one of my favourite locations, a mate and I have installed an Angel Ring. As a result there has been only one death over the last six years,  previous to which there had been seventy six deaths.

Poem - Towers in the Ocean

Towers in the Ocean
By Phil Turner

Created at the beginning of time itself

Never moving but full of life

Silent sentinels that tower above me

At war with the ocean

Their battles are violent

Often scarred and crippled but forever defiant

Ghostly shadows silhouetted during the night

They grey, then turn gold

As the sun is born from the eastern ocean

Giving flight to the eagle who rides their thermals

And life to the swallows that nest in their hollows

But unforgiving to those who climb their heights

In their presence I lie and they give warmth

In their alcoves I hide and they give me shelter

I stand in their aura and they touch my soul

Their ancient spirits entangle my mind

For when I am with them I feel their being

Never moving but full of life - Towers in the Ocean.

                                                                        P.J.T.

Poem - My Mistress

My Mistress

By Phil Turner

She is my mistress, I love her so

I long for our encounters wherever they occur

But it’s our early morning rendezvous that fill me with delight

My heart beat quickens with anticipation

My senses absorb her presence, though I am blinded by the dark

I stop and breathe deeply her fragrance

Fresh and clean as a newly opening rose

I can taste her essence and feel the warmth of her being

Close to her now the breeze carries her to me

Her caressing touch

How many times have I remembered this feeling?

How many times have I enjoyed this feeling?

There, as the pale sun colours the early morning grey

She moves in all her shimmering glory

A million sequins an every growing spectrum

How could I ever resist this beauty?

Her mood is changeable and unpredictable

Sometimes sensual and calm, other times playful

Often she will brood for days

But when angry, she rages and often tests my patience.

And like others before I must be on guard

For like the black widow she has her dangers

To be complacent in her presence is inviting death

To turn my back or misjudge her mood can be fatal.

But she is my mistress, I love her so

For I am the moth, she is the light

Forever calling, she absorbs my time with her passion

Calming my soul as the hours pass like minutes

I cannot resist her call

As she has enchanted me all my life

What debt do I owe her?

For I am the fisherman and she is the Sea.

                                                                    P.J.T.