FORMER Collingwood Football Club player Ron Reeves never lingered after the final siren.
While teammates reflected on the game, the Cleveland local would already be heading for the water, fishing rod in hand.
Now 87, Mr Reeves looks back on a football career that began with a dream start, winning a premiership as a 19-year-old in 1958, a moment he still describes as the pinnacle.
He went on to play in grand finals in 1960 and 1964 across a decade-long career from 1956 to 1966.
“I was the kid from Collingwood and to play at the MCG was incredible, but what I liked best was to fish,” he said.
That passion soon evolved beyond a pastime.
As a trout fisherman, Mr Reeves rose to the top of his sport, claiming two Commonwealth gold medals and five world championships as captain of the Australian Fishing Tournament casting team in the 1970s.
His introduction to fly fishing came by chance.
Walking across a causeway at Yarra Falls near the Collingwood training grounds, he noticed a man casting a line.
“I saw someone waving a rod back and forward. I thought he must be whipping a horse with a cart,” he said.
“I went down to see what he was doing, and he suggested I come to his shop in north Melbourne.
“He set me up with my fly-fishing outfit and that’s what I did.
“I was also working as an apprentice carpenter and only earned two pounds, eight and sixpence with as many three inch nails as I could eat.”
In those days, he said, the Yarra River ran clear and was full of trout – a far cry from today.
He honed his craft in the Victorian high country, including Marysville and Thornton, where fishing trips became lifelong memories.
“I met my best mate at Lake Eucumbene in the Snowy Mountains – Vin McAughey from Ireland,” he said.
“I couldn’t understand him then and I still can’t understand him now.”
The pair have camped and fished together for 60 years.
“There were six of us who used to camp in the high country,” Mr Reeves said. “We had some lovely times.
“We’d fish in the freezing cold of the snow and the sleet, walk back to the hut, open the fridge and pull out a cold beer. Vin thought we were mad.”
Mr Reeves said trout fishing, using delicate artificial flies to lure fish to the surface, offered a unique connection to nature.
“There’s nothing like walking down a mountain stream, feet in icy cold water, casting an artificial insect to catch brown and rainbow trout,” he said.
“The mountain fish are just gorgeous.”
His biggest catch was a 3kg brown trout at Lake Eucumbene.
After moving to Cleveland 25 years ago, Mr Reeves had to adapt, with fly fishing proving unsuccessful in local waters at Redland Bay and Jumpinpin.
These days, he fishes regularly with neighbour Peter Decker, targeting whiting, flathead and sweetlip.
“We don’t always catch a lot of fish, but there’s nothing like being out on the water first thing in the mornings, with smooth water, a drop of ginger wine and dropping a line,” he said.
“If you can go fishing and be happy, you know what relaxing all is about.”
Despite a lifetime on the water, one childhood experience left its mark.
“I was washed out of the tinnie in Waratah Bay with Dad when I was nine,” he said.
“I had to swim about 1km to shore with big waves, black as pitch and in a storm.
“I got there and walked the beach calling Dad’s name and he walked towards me an hour later.
“I’ll never get over it.”
Mr Reeves also enjoys fishing trips to Boondooma and Somerset dams, particularly for red claw.
“I get so much enjoyment from it,” he said.
“Pulling the pots out and boiling them up over a fire as the sun touches the peaks of the mountains in the background.
“A man makes himself happy by making his wants few.”
