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7 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,A ugust 8,2019 theifp.ca Furnace Air Conditioning Gaslines Boilers Water Heaters Radiant Heating 905-877-3100 proud local dealer of Canadian made products .ca Furnace Air Conditioning Gaslines Boilers Water Heaters Radiant Heating Now I'll be the first to ad- mit I'm no fisherman. When I was a little kid I used to go to the back of the farm where there was a lit- tle stream. I'd catch a few horned chub once in a while. They weren't large and when I did catch one I brought it home to ask my mom to cook it for me. The portion was at best a tiny fi- let - but still, it was a fish that I'd caught. That was the extent of my fishing experience, spending time sitting on an old culvert pulling a six- inch (at best) chub from the water. Moving forward, in my early days at the Indepen- dent & Free Press, a couple of colleagues were plan- ning a fishing trip. They were serious fish- ermen, I wasn't - but the three of us decided to pool our resources and go on a fishing trip, in late October in the early 1990s. The destination was the Sauble River, just down- stream from the falls. They brought along their expertise and cool fishing equipment. I provided the accom- modation, as my family owned a park trailer in Sauble. I also provided a station wagon with a canoe strapped to the top. In appreciation of my contributions, they decid- ed I should have a decent fishing rod and reel - they purchased one for me. (That was their official reason, but I did wonder if they didn't want to be seen with me and my paltry fish- ing gear.) Whatever the case, that new reel and rod were pret- ty cool. And I learned a few things, like rainbow trout and brown trout were not called that by name - nope, they're "bows" and "browns." I also learned fish do not bite when they go after a baited hook - nope, they "hit." And above all, I learned it can be damn cold when it snows while sitting in a ca- noe on the Sauble River trying to catch a stupid fish in October! But it was a memorable adventure. Fast-forward 28 years, to present day. The Sidekick and I de- cided to drop in to see my eldest daughter and her family as they rented a cot- tage for a week. And the lo- cation? Yup, Sauble Beach - ac- tually located on the Sau- ble River - a short distance downstream from where we'd frozen our butts off trying to catch an elusive fish that wasn't "hitting!" That was the last time I used that fishing rod, dur- ing my Sauble River fish- ing trip of 1991. I dug it out of storage and stood there looking at it. Wow, it is kinda cool. I loaded it in the car and we headed to Sauble, opened my tackle box and put together the line and a couple different lures etc. I wasn't sure what I was doing, but damn it, it looked cool. We landed at the cottage and I pulled the rod and reel out of its fitted case and put it together. The action was a little sluggish. I guessed the grease in it had hardened in the little gearbox. A couple casts out into the river and it loosened up. I was feeling pretty con- fident. Another cast, two, three, four - more and more casts were landing out in the middle of the river. It was great! An hour passed, maybe more, and I started getting a bit weary. I'd had only one suspect "hit" during that time, but it wasn't a strong one. The Sidekick came out and said, "So how's it goin'?" "Well, the grease in the reel has finally loosened up," I said, and that was the last cast - it seized up in my hand. Thus ended my fishing story. When I have time I'll take it apart, to see what's happened to seize it up. And that will be the end of my fishing adventures - probably for another 30 years. Ted Brown is a free- lance journalist for the IFP. He can be contacted at tedbit@hotmail.com. A FISHERMAN'S STORY REVISITED - 28 YEARS LATER OPINION NEW ROD WAS KIND OF COOL, WRITES TED BROWN TED BROWN Column This 1919 aerial photograph of Acton was published by the Canadian Post Card Co. The photo was taken looking east, with the intersection of Mill and Main Streets near the centre. The Toronto Suburban Railway (electric line) runs diagonally on the right of the picture. EHS photo THE WAY WE WERE Dear editor: I'm following up on our conversation about the GTA West Corridor high- way, intended to connect the 400 in Vaughan to the 407 in the Milton area. With the 407 making this same connection, and being vastly under capaci- ty, I simply cannot under- stand why we need another parallel highway. Why doesn't the provin- cial government buy back the 407 and save billions in building a redundant high- way? To build this seemingly unnecessary highway will result in the permanent loss of a vast stretch of beautiful and productive countryside, both agricul- tural and forested, through Vaughan, Caledon and Halton. There is a reason some good portion of this land was to be preserved by put- ting it within the Greenbelt area - and that logic is now being overlooked or wilful- ly cast aside. JULIE ROSSALL, GEORGETOWN WHY BUILD PARALLEL HIGHWAY TO 407? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU SUBMIT YOUR LETTER TO THE EDITOR TODAY!