Veteran angler Weerasooriya talks about the thrills and spills in the sport of fishing

By Kenneth De Silva
To Bertie Weerasooriya fishing was more than just a sport or pastime. It was a way of life. Learning patience and concentration; using one’s skill to reel in a fighting fish; getting away from the concrete jungle to enjoy the beauty of nature and sharing the close brotherhood amongst anglers were the attributes that lured him into fishing.
Weerasooriya joined the Department of Agriculture in 1945 as an agriculture instructor. The nature of his work required him to serve in some of the remote backwoods of the country. This did not discourage him as he found that stations like Anuradhapura, Bopaththalawa, Bintenne, Kalpitiya, Hambantota and Kalametiya provided ideal facilities for river, lake, tank and sea fishing.
An incident relating to Weerasooriya’s fishing, well-known to anglers, is worth repeating. He was stationed at the Bopaththalawa farm upcountry. A beautiful stream, abounding in trout flowed through the farm land. Trout fishing was permitted only to those who obtained a licence but this would have cost him at least two month’s salary. Needless to say Weerasooriya continued fishing regardless of the licence. The Trout Fishing Club, comprising mainly of affluent English planters, made numerous complaints against Weerasooriya to the Police. Perhaps it was the friendly ties between government servants who met often at the Public Services Club for a beer and chat that prevented any action being taken against him. Finally a complaint was lodged with the Minister of Agriculture.
The Minister, D.S.Senanayake, who later became the country’s first Prime Minister called up the president of the Trout Fishing Club and Weerasooriya for an inquiry. The club president, an English planter who wielded great authority in that period, explained in detail the effort and expenses expended to import the trout eggs, have them hatched at the Nuwara Eliya hatchery and release the young trout to the streams in Horton Plains and other upcountry areas.
Weerasooriya felt that the pompous attitude of the Englishman must have irritated the Minister who interrupted him, agreed with what he had said but asked him, “Who put the stream there?” After an embarrassing moment of silence he requested both parties to adopt a ‘live and let live policy’ and dismissed them, but not before he cautioned Weerasooriya not to overfish.
Weerasooriya was also a keen hunter who together with his friends spent days and nights out in the jungles and on the banks of rivers on fishing and hunting trips.
In 1956 Weerasooriya had a narrow escape from death while fishing at the mouth of the Walawe Ganga. He said, “I was with my friends, E.R.Wijesinghe, Willie Obeysekera, Arthur Morawaka and J.A.R. Grenier when suddenly a huge wave hit the embankment where I stood. The embankment collapsed and I was washed out to sea. I was a good swimmer and had won a silver medal from the Royal Life Saving Society, but the receding waves were too strong to swim against. Fortunately Grenier reacted fast and cast out his line to fall within my reach. I held onto the line wrapped it round my arm while holding onto my fishing rod and tried to swim towards the shore. Grenier was an expert angler and he started to reel me in, just like fighting a fish he kept the line on a light drag to avoid it snapping. It took almost 30 minutes to drag me back to the shore.”
For once Weerasooriya had the unpleasant experience of being at the wrong end of the line.
In 1981, he retired from Government Service and spent most of his time fishing. His favourite haunt was the pier at Panadura where the Bolgoda Lake flows out to sea. The rocks out at sea adjoining the pier formed two natural enclosures, ideal for fishing. Weerasooriya called these enclosures the inner harbour and outer harbour. On the side of the pier where the river flowed out there were shoals of small fish. These bait shoals attracted big fish both from the sea and river particularly at the times the tide changed early morning and at sunset.
Weerasooriya knew every inch of this pier and despite being over 75 years old he was one of the first anglers to be out on the slippery rocks even before the early light of dawn. His favourite spot was a huge rock on the pier which he appropriately called the ‘rock of ages’.
On the 26th of November 1996 a number of Weerasooriya’s friends met at his home in Moratuwa to celebrate his 75th birthday and 50 years of fishing. When the writer met him in early 1996, on the pier at Panadura, he said, “My biggest fear is that my eyesight might weaken and I will no longer be able to tie my fishing knots.”
Sadly in 2000 he suffered a cerebral vascular accident (stroke) which he has recovered from but finds it difficult to walk too far without assistance.
One thing that disappoints him immensely is the state of pollution today which he expressed forcefully to say, “It is a crime to see what is happening to this lovely country. If you just take an example of the Bolgoda Lake and the estuary at Panadura you will see how polythene, wood shavings, textile dyes and tyre trimmings have polluted these waterways. In a few years there will be nothing left if immediate action is not taken.”
Today Weerasoriya is a few days over 85 years. He is recovering slowly but is missing his fishing trips. Yet he has beautiful memories of the past. He, like other anglers who have enjoyed the gifts of nature and shared the wonderful camaraderie among them, understands the depth of meaning in these words of Rabindranath Tagore:“Like the seagulls and the waves we meet and come together. The seagulls fly away, the waves roll back, and we depart.”