I'm not sure whether it was the grand master recipe tester (AKA Grandpa) or the junior recipe testers who suggested it. But somehow, on our weekend away at the farm, a trip to the dam to fish for yabbies was suggested. Suddenly everyone seemed to think it was a good idea. Or at least the juniors did. We're still not certain about the grand master's enthusiasm. He got outvoted.

Apparently, there are yabbies in the dam. We know this because yabby claws have been sighted at it's edges. One farm guest thought it a good idea to pack a few yabby claws into a little ziplock bag, usually reserved for the transporting of sandwiches. His mother learned there were yabbies when she trod on those same claws. In the dark. On the bedroom floor. No longer in the bag.

The party set out. It was a three year old fisherman who found the snake sunning itself near the dam. He immediately turned and ran, completely hysterical. The fishing trip was briefly suspended while someone found a large stick to move the offending reptile away from the anglers. Something then had to be done about the hysterical junior.

Eventually, Grandpa was able to set about organising yabby lines for the seven junior recipe testers there present. Each line consisted of a long piece of bright pink, easy-to-see-in-long-grass-and-murky-water string. The bait was small pieces of beef retrieved before they went in the pot for dinner. Grandpa had to tie all the knots because no one else was capable. Some refused to touch raw meat.

Here's how it went.

One junior recipe tester cast out, missing the dam entirely and socking himself in the eye with a piece of raw meat. Another created a spaghetti junction, wrapping the entire length of his arm in pink string and rendering himself unable to bend his elbow.

A third junior left the line on the bank and hurled an occy strap into the water. It didn't have any meat on it.

One junior fell into the dam. While wading back towards the edge he reassured anyone who was listening that his clothes weren't all that wet.

The last cast saw the line, bait and all, completely detached from the sportsperson who flung it, in the middle of the dam.

We highly suspect that this was the line that caught the yabby.