Yesterday those passions were combined as a group of about 20 friends and family members converged on the Macquarie River to release 11,000 Murray Cod fingerlings.

Mr Bower died in May after a skydiving accident and at his funeral, mourners were asked to make donation towards Dubbo City Council’s fish restocking program in lieu of flowers.

Close to $2500 was raised and combined with funds from council and the State Government, close to $11,000 was made available to purchase the fish from Grong Grong fish farmer Bruce Malcolm.

Mr Bower’s wife Cassie was one of the people on hand yesterday to release the fingerlings into the river and said her husband would be proud of the effort made to keep angling alive in Dubbo.

“Fishing was another love for Danny, like his family and his cricket,” she said.

“It began quite a long time ago through his friendship with the Attenborough family and other West Dubbo guys.

“This release is certainly a great feeling and one I’m certain he would be humbled about but also very appreciative that we are going to have more fish released and especially Murray Cod.”

Ironically enough, during his fishing days Mr Bower wasn’t overly keen on eating his catch.

Instead he took delight from watching others, particularly children, taking part in a fun hobby.

“He didn’t particularly like eating fish, he was a hunter and gatherer for us,” Mrs Bower said.

“But he got pleasure from watching the look on children’s faces from catching a fish.”

Summer was normally a time of year when Mr Bower would go fishing with his children Brad, Mitch and Kate, and also his three godchildren.

And while Mrs Bower admits it will be hard for the family to spend Christmas without him, she said having so many people supporting the family had been a great aid.

“They say Christmas can be difficult but I can only be comforted by the fact that so many people remember us and remember Dan, and that is obvious by the people that have shown up today to release these fish,” she said.

“Hopefully people will keep looking after the river and fish properly so people can get the same level of enjoyment out of it as Dan did.”

ben.walker@ruralpress.com