We are not doing very well with the fishing at the moment. In my last 4 fishing sessions I have managed to catch no take-home-able fish at all. Okay, before that I caught 4 squid, but since then I have only managed to scare off the fish.
We went out in a little tinny boat, only suitable for the estuary, (no superstructure, or padded seats) to catch Salmon. We did not even have a nibble, and we had taken the smoker with us, so we could eat some for lunch with the bread Dave had baked at dawn. But we eventually settled for bread and butter, with no fish.
Then the boat owner went off to do something to his cows, and Dave went for a dive, so I took a light rod to the beach. I was casting out from a sandy beach, between two sets of rocks, so as not to lose the lure. All the other beach fishing I have done here to date has been off rocks into deeper water. So there I was taking a few steps into the waves and then throwing out as far as I could.
Suddenly I realised the point of all the ballet classes I had struggled through. Poor Mrs Suckling, she did her best, but I was not flexible, able to keep time or even interested. But I did master a "step-together-step-hop" move that she spent months drumming into me. It is ideal for casting far out with a light rod from a sandy beach, as long as you substitute "cast" for "hop" at the end. So I had a ball, literally, dancing on the sand, throwing my lure into the sea, and, not suprisingly, catching nothing.
At least this is Flinders Island, so there was no one around to watch me, and wonder what the crazy South African was doing now! The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the view was absolutely stunning, what more could I have asked for? Well, apart from some fish.
Hi Barb
ReplyDeleteDad beach fishes from the beach. Walks along, throws a line in and catches them. Of course, Dad can also catch beach worms with his toes and he's THAT fisherman catching fish after fish whilst the other 20 guys on the beach catch nothing. Maybe you and Dave need to come up for a visit to get a few lessons ;)
Is he busy the next few days?? Seriously, we do have a freezer with a lot of fish in it, I just seem to be having a dry run of late.
ReplyDeleteHey -- useful alternative to a surf rod:
ReplyDeleteget a slingshot. A really powerful one.
Get a handline. Add the lead, the hook, and the bait.
Load the lead into the slingshot. Uncoil about a hundred metres of line in a careful pile around your feet. Organize the hook and the bait such that it will not maim you.
Draw back the slingshot. Fire.
When the weights and the hook and the bait finally land, somewhere between eighty and a hundred metres offshore, pick up your handline. Take up the slack.
Wait. The fish will come...
Are you serious? The wind blows here. I can just imagine where my 100m of line would be. I am not a very dextrous person, I have a feeling the hook would be in my ear, and the line around every bit of sea grass and pebble on the beach. But I will get a handline and try, starting on a windless day with no spectators, while Dave is diving, so he can't laugh! Luckily there are so many beaches here, that we seldom see anyone else while we are fishing.
ReplyDeleteI was throwing maybe 20m, but then retrieving straight away, not leaving it out there? Maybe I my first error was using a lure and not bait, but we had left it behind and were 45mins from home.
My dream is to catch a fish bigger than 2kg, but I have a few years left in which to get it, I hope!