Fishing-for-survival training begins THIS WEEK!

From a selection of trolling lures, I have borrowed two lures for my first round of training.

The blue one I have named ‘Blue Lagoon’ and the orange one ‘Tropical Punch.’ Proper fisher-people probably do not name their lures, but as an aspiring fisher-person I have decided I would.

 

I also have lures for the purpose of fishing off the side of my boat when on sea anchor. One type of lure I have been loaned is called a Lead Head, because the fake fish has a blob of lead for a head (with a rubber body).

 

As an alternative to the lead heads, my second line-fishing lure is plastic and a very convincing poser when tested-pulled on a line through the water. If I were a fish, I would eat him.

I have nicknamed him ‘The Swimmer’.

The Swimmer, weight, 3 Lead-Heads my favourite wiggler being the one on the right.

 

You may be wondering how, with 17 years of experience as a captain, I have not been fishing before. In truth I have. In fact, I’ve been on many boats and in varying degrees of participation have witnessed the death of a whole array of fish – albacore, yellowfin, dorado, mackerel, wahoo, barracuda etc.

One time out of Boca, Florida, I even went sport-fishing! But every single time we had “fish on,” there were men onboard and men, it would appear rather like to kill fish. In recent years, I have stood back and waited in line to gut, filet and cook. As the sole crew on board my boat, now it’s all down to me.

Potential Hazards include:

Cutting fingers on the line, being bitten by the fish; the fish having a messy thrashing fit on my deck (almost a given) and burns from using the stove on a rocky boat.

 

Chapter 1:

  • Test the gait of each lure in the marina – how does it swim? How does it swim if the line or swivel is fouled (so I know what to look for) < DONE
  • Special (fishing line) knot tying practise (Palomar knot for #30 monofilament line & clinch knot for #50 line) < ONGOING
  • Anchor outside the marina and test fishing off the side of the boat < TOMORROW! 
  • Row 1-5nm out and begin trolling < WEDNESDAY! 
  • Row to Malibu (or other known fishing hot-spot) for late-afternoon and early-morning trawling
  • Hopefully catch a fish and test killing, gutting, filleting, cooking setup!

Thank you to Joe, my new fishing coach!

Let the fishing begin!