Fishing Toys

[Fishton]

There is only one thing I enjoy more than fishing, and that’s CATCHING!  Well there is one other thing……  


 

I believe the biggest factor in converting fishing into catching, is time spent on or at the water.  i.e. He who fishes the most is ultimately going to catch the most fish, simple common sense.  So often your day starts off with high hopes and enthusiasm, but it isn’t long before the little impatient whispers start in your head, “I haven’t had a bite all day” (it’s only been 1 hour) or, “maybe the water is too cold”, or “maybe that cold wind last night ruined everything”, or “damn! My flask is empty”, or “I wonder if the Missus is still in bed with that skimpy little number on?”.  The list goes on and on of reasons why you should reel in and call it a day.

 

But what makes you stay?  Here are some examples:-

 

1. You are out at sea and are just about to reel in, when you spot fish feeding on a baitball on your sonar / fishfinder.  You end up putting in another hour or two trying to hook one of those feeding fish.  So is the sonar a gimmick or will it help you catch more fish?[/*]
2. You are just about to pack it in and you notice the pressure drop on your wristwatch barometer, and you remember the old stories about feeding frenzies when the pressure drops.  You end up putting in another hour or two trying to hook one of those ‘feeding frenzy’ fish.  So is the wristwatch barometer a gimmick or will it help you catch more fish?[/*]
3. You are just about to pack it in when you remember you have your GPS with the best fishing times of the day feature.  You wait for it to acquire satellites and it says the fishing is going to be excellent in 2 hours time for a hour or two, you decide to wait.  So is the GPS a gimmick or will it help you catch more fish?[/*]
4. You are on a dam on a little boat +15km from your launch site and it’s getting late and cold.  Would a big comfortable dry rig with lights and +200hp on the back make you fish a few minutes longer in that ‘Golden Hour’?  So is a ‘Big Bass Rig’ a gimmick or will it help you catch more fish? A similar example can be made for deep sea.

[/*]
 

So what makes YOU put in that extra hour or more?

 

 

[python1]

Maybe if I cast it in that rock pool on the left...

No, maybe if I cast it in the deep water spot on the right...

Wait, what if I cast it nearby...

Or maybe I should cast much further than I have...

 

And do you know what happens? I cast it in the exact same spot!

 

[Dorado75]

Just standing on the coast enjoying the scenery is great, I have the opportunity to catch so much fish here in Angola, i have not yet put a line in the water without catching a decent fish, but then i go home and i will go fishing with the rod and blank time after time, but i will still go and try again.

For me i will get more pleasure out of catching a small Kob from the rocks than catching a 30kg tuna here!!! I guess that i have been spoilt for a long time!!!

 

[rofflign]

the thought of catching the bigggggggggggggggggg one!

 

[On_Dad]

Any second now...wait for it

 

[Tony Harding]

It used to be

"I can't let the wife outfish me, I can't let the wife outfish me"

but of late it is more like

"I can't let my 4yr old son outfish me, I can't let my 4yr old son outfish me"

TH:doh

 

[Marthin]

I end up taking every bait known to god and human. What makes me stay that extra hour is " I havent tried that yet" more often... "I havent tried that combination on that hook size with that trace length"... Now shall we try the next hour with the trace fixed or sliding?? U decide...

 

[Hammertime]

What a great post Fishton.

Got much talk going this neck of the woods.

It is amazing how you notice at the club or slipway that there are always a certain few guys who find fish, young and old alike. It is like they have a golden touch or do they?

I reckon the successful guys have one thing in common. A ansolute love for what they do. Now I know all anglers will say they love what they do, but they love it when it suits them.
Let me explain. The weather has to be right, the forecasts perfect, the sun at a particular angle :blah:blah:blah. Sure experience will teach you to go here at this time of year or try that bait when the water looks like this etc. But the not so good guys are more interested in the flask of coffee than being able to tie a solid knot under fading light or heaving seas. They love the idea of angling, but aren't too keen on servicing a reel or catching bait. Nope - that's what the shops are for. They are in love with the idea of loving the sport.

But what sets the really good guys apart is that raw love of the ocean or chosen body of water that the average fairly good angler doesn't exhibit. You can see the appreciation for the whole sport or the job in their faces and when they talk to you about their adventures, you begin to understand why they will hang around for that extra hour longer when most have run back home. These guys can really tell you about a place, past and present species and their status, their migratory routes etc. They don't recite the history of the land to you text book style like so many anglers can. None of this oh, the Jones family owned the land in 1856 etc but rather...
When the tide is up and the wind blows from this direction, the water moves around this rock or wreck in such a manner that if you fish here you get this etc.
It is that type of thing that makes the great angler. Well of coarse this is all one persons opinion - mine.

Your post also brings about another interesting scenario.
In the fast food age of I want it now, no waiting, must have yesterday I have seen a very big change angling attitudes. And hell if I have seen it in 27 years on the water I wonder how guys like Earl Fenwick who had Protea colours in the year I was born feel.

Anglers are so quick to give up nowadays, or to change a lure rather than stick with it.
They not feeding on that today when 90% of the thing is chrome and the other guy just had 2 fish on a complete silver lure with two blue dots. Nah, must be the blue dots.
Nah, must be you not working the lure right!

It's got worse with guys wanting to know your exact location, evertime you fishing. Fuel is a killer man, help a guy out. Does nobody enjoy the act of boating anymore??? The challenge of discovery and most of all - the hunt!
Again - I want it now asap!! I thought this was a patience game.

The best excuse nowadays is to blame collapsed stocks (sure that is the case with some species) but why you not catching other fish when for two months everyone else has had great catches.
It will be again, oh work, the aunty, kids sport or my pet hate... I didn't even know.
Why didn't you know. Again, it's a case of when this creature comes to the water, rod in hand - things MUST happen. Tip - homework!

Well Fishton, see what you did! Opened a whole can of worms on my side. But it really was a great day chatting this through with a few mates. Had two seasoned anglers with me yesterday and we had a laugh thanks to your post.

 

[Capespearo]

We have a crew member we call "een meer".Every time we start packing up to make our way home,he always wants that last dive.I can't remember how many times we've laughed at him and he surfaces with a trophy size fish,all of a sudden we can "extend" our trip a little

As for the "toys".I would be lost at sea without the fishfinder and GPS (well literally without a GPS).The GPS is like gold on the boat,we've probably emptied an oil tanker in search of all the secret spots !

 

[Fishton]

Hammertime,

You really hit some ‘chords’ there with your reply.

You talk of anglers with a “raw love of the ocean…” and “those that are in love with the idea of fishing”. Never a truer word been spoken, nothing wrong with it, don’t get me wrong. You have got to start somewhere right?

Your comment about people wanting things right NOW! That is exactly how we are today, things are flying by so fast, it’s not easy to slow down and ‘suck it all in’. Every couple of months I will go away on my own for a week, I call it ‘Mental Floss’ (saw it as a name on a Hobie 16 at Langebaan once). Not with the family or mates, just on my own. The first couple of days your mind is still racing around, but usually by day 3 or 4, everything slows down and you start forgetting about time.

The other thing you mentioned is when people think that only when your line hits the water, then you are ‘fishing’. Servicing your reels, checking line, maintaining your boat and motor, repairing the trailer if need be, ‘tweaking’ your boat in order to improve your experience while at sea, researching the fish, the body of water, new improved techniques and equipment available etc etc. How many people own expensive equipment but have never taken the time to work out how to get the max out of it. It all just becomes “I have one of those too, but mine is the extra big 10” one … blah,blah,blah” Back to the “idea” of it.

I am not even going to try and pass myself off as a true fisherman thru and thru, or as the Ausies call it, a “fisho”, but hopefully at some point of my life someone would call me a ‘fisho’. Even if it carries a couple of unsavory names preceding it! LOL

Thanks for your reply, it was great stuff.

 

[Hammertime]

Yeah for sure. Jeez don't get me wrong, not trying to knock anyone in any way.
I think we all go through that phase of wanting it more than what we are prepared to put in to get it. For a fact at one stage billfishing I was just not prepared to do the hours but was quick to complain for lack of strikes. I would be lying outright if I said I haven't, and I by no means fancy myself as one of the guys who have the "magic" in any way.

Nowadays I always say my boat and I are just very lucky.

I think the bottom line is you need to be a part of the system rather than participate in the system. Put back the fish- sure, but pass on the knowledge too. Lot of guys not willing to share the spoils upstairs.

I was just saying to a mate that you also find the guys who sit it out just that little bit longer and end up coming home with the rewards also have one other thing we all often lack at times...CONFIDENCE.
Not to be confused with "oh don't worry about the 35 knot gusts, they just gusts" but the guys who know oh, ok it is windy but when it blows like that, the swell doesn't sweep across the rocks or the run home is fine if you run a SSE direction etc. Perhaps directly linked to EXPERIENCE.

Ah hell, I'm rambling again.

 

[python1]

Hammertime, brilliantly said.

It took me 7 months before i caught my first real fish. Dont remember how or why i started but in those 7 months i developed a passion for the ocean and ALL its inhabitants - in the water and out.

an angler will tell you that the water and weather has to be a certain colour or temperature in order for you to catch something and another will tell you the exact opposite. Well what do you do then? Which one is telling the truth?

They BOTH are.

What I'm trying to get at is everyone has their own combination and this combination is developed over time. They took the time to go down to the water to wet their lines and enjoy the day that nature had given them. they shared their experience, gave advice, took advice. Catching was a bonus.

Fishing is a sport and sport is to have fun. When I'm at the ocean I have fun whether I land a fish or not

Hope I made sense. Even if one of you understand I'll be satisfied.

 

[python1]

Hammertime, brilliantly said.

It took me 7 months before i caught my first real fish. Dont remember how or why i started but in those 7 months i developed a passion for the ocean and ALL its inhabitants - in the water and out.

an angler will tell you that the water and weather has to be a certain colour or temperature in order for you to catch something and another will tell you the exact opposite. Well what do you do then? Which one is telling the truth?

They BOTH are.

What I'm trying to get at is everyone has their own combination and this combination is developed over time. They took the time to go down to the water to wet their lines and enjoy the day that nature had given them. they shared their experience, gave advice, took advice. Catching was a bonus.

Fishing is a sport and sport is to have fun. When I'm at the ocean I have fun whether I land a fish or not

Hope I made sense. Even if one of you understand I'll be satisfied.

 

[Hammertime]

Perfect sense to me bro.

 

[Polychaete]

Nice thread.

 

What keeps me at a place longer?

Often I overstay my welcome when I struggle to catch and I just keep on trying, and then something else, and always something else again and then suddenly I know I am going to be in the dog box for being late without letting the Boss know! 

 

I am mainly a shore based angler, just love fishing in beautiful tranquil environment, without too many others around.   Today I was nearly late, simply because I enjoyed sitting next to the sea amongst the peaceful fynbos and milkwoods.

I had an absolute fantastic afternoon not too far from CP.   Went looking for Galjoen, it was bucketing down, but no problem to me,   I just stood there snug in my waders and oilskin jacket with track suit underneath.   Didn’t catch a lot but just enough to keep me there, but had an inquisitive otter come and hang around me.   Interesting that it does that as they are supposed to be very shy creatures.    It followed me for a while, a bit like a seal; probably someone had fed it something in the past.   On that topic, Otters seem to be making a huge comeback in the South Peninsula, I see them regularly and see their remains and footprints nearly every time I go out.

 

What’s also nice there………..no cellphone signal!!

The wind nearly blew me off my feet at times on those unstable slippery rocks, but at one spot I was relatively protected.   Al that would have made the afternoon better would have been if I had not bee too lazy to carry my flask with hot tea with me, but left it in my bakkie.

 

I even had a sandwich while sitting in the “elements” and getting hosed down.

 

So now you know what I got up to today, besides quickly making some sinkers for tomorrow!

 

[python1]

I know that feeling Polycheate, not many people around, its peaceful, tranquil. You can fart without worrying who heard you.

But jokes aside, being an animal lover,  I would love feed a seal or even an otter by hand. And being alone at the beach, in a safe place of course, is an absolute perfect way to destress and even for that moment to forget about all the crap such as violence, corruption and everything else that puts a burden on our world or environment

This is a nice thread guys, keep it going.

Cheers for now.

 

[Hammertime]

Ah - no cellphones. Best thing about the deep.
Seen a commercial snoek fisherman feed his hand to a seal though, not a seal by hand -ha ha. But a bit messy.

Poly, I must admit that the best part of my angling is those first few seconds, as I slip off the trailer and have about 3-5 minutes on my own while the crew pack away tailboards etc into the car and walk back to the wall for me to pick them up.

It's short but that initial "floating" feeling is insane. I can only imagine that is how birs and pilots must feel as they just become air born.

Then there is also the times on board when everyone is into fish and no one says a word.
Silence IS golden.

 

[Fishton]

Polychaete, nice one!

 

[IvanJc]

Fishton,great thread.When I first bought a boat and went to sea,I blanked out the first couple of times.I was ribbed by wife and others for wasting my time and money.Nowadays I always come back with something on board.To put it into the words of Gary player when someone told him how lucky he is at golf.He said...I find that the more i practice, the luckier I get.How did I eventually get lucky?By continueing to go out.By reading everything I could find on boatfishing.By asking every guy i saw who caught fish how he did it.Even if I go to sea now and blank out, I will say it was a great day.The fish is the cherry on the cake.It is great just being out there with the wind on your face and having camaradie with the guys.Laughing and joking when they carrot chum the fish(as I do sometimes) The true fisherman is in love with the environment he is in.Nature,sometimes solitude, sometimes adreneline.It is great and I would not swop it.I live eat and breathe fishing.

 

[Fishton]

IvanJc, it's got a name ..... OCB.

Obsessive, Compulsive Behavior.

Welcome!