Small fish BIG smile
Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:23 pm
We all have fishing stories, this one is from a few years back, but I still think of it from time to time.
Took a mate, who has never caught a snapper, out one evening a few years back. Top bloke, heart of gold, who has had more than his fair share of hard knocks. His fishing prowess and fishing gear match , , , , both dismal and in storage and in need of a spring clean if not an overhaul. I did not mind at all, doing the charter experience for him as he has helped so many?
Went out from West Beach South Australia to a "reasonably" unknown spot, normally only 2-3 boats when the season is on. We had the spot to ourselves which was good so there were no competing berley trails. As we weren't going to affect any other fishers, pumped out the berley to put the call out far and wide, knowing it might over feed the reds and eventually go quiet but it was about getting 1 not many.
Rods baited and poised in the rod holders it wasn't long before he was getting jumpy at the morse code taps on his two rods. The next 10 minutes he was juggling his two rods and missing opportunities. It looked like a camera flash when the light globe in his head went off. Hold one and put one down. Told him to cast his second rod far for a rogue inquisitive fringe dweller.
Well, for an hour or so pandemonium broke loose, we had a hot bite. Missed more than he caught and threw back more than we kept. But we both were laughing so much we had tears in our eyes. If this was to occur again in a few more years, I think I might need to invest in some "depends" cos I don't think the plumbing could withstand that kind of laughing at an older age. Hadn't laughed like that in years.
The put-down rods screamed out separately on two occasions. And he screamed out twice from the lost opportunities, once was with a fight with a sizeable red but after a brief but solid fight the hook pulled. I have never seen anyone still happy after losing a big fish until that night.
Yeah, it went quiet for two hours, moved, couldn't get a nibble, moved, and ran out of coffee, getting cold so we pulled the pin.The sobering aspect of the story is that he truly had the snapper experience, a hot bite, fish in the esky, lost big fish to tell stories about AND a few hours without a bite.
End result: Not a massive haul and not massive fish.
It's not the size of the fish but more the size of the smile.
Cheers, Bugatti
Took a mate, who has never caught a snapper, out one evening a few years back. Top bloke, heart of gold, who has had more than his fair share of hard knocks. His fishing prowess and fishing gear match , , , , both dismal and in storage and in need of a spring clean if not an overhaul. I did not mind at all, doing the charter experience for him as he has helped so many?
Went out from West Beach South Australia to a "reasonably" unknown spot, normally only 2-3 boats when the season is on. We had the spot to ourselves which was good so there were no competing berley trails. As we weren't going to affect any other fishers, pumped out the berley to put the call out far and wide, knowing it might over feed the reds and eventually go quiet but it was about getting 1 not many.
Rods baited and poised in the rod holders it wasn't long before he was getting jumpy at the morse code taps on his two rods. The next 10 minutes he was juggling his two rods and missing opportunities. It looked like a camera flash when the light globe in his head went off. Hold one and put one down. Told him to cast his second rod far for a rogue inquisitive fringe dweller.
Well, for an hour or so pandemonium broke loose, we had a hot bite. Missed more than he caught and threw back more than we kept. But we both were laughing so much we had tears in our eyes. If this was to occur again in a few more years, I think I might need to invest in some "depends" cos I don't think the plumbing could withstand that kind of laughing at an older age. Hadn't laughed like that in years.
The put-down rods screamed out separately on two occasions. And he screamed out twice from the lost opportunities, once was with a fight with a sizeable red but after a brief but solid fight the hook pulled. I have never seen anyone still happy after losing a big fish until that night.
Yeah, it went quiet for two hours, moved, couldn't get a nibble, moved, and ran out of coffee, getting cold so we pulled the pin.The sobering aspect of the story is that he truly had the snapper experience, a hot bite, fish in the esky, lost big fish to tell stories about AND a few hours without a bite.
End result: Not a massive haul and not massive fish.
It's not the size of the fish but more the size of the smile.
Cheers, Bugatti