In the store yesterday, I picked up a copy of a fishing magazine while waiting to check out and discovered that apparently I had been fishing incorrectly all these years. I did not have the right gear or the right boat (well maybe I have the right boat but for certain it said I needed a different motor and only God knows how I’d be able to stick a 250 HP outboard on my rather small sailboat and he’s not telling) and I also did not have all the other bits and pieces that an avid angler should have these days…
Excuse me a moment while I go postal for a second.
Well, at least nice to know that it’s not only sailboats that suffer from the consumer silliness!
A lot of folks find the whole fishing thing daunting… lots of gear questions and the whole “what do I do with it when I catch it” makes people think there is a rather steep learning curve and rocket science involved.
On the other hand, in the sailing community there is strong current of people who think that if you want fish you are much better getting it out of a can and will regale you with all sorts of fishing stories of the “I never catch anything and neither will you variety!”
OK here is a reality check:
- Any fool can catch fish.
- Expensive fishing gear on a sailboat is counter-productive to actually catching fish
- Fresh fish tastes better and costs less
So, if you are still interested in the secrets of catching fish from sailboats, it’s time for Lesson Number One!
To catch fish you have to fish.
Yeah, I know that is some serious dumb-ass Zen phrase, but it is 100% true and it should be your mantra. All the expensive gear in the world won’t get fish if it does not get used! Every time I dinghy around an anchorage I see sailboats sporting rods and reels which apparently were last used while Jimmy Carter was President. When asked why they don’t use them, the answers are always that they never catch anything, what a hassle it is and, my favorite, that fish blood stains teak decks!
So to recap…. To catch fish you have to fish!
More soon come…