This is the season for rum and fun in the sun for some of my friends. However, I have an increasing number of friends who do not celebrate the Christian Christmas. This is now something new for some of us, but it is not in our place to question.our friends beliefs or point of view, but to respect them, and in this particular case to avoid any discussion on any aspect or topic tangential to that system of belief. Taking a line from the ham radio license guidelines, one should refrain from discussion of religion and politics, probably because these tend to support the most controversial subjects. Be that as it may, my friends and I converse, sometimes profoundly on various matters which sometimes touch on religion and politics, without descending to a doctrinal level and therefore we never have cause for mutual disagreement or disrespect.
I am fortunate to have friends who share more than one hobby, and that makes for a closer friendship. I am trying to get some of the amateur radio buddies to get back in touch with some of their other hobbies so that the ham fraternity could enjoy the pleasure of greater comradeship. I guess in time it will. Photography and Ham radio are my prime hobbies, since before 1968. And this seems to be a universal hobby combination. Bicycle riding and fishing are relatively new hobbies, with the cycling more for exercise than for sport. Girl watching is a natural human process so it does not need highlighting, buy some people make it a full time hobby, and invest in the equipment and tools to derive maximum enjoyment and pleasure. Because this is what you are supposed to get from a hobby, including relaxation. I guess that girl watching, especially through those thousand dollar digital binoculars, could prove to be rather exciting and even stimulating. Irrespective of the hobby, your investment in equipment and tools, tells the world how passionate and/or serious you are, so proceed with due care and attention.
My latest acquired hobby is fishing. This hobby has given me the opportunity to learn so much more about nature and the environment. I have even learnt a few things about myself, adopted new habits and changed others. Fishing does something unexplainable to you. You have to experience it for yourself, if you can. I would like to encourage all my friends to try your hand at fishing, whether it is your calling or not. Whatever you learn, no matter how small, will be of tremendous benefit to you on this life’s journey. You will see.
Life seems to be a road of two lanes and we are free to choose which lane to trod at any point in time, in respect of any issue, action or activity that confront us. Our life is therefore one of making continuous decisions. In looking at our hobbies, we consciously or unconsciously, decide which path or approach to follow. To wit, whether a professional or an amateur approach. Professional meaning that you embark on a study of the field or subject and seek to maximize the end results while amateur means just the exact opposite. Amateur could be further subdivided into a [high] serious approach or a [low] trivial and unimportant approach. Pretty simple. For a hobby like fishing most persons may take the Amateur [low] approach. Just pick up some stuff in the tackle shop find the fishing ground and try something. And they do catch something.
Having an engineering background I decided to take the professional approach to fishing after my introduction to the fishing grounds. I had never bothered to teach myself about fish, even though I am a great lover of fried fish, especially doctor fish, with angel, old wife, thumb, butterfish, Welshman following close behind. That was fried fish at Euclid’s [RIP]. Commercially those fish might be caught in a fish pot but you are now on the rocks or the pier, [no boat], and you are now spinning with dead bait or live bait, and you have to know what fish you are after, because different species of fish react differently to the same bait. This therefore suggests that one needs to acquire some knowledge of the type of fish in the bay and to use the methods and techniques and bait to pursue and catch the fish. Sound simple enough. The Fisheries Department with offices overlooking New Town Bay is the place for local information on local fish and fishing.
You have the choice of casting for any and every fish that is not wise enough to ignore your presentation. Or you can cast for specific fish species using specific techniques and fishing rigs. There are fishing tools and fishing aids to make the job of catching fish more scientific, but most local fishermen do not seem to believe in spending money on the tools and devices that can bring positive results sooner rather than later. One of first tools I procured was "the angler’s edge" made by www.speedtech.com
Continuous research will reveal lots of data not readily available to fishermen. I am not saying that the data is purposefully hidden but some fishermen do not reveal anything about techniques or hardware they use, while there are some others enlightened fishermen who seem bent on sharing what they know with others. Every hobby fisherman should be armed with the book "The Complete Book of Baits Rigs & Tackle" by Vic Dunaway . 256 pages of information that you need to know.
Some fish puts up a serious fight when hooked and that tests your fisherman skills to the max. Setting the drag and using it correctly seems to be the single most challenging event for fishermen the world over. So I did some digging on this and discovered a few things.
[a] The drag is set to 25% to 33% of the line pound test weight. So that if you are using a 20 pound test mono main line, the drag is set at 5 pounds and not more than 7 pounds. And it is no way that any fish can burst your line. If you had the drag set at 20 pounds or greater, a jumping fish would burst your line. Commercial drag checkers are available to help you guarantee making boat side with your hooked fish.
[b] The pound test of the line used much match the capacity of the rod.. If the rod manufacturer claims that the rod can take say line 15 to 30 pounds test, you had better test it yourself. Using a home made test jig I tested the 4 rods I have, and discovered that they were all good to only 75% of the manufacturer’s claim. Therefore I could break my 30 pounds max capacity rod if fishing with a 30 pound test line and I hooked a big one and had a good fight, further assuming that I did not set the drag to 10 pounds or less, but instead tightened the drag to 30 pounds or more. That would snap the rod or burst the line, whichever was weaker. But since the tested 30 pound capacity rod is actually 22 pounds capacity, I will use a 20 pound test line with it and set the drag to 5 pounds. That will give me and the fish all the fight and action that we want, within the capacity of the rod and line I am using. Really quite simple, when you work the math.
I am now looking at having some fun in the Bay with the Tarpon fish. These fish are referred to as "bass" by some local fisherman. They are not that easy to hook and land, but we have some tactics to try on them. Some of the fishermen are looking for Gar, and that requires a different technique and presentation to Tarpon. I am intrigued with artificial lures and will be specializing and experimenting with the selected few that claim to land the species we target.
As the effects of global warming continue to affect the planet we expect to see more change in the fishing patterns and I guess we have to adapt to that. We have to try new techniques, like chumming in the shore or off the long pier. I have a batch of home made chum ready for testing. It could do with some menhaden oil to top it off, but such ingredients are not available here. The million dollar fisheries complexes that we have here on the island, are only for selling fish to consumers, they are not here to serve any other need of fishermen nor the fishing community. That is very sad because we [the fishermen and the country] need services that they should be offering. Someone, somewhere, has a limited outlook or perspective on National fishing. It is a pity. We are dead in the water before we start.
Another down side is the closure of the one and only tackle shop on the island in the Pelican Shopping Mall. I have no public comments to make, except that it is regrettable. But all is not lost because we can order directly from Captain Harry, in Florida, a bit expensive, but he seem to have almost everything that fishermen need. Here is where fishermen cooperation will continue as we help each other to import the equipment required for our hobby or livelihood.
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This is also published in my blogspot
http://v44kf.blogspot.com/2008/10/fishing-could-be-serious-hobby.html
Keeth France - V44KF: "Speak Now ... or Forever Hold Your Peace" 