Saturday, June 14, 2008

Bad weather no fish

As an avid angler it is all ways difficult when I can’t fish. Usually it is the weather, but sometimes there are other extenuating factors such as broken motors or sick family members, but usually the weather.

So what is an angler to do when one can’t fish? I usually try to read about fishing. There are heaps of blogs on the internet as well as fishing forums and sites related to fishing with articles and stories. Not to mention all of the magazines about fishing that I subscribe to.

I also find myself, in times of bad weather, going through fishing gear, cleaning and repairing everything. Taking reels apart, right down to the last screw, then cleaning every little bit and oiling it, then putting it all back together again, that has to be one of my biggest time wasters when I can’t fish. I think I have some of the cleanest gear around.

Sometimes I grab a spool of line and just practice tying knots. The knots I use the most are the Uni-knot, the Bimini twist, Australian plait and the offshore swivel knot. I have yet to have a failure do to one of these knots. I used to tie the Albright special but with the braid I use the leader had a tendency to slip out of the knot.

I see fishing as an addiction, if I go to long without wetting a line I can get a bit stir crazy. Fishing withdrawals are some of the worst. Sometimes I just sit and look out the window to the sea and shake all over with the thought of not being able to fish.

Right now here in Fiji it has been raining for days. Not that sissy rain you experience in upper and lower latitudes but the real tropical down pours you get near the equator. The kind that is so noisy it will not let you sleep. The kind that makes a little babbling creek turn into a raging torrent of brown water you dare not get near. The kind that you can’t even go fishing in for fear of your boat filling up and sinking while you are out.

Make no mistake about it as soon as it stops raining and even shows the slightest bit of letting up, I am going fishing.

Hope the sun is shining where you are.

Tight lines and Screamin drags

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