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Date: Less Work
Title: Sept 14
Date: 16 Sep 2004
Time: 07:22:49 -0400
“Less Work” Have you ever planned on going fishing on the upcoming weekend but by the time Saturday rolled around the work week had taken ‘it’ out of you and you were having second thoughts about going? Friday you’re going through the list of things to do: 1. Get the tackle together. That may mean getting extra tackle for your guest(s). Load it in the boat. 2. Get the lunch and drinks together. Load it in the boat. 3. Get miscellaneous equipment together. Load it in the boat. 4. Hook up boat to vehicle. This can be a task if you’re by yourself. 5. Gas up vehicle and boat. Check oil. Go buy two cycle oil. 6. Try to get in the bed early. Never happens. 7. Get up early. It grudgingly happens. 8. Pick up friends. 9. Pick up bait. 10. Drive to boat ramp. 11. Wait in line to launch boat hoping the folks ahead of you have launched a boat before so not to become an unwilling spectator of a carnival of errors. 12. Go fish. Which, if you’re like most, means hopping around here to there in hopes of bumping into some fish. Wow! That’s a lot like work, only because it is work. A well prepared angler, in an organized boat, has done their homeWORK. Things just don’t magically happen, it takes effort. I know first hand, being in the charter business it takes time and effort, behind the scenes, to maintain some simulation of order. Then there is the actual fishing part which is an all day quest for fish. It is fun but it is work at the same time. Well, I learned something this past month I’d like to share. A fishing option, if you will. I took a fellow shark fishing. It was a first for both of us. I see sharks. We catch some sharks. But, never dedicated a trip for the soul pursuit of shark. We brought three big rod/reel combos loaded with 200 lb test, a spool of 330 lb test wire, a handful of 12/0 hooks, a couple of boxes of chum and fish fillets. The tackle was so sparse the boat looked naked. We went out, set up a chum slick over hard bottom, put the baits out and waited. We listened to music. We shared fishing stories. We shared hunting stories. We shared lunch. We kicked back on the bean bag chairs. And every now and then one of the big poles would bend over and we’d tussle with a shark. In the meantime, loads of bait fish gathered in the chum, birds came in, turtles popped up, and once a ten foot hammerhead darted to and fro in the slick. Nothing much to do but a lot going on around us. I felt weird. I’m used to jumping around from one hard bottom area to the next picking up grouper and so forth. Basking in the sun, in one spot, all day was something I had to get used to. It was as laid back as it can get with seven intense interruptions. A casual day with just enough excitement to keep it interesting. At the end of the day, we did muscle a ~200 lb bull shark over the gunnel which I thought was work. It turned out that butchering the beast was the work. I don’t recommend the cleaning part; take a picture instead and cut it free. Anyway, shark fishing is a casual option when you want to go fishing but don’t feel like putting in a lot of effort. Let me point out somethings: 1. You don’t have to prepare a bunch of tackle. 2. You don’t burn a lot of gas. 3. You don’t have to get up early! 4. You can nap while you fish. Think of it as if you’re rocking back and forth in a hammock but the hammock is equipped with rod holders. 5. You can shark fish on the flats so long boat rides aren’t necessary. 6. Unless you really want to, you don’t have to worry about cleaning fish at the end of the day. 7. You don’t have to make it an all day gig. Leave early and spend Saturday evening with family and friends telling them about your “Jaws”. “What did you do today, Jerry?” “Oh, I mowed the grass, changed the oil in the car and cleaned out the garage.” “What did you do, John?” “Slept in, went fishing, took a couple hour nap, woke up to fight a six foot shark for half an hour, came home and had a cook out.” I like John’s plan. Sounds like a great way to spend a day on the water. Shark fishing on the flats is a simple matter of anchoring up in one of the numerous cuts and sloughs that run through the grass flats, hanging out a box of frozen chum in a mesh bag over the gunnel and setting out a couple of rods. The gear is pretty much anything stout, such as a 4/0 combination, with the main line being 30 lb test or better and a wire leader with a large hook. Any fresh bait will do. I set one bait on the bottom and the other underneath a float. Don’t forget the bean bag chair or air mattress, sun screen, sun glasses, a towel and CD player with your favorite CD’s. May I suggest the best of James Taylor and, of course, Jimmy Buffet’s ‘Fins’. Take a lazy day of fishing.