Fishing Part 1– Bait the hook

So, I’ve decided to take up fishing. I’ve had a tendency in the past to feel the bite and yank the rod, thus almost always losing the fish. However, given the relaxing (hah!) and enjoyable (sometimes) nature of fishing, I have decided to refine my skills.

Step 1– Bait the hook

Baiting the hook is probably the hardest part of fishing. You have to take into account so many factors: location, conditions, desired fish, etc. For some fish a wriggling worm does the trick off the bat. Those suckers latch on immediately, but they also tend to get off the hook too. In their eagerness for that shapely worm, they chomp all the wriggling goodness out and don’t realize that there is more to the worm than its wiggling.

Other fish require shiny lures. A sparkly bit of brass or tin grabs their eye, and after a cursory investigation they take the line. These fish know that they want that sparkly thing and won’t let go very easily.

Fly fishing is arguable one of the better ways to fish. Flies have movement like the worms and capture the eye like the lures. Simple, gentle flicks of the wrist propel the fly over the water, grabbing and keeping the attention of the fish. You can’t let the fly linger too long or the fish will get suspicious and won’t bite. It requires a delicate balance to move the fly enough to keep the interest of the fish, without making the fly seem schizophrenic and fake. Fortunately, fish aren’t always the brightest creatures, so you can make up for some frantic flicking with a gentle, restrained approach.

I have decided to develop my fly fishing technique, as that type of fishing yields some pretty incredible fish. Tonight I baited my hook, selecting a friendly, happy fly, which hopefully comes across as appealing to all fish, though it is intended for one. A few well-placed flicks will hopefully get the desired fish interested and attuned.

Besides working on my fishing tonight, I also played in my intramural volleyball game. We lost… again. But we had so much fun! We are going into tournament play soon and hopefully since we’re moving down a little in the division ranks we will actually beat an opponent, not just get really close to beating them. I had some good moments, one involving the splits, although I don’t think we got the point in the end. Another good moment that wasn’t so good was when I punched my teammate in the face. I didn’t mean to. We both went for the ball and at the last second I realized it, but I couldn’t stop. So I didn’t really swing hard for the ball, but my momentum carried me into him. My head bonked him, probably in the stomach because it was soft for me, and apparently one of my hands hit his face. Kinda hard. I don’t think he’ll have a shiner, but he did have to sit out and his eye was all red for a few minutes. Behold, the importance of calling the ball, lest you take out your tallest team member.

And, in fishing, the importance of being earnest.