Introducing people to the joys of the ocean is a simple satisfaction to get hooked on
This past Tuesday I guided a relatively new member of the boating community to our waters. In particular to Spanish mackerel fishing.
His name was Gary Anderson and along with his friend Chuck, I showed them around our waters, in the process catching some mega Spanish mackerel live baiting on light tackle. But the coolest part of trip wasn’t the fish we caught. It was the kick I got watching the two of them totally grooving on being in out in the ocean, encountering loggerhead turtles, watching massive container ships heading into Savannah and sitting in the middle of massive schools of menhaden with their silver backs flicking on the surface for as far as the eye could see.
It was as if the heavens had opened sprinkling glitter on the water for miles on end.
If you think back to any of my articles, nearly every fishing picture I use has someone else holding up a fish, whether it be a redfish, mackerel, dolphin, wahoo or whatever. My forte is not as much reeling in fish as it is rigging and finding the fish and then if a fish should hit, I almost always leave the reeling to others.
What really keeps me going is introducing new people I meet to the water world that is my life. Don’t get me wrong, I have reeled in some monsters over the years but what excites me more than reeling is making sure that the cockpit is run smoothly and the rigging is perfect.
Take blue water fishing for instance.
Luckily, I had some excellent teachers as I was growing up and they taught me that the smallest tweaks can make a huge difference between catching and not catching. Is the drag on the reel set just right? Is the lure running straight? For instance, when I am trolling, it’s amazing how I can reel in three feet of line and the lure runs through the water with twice the action.
If you want to be really successful fishing, no matter what the species, you need to always pay attention to the conditions and fine-tune your approach to subtle differences such as wind, tides and waves as the day progresses.
A perfect example is when you are trolling baits in the Gulf Stream. Using the same rig, it will act completely different if you are trolling into the waves versus running down sea. As anyone that has fished with me knows, I can get pretty darn cantankerous in the cockpit if I notice something is not quite right.
I pretty much stay in perpetual motion the entire day changing out baits so that they are always fresh, mixing up colors to see what works and what doesn’t, but one thing is for certain, all that perseverance pays off.
If I were to give you three words of advice about rigging it would be “less is best.” So many fisherman have so much crap on their rigs its surprising a fish can find the hook.
You know what I mean; beads and crimps, large, silver snap swivels, leader material that could horse in a marlin and weights as big as your hand. I won’t go as far as saying fish are very smart, but they are accustomed to eating critters that aren’t wearing gobs of bling. So it makes sense that the closer you can match their food source, the better your chances of getting them to grab your offering.
Another pet peeve of mine happens when anglers I fish with feel they need to rip the face off a fish when it bites. Frankly, I think they have watched too many bass fishing shows. The only two fish around here that require that approach would be a sheepshead and a tarpon. For all the others, simply reel and your hook-up ratio will improve ten fold.
Since I am on the subject of pet peeves, another would have to be lifting a hooked fish out of the water with your rod. Why? The rod is bent and acts like a spring that is stretched to its limit. What happens should the fish shake loose from the hook? You got it, the hook flies through the air and sooner or later you’ll find yourself in the emergency room with a hook impaled in your hand or other body part.
Believe me on this one because I am talking from first-hand (and second hand and third hand, and…) experience.
So there you have it, Collins doesn’t reel in fish. Even if I happen to be holding a rod when a whopper hits, I can’t hand the rod off quick enough. My back has a lot to do with it, but reeling in fish is just not my thing. My true love is the art of rigging and figuring out how to get the most out of different ocean conditions.
Even more so, I love introducing new folks to my world of water. Almost without fail, except for possible bout with seasickness, they are totally hooked after that first trip. I get a big kick out of watching newbies grunt and groan after I hand off a rod attached to a big fish.
It might take a day for them to recuperate after a day-long adventure on the ocean, but usually the greatest satisfaction I get comes when my phone rings and the 70-year-old man I guided thanks me with the voice and enthusiasm of a 14-year-old. Now that’s life at its best!