How much risk are you willing to take to catch a fish? A fellow we all know was so tired of watching bass annihilate the bunker schools just out of his casting range he went to the store and bought flippers. Then he swam to the school and got towed around by a thirty pound bass.
There are fellows that swim to rocks in the middle of the night, rocks that would require adult diaper for me to get to.
How far would you go to catch fish?
I have this split personality disorder when it comes to this. One hand, while I sit on LIRR and typing this, I don’t want any part of it. Swimming, skishing, storm fishing, being wet, any of it. For what, to catch a fish just like the one I caught yesterday? Maybe even the same one? Is putting myself in the harm’s way really necessary?
But then I get to the beach and Mr. Hyde comes out. Suddenly no blitz is too far to chase after, no rock is too far to swim, no jetty is too slippery, no sandbar looks unappealing enough to not think how to get on it.
nice pic.
↓That`s why I wear a wet suit, I`ve driven two hour, walk 2 miles, swim to a rock that I can`t see and hope the tide allows a extra pass or two, on a new moon [total darkness].
Pray to my higher power for a save return, to my loveing family! And maybe an encounter with that dream fish
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"Perservance Rock"
↓I think fisherman in general are always pushing the limits, the risk for me out weighs the reward big time, just look and see how many people lose there lives every season doing it.
↓I don’t think it is as much about the fish as it is the pursuit of the fish. boat, beach, jetty, rock, sod bank, kayak, flat calm, storm, bait, artificial, spinning gear, conventional gear, fly, spear….
Some pursuits are for relaxation, others are challenging. Chance/risk are all a matter of one’s level of preparedness.
Often the concurring the “risk”, better put as challenge, is the reward.
↓For me it is a matter of Judgement. Mostly it consist of weather condition assesment. Things like gale type winds, currents, fog ect.ect.
↓I have adopted 2 principles that come from my other sport of S.C.U.B.A. diving.
1)Buddy system = don’t dive by yourself. I fish with another friend specialy at night.
2)I use BC = buoyancy compensator, so does my fishing partner.
That is my level of preparedness. It levels out chance/risk. Wetsuit is a given.
I skish, now ths sprng i have really made it my main form of surfcasting. for me it s not the risk im taking its just different nothing like, fighting a fish in ITS territory, and frankly the biggest risk is getting hit by a boat, but being aware of your surroundings, solves that. By doing things safely, even those things that seem crazy can be safe
↓different risks or different fears, i dont mind rocks and have spent entire half tides on a jetty tip cut off by high water. thers a wester LI jetty that you have to tip toe shimmy along the pointed side of a giant concrete block to make it out. All that is fine. I am terrified of wading out to an offshore sand bar
↓When I tell people that I like to fish,they see a bucket,some bait,beers,and a whole lot of sitting around.”oh, that sounds so relaxing” they say.Then I tell them about the wetsuit or waders and a drytop.The pounding surf and clutching to rocks in the middle of the night.I tell them,fishing is a contact sport they way we play!
↓Friend and I were tired of waiting for a tide to go out so we wetsuited up and canoe-ed a few miles to get to a place virtually no one has been on the flood. Found tons of bait but not necessarily fish. Was an experience to say the least but we had push it to justify the time we have put in lately. Getting skunked on live eels sucks…but we took a chance. He forgot his gloves for the barnacle covered rocks…I forg
↓forgot my korkers insoles for my boots. Frustrating in the thick of bait and not getting many hits. At least we weren’t wondering from shore or worse yet…from the couch/keyboard.
↓I guess it comes down to personal feelings about one’s ability to take risks, taking into account which is more important, that fish or your family. You have to know your limitations and act judiciously. If that fish is more important than your marriage and your kids, just make sure your insurance is paid up-to-date.
↓In addition, check this out: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/204TwL/analyfe.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/the-tourist-and-the-fisherman/
↓A few years ago, I began taking my friends out fishing. There was a particular good run of bluefish, so teaching surfcasting was magnified by hooking up. So their mentality of fishing is “boring” and “just sitting around” was changed. I had gotten them so excited to fish, they even came out at 5am in hurricane weather. The winds were so bad, we ended up sitting at the boat basin eating munchkins and drinking coffee, watching the waves pound the dock. Amidsted my friend’s mutterings of “who’s bright idea was this!” I just smiled and retorted, “everyone here knew what the weather forecast was”… unfortunately that day, there was also a report of a surfcaster swept off a jetty as well.
Another occasion was storm watching, and after a few text messages, we decided that the storm wasn’t going to hit Captree. We were wrong; we arrived at Captree and there was no rain. However, there was this huge patch of ominous clouds off in the near distance, my friends grabbed their crabbing gear and ran off to the pier. I eyeballed the clouds one more time, packed up my weakfishing rods, grabbed my rain gear, put out the towels in the car, walked towards the pier and as the first HUGE drops started to hit, smiled as my friends all came dashing back to the car, hilarious. They were all soaking wet, and I was dry as a bone. My car didn’t fair to well though.
There’s also finishing up lunch in Chinatown NYC after church. Turn to my friend and go, we should go to Montauk and catch the last of the fall run. She goes, “OK”. I did a double take and said, “what?”. Long story short, we took the 2.5 hr drive to Montauk, fished huge blitzes for about 2 hours (I landed only 2 big bluefish), and drove back. It was worth that trip, but definitely need a buddy for the ride.
↓I think the Montauk fly guides have us beat hands down when it comes to taking a chance. A good percentage of them have flipped their boats (and put customers lives at risk) in a rough surf, trying to get in close enough.
I’ll take floating in a wet suit over that any day (or night)
↓As I get older, I’ve had to adjust some of my fishing techniques to accomodate the creaky knee and cranky hip. But the time I worry most is when I’m in my Jeep driving to and from where ever I am/was fishing. I’m more likely to be taken out by some yo-yo texting while driving.
Truth is, I still find myself in fishing situations once in a while that I’m not %100 comfortable with.
Your story sounds like our friend Andrew 😉
↓I like to fish in a wetsuit. I fish alone. I wear a mustang survival PFD & keep Force Fins close.
↓I practice swimming in my fins & boots regularly. It is very scary stuff & helps me find out who I really am. Best Wishes & Be Safe