Part 2 - Salt Water Fishing With All Your Five Senses
Why oh Why Didn’t I Wear Gloves? We readied our gear and dropped lines, one line rigged with a white-feathered, lead-headed jig. My
I winced as the blue mono tightened around my naked palm. Something strong, wet and angry had grabbed ahold of my spoon. Now I was paying the price. Crimson dripped into the deep blue depths with each lunge. It’s illegal to fish with a rod and reel, long line, trotline or net in the park entrance waters, you see.
Fish On!
“Fish on!” I croaked still wincing, but Pepe was already ahead of me. He’d seen the strike as my whole arm jerked aft. It had to be a good-sized Tuna or Albacore, maybe a sizeable Sierra could strike and battle like that but my money was on an Albacore. These bullet-shaped fish have two speeds: over-the-speed-limit-fast and full-throttle-overdrive. These speedsters can topple an unsuspecting fisherman overboard in a flash. They hit your line like a runaway freight train. The sudden stress often just snaps the line. If your rod isn’t ready or heavy enough, they’ll snap that off too. On occasion small sharks would hit too, especially early morning, late afternoon and on darker, low-barometer days.
Dorado, Aguja, Tuna, Albacore, Sierra or Shark?
“What do you think, Dorado, Albacore or Aguja?” asked Pepe who was keenly watching the pattern of the fight.
That often told you what was on the other end of your line well before the fish ever came into view. If indeed it ever did come into view. Flexing my biceps against an unwilling guest, I thought about his words. A Dorado would take awhile to land if I didn’t want to risk a snapped line. These gold, blue and green, round-headed beauties were strong and could easily be heavier than my line strength. A steel-pipe-shaped Aguja (Needle Fish), would easily snip right through mono of up to 100-pound test if its rows razor-blades called teeth ever reached beyond the 18-inch stainless steel leader. Even the wire leader would shear if I took too long in landing “ole toothy”. Only sharks and Piranha have more fearsome jaws than an Aguja. The “swooshing” sound of the line through the soft swells told me that we were in deeper waters now. The change in color from greenish to deep blue only served to confirm this. Deeper water was darker as the sun’s rays didn’t reflect off the bottom. Minutes later, the nearly 15-pound Albacore was gaffed and swung aboard.
Your Senses Will Tell You
Your ears can tell you of splashing baitfish and the predators that are after them. Listen too for the sounds of other boats, waves crashing against hidden rocks and reefs far out from shore. Your eyes give you constant information on depth and bottom cover. The smell of the open ocean differs from near-shore grounds with their hints of rain forest vegetation and palm groves lining the sandy salt-water caressed shores. You can feel the movement of your quarry beneath the waves as it swirls, dives, circles, twists, thrashes and rises in efforts to free itself from an unknown enemy. Taste the salt spray, the cool freshwater rain and the refreshing chill of the well-deserved “cold one” you’ll have after a serious fight – no matter which of you wins it.
Try fishing using all five of your senses. You’ll be surprised at just how much the enjoyment of all your fishing experiences will improve.
Larry M. Lynch is an expert author and university professor in
Labels: Aguja, Albacore, Colombia, Dorado, Pacific Ocean, salt water fishing, Shark, Sierra, Tuna
posted by Larry @ 11:11 AM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home