The First Fish

This morning I got in my first fishing expedition. I had a recommendation that where prawn traps are set is a good place to fish for bottom fish. Apparently those bottom fish like to feed on prawns! Shawl Bay, where we spent the past town nights, is a popular prawning spot. Yesterday a guy on one boat caught a beautiful 2 foot red snapper. Definitely stirred my interest, so I determined to get myself out to fish.

Each year when I start to fish, I have to learn all over again how to tie the knot that secures the hook, how to arrange my gear, and how to make my little fishfinder work (after being reminded how to start the little engine we have for the dinghy—I’m a rower, not an engine person). After a half hour of gathering gear (fish pole, fishing gear box, gaff hook to bring the mighty fish aboard, a baby bathtub to put the fish in so it doesn’t flop all over the dinghy, a piece of pipe to serve as a fish bonker, a net (just in case—but not advised for bottom fish, which tend to tangle up the net with their spiny top fins), my gloves, and my lifejacket, I was finally ready to go.

I motored out to the fishing spot, dropped my line in about 150 feet of water (about 100 feet less than where the guy yesterday had fished, but my fishfinder was telling me there were fish down there), and within a minute I had a bite. NOT a nice big one, and NOT a red snapper, but a pretty little bottom fish a little over a foot long, big enough to feed the two of us. I could probably have just hauled it aboard with the pole, but used my gaff hook for practice. A successful expedition--my criteria for success is whether the fish can feed both of us.

My prawn haul at Shawl Bay was also not impressive, but in two pulls I garnered a dozen prawns—enough to make a dinner for us. Now I am in that place I often find myself while in the Broughtons, with a backlog of several meals of fresh seafood (1 crab, one dozen prawns, and 2 fish fillets) to be eaten. That frozen meat in our freezer will just have to wait. Such a problem to have, eh?