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Gone Fishin': Multitasking on a fishing vacation
September 8, 2005
By Nelson Sigelman
Photo by Susan Safford |
I took a break from work this week to go fishing. Then I took a break from fishing to go goose hunting. Then I spent 14 hours assembling a desk and hutch designed by an engineer with a sense of humor who lives in the People’s Republic of China.
The fishing was the least relaxing part of my whole week. I will explain how this all ties together.
I knew it was not a good idea to tell my wife that I was going to take a week off and just go fishing. Not that the idea of me fishing upsets my wife. It is the not working part that throws her.
My wife treasures the moments when she has the house to herself. If I do not work and decide to stay in the house I achieve the same status as a piece of furniture that is really not useful in the house and is always in the way. If I collapse on the couch for a midday-nap I revert to the status of dust tumbleweed.
I explained to Norma that I would also use some of my week off to finish a summer project I had yet to start, the conversion of an unused bedroom into a study where my daughter, who began her first year of high school yesterday, would hopefully do her homework free of distractions. I considered it a noble undertaking.
Originally, my grand plans included removing closet walls. My wife reminded me of past projects. The project was significantly downgraded as reality set in and the summer passed.
My grand construction project became a desk and hutch from the Staples trailer park collection desk. Two boxes containing simulated wood and pieces made in China, lots of them, and a set of pictorial directions clearly designed so that people who are unable to read, or members of tribes that have no actual written language but need a desk and hutch, could assemble it.
Assembling the desk kept me from bonito fishing. I was not disappointed thinking that I was missing something. At least after ten or so hours I had something to show for my effort and that is more than I can say about bonito fishing.
There is a strange logic that governs bonito fishing. A few weeks ago my neighbor, a seasonal visitor, told me that he had had a good week of fishing. Day after day of bonito fishing and four fish to show for it.
Perhaps it is the challenge of hooking a bonito that people find so appealing. But there is also a great deal of frustration involved that has nothing to do with the fish.
On Saturday, I sat off State Beach in Oak Bluffs and watched a dozen boats converge on one small breaking school of bonito. The attacking flotilla included a twin-engine 21-footer and an inflatable with two guys holding fishing rods.
The assembled fly fishermen and spin fishermen madly cast into a rough circle where the fish had been but were no longer. I did not see anyone hook up.
The scene repeated itself. Each time the fish came up the boats converged on that spot. It appeared that none of the fishermen involved had considered the futility of their actions.
Once, the fish came up right off the bow of a boat with two fishermen. Instead of hanging back and giving the guys a fair shot, the nearest fishermen began casting to the spot where the fish had erupted, almost guaranteeing that if one of the guys in the boat did hook up he would end up with a lure draped over his fishing line.
I meandered around hoping to get lucky and find a school away from the pack. But after a few hours I decided that my chances of finding bonito were pretty slim. I headed to the launch ramp wondering why I even bother to chase bonito if I am not having fun.
Jamie Boyle, a well-known charter captain, was also pulling his boat. He had been in Menemsha earlier in the day fishing for bonito, a situation he described as a zoo.
The ultimate he told me was when a kayaker (Et tu kayaker?) cut him off from the fish. Bonito boneheadedness was only thought to infect motor boaters and this was a new and alarming development.
Bonito fishing should be about the exciting opportunity to hook a small tuna on light tackle. Instead, bonito fishing is all about a frenzied dash and cast. Bonito fishing is about shore fishermen yelling at boat fishermen, boat guys yelling at shore guys, and everyone yelling at everyone else.
Every year people tell me that the lack of consideration has never been worse. Perhaps, but I suspect it is all a matter of forgetting just how crazy some people get when fish start breaking.
The most effective way to increase the odds of catching a bonito is to watch where the fish are surfacing and anchor or drift in the same area. Chasing down a pod can be effective, for the first few boats to arrive, but it is seldom productive for the fishermen in the following boats.
It is hard to resist the urge to fly over to a school of breaking fish. I do it. But I try to be realistic. If it looks futile, I try to give the nearest boat the chance.
Bonito boneheads are frequently guilty of cutting other fishermen off from the fish. A pod of breaking fish will be moving bait in the direction of a stationary boat. The fishermen in the stationary boat are anticipating a shot when another boat slides in between them and the fish.
That sort of thing leads to bonito rage; so much for a nice day on the water.
Saturday had been enough bonito fishing for me. Wanting to do something a little more relaxing and less prone to violence I decided to go goose hunting.
My dog, Tashmoo, an 11-year-old Lab, had spent most of the long hot humid summer lying on the floor panting. And for the first time in his life he started to act like an old dog.
One day watching him move around It occurred to me that as painful as it will be for both of us, this would probably be Tashmoo’s last full hunting season. I decided to make it a good one.
Tuesday was the first day of the early goose season. In the past I hunted the Katama Farm field and left Tashmoo behind because he was not needed and the field is used by other hunters. Instead I decided to hunt over water where every speck of Tashmoo’s DNA tells him he was born to swim out and fetch a dead bird.
I had done some early scouting and knew where a flock of geese left a pond and about what time. Early Tuesday morning I roused Tashmoo off his bed. His tail began to wag energetically when he saw that instead of a fishing rod I was holding my shotgun, a Browning Light 12.
It was a great morning and I was happy I did not go fishing.
Derby kicks off
The 60th Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby begins at 12:01 am Sunday morning.
This year’s Derby features a number of rules changes and some prize twists.
The most notable rules change has to do with false albacore, an exciting fish to catch but one which has little food value. As a result hundreds of albies brought to the weigh station were simply used for lobster bait or discarded.
In an effort to cut down on the number of fish brought to the weigh station each Derby fisherman is now only allowed to bring in three false albacore. Fish that do not meet the 25-inch minimum size set by the Derby will still count to that total.
The object is to get fishermen to release all but the contenders, or those fish big enough to qualify. It is a good change.
A statement by the Derby committee posted on the Derby web site (mvderby.com) explains some of the reasons for the change.
“The Committee firmly believes that the Derby should not promote the needless killing of fish. Although the minimum size of 25 inches was established in 1998 to reduce landings, over 600 false albacore were weighed in 2004 and this number does not represent the actual number of fish killed, which was considerably higher. Therefore, the Derby Committee has decided that a false albacore bag limit is necessary to further reduce the wasteful killing of these fish.”
The derby committee is also spicing up the prize structure this year but it will cost you. Derby fishermen who pay a $10 surcharge on top of the registration fee ($40 for adults) will be eligible for some exciting prizes.
On October 1, the anglers weighing in the heaviest overall striped bass, bluefish, bonito, and false albacore will each receive a check for $500. Only fish weighed in on that day are eligible.
At the awards ceremony on October 16, a drawing will be held for a new 12-foot aluminum skiff, 9.9 horse Yamaha outboard, and trailer.
Fishermen can register for the Derby at most of the Island’s tackle shops and other Island outlets.
Good luck and be careful.
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