pretty much useless at anything else.
It is a bit disconcerting to wake up
one morning and find that your one and
only talent has disappeared. This fish
drought has been going on for a few
weeks now. Last week I took my mate
Browny out for a marlin fish in my little
boat. We arrived in Bermagui nice and
early to launch the boat and noticed
one wheel on the trailer was wonky –
indicating a worn bearing. Generally,
that’s no big deal; it’s why the trailer has
four wheels. We launched the boat at
dawn, fished hard all day for zero, got
back to the ramp, took one wheel off
and drove home to Merimbula on the
three good wheel bearings. Maybe that
is a little bad luck coupled with a lack of
maintenance. I agree that isn’t a curse,
and I replaced the wheel bearing the
next day and planned the next trip.
This week we returned to Bermi for
another shot at a marlin. We got to the
ramp and again one wheel was wonky.
We fished all day for no strikes, took the
wheel off and drove home on the other
three. At least the bearing I replaced the
week before was still good. I replaced
the other three wheel bearings the next
day, but it cost me a day’s fishing, and
lying in the dirt covered in red grease is
not my idea of fun. Maybe Groundhog
Day twice does not make a curse, but
this type of thing has been going on for a
while now.
A few weeks ago the kingies had a
chew for three days in a row off Eden,
but I couldn’t go. Finally, I got a day
off, but they didn’t play. One fish was
the total catch for the fleet that day,
including the commercial guys. My mate
Bolto caught the only one and he was
very happy to show me the 47 phone
shots. Of course, the fish bit like hell over
the next couple of days, so I planned
another trip with Kev the kingy slayer,
who is aptly named and a gun on kings.
Despite the imported talent, on the day
we turned up, the whole fleet caught
zero. At least Bolto didn’t get one.
To really rub it in, on our first day
chasing the marlin at Bermi, when the
wheel fell off, I heard that the kingies
went mad at Eden and chased bait on
the surface ‘til lunch time. I hate that.
In the middle of all this I decided on a
trout trip because they are pretty easy,
right? Wrong! My ex mate Dave caught
seven while I caught one fingerling. I
normally go okay on trout so that was a
bit harsh.
This column is hot off the press and
I am writing it while watching Gerard
and Robbo talking about the AFL on TV.
Today I went trout fishing by myself,
which means I had no competition from
Dave. I even got up at 5am, which I find
depressing. Of course, the curse is not
real, so you can guess how many trout I
caught. Yep, that would be zero. Maybethe curse is real.
So where does that leave me?
Whatever the reason, I just have had
an amazing run of fishing disasters for
about a month. The next question is
what am I going to do about it?
I guess most fisho’s have read the
classic fishing story in Hemingway’s
‘The Old Man and the Sea’. The main
character is having the worst fishing
luck, but he realises fishing properly and
well is more important than worrying
about results. If you do everything as
well as possible and keep on trying,
eventually things will go your way. Even
on our last marlin day I was actually
happy with how we fished. All the gear
was in order and we went through
the processes well enough. We just
didn’t happen to catch one. Humans
are a funny lot, and at times negative
emotions just get in the way of success.
I do have some thoughts on how
to break the cycle. I could stop chasing
unpredictable fish like marlin and kingies
and have a serious day on some bream.
Just having the rod bent on a regular
basis might shake the curse. Or I could
go the other way and chase some big
jewfish because I have enough trouble
catching them even when I am going
well. Now that would kick-start a glory
run; there is nothing like a big, shiny
jewfish to get an angler up and going.
This is not the first lean run I have
had. It has happened a couple of times
in 60 years of fishing. The first time
it happened, I was a bit stunned and
cranky. Now I am just amused and I
suspect things will turn around. My
mates are at least having a good time
getting stuck into me.
I once ran across a man who had
been fly fishing for nine years without
catching a trout. I took him out for an
afternoon and he caught one. I have
rarely seen a more excited human being.
I would like to be that happy when I
break the curse, but I doubt I could last
the nine years!uoS
th^ Australian (^) An
(^49) regl