Sea sickness was on everyone's minds, since last time a few of our friends didn't have their sea legs and subsequently lost their sea lunches. But other than a bit of rocking and feeling like I was on a boat later in the night, the boat's bouncing was more ride than anyhing else. On the way through Sydney Harbour out to the mighty Pacific, a few of the rods showed a bend, which meant the fish were foolishly going for a bright and flashy bait that wasn't really bait at all. I was taking notes as some of the guys managed to fight these slimy fish into the boat.
This is where I'd like to make the comparison between fishing and wine tasting. Throwing back the fish after a hard-working catch is kind of like spitting out the wine after a taste. What a waste, enjoy your newly caught fish and wine, Jesus would.
When we got out into the ocean, that's when we set up shop by our 'rods,' stationary lines with the bait hooks. Something they don't tell prior to fishing is two of the more challenging things (at least on this boat) are hooking your bait and not getting your line tangled with the guy next to you. But basically, the rest of the time is waiting and reeling. Waiting....and reeling. Then moving the boat to a different spot with apparently more fish, and more waiting and reeling. Oh, and getting your hands to smell like fish the rest of the day while putting prawns, mini fish and squid on the hooks. I was shocked I didn't prick myself with the hook during one of these bait sessions.
But there was good music on the boat, sort of. I got 'Working for the Weekend' by Loverboy caught in my head, presumably thinking of the classic Chris Farley Chippendales SNL skit.
Fishing also reminded me of another nautical pasttime, sailing. They're both alot of prep work, with all the lines, bait, reels, sails, hooks and said hooks getting caught on the ocean floor. But for the times that a fish actually nibbles on our line and you come up with a salmon, pigfish or kingfish, it's pretty cool. Otherwise, beer may be required.
Despite the waiting, reeling and sun burning, all in all, good experience. Got a rare view of the coast, saw some pretty cool catches (with fish flapping around, of course) and saw old man Hal gut and scale about 30 fish on the way home. Ohh, that's what they mean by that...
During our day on the ocean (which wasn't really that far, we could see Bondi the whole time), I also caught one fish, my first ever: it's called a sweep and it was delicious.
This is neither me catching a fish, nor any of our group. Hell, this is actually fly fishing. But Rory's pics are forthcoming and this shows Sydney Harbour, so close enough!
