Tidelines – April 25, 2013
Lately I’ve been trying to buy myself out of fishing boredom.
Part of Fisherman’s Post‘s mission statement is to promote our local fishery, and I normally try to do just that in my Tidelines column, but since I haven’t wet a hook in the last two weeks I’m finding it hard to do so as I write this column.
Like most of our readers, I have obligations that keep me from being able to fish any day I wish. My schedule presents certain days as opportunities, but once again this past two weeks those open days were plagued by high winds.
And it seems, at least with me, there’s a certain build-up effect with this kind of bad weather “luck.” It starts to lessen your fishing motivation in general, as I now find myself waiting for a long spell of blue bird days and much warmer water temperatures, rather than just an open window for a single day of fishing.
So I’ve been trying to buy myself out of fishing boredom. This past week I went through my tackle boxes (for maybe the third time this winter), made notes about what supplies I could use, and then went down the road to Tex’s Tackle to spend a little money.
Since this is the third time, though, that I’ve “organized” my tackle, I don’t really need anything new. I can still justify a couple of packs of hooks, some assorted sizes of bucktails, and maybe a little extra fluoro, but that’s about it until I start losing some tackle on the bottom or by casting around docks.
And to help pass the time over these last two weeks, I’ve made a point to only buy one item at a time. So on one trip I bought the hooks. Then on another day made a point to stop by and look over the bucktails. And on a third day I picked up some 30 lb. fluoro.
Part of the problem with me trying to buy my way out of fishing boredom is that I’m cheap. I’d love to pass over the fluoro (which I’m really okay on as I still had at least a third of a spool) and head to the back of the store to pick up a new reel or walk the rod aisles finding a new stick. I’m wanting to play more this year with a 1000 reel and an ultra-light 6’ rod, but that purchase is on hold as I, like most in the business of fishing, am coming off the lean winter months and need the season to get underway before there’s any real play money.
So fluoro it is.
I’m also employing other tactics to stave off frustration before I get to put in some real time on the water again. No fishing means no fresh fish to cook, so I’ve been fine tuning my crab cake recipe. The guys at Cape Fear Coast Seafood on Market Street have been my suppliers (the ones who are giving me my fix), and I’ve dialed in the exact amounts needed of Old Bay, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, etc.
I’ve also been going through fish photos on my cell phone to revisit some late winter trips, and in doing so I came across a photo that I wanted to turn into a Tidelines column but the timing of the fishing trip didn’t coincide with an issue. J.J. Khoury, my brother-in-law, and I enjoyed a day out of Oriental catching speckled trout with Capt. Gary Dubiel. However, what the photo below doesn’t show is that in addition to plenty of quality specks, Dubiel educated the two of us with detailed descriptions of how a trout strikes, intrigued us with explanations of his proven tactics for catching the big red drum in the Pamlico/Neuse on topwaters, and entertained us with work stories from his time serving in local Emergency Rooms.
The good news? I truly believe that these next two weeks before our May 9 issue will usher in that hot spring bite that we’ve all been waiting for. My boat is ready. The tackle is ready. I’ll pressure our salesman to sell a couple more ads so I can warrant the ultra-light combo. And then, hopefully, the fish will cooperate and I’ll have plenty to chat about in my next column.
And if for some reason I still don’t get to go fishing, then I’ll use the next Tidelines to promote our upcoming Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge and the 2013 Inshore Trail (see ad copy pages 6 & 8).
