Celebrations!

My second fishing lesson, SIL very wisely did NOT ask me to cast.

The tide was just coming in so we were hopeful the fish would approve of SIL’s new hook combination; which to me looked quite complex. However, I was assured it would yield results as the hooks were smaller and therefore attracted a wider variety of fish. The weights were also lighter and there was something else – but it escapes me at the moment.

Mental note – take a photo for future reference, as they say “a picture saves a 1000 words”.

The line cast into a rock pool I waited with eager anticipation for the gentle tug on the line that indicates a fish has taken the bait. We made various attempts; SIL patiently recasting the line and untangling the hooks as I constantly managed to snare them on the rocks. I have never known anyone so patient!

After approximately an hour I felt a gentle tug on the line.

Yippee!

I yanked the rod in an upwards motion, struggling to hold on to it whilst furiously reeling in the line. To be honest it was the equivalent of trying to pat your head whilst trying to rub your stomach! My excitement, when the fish was eventually hauled out of the water, was not diminished by the fact that it was just 6 inches long. I felt elated, the size of the fish unimportant to me. I’d actually caught a fish! Hubby of course took the ‘Mickey’ when he saw it, but as I pointedly remarked “it was one more fish than he had actually caught!”

In fact, my fish was so small SIL took pity on it; carefully removed the hook and released it back into the water. Lucky fish it lived to tell the tale, plus it had a free prawn lunch into the bargain! I did have a photo for the album but even Photoshop could not work its magic to enhance the image or its size!.

We celebrated my first ‘catch’ with a couple of bottles of wine at the beach café.

So what have I learnt so far?

Fishing is not just about casting your line into the sea; several key factors have to be taken into consideration. These are: the moon; tides; sea condition; weather and location. The use of the correct rod, hooks, line and bait are also important.

OK, I am off to conduct some further research on various types of fish and bait.

SIL on a solo fishing expedition to the cliffs (not for the feint hearted as you will see from the above picture) discovered the local fishermen used worms as bait. Now there’s a challenge…where do we find worms and what type?

Some useful fishing terms in Portuguese:

Isco – Bait

Pesca – Fishing

Minhoca – Worms