Young lads and the Sea

Before this fishing trip, the last time I went on a boat to the sea was during my second scuba diving trip 1.5 years ago; the last time I thought deeply about the sea was when I was absorbed by the book "Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway 3 months ago (though I must admit I was drawn thoroughly to "Life of Pi" more which left my mind unsettled for a while denying some cruel facts; while the last time I watched the sea from the pier was already 1.5 months ago. I love the sea, it is full of mystery deep under, it may have a totally different life form somewhere not known to us. I had the chance of living close to the sea in my childhood, I dream of having a house built near the sea in the far future, but right now I have little chance of seeing the sea, of course, except if I go fishing.

Thanks to the organizer, Will, we had a fruitful trip to Westernport Marina, Hastings with the Peninsula Fishing Charters. Weather was moderate, with a bit of drizzle at the beginning, sun all the way and chilly wind to end with. Overall good for fishing, we should not expect any better as weather is crazy these days with a top of 36C these 2 days, then down to 19C over night. The sea was calm and quiet at the pier area, and got slightly rough out to the sea.

With little experience fishing, I started with feeding about 5-6 snappers whilst perfecting my bait-tying skills and recalling basic fishing techniques I learnt some 15 years ago. It was not before long (just 3+ hours later) that I finally caught a snapper, which was also the last one (35th? 45th?) we could bring back. Satisfied with the small achievement, we sat down happily to have sausage rolls and home-made curry puff without realizing that my jacket was already heavily stained with blood and it really looked like I have murdered someone. One of us caught a blowfish and Rob (the fishing charter guy) blew it up, and I thought it looked a little like a squirrel with long rabbit teeth. After we were done with the snappers, we shifted to another spot fishing for Whitings. I noticed that our boat was equipped by Codan equipment (GPS, radar or some sort).

Each of us brought 3 snappers back home. The recreational catch limits for snappers introduced by Victorian government is a maximum of 3 measuring 40cm or more. At night, the 5 hours of standing on board left me with its after effects. Not that I could not stabilize myself on the ground, but I could feel the earth under my feet moving with the waves.