Teaching Weekend Fishing

It is good to know where your food comes from.

Sushi is very popular, but not everyone knows how to catch tuna.

My daughter landed a big one on Saturday.

I was reminded of the proverb – Give me a fish and I eat for a day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime – it is so relevant. Not just when it comes to fishing, or even food gathering more generally, but also when it comes to being able to interpret information.

I can help with the interpretation of information, including explaining the nonsense of some of the official measuring techniques used by the Bureau of Meteorology and also at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences.

My daughter has explained to me by text (and subsequently given me permission to share) some of what her husband has taught her about fishing:

… how to drive the boat, what speed is good for trawling for different fish versus when we’re chasing and driving into a bust up for tuna, he taught me how the tuna behave in terms of not being territorial, he taught me how to read the sounder to understand the depths readings, and he taught me what to look for on the water to understand where the tuna might be and how many birds might give it away and what else to maybe look for, he taught me how to flick with the rod for them and when it wasn’t working straight away he taught me you have to let the lure fall for a few seconds after flicking before reeling in and what speed to do it, he taught me where to cast in the bust up, he taught me how to reel them in based on tuna behaviour in terms of how they fight, which is different to other fish, and then he showed me where to bleed a tuna which is totally different to other fish!

He taught me how fast you have to kill it to keep the flesh tender and optimal. And when there’s a bust up and they are jumping which is the most obvious sign once you’re close, as opposed to looking for bird behaviour at distance, he is so often driving the boat into it for me so that I get to cast. He taught me how to reel in, whereas many guys like their wife driving so they are casting and reeling in. He taught me how to know it’s a tuna I’ve got on the line and the immediate pull I should feel (compared to say when you’re fishing for coral trout it feels different because they behave differently).

The rush comes from that moment of getting on and then fighting them to come in, and he is so encouraging of making sure I get to fish and feel that even though it means he didn’t get on a fish yesterday (we could see them chasing his lure!), because he kept saying no you cast I want you to get on, so he would drive for me. He teaches me so much and is so empowering and such a special husband.

There is something about proximity to nature and learning how to make sense of it. The more disconnected a person is from nature, often the more hubris. And the world is too full of that.

Never underestimate the value of simple things, that really aren’t that simple, like fishing.

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The feature image shows the tuna my daughter caught on Saturday. I’m always so proud of her.