curves

Learning curves

One of the most rewarding aspects offishing is having the opportunity to fish with people from manywalks of life and for them to learn from you and also for you tolearn from them. As with anything, don't ever fall into themisconception that you know all and can learn no more. This is nodifferent with fishing, as there is so much to learn from everyperson regardless of his or her experience or lack thereof.

One of the great things about where I liveand fish (Palm Island) is the remoteness of the area. While thisis a great benefit, as it does not suffer from increased fishingpressure, it is not a reason to restrict people from enjoyingwhat I have come to (at times) take for granted. I have beenfortunate enough to have friends (both old and new) who havetaken the time to visit this fishing paradise, and while it hasbeen a learning experience for them, it has also been one for me.There is something special about seeing the fun and enjoymentsomeone gets when they catch a fish in a new area, and to thinkthat you have assisted in this. I get just as much of a buzzseeing someone else catch a fish than I do when I catch onemyself.

Over the Christmas break I had the chanceto fish with one of the first children I taught and he brought amate up with him to share in the fun. For Sean and Jarrad, thetwo weeks they spent here was a steep learning curve as thefishing they were used to was totally different to what they wereabout to take part in. Both of them had become accustomed tofishing baits and lures in creeks, rivers and harbours mainly.Palm Island has none of that. Upon landing here they were verykeen to get a look at the place and enjoyed the first day sailingon a friends yacht around the Islands-what a welcome. Althoughthis was fun it was not why they had come here and at the firstchance they had the lines in the water and were fishingfuriously.

One of the biggest differences theyencountered (and one that every one has trouble with) is thecrystal clear water around the Islands. Because visitors are notused to this they very often spook the fish before they see themor before they get a cast to them. This was the case with Seanwhen he spooked a large queenfish because his lure landed tooclose to the fish. Unfortunately, the fish disappeared and didn'tgive him a second chance.

When fishing clear water always wearpolaroid sunglasses- they are not just for looks. Also try tominimise your movements and wear neutral clothing.

Both lads recorded catches of flathead,stripeys, trevally and other mixed reef species- all on lures.One of the most memorable times was when they had a hot bite offthe sand spit of one of the Islands where nearly every castproduced a fish. Over the two-week period both boys had a greatadventure fishing, snorkelling, sailing and four wheel driving.

After a two-week rest by myself, I had afew mates from Orange in NSW visit. Now these lads are nothingshort of an adventure and the time they spent here was full ofexperiences. Andrew, Occy and Aaron spent most of their timefishing and camping. Now if you want to see a gymnast, Occy isthe bloke to see- this fella can back flip like no one else andis quite the gun with fire sticks too. The lads wasted no timefinding tuna around the Island and tackling a few of the largequeenfish. These fish proved to be a challenge in shallow waterand most were released a little too early and not intentionally-the lure of the day was Occy's "fizzer'.

Shortly after their departure I was toshare they company of a few of the members of the Townsvilleflyfishing group. It is great to fish and share knowledge withfellow fly fishers and the time they spent was not only alearning experience for them but for me also. They came over herewith these flies that looked as though they had fallen off theChristmas tree and I was a little apprehensive as to theirability to catch fish. My mistake. These flashy profile fliescaught more than their fair share of fish including a nice sizedcod and a coral trout that took a real liking to one of theflies- so much so that it swallowed the fly then proceeded backhome leaving Hans with no say in the matter. This was also thecase with the barracuda's, who had a large part in lightening thefly boxes.

Needless to say that after they left I wasmadly making these flashy profile flies and then trying them outagain to make sure that it wasn't just a lucky day that they had.A single drift past a section of reef gave me my answer, andafter catching seven different species of fish on the one fly Iretired it to the wall because there was more hook than materialleft on it.

A month or so later Hans and Justinreturned with another flyfishing member, Andreas. He was treatedto a memorable weekend. Andreas returned to Townsville with ninenew species of fish on the fly and it was as though he could dono wrong that day. After reaching about number seven I thought Iwould have some fun and pulled up at a section of reef and calledit for his eighth species. Shortly after Andreas matched thecall. To make matters worse as we were heading home I pulled upat the mouth of the channel at an artificial reef and calledAndreas to make it number nine for the day. Three casts laterAndreas had species number nine to the boat. He was lucky not tobe swimming home. What sort of fly was he using? One of thoseflashy profile things- I am sure I have had bad dreams aboutthose flies. Needless to say that my next trip to Townsville hadthe Spotlight store as my top priority.

All of these encounters with differentpeople really sent home the message that fishing is more thanjust going out and wetting a line. It's all about friendships,parting and sharing knowledge, and having a great time whiledoing it. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the time I fishalone- speaking of which, I'm going fishing.