To be honest, Mike, I really far prefer to go fishing on my own unless it is with my own kids who are now adults, scattered far and wide and pretty well out of the fishing picture. However, in recent years I have felt some obligation to take some friends and rellies but I have to say that I don't usually enjoy the experience.
I have about six people who are always keen to go fishing but after a while it becomes not much fun taking guests fishing. It gets to the point where I am just running an unpaid charter boat business ...
1. Pretty well none of them have any fishing gear at all or gear that is up to the task so I usually have to surrender the simple light rod that I like using so that they have something to use and I use my heavier more complicated gear that I would not usually use such that my own fishing experience is lessened. Maybe, I should spend $80 to buy a cheap rod just for guests but why?
2. I usually supply everything - bait, fuel, hooks (at about $1.50 a throw for some of mine), etc. People just assume that I will. That usually also means that I will oversupply so that we will not run out. If it was just me fishing and I run out of bait, I just come home. It also means that I usually supply multiple bait choices to help ensure their success. 'Tis not hard to incur an extra $50 on a fishing trip to ensure that someone else has a good time. I have had people offer $5 to help defray expenses - just another insult really.
3. Some of them turn up in shoes and socks which means that I cannot even get them to hold the boat in the water at the ramp and also that I have to launch and retrieve the boat myself as I normally do but then find myself having to pull up at the jetty to get them on/off board. This is a real nuisance.
4. "Please" is not a word that I EVER hear when anyone asks if they might come fishing. Not once! Never! Nyet! Usually it is something like "How about you take me fishing. I am good at fishing" (which is always a lie) or "If you are nice to me, I will let you take me fishing." The arrogance that accompanies people's fishing requests is stunning at times.
5. Often, if we do catch fish, they do not have an esky to take it home. You would be surprised at the number of times that I have supplied eskies, buckets (the stout $11 variety) etc for people to take home some fish. Of course, I never get them back. Ever.
6. When I take someone fishing, it becomes an "event". Viz, I need to arrange times, set alarms etc. I had to do that in my working life. Don't want to do that again. Most times when I go fishing, I look out of the window at the weather after waking when my body wants to awaken and then I decide if I am going fishing. If I want to stay out a bit longer than usual, I just phone my wife and tell her that I am coming home later and then I radio the marine rescue people who I have logged on with and tell them the same thing. That can be at midday or midnight - 'tis easy to make that decision when I am on my own.
7. I tire of hearing fishing stories on board about the "big kingie" that they caught at Lord Howe Island on a charter boat or the big barramundi they caught at Groote Eylandt or things like, "Call this cold?! This is nothing. When I was doing a night huskie sled trip in Canada last Christmas, now - that was cold!) Am I supposed to be impressed by this stuff from people who usually struggle to recognise when they are even getting bites when on my boat. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
8. Some of them don't live for the moment and are always answering mobile phone calls. Hell! I had to tolerate that in my work life. Don't wanna listen to that garbage when I am out enjoying the serenity of the ocean.
9. Because I feel an obligation to give my guests a good time, I will then find myself going to the heavily fished areas that have a good chance of producing fish and not getting to explore other places that might yield no result on the day. It matters not to me whether I catch fish on every trip as I have plenty in my freezer but I lose that freedom when I have guests.
10. Often, I catch all or nearly all of the fish when I go fishing with a guest so then I give them all of the fish or crabs or at least most of them so that they do not arrive home disappointed. So, the benefit to me of taking them fishing is?????????
11. Half of the times that I take people fishing, they arrive late and so I am usually sitting in the boat at the jetty squandering good tide time waiting for them to arrive. They then mince down the jetty and look for help to get on the boat as though they should be waited on like royalty.
12. Half of the guests need help in baiting hooks and tying on tackle. It s just like taking a young kid fishing most times. Don't wanna spend my time out on my boat doing that. Been there; done that.
13. Obviously, being guests, they are not an asset in managing a boat. They are a liability - either getting in the way or, if they do help, doing things like winching the boat on to the trailer so half heartedly that I usually take over the winching and do the job properly before the boat sways around in the current damaging itself on the side of the trailer.
14. If the boat motor coughs a bit when starting or something similar, as all irregularly used motors do, there are usually comments like. "Does the engine need a bit of maintenance?" Just bloody offensive, at times.
15. Any more than one person on a small boat is a crowd. I usually find myself placing eskies etc so that my guests re comfortable whereas I am often quite cramped so that they have comfort.
17. Having a guest in a boat is no different to having guest visit at home. There is a natural tendency to make sure things are clean and tidy on board. So that involves an extra couple of hours of work before the event to tidy the deck and wash off the blood that might have been splattered around inside by the mackerel caught on the previous trip that is of no bother to me but not something that I would leave there when I have a guest. Who needs extra work of any sort?
18. Usually, when the guest has had enough fishing because they are useless at it, they will put down their rod and just sit there saying nothing, hoping that I will wind up and go home. So my whole day is structured to fit the needs of the guest.
19. As skipper of the boat, I am legally responsible for their safety. Managing a boat in rough weather is a handful. Who needs extra responsibilities for no gain?
20. There ain't nuthin' as enjoyable as being on a lonely sea by oneself. The serentity is awesome. Especially at night in winter. You know - the time when most guests are breaking that serenity by complaining about the cold all bloody night long.
Yup. That just about sums up my experiences. Taking guests fishing is a chore which involves extra work, extra costs. extra stress and extra responsibilities. It not a relaxation.
Do I qualify to get my certificate as a grumpy old man?
.
I nearly did not intend to write this report because I feel so exhausted beyond the stage of being able to string a coherent thought together.
All the way until you reach Mud Island where one lonely tinnie sits a few hundred metres away from “your” spot.
But not tonight. Everything is subdued. Peaceful.
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Originally Posted by Marlin_Mike
