Yolande and I set out on our epic fishing adventure! We got to Cable Bay at an unprecedented 9am, a very late start for us girls. After a very quick set up we were on the water by 9:30. I liked to play follow the leader with Yolande as I am the newbie, this trip out was only my second time catching any fish, with Yolande taking me under her wing the previous session and providing jigging lessons.
On our way out we had passed a couple of blokes making their way in, after a quick chat and good lucks, Yolande had given me the advice of a lifetime, she said “Tivie, one of the big mistakes that people make, is leaving too soon because the fish aren’t biting, and then wondering why they don’t catch any fish”.
In saying that, I got my first fish of the day nearly 10 minutes later, a 60cm snapper was hooked on my line, man what a fight that fish gave me, many words were said before Snappy was landed…
After the quick and very talkative death of Mr. Snappy, we spotted a few boil-ups. A very eager Yolande zoomed past me, of course I made a swift paddle to the desired spot.
Many casts were made, emphasis on the many. Two kahawai were landed after a long and treacherous fight… by me.
As much as I love to fish, I feel equally guilty when I am a fish hoarder. It turned out I needn’t have worried, Yolande was actually paying more attention to supporting me than she was to her own fishing and was thrilled to see her prodigy succeeding but I didn’t know that.
I made my way to an unlikely hookup spot in hopes of Yolande getting some action.
I couldn’t not catch a fish for the life of me, and I had no choice but to bring home the bacon, scratch that, I mean fish.
Yolande trotted around still seemingly optimistic despite many hours passing.
As I watched Yolande filled with guilt that she would leave with nothing, my rod nearly flew out the yak, “Great another fish for me.” Try as I may to reel as fast as possible in hopes Yolande wouldn’t see my luck, my kayak suddenly embarked on a lengthy sleigh ride, of course right in her line of sight… I landed my 65cm Snapper, put him in the cooler and retired my rod…
Yolande then turned her attention fully to her own fishing. In what seemed like no time at all, she flew past with the top of her rod tip near in the water, alternating between reeling like no man i’ve ever seen and line peeling out. There was a fair bit of splashing and attending to something. “OK” she calls “I’ve got a wee fish in the bag, I’m done but we can stay longer if you want to” and with some effort, lifts her “tiny” fish (bottom left) to show me. As she calls it, “one and done!! “We paddle to shore before we fall asleep on the water…stopping onshore for coffee and post-paddle analysis before loading up.
I will never forget the wise words of Yolande as her day demonstrated to a tee.
