Lines in the water:
The
sun is beating down on your neck, surely, creating a nasty sunburn within the
next half hour. Around you, the slight
scents of dirty lake water and worms fill your nostrils for hours at a time as
you sit in silence staring out at the placid water waiting for your pole to
show any sign of being tampered with by the ever elusive big mouth bass.
Indeed,
this is the best summer day of your life.
Fishing
has become a new spring, summer, fall and even winter activity for people of
all ages. Gabe Silver of the University
of Virginia teaches fly-fishing courses during the summer for fishers of all
ages. “It’s not as complicated as it
may seem. Women often pick up
fly-casting better than men because of their natural finesse, whereas men try
to overpower it, ” said Silver.
“I
know absolutely nothing about fly-fishing but it looks like a lot of fun. Someday I would like to learn how,” said
freshman Sara Brouillette.
Well
for those of you like Broulliette who are left in the dark when it comes to
fly-fishing, here is a very brief lesson.
Fly-fishing uses a fly-line that is attached to a leader and fly with a
fly-rod. The fly-line is made of
flexible plastic that is attached to the fly-rod which is usually about seven
to ten feet long. The movement of the fly-line
and fly-rod is one of gracefulness and ease, imitating an insect landing on the
water and flying away again. This lures
the fish toward the surface in anticipation of the “insect” landing again.
Perhaps
a more appropriate type of fishing for this time of the year is ice
fishing. Crawling out onto the middle
of a frozen lake may not seem like a good idea to many, but making sure the ice
is thick enough is only half the battle.
Creating the hole in the ice should be done with special tools and careful
hands. Because fish tend to be more
picky eaters in the winter time, it is important to have a sharp hook and
strong line so you don’t let the few bites get away.
“One
time I went ice fishing with my cousin and he was playing with his hockey stick. Well the hockey stick fell in the hole in
the ice and he almost went it after it!” said senior Sara Genoways.
Finally,
and perhaps the most common type of fishing is the good old-fashioned stick and
string. “I go fishing all the time in
the summer and don’t even use a hook or anything. I have found that the string dangling in the water is just an
excuse to go have a calming day next to the lake,” said senior Leslie Selting,
avid fisher-woman.
Some
people don’t like to actually catch the fish but just like to sit and enjoy the
day. “Catch and release is a
conservation necessity because the number of fishermen often increases faster
than the population of healthy fish can increase,” said Silver.
Carrying
that 15 pound tackle box over hills and down embankments along with reeling in
the Big One creates a little bit of exercise and a whole lot of enjoying the
earth around you.
So
when the summer time boredom rolls around, grab a pole and head out to the lake
for a beautiful day of fishing, relaxation and fun.