This week’s challenge was not about catching fish as much as it was about picking a day to be on the water.
It’s been nasty. If the wind wasn’t blowing 15 to 20 mph, it was raining. If it wasn’t raining, it was artic cold. Most of the time, it was all three.
With so much time on my hands, I serviced my boat motor, put new line on my reels and cleaned and oiled them, replaced hooks on my older lures, checked the eyes on my rods for wear, and rearranged my tackle bag to many times to court. I even went to the extreme of waxing my boat.
Running out of things to do, I picked up a book that I had lying around for about 6 months, read about half way. I notice that the book’s author had used a few fishing terms as ordinary words. This made me think of some of the words us angler use that have become common terms.
Even for the landlubber who never goes fishing or even thinks about the subject fishing, common fishing words and phrases can be found in our everyday English language.
A messed up reel cause by a bad cast is a "backlash," which can also mean an opposite reaction to an action. An example: The decision by the board caused a backlash by the people.
A "can of worms" can be useful as bait, or a messy situation. I have said a few times "let’s not open that can of worms."
On our fishing hooks we have a "barb," the angled point of a hook. It can also mean a cutting remark.
Shrimp boats drag a net behind their boat to catch fish or shrimp, which is called a "dragnet." Police sometimes use this term when netting criminals, and there was even a police television show called “Dragnet.”
A fish "takes the bait" or "bites the hook." This can also mean to fall for a joke or trick.
When we don’t catch a fish, we sometimes console ourselves with the expression, "there are more fish in the sea," which can also mean there are better opportunities ahead of us.
A heavy drinker can be described as one who "drinks like a fish," or is "loaded to the gills."
A suspicious incident or action can be "fishy," as in, there is something fishy going on.
These are a few of the terms that I thought of. I’m sure there are many more.
Thankfully, I did get a few days of fishing in on Friday and Saturday. The fish are still there — and they are hungry.
Capt. Mike Vickers is a full-time charter captain offering offshore or inshore fishing and boat rentals. Contact him at 386-569-9674; captainmikesfishing@yahoo.com; or web site palmcoastfishingandboatrental.com or on Facebook at palm coast fishing and boat rental.