I’m the little head in the middle of the picture that you can’t see. What a view. This is where I started fishing after I rented the fishing pole. I had bought a sardine rig also, but the fishing store didn’t have many things like weights, line, swivels, etc. Apparently that’s not a thing here. Then my hook fell off and I used soda cans with sausages for bait. Not much luck. The sausages kept falling off also.
Then, as the tide was coming in around 7 a.m., Katrina (who took this picture) and I walked back to the hostel. I went out again around 4 p.m. to the pier with Leah. I didn’t take a camera because I didn’t want it to get stolen.
The pier is that platform-like thing in the top right corner. The guy at our hostel had seen me with a pole and had given me a handlining kit to borrow, called a carrete. He said to keep a good tight hold on it when a big fish latched on, since it was special.
So for awhile, I used the fishing pole. My bait was running out, so I asked a random fisherman about buying live sardines. He looked at my rig and said I could catch them that way. So I tried. No luck. Then he came over with a little fish he had caught, scaled and cut it up for me, and gave it to me for bait. I said thanks.
Leah fished with the pole while I tried the handline. There was no weight on it except the leader and the GIANT hook. Apparently, you make a lasso-like wind and then toss the leader out while holding the handle of the carrete so the line can spin off the end. It was hard, but I tried it. I couldn’t understand how the other fishermen were casting so far. Leah paid attention to their technique and kept giving me pointers. I finally just unhooked the hook from the carrete and put it on my pole. It got stuck in the rock about three times, but we prayed it loose. The last time, it was gone. Leah read me fishing stories from the Bible as I struggled with hooking dead fish on a soda can hook.
Then there was this PUFFERFISH. It was LOOKING at the rocks and it was BIG. I decided I would try to catch it just because I could. But it would NOT bite the bait no matter how close I got the hook. It was MADDENING. Not even the crab on the rocks wanted the bait. But I did get a few good bites, they just wouldn’t get hooked.
Meanwhile, the random fisherman had caught another fish, a red pretty one. He sneakily came over and dropped it in a puddle near me so that I didn’t even know he did it until later. I was touched. Nice rugged Nicaraguan helping out the crazy white girl with the caña (fishing pole, as opposed to cana, grey/white hair) who doesn’t know how to handline. I didn’t really want to kill it since I was fairly sure I wasn’t going to catch anything. But soon, I ran out of fish bites. So I tried to grab it. It squirmed from my grasp and I yelled, making the fishermen laugh. That happened several times. Now mind you, I have killed many a fish in my time. It was quite ridiculous, but hilarious. I finally caught it and cut its gills, apologizing to it. It is much easier to kill ugly fish with big teeth. Then I scaled and chopped it into pieces, prizing especially the tail.
The tail was the only piece of bait that actually stayed on the whole time. It was partially nibbled off and partially fell off. Time passed, getting bites, but not getting things hooked. The ridiculous pufferfish kept swimming around, taunting me. Finally, I was down to the carcass and I put the whole thing on the hook. It fell off. Then it was time to leave because it was near sunset.
New World Race bucket list goal: Learn to handline and CATCH something to COOK. (I don’t believe in catch and release.)
P.S. I saved the carrete, though not the hook.
P.P.S. Our friend at the bakery had to work so I didn’t get to go fishing this weekend. I had come down with a bad cold anyway, though. Prayers are appreciated since we are off to debrief in Costa Rica tomorrow.
Thanks y’all!
