Curse Of The Unlucky Tackle Part 9 – Boatmen And The Honey Hole

By: The Angler

Having gone through 9 parts of these series (Curse Of The Unlucky Tackle), you must by know believe that your fishing tackle that do not catch fish, is not cursed. It is just that circumstances may not be right when you use said tackle. “But my friend recommended his boatman and every time he goes fishing with the boatman he catches a lot of fish. I went with said boatman and caught nothing.” Ok, I hear you.

[ Ok, there are some very good boatman who like to “preserve” their honey holes…. ]

I too have been in such situations before. In fact I believe that all anglers who have fished long enough will have bad days even with good boatmen or skipper (sound more professional). There were times when my friends caught plenty of fishes when they were out fishing. Two days later on my trip with the same boatman, I catch nothing. Maybe a few squid and some tasty baitfish, and that is all.

Quiet trip with no takers.

So, what happened? Well, in cases such as these, the conditions in the sea changed. The fishes followed the currents someplace else. Sometimes the currents decide to take a day off and the sea becomes eerily calm. Fishes to decide to just hangout and test the patience of anglers since we are often said to be patient people by non-anglers; simply because they think fishing is always casting the bait out and waiting for hours to catch a fish.

Honey Hole? You’ve Not Earned It Yet

Ok, there are some very good boatman who like to “preserve” their honey holes. Sometimes they do not bring anglers whom they are familiar with to their honey holes. They bring anglers to the common places where fishes may or may not be there depending on the condition of the water. If you don’t catch anything, “the currents are not good today, or the conditions of the water is not good today, etc.” says the boatman.

But there are some boatmen who will take you to their honey hole (not holes) and allow your group to bring up a fish or two, before sneakily allowing the boat to drift away from it; giving the group enough time to decide to tell the boatman to move to another spot.

From dusk to dawn, the boatman caught a few but you caught none.

Why Do They Do Things Like That

Well, they have their reasons. It could be to preserve their honey holes. Or maybe something was amiss with the arrangement of the trip. Sometimes it could be mood. Who really knows other than the boatmen… Anyway, incidents of such do happen. Thus it is good to build good rapport with all boatmen that you use. Consider it an investment for the future of your fishing. But of course if your investment is not getting desired after a few trips, invest some place else.

There you go, here is to understanding why your fishing tackle may not be cursed after all. Should you have further reasons of not catching fish to explore, do send us an email at the contact us area below. Meanwhile, happy fishing and stay tuned for the next part; part 10.