Spring sun in her eyes and many exciting nooks and crannies and some pollock fillet made the little girl smile all the way around. Expectations were sky-high…
The first drop with a small jig and she shouted: “it nappa, -æ har fesk” and after persistent cranking with Geir as instructor she got up a great cooking cod that both she and the teachers thought were excellent for dinner.
Being photographed was almost as important because then she could prove the catch to everyone and get even more praise and honor. (Aren’t we adults quite similar there??)
After a little more jigging and toil without fish, the interest faded a bit and it was time for a little stretch in the forepeak of the yacht.
“One gets tired of hauling fresh”.
Cod was all well and good, but catfish “it’s good to eat it”, and catfish Andrea wanted! We had to fish new bait because it was the end of what we had brought. Andrea borrowed a small crochet with 5 hooks from Geir, they were decorated for carnival with feathers and tassels in several colors, almost too nice to drop into the sea. A small Swedish jig at the end of the crochet helped it down into the current under the bridge out to Henningsvær. The small coalfish immediately answered the call and 4-5 people sat on the hooks. Andrea cheered: “Fresh, fresh” and soon we had enough small saithe to fine a little inshore.
We figured that there might be some other fish in here at 10-20 m depth and rigged for slightly different tackle. Geir continued with a small jig. Tore put on a whole small small saithe about 15 cm long on a small circle hook behind a barrier. We had heard that small halibut were sometimes caught here in the harbor entrance to Henningsvær …
Andrea got an all-round glide tackle with 3 hooks in sizes 3/0 to 5/0 to outsmart flounder, cod or catfish.
The pollock fillet was neatly cut like a narrow bay leaf and carefully fastened with the hook threaded through at the very end of the flap of the bait piece. Andrea was tense as a fiddle string, the bait couldn’t get in fast enough…
Already now, the young “soon to be eight” multiplier reel and a light deep-sea fishing rod handled perfectly: her thumb lightly on the spool when dropping, stopping and slightly up from the bottom, and she watched attentively when it got deeper.
We were impressed by how quick she was to learn (We wanted to wait to ask about mathematics and the multiplication table until we got on land). The boat drifted slowly out towards the bridge, the depth was only 14 meters when it nibbled sharply on Tore’s rod, two quick bites followed but the fish did not want to sit, it was perhaps too small to take the whole bait?
Geir caught both one and two cod weighing 1 1/2 kg as well as several small saithe, but as Andrea said
“I got the first one and I got the most pollock at once!”
We cranked up. The bite marks on Tore’s small saithe showed no sharp marks, but there were strong crush marks that had almost split the baitfish. Typical catfish!! Tore switched to a traditional hook and went down a bit in his level of ambition.
We moved back again with great eagerness to repeat the drift through the sound. The lines reached the bottom of about 14 meters. With excited eyes, each one followed their pole tip.
Andrea thought it was biting but wasn’t sure, it was just a little heavier than the sinker of 200 grams, but soon it shook a little extra in the tip of the rod and the smile turned into a cry of happiness:
“Fresh again!” There her first plaice appeared, this beautiful and tasty fish glistened in marble and gold and the day was more than saved.
Shortly afterwards and before the photographer had finished taking pictures of Andrea with his new personal best, Tore got proof for his catfish theory, only 3 kg but still. Andrea insisted on bringing “heile haue to school” to show it off.
We were content to boil our heads a bit and pick out the impressive tooth guard. It has now been shown to all friends and the whole class, and it is absolutely certain that now a new angler is born!
Tore with one of the cod that was pulled up. Three Happy Fishermen: Geir Sivertzen, Tore Gismervik and Andrea Buene Andrea is working on finding the right height from the bottom.
Some tips:
Start with small and short trips on the children’s terms.
Let it be play and help. Take photos that put them in focus. Then you have a referral the next time you want to go out into nature yourself. It is not such big catches, seen through an adult’s eyes, that it takes for children to be very happy. Often a small hand line with a sinker and hook, a piece of shrimp or a fish fillet is enough to awaken a budding fishing fever.
If you are going to invest in a rod and reel, do not buy the cheapest that you would not use yourself. Put on a thin enough line that makes it possible to cast a little far if desired. You have to expect to sometimes lose a few lures, sinkers or hooks on a bottom bite, but this is preferable to killing the joy of fishing with poor equipment and oversized thick line that makes good casts impossible.
A combed equipment is easier to operate and provides more action for the children, and they do not lose the fish so easily. Many fishing reels also have two spools, where one can have a relatively thin tendon on one spool, and more powerful on the other.
Maybe the same rod is enough for sea and freshwater fishing?
It is great fun for children to have their own fishing equipment box, where one for a birthday and before the fishing trip can take care to give a supplement to this! Fish from rocks, piers and quays if you don’t have a boat.
Wear a life jacket!
Have respect for fishing from land and if there are big waves and swells. Dirt fishing!
Text: Geir Sivertzen and Tore Gismervik | Photo: Remi M.J. Eilertsen/ Aurora Borealis Multimedia AS
