Feeding fishing fantasies

When the weather blows out most of the waters that anglers want to fish, we have the option of retreating into the fantasy world fed on television by various pro bass programs, magazines, online columns, fishing expos and catalogs.

Which is why a featured item in a recent Hammacher Schlemmer catalog caught my eye.

The photo showed a largemouth bass that looked to be the size of a small whale leaping out of the water behind a small fishing boat. Then I realized that the boating the photo was only a 17 1/2-inch long, battery-operated gadget that can be remote-controlled from shore.

The ad said the boat can help you catch up to a two-pound fish. It is pre-rigged with tackle that includes hook, line, swivel, bobber, etc. Apparently, you rig up the boat with whatever bait or lure you think will work and launch it into a lake in which you think there are fish. It reportedly has a range well beyond the casting ability of most anglers. The controller lets you move the boat forward, backward, left or right. When the bobber on the line sinks, you give the forward button a push and the boat sets the hook.

The two-pound limit on fish size left me wondering what happens when a really big fish takes the hook. Even in freshwater, fish twice to five times that size are common.

In any case, the point is to get your lure way out from shore. Many years ago, I used a much simpler device, a balloon, to get my hook way out to where the big fish are.

There was a time more than two decades ago when parts of the old salt ponds owned by the Leslie Salt Company that ran parallel to Highway 37 between Sears Point and Vallejo had striped bass in them. Some were really big.

Out there on the flats, the wind always blows. If you positioned yourself on the bank with the wind at your back blowing out into the ponds, you could tie an inflated balloon about five feet above your baited hook, cast the rig a few feet from shore and let the wind take it out as far as you wanted.

When a big bass hit the hook, it yanked the balloon down, usually popping it. Then you just played the fish as you normally would, except that you might have 100 yards or more of line out. I caught some really big striped bass that way, all well over two pounds.

The image of a really big bass dragging down that little boat reminds me of the guys who fish for sturgeon from kayaks in our North Bay waters. They paddle out in their lightweight kayaks, bait their hooks with live shrimp, cast them out and wait for a sturgeon to come by and take the bait, then take them for a ride. The sturgeon they fish for can be longer and weigh more than they and their little craft combined.

Needless to say, they don’t bring their catch into the boat.

If you are interested in one of those remote controlled little fishing boats, you can find them at hammacher.com.

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The annual Fly Fishing Show is coming up February 26-28 in Pleasanton. If you love fly-fishing, a visit to this show is a must. Get more information at flyfishingshow.com.

Hunting

and

Fishing

Bill

Lynch