Four-man fishing is a semi-logical outgrowth of two-man fishing.
Two-man fishing was invented to deal with a ‘good news/bad news’ situation. The good news was that about 150ft off the Gulf side of Captiva Key there was a zigzag pattern of concrete structures on the bottom (presumably beach erosion control) which attracted many fish. Of the many species present the snook were to kill for; really big snook. The bad news was it was too far to cast.
First instinct was to get a swimming pool raft and snorkel back out to the spot with mask, flippers, bait bucket and rod & reel. Reflection suggested that the rod & reel would likely end up on the bottom; poor treatment of the reel which was marginal anyway. That being the main anticipated problem, Plan B was Plan A minus the rod& reel in the water.
Terry was a militant non-fisherman which usually means someone with an extra supply of beginner’s luck if you can just trick such people into actually fishing. I assured him that I, not he, would be “fishing”. He would be standing on the shore merely appearing to be fishing as he would be holding the rod & reel. That, plus the possibility I would get the hook in myself and he could reel me in screaming, secured his participation.
It was a good plan but not a good enough plan. The snook were there but the sheepshead nailed the shrimp first and quickly and they are hard to hook.
Four-man fishing was invented to deal with the line abrasion problem with sharks hooked from the beach. Another rule of sawed-off sportsmanship is nothing succeeds like excess. Oh, they might be able to saw through 20 pound mono but they were not going to saw through ski rope. Big hook, 3ft steel leader, big swivel (off a defunct cast net), 200 feet of rope and…ah the part of the plan that needed some planning.
You don’t really get a good feel for how hard a big fish is pulling, in a tug-of-war sense, because the reel drag gives up line. You just know he’s leaving. Consequently, tying the rope around my waist seemed problematic a priori. Hand holding the rope sounded dicey so I tied a sturdy 5in diameter steel ring to the beach end of the rope. With about $11.57 already invested, and still not knowing who would win the pulling contest, I decided to accommodate up to four people on “Team Human’. As these people would likely be some of my children and their friends, handles were fashioned from two foot pieces of stout bamboo that were each attached to the steel ring with carabineers and about three feet of rope, i.e. little chance of getting tangled up (speaking of being pulled through the water screaming). The plan was that on some morning when it was SS: 0 / Sharks: 3, I’d walk/swim the baited hook out to the second sand bar, come back and give the standard Ahabian pep talk to those assembled – “What say ye lads? I think ye do look brave. Will ye join hands with me on this?” – and we’d drag the next one out of the Gulf.
As events have unfolded since the invention of four-man fishing the necessary deployment conditions have not come together. But the apparatus is generally with us, stored securely in the bottom of the Fisherman’s Quiver in a black plastic bag. So when all is said and done, two-man fishing didn’t work and four-man fishing has not been tried. And though the weather outside is frightful, the August beach beckons.
ML
2-2-07
