Anyone care to share their fishing dreams?

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#1
An old thread — unedited

Date: November 5, 2002
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Ken Jones
Subject: Anyone care to share their fishing dreams?


I've had the same three dreams for quite a few years now...

The first takes place in Sonoma and Mendocino counties but seems to have a bit of a hobbit-like adventure feeling to it as I take a journey along winding rural roads (no cars, just horse and wagon, or by foot) on the way to the coast. During the trek I stop at a couple of famous spots where the fishing is fantastic and the scenery is breathtaking — rushing waterfalls and bucolic countryside. The fish are large steelhead and salmon and every time I have this dream I am able to have success. The dream ends when I reach the coast and begin to fish in the (now) saltwater bay at Fort Bragg. Large perch, greenlings and cabezon are on the menu and all of course are being caught on my light pole.

A second dream concerns a trip diving north through California, Oregon and Washington on my way to British Columbia and Alaska. Somewhere up north in California or Oregon I take a side trip over to the coast and find a small fishing village with a pier that has a cover over it so that you are not bothered by things such as rain. And of course fish are swarming around the pilings — perch, rockfish, greenling, cabezon, lingcod, etc. Again the fishing is fantastic but I dwell there only a few hours before heading north once again. I come to a long bridge which is built down near the water over the bay separating Oregon and Washington (which of course doesn't exist). Just on the other side of the bridge are several small towns and several have piers. On one pier the locals are bringing in smelt. On another pier salmon are being caught. On still another it's a mixture of bottom species. I always comment that their piers don't match the ones in California but that the fishing is still good. Eventually I wind up in Alaska on yet another long bridge that takes me to new fishing sites and new species.

Finally there is the dream that I have most often. It takes place in San Diego at a couple of different sites. One site is an oceanfront site somewhere around Mission Beach where surf fish are being caught but the surf is so huge that anglers are using huge rods to cast out past the breakers. Their reward seems to be huge croaker and possibly white seabass. But I only have a light pole so I head over to an alternate site. The other site is my favorite site. It seems to take place at the mouth of the San Diego River. There is a secret passageway to an underground grotto. The grotto is very high and terraced so that water comes from the river and then falls into a series of pools, each containing different fish. The top pool has mainly freshwater species such as bass, trout, catfish and perch. The next pool seems to contain fish that can survive in brackish conditions. The final pool, and my favorite, is teeming with colorful saltwater fish, primarily small and perch-like -- golden garibaldi, rainbow seaperch, zebraperch, blacksmith, striped seaperch, blackperch, rubberlip seaperch, etc. Underneath the perch are all manner of small, exotic species together with sheephead, wrasses, bass and other bottom species. Of course you need a lamp or flashlight to see this scene but the numbers of fish are unbelievable (it's possible in a dream) as is the fishing. Every cast seems to yield a different boldly-colored species. Don't recall ever leaving the grotto so maybe it's some kind of a dream for the afterlife but if so I guess it's my version of heaven.

Posted by Kiyo

Every night before I go to sleep before a fishing trip I dream of catching a 40-50lb. Halibut from the float tube. All I had were nightmares!!! Now I have nightmares of the 40-50lb. Halibut that I lost last year in Belmont Shores on 6lb. test with a live smelt because it wouldn't fit in my net and I didn't have a gaff. After bringing it up about 4 times and listening to the wind music on my line as it was stretching I now carry a gaff and use heavier line but still haven't met Mrs. Lucky again!

Kiyo

Come catch a legal Halibut!

Posted by rated r

Maybe because I lived there for two years, I have dreams almost weekly of fishing in Alaska. Anchorage to be more specific. Sometimes I dream of being with a bunch of my cousins that live up there, driving to Ninilchik to go clam digging, dip netting for huge buckets of hooligan @ twenty mile river, driving 5 minutes from my house up there to Ship Creek in the heart of Anchorage for King Salmon, and going to my favorite spot 2 blocks from my house to get daily limits of rainbow trout @ DeLong Lake all in one day, then going home and having my grandma cook everything...the weird thing is, i'm allergic to fish...i love catching them, but i can't eat them...except for hooligan. For some reason, whenever I eat hooligan, I don't get an allergic reaction to them, but any other fish'll send me to allergy hell.

Lately I've been having dreams of working the canneries in Kodiak and sleeping on the ship waking up and receiving my paycheck for $10,000 for 3 hard months of work...but then I wake up...

Posted by break_the_bank

Yep! I also dreamed of clam digging and getting a bucket full of those huge Alaska Razer clams. Have you fished Bird Creek? Last year we stopped by Bird Creek in the middle of August and saw lots of limits of bright chrome Silver salmons.

Posted by gyozadude

I have a dream...In my dream, I get laid off from work, but receive a generous 8 month severance package. I head out and fish half time and catch big lingcods, and the other half of the time, start my own business building, installing, and servicing network terminal systems for small-medium-businesses. I end up making 3 times what I was making, and after two years, my old company buys me out for $40 Million cash. I retire and spend winters down in New Zealand fishing there, and Summers up in British Columbia fishing there. In my dream, I invite the PFIC crew over for a get-together. 'Slinger, Salty, Nufo, WCDave are usually luckier than I in these group fishing trips, but on this occasion, they all end up netting fish for me. Lucy quits smoking in my dream and we're all caught up in some smoke-free distance casting practice. But all she ends up doing is wielding a knife as if she's cutting bait, and then telling me how I'm in violation of local fishing regs.

The dream gets stranger. Prometheus and Bernadette show up with Predator and D'Rider. They're both married couples and expecting kids and then while out on a boat jigging big Scampis for Pacific halibut, they both give birth on board to toddlers who standup and grab the rods and get dragged into the water with no life vests. Stinky and Prometheus dive into the water both with knives in their mouths and surface sometime later with coughing kids and two 800 lb halibuts. Meanwhile, WRXfisher and Leony are in another boat asking if we caught the halibuts on an Abu-C3 6500. WRX tells me if I send in a photo and say that, PureFishing will give me a 15% rebate on the reel. Leony shows me some new trick with yet another keyboard device... but this time, it logs GPS coords and fish location rather than keystrokes.

A loud rumble is heard in the distance, getting closer. Pierhead, Baitfish, RoosterQueen in full goggles and helmet regalia are doing Chinese acrobatic balances on the back as Sinker rolls up the highway in his motorcycle. They all carry custom pack rods. With a flip of a switch, Sinker's bike turns into a hoover craft complete with Jackie Chan as the driver. They buzz out over the water to meet us, and Lucy tells them they're scaring the fish away, and Sinker's serial number id on the side of his hoover craft aren't valid and too small.

We pull into shore for lunch and Ken and Rich are standing there tired and lost. Ken exclaims that he couldn't find a pier anywhere and the two of them have walked many miles. Ken inspects the holes in his shoes while Rich shows us the pictures of the trek on this Nikon dig cam. I give Rich the wireless ESSID for the my 802.11 network and he uploads the pics to the website.

While we're all eating lunch, Salty gets a huge hit on his baitrunner setup. He struggles as everyone looks on and finally hauls up both a big ling AND a big salmon on the same hi-lo rig on frozen anchovies and rubber bands. This fish are too big for Salty's old net, so Sinker offers a compact folding net that opens up to 8 feet in diameter and tells Salty he can "break-in" this new pack net. About this time, Johnr and family show up. He tells me he just bought the house next to mine and would like to know if I've had any problems installing rod holders in the garage for those Cabela Predator rods which are 11 ft. long.

About this time, the dream is just way to absurd. So I wake up. Dream sequence over.

Posted by pierhead

What a coincidence... I was just thinking last night that I might suggest to Sinker that we take his bike up to Partington Cove with our pack rigs! But then I remember, in all too horrifying detail, why I no longer ride. Sure some people can ride sensibly and responsibly but that wasn't my style. After all - why ride a bike and put up with weather; airborne gravel from the dump truck ahead of; greasy, icy or wet roads etc unless you are in it for the sheer thrill of pushing limits. Luckily I escaped with not much more damage than a split helmet, wrecked bike and massive muscle strain. My knees took out the handlebars after leaving severe dents in the tank. That was fun! But I like the image that you dreamed up - Chinese acrobatics on the back of a Harley! Maybe just one more ride for old-times sake ...

Hopefully I won't declutch again at 100 mph to find out what would happen if your chain breaks ... I survived that one too but it is hard to maintain your composure when your stomach is over the bars and your nose is kissing the front fender. Pierhead

Posted by Sinker

I want to have that dream G-Dude you ROCK

Sounds GREAT

Good Stuff G-Dude

Still laughing

I really want to have that dream....

Posted by Salty Nick

LOL! Too funny.

Posted by Predator

Way to tie in the whole family! Nicely done.

Posted by gyozadude


Did I mention...You were distinctly lipping the 800lb halibut.

Posted by johnr

Gyozadude...That's a great post. I've had little time to fish so I dream about it mostly.... and my dreams are catching and releasing jacks and roosters from the calm 80 degree + waters in the Sea of Cortez. Soccer and football in fall with my kids keep me busy...(my 15 year old son is a more reliable kicker than Seabass or Cortez)... but I'm heading to Baja tomorrow for another service project and hope to get some beach fishing in if the surf cooperates and lays down by Saturday. John

Posted by corbinaman1

Great Stuff Gyoza!

Posted by Red Fish


Doesn't anyone dream about girls anymore? Or does that end when you get married (LOL). I see some people like to dream about money. All funnin' aside, let's get on with this fishin' dream. O.K., nothing fancy or exotic, just basic stuff.

1.) Getting 1st place in the marlin tournament at Kona.

2.) Finally, bringing in ole "Tugboat Charlie."

3.) Catching and releasing "JAWS" somewhere between here and South Africa/Australia.

4.) Sipping some tropical drinks (whatever a good Miami drink would be) in Florida on a flat boat fishing the Keys for tarpon, bull shark and bone fish (run by some girls in bikinis).

5.) Sipping some tequila sunrises on a boat in Cancun while catching striped marlin, roosterfish and wahoo and dorado (throw in a tuna or yellow tail for extra measure) (run by some girls in bikinis).

6.) Sipping a Blue Hawaii or Mai Tai in Hawaii while fishing for whatever on a boat operated by some nice island girls.

7.) Sipping on tropical drink and fishing for Black Marlin in the Bahamas for catch and release on a boat run by some nice island girls.

5.) O.K., maybe, catching one of those real "barn doors" in Alaska on a boat run by some women in fur coats. Tropical drinks??

Ohhp, time to wake up and get back to work!

Posted by Sinker

Red with all that sipping your doing you'll never be sober enough to cast. But then again at that point you wouldn't know or care. Sounds like a party to me.

Posted by jason chin

Red...Have you seen this show Fish On on ESPN2? Monday nights at 6:00PM. You gotta see this it's just like your dream. Girls in bikinis talking about bait and lures and catching fish. It's amazing. They even got the fish lingo down talking about chum, boils, iron, the works. Check it out you'll love it. It's what I always dreamed of.....Jason "bayrunner"

Posted by Red Fish

Thanks for the useful info!!

Posted by anadromous

This is easy...Making the BASS Pro Tour and winning the Megabucks event and the Bassmasters Classic, shoots, might as well make it the whole season. Then I could move back to SD, buy a house with my winnings, and start up a small design firm which would pay for my daily expenses and the family I'll be starting soon, yet leave me with enough time to surf and fish. I'd retire from the BASS "big leagues", and only fish western division events so I could stay close to my family and supplement my income.

Posted by Ken Jones

Am I the only one with real fishing dreams?

Posted by Davey Jones

To have a home on the hill; with one side facing the ocean and the backyard overlooking a big lake, and both have Piers!

Posted by blast29

When I'm working on a particularly taxing project, I'll sometimes get my "Old Man and the Sea" dream--you know, the Hemingway novel. But instead of Spencer Tracy as Santiago (I think that was the Fisherman's name) like in the movie, it'll be me, out alone on the ocean in a skiff with a gigantic marlin at the end of a handline. I'll be pulled around the ocean for days until the marlin finally dies and I lash him to the boat (he's bigger than the boat, so no sense trying to pull him aboard). Then comes the battle with the sharks as I try to reach home. Sometimes the sharks strip the marlin to its skeleton (like in the book), but other times I reach home with the fish intact. I wish I could find some correlation between the success or failure of the project I'm working on at the time and the results of the dream, but it seems tied more to how much confidence I have in the project.

An interesting variation on this dream started a few years ago after my cousin (who is a professor of Hawaiian Studies at a community college there) was part of a team that sailed a traditional Hawaiian outrigger canoe from Oahu to Bora Bora using traditional navigational methods. So instead of being towed in a skiff around the waters off Cuba by a marlin, sometimes I'll be out in the Pacific in an outrigger. Same basic story, tho'.
 

moonshine

Well-Known Member
#2
One I've had several times, actually for years.
I'm at an unknown pier that has a tackle store which supplies both pier fishermen and the adjacent sportfishing landing.
I go in and buy a few pieces of terminal tackle and go outside. The weather is ominous and the tide is rushing out strongly. I find a spot on the crowded rail and cast out. My rig gets sucked out toward open water and I never catch anything. Very Freudian, I know.
 

Mahigeer

Senior Member
#3
My dream fishing trip (actually, daydream) was to do fly fishing in Canada.

When I was a young boy in Tehran, I saw anglers in an Indian style canoe in a movie, or news reel.


After some give or take 50 years talking about it, I finally did it twice, back-to-back.
 

fish-ninja

Well-Known Member
#4
One I've had several times, actually for years.
I'm at an unknown pier that has a tackle store which supplies both pier fishermen and the adjacent sportfishing landing.
I go in and buy a few pieces of terminal tackle and go outside. The weather is ominous and the tide is rushing out strongly. I find a spot on the crowded rail and cast out. My rig gets sucked out toward open water and I never catch anything. Very Freudian, I know.
when I went out for dorado fishing recently, I met this nice Vietnamese gentleman who told me it is his first time for flylining fishing. We chat a bit while rigging our rods up me showing him how. As we started to fish the first drift, he was next to me and I was tossing jigs. He made an awkward cast and threw his entire tackle into water. I tried to catch it with my jig to no success. This would have been my nightmare like your dream! What truly impressed me was the way he handled the situation. Obviously he was disappointed but quickly composed of himself and quietly get himself a renter tackle and enjoy his time with all of us. Everyone tried to help him and get him fish which he could not but I saw a great example of way out from a nightmare!
 

Red Fish

Senior Member
#5
Lol, you are .... a History teacher Ken, ancient History! I thought this was a new question!

Just shows you that what mattered when you are younger many times doesn't matter anymore. Completely different now. I shared with you through text recently my "bucket list" at this point and time.