Angling Championship–Final Day

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Danny had had a spectacular day 2. He had caught and tagged one of the biggest fishes of the game. He had been happy. But he wanted to remain unbeaten. He knew that in case of Angling, patience was the only key that he had. He had to employ it to full use and benefit. He had reserved his Black Dog Fly for the last day. He wanted it to be his lucky charm. Day 3 dawned, the participants were instructed to cast their lines.
Danny’s Black Dog lay immersed in the water for hours. He hadn’t tasted success yet. He pulled up a flask from his hipster and took a swig of it. It contained his rationed Black Dog Scotch. He pulled out a book and got down to reading. He knew his day would be long and tiring today. It was not the physical stress that he was expecting but then it was the mental and emotional stress. He felt a light tug on the rope. He waited for the line to tense further. It did not. The tug remained light.Danny was getting frustrated. He had expected a strong tug and a big fish. But then a light tug meant that he would not have too huge a fish caught. Nonetheless, if he wanted to free the line for another fish, he had to unhook whatever was on the line.
He rolled the line backwards but then as soon as he started it, he felt a strong hit on his boat. Much like as though something had hit it from under. It did not persist, he did not bother. He went on to rolling the line back when the line suddenly got tense and the tug on the line really strong. He now knew he had something good. He pulled on the line hard. The fish definitely was a good catch. He did not realize when he had let himself get dragged to the end of the boat.
The fish was a fighter and he still hadn’t caught sight of his opponent. Because of the strong pulling, the boat started to rock. The fish was trying all that it could to get away. Danny neither wanted to lose the fish nor his boat. After pulling for what seemed like hours, he caught the sight of the fish. It was a sailfish! Bright blue coloured fins kept emerging from the water once a way. Danny felt his energy being sapped away. He could not afford to give up now. He had almost made it. After some ten more minutes of effort, the fish gave up instead. It had gotten tired. It was now relatively easier to pull the fish close enough to weigh and tag.
This was the easier part. Tagging the fish. Well ,compared to pulling it out of water, this definitely was easier said. The fish turned out to be an astounding 75 kg in weight! It definitely was one of the heaviest fishes caught in these areas! He was proud. His record shall now remain unbeaten for a long while now.
Post championship party was all about discussing his catch. Single handed getting such huge fish had been a strain. The line had cut through many places no his palm. But he wore it as his prize. His prize of winning the championship unbeaten! Sneha was in his one arm, the other side pocket held his lucky charm. The Black Dog Fly.

D-Day

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Danny arrived at the championship venue with Sneha in one arm and his equipment slung over the other shoulder. He was wearing Khakhi shorts and a bright coloured open neck Tee. He had paired it with boat shoes. His hired Dhoni was marked and ready. It was a bare boat and nothing was allowed on it. He was supposed to row the boat himself. All the participants were explained the rules once again and were also explained the grounds that could allow disqualification. The rules and regulations were based on the rules that were laid down by IGFA. Those participants who were not a part of the MGFA (MALDIVES GAME FISHING ASSOCIATION) were registered and incorporated into the association. The main sponsor of the event was Black Dog, this meant none of the participants needed to pay for the membership.
The bugle was sounded and the participants were asked to get on to their boats. The chosen location was The northern end of Gaafaru Falhu on Male’ Atoll at latitude 4 degrees 50’ North to the southern end of Vattarurah on Felidhe Atoll at latitude 3 degrees 11’ North and bounded on the eastern sides of Male’, South Male’ and Felidhe Atolls at longitude 73 degrees 55’ and on the western side of the above Atolls at longitude 73 degrees 10’.

The championship was supposed to be spread between 3 days. Day 1 started at 0730 hrs and ended at 1700 hrs, Day 2 and 3 started at 0630 hrs and ended at 1700 hrs. The competitors were supposed to tag and weigh before 1830 hrs on all days.

When the clock struck 0700 hrs, all the participants were asked to leave in their boats to their desired fishing locations located in view of the judges. At 0730 hrs, a gun shot sounded which let the participants to start fishing. The first half of the day went fairly dull. None of the participants had caught even a single fish. By evening few participants had caught one or two fishes but none noteworthy. Day close was sounded, the participants returned disappointed.
Sneha was back with Danny. He was not disappointed but definitely tired. He wanted to relax. The participants were all invited to come together for a round of scotch. Black Dog was on the house. Scotch allowed the participants to relax and let their hair down. All of them shared their experiences and also tips from other earlier championships that they had participated in.

Angling Rules

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Danny had been as excited as a kid right from the morning. It was but obvious. This was something close to his heart. He was so excited, he wanted to get up and be there way before the championship time. It was scheduled at 5 in the morning. Every participant was handed over a set of rules. They were strict and hard!

Rules of the championship:

There must be no cruelty towards any fish.

None of the fish would be kept. They would be caught, measured, marked and released.

Any type of fly line and backing may be used. The breaking strength of the fly line and backing are not restricted.

Leaders must conform to generally accepted fly fishing customs. A leader includes a class tippet and, optionally, a shock tippet. A butt or taper section between the fly line and the class tippet shall also be considered part of the leader and there are no limits on its length, material, or strength. A class tippet must be made of non-metallic material and either attached directly to the fly or to the shock tippet if one is used.

Regardless of material used or number of sections, rods must conform and cast according to generally accepted fly fishing customs and practices. A rod shall not measure less than 6 feet (1.82 m) in overall length and any rod that gives the angler an unsporting advantage will be disqualified. Overall butt length may not exceed six inches when measured from the centre of the reel foot to the end of the butt. Overall butt length for two-handed or Spey rods longer than 11 feet may not exceed 10 inches when measured from the centre of the reel foot to the end of the butt.

The reel must be designed expressly for fly fishing. There are no restrictions on gear ratio or type of drag employed except where the angler would gain an unfair advantage. Electric or electronically operated reels are prohibited.

A conventional fly may be dressed on a single or double hook or two single hooks in tandem. The second hook in any tandem fly must not extend beyond the wing material. The eyes of the hooks shall be no farther than 6 inches (15.24 cm) apart. Treble hooks are prohibited.

The fly must be a recognized type of artificial fly, which includes streamer, buck tail, tube fly, wet fly, dry fly, nymph, popper and bug. The use of any other type of lure or natural or preserved bait, either singularly or attached to the fly, is expressly prohibited. Only a single fly is allowed. Dropper flies are prohibited. The fact that a lure can be cast with a fly rod is not evidence in itself that it fits the definition of a fly. The use of any lure designed to entangle or foul hook a fish is prohibited. No scent, either natural or artificial is allowed on flies. The use of scented material in a fly is prohibited.

Gaffs and nets used to boat or land a fish must not exceed 8 feet (2.44 meters) in overall length. (When fishing from a bridge, pier or other high stationary structure, this length limitation does not apply.) The use of a flying gaff is not permitted. Only a single hook is permitted on any gaff. Harpoon or lance attachments are prohibited. A rope or any extension cannot be attached to the gaff.

Actual rules are available in detail here.
Danny looked at his Black Dog once, turned it around and looked at it again. He wanted to reassure himself that this definitely was his winning bait. He had other baits too, just in case. But he knew he would not need them. This bait showed off his style!

Angling Championship Preparations

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Sneha and Danny had been having a gala time at Maldives when they saw a poster calling people for a fishing contest. Danny was fairly excited. He had been dying to go fishing for a long time now! Back home on his ranch, he went fishing every now and then. It was his favourite pass time! It was a different story that not all the fishes that he caught ended up on his table and that there were often many days when he caught none!
He now wanted to buy all the best equipment for this contest but then the first thing that he had to do was register. At the registration desk was a nice lady who caught his attention. He started to flirt with her. Sneha was observing all this. She waited for a while and then her purse landed with a thwack on Danny’s head. He had to cut short the crap and get out of there. He could not afford to hurt Sneha, not when their relationship was still just budding!
Next stop, Fishing Equipment shop! Danny wanted to buy the best hooks, the best lines and the best Rod! He wanted to win the championship at any cost. It was a matter of his prestige! The prize was secondary, it was the satisfaction of winning that he wanted so very badly! He was not sure what Sneha would think about it, but Angling was close to his heart. He had learnt it from his father. And his father from his father. It had flown down passed on as inheritance for generations now. It was how they lived in style!
But even after buying all of this, one thing was missing. A bait. He was particular about the bait that he used. He only used the Black Dog! This store did not stock one. They had alternatives. He did not like alternatives. They were against his train of thought. This resulted in store jumping. He spent the better part of the evening hunting, scrutinizing, reminiscing the baits he saw at every store. Finally he found his bait. He was happy. It was the perfect one. Tail, a tuft of olive-yellow pig’s wool; body, black mohair; gold and silver tinsel with orange silk between; two or three black hackles; galena at the shoulder; wing, grey speckled turkey, two long slips. The hook, 3 1/2 inches long and 7/8 of an inch wide, and the succeeding flies rundown to 2 inches or even smaller.
Now all that remained was to hire a boat. That was not as easy either! Sneha was now getting impatient. He had to quickly wind up. But he could not afford to be slack! However, the rules of the championship restricted his choice. So he could finish this fast! He hired one of the Dhonis that were available.