Out with a la vive! In with banking!

So the live bait or a la vive season is slowly tapering off and, as is said in local parlance, “bait HAAAARD,” meaning bait is scarce.  These days those fishers who roll in to get a la vive hooks are calling for “straight 2 and straight 4,” indicating that bait, if gotten, is quite small in size.

Bait being hard, artisanal fishers are banking at the moment.  In banking one typically uses a hand-line starting from 50lb to 150lb, which has multiple arms, rigged with hooks. To reduce line tangle and curl, a heavy duty brass swivel may be used to connect the line to the leader containing banking arms.  Depending on tidal conditions and the depth at which one wishes to fish, a sinker ranging from 8oz to 3lb may be used.  Hooks are baited with herring, bonito, squid, or shrimp.  Common species which are captured in banking are cro cro, red fish, and salmon.

Banking can sometimes be tough on those who haven’t got good “sea legs”.  All that rocking and rolling can cause motion sickness.  Motion sickness has nothing at all to do with having “sexy legs”.  It’s all about sensory perception.  When a boat rocks, your brain interprets movement from the signals it has gotten from your eyes, muscles, joints, and most of all, your inner ears.  Now when the brain receives conflicting signals, that when you feel sea sick.  What in fact happens is your inner ear detects motion while your eyes do not perceive motion.  

Herein lies the sweet discomfort of nausea that only a good barf can cure.  So if you do decide to go banking, be sure to have non-drowsy Gravol on your tackle check list!  In the event you forget the Gravol, try looking out to the horizon to minimise your queasiness.

Banking checklist

• Non-drowsy Gravol or motion sickness patches
• Hand caster (preferably 7 ½ inch or bigger)
• Line (range: 50lb to 150lb)
• Brass barrel or box swivels
• Sinkers (range: 8oz to 3lb)
• Banking rig (ready made)
• Bait (squid, bonito, herring)
• Knife
• Bucket
• Finger guards or finger protection wrap 
• If you want to make your own banking rigs, you need:- cable, sleeves, three-way swivels, single barrel swivels, and snaps.