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.
