A fishing trip to the tropics often represents an experience awaited for months, the result of work, economic and emotional sacrifices... The essence of passion that pushes us far from our comfort zone, in search of emotions to remember for a long time!
In this period, most tropicalists, both the old ones and the "new ones", will certainly be excited about the imminent departures to exotic destinations. A week or a little more, in the span of a year, in which to place all the expectations hoping to spend unforgettable days, to then return to Italy completely satisfied, ready to face another year of dreams and preparations. Yes, because not everyone is lucky enough to be able to plan several fishing trips a year ... so the hope is that that one week can be perfect! Unfortunately, however, it is not so obvious that it will be, since a myriad of factors will come into play that can be to our advantage or disadvantage (fish activity, physical well-being, weather conditions, unforeseeable unfortunate events, etc.).
It's not true, but I believe it
The perfect week begins months before… when we will be dying to tell everyone that we will spend a week practicing our passion in the heat, on the other side of the world, during the coldest months in Italy. And it is right there, that we will make the first mistake… because quoting a famous Neapolitan proverb “l'uocchie sicche so' peggio d' 'e scuppettate”, translated “the evil eye is worse than gunshots”, alluding to the fact that the envy of some people can literally strike, changing events. And since we are among fishermen, who probably belong to one of the most superstitious categories, we cannot help but take note and confirm the thesis of the proverb just quoted. And then, there is no point in getting carried away by the joy of the moment, boasting about the tickets we just bought, maybe posting the photo on social media: the fishing trip must be kept as secret as possible! Maybe we could talk about it using the conditional “I should leave for a trip… but let’s see…” making it difficult, alluding to the fact that we have no certainty and that the unexpected looms over us. And even when we have finally taken our place on the plane, or have arrived safe, sound and on time at our destination, when it will really be hard to resist, maybe it would be better to keep the photographic material aside to show it on social media only at the end of the holiday…
Plan ahead
While we avoid talking about it around, however, we should also start preparing and above all thoroughly check in advance everything we need for the trip, to have time to order what is missing, and solve any problems, such as broken reels, broken rod rings, non-functioning cameras, etc. The ideal would therefore be to draw up a list, giving priority to important equipment that could eventually require an overhaul at the parent company (with consequent shipping and processing times), and then move on to purchasing what is missing, consumables, clothing, sunscreens... so that we can, step by step, pack by optimizing the spaces as best as possible. In the planning we can also include training, which for certain fishing techniques is almost essential, and consequently could change the outcome of the trip. So a good specific training for what we are going to practice, will mean training above all the upper part of the torso, concentrating on the forearms for the grip, on the shoulders and arms to support heavy equipment, but also the abdomen and legs to increase stability and balance in the boat in the presence of significant wave motion.
Concentration at the highest levels
Having finally arrived at our destination, with all our luggage despite the risk of losing it during the stopovers, we are finally getting ready to start our fishing holiday. We are there, on the other side of the world, without any kind of disturbance or work commitment, without any distraction... our only goal will be to not make mistakes. Thus begins a ritual made of concentration and at times obsessive precision: we pass all the knots under the microscope, we sharpen the hook tips, we slide the lines between our fingers to feel any nicks... nothing should be left to chance. The fish that is worth a trip is just around the corner, and we cannot afford to miss a great opportunity because of our superficiality. So it is better to waste half an hour of time to redo some knots or change some lines, than to regret not having done so!
But to be focused even on the boat during fishing actions, we will have to be well rested ... Assuming that when we leave we will come from a period of stress due to both the preparation of the trip, and the amount of work that we will have had to get through in anticipation of the departure, we will have to try to rest a lot already on the plane during the many hours of flight, even if they will happen at times when we should have been awake, because due to the time zones we could risk not sleeping at all or sleeping very little. We would then risk being very tired during the first days of fishing. Instead, on the boat, as we were saying, concentration must be at its maximum, even when the activity of the fish seems to be completely stopped, because it is precisely at that moment that we will punctually have the attack that will catch us unprepared. Furthermore, concentration is also important for safety, from popping casts during moments of frenzy, to a photo with a fish with dangerous teeth or that slipping from our hand could hurt us with a thorn, passing through a wave that catches us unprepared making us fall. The dangerous situations that arise during entire days of fishing at the limit, are really many, and a second of lack of concentration, could transform a beautiful trip into a bad experience to forget!
The right company
The success of a trip in general, but even more so of a fishing trip, will be largely conditioned by the company. We will spend entire days of 10 or more hours forced into a few square meters on a boat, where there will necessarily be a need for complicity and teamwork, without any envy or competitiveness, indeed rejoicing for the catches of others. We will need to help those who are less experienced, perhaps by making a knot that is complicated for them, even at the cost of losing a few minutes of fishing at the moment of activity, giving up the place for an extra cast to someone who was unlucky that day, taking some nice photos for everyone... in short, remembering that it is not a competition, but a trip among friends, even if they are people we have just met. By adopting this behavior we can only benefit, taking home not only a good memory of that week, but also friendships that we can then continue to cultivate, or perhaps organize a future trip together again.
