Chronicles of a Fisherman

By Frank “Pancho” Gonzales

These writings have an appeal to fishermen, but also to the general public as well. They are true stories about fishing adventures and mishaps, about relationships, about friendship, and bonding. They paint a multicolor canvas of nature, an appreciation of the outdoors, and conservation of natural resources. They are about encountering unexpected problems, and overcoming adversity. As such, Chronicles of a Fisherman will appeal to fisherman, outdoorsmen, hikers, motorboat enthusiasts, and especially family members and friends in their efforts to understand the lure of fishing to their loved ones.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 30, 2009
• ISBN: 9781450003124

Frank “Pancho” Gonzales

Frank “Pancho” Gonzales was born and raised in Southern California. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from St. John’s Seminary College, Camarillo, California, and a Masters Degree from the University of Redlands, in Redlands, California. In his career as a Staff Manager and Warehouse Manager for a major Insurance Company, he was often told that he had a talent for writing, and a way of describing situations that made the reader feel physically present in the writing, watching as the events unfold. Chronicles of a Fisherman is Pancho’s first published work. We look forward to reading Pancho’s additional works.

Book preview

Chapter One

Fishing Half Asleep

Tony and I were on a ¾ day fishing boat (a boat that leaves at midnight and returns back to port around 6:00 pm) in the ocean out to Catalina Island, California. The boat left the landing at midnight. It was a 60’ fishing boat, with about 35 people aboard who would be fishing, and a crew of four. There were berths downstairs for people to sleep, and I made sure I was in one of those berths. About 1:00 am, Tony shook me awake. The boat is stopping, and it looks like people are going to fish, he said. From previous experience I knew what was happening, so I told him, The boat needs to stop to pick up live anchovies for bait. We don’t fish yet. Then I went back to sleep.

A short while later Tony shook me awake again. The boat is stopped and people are fishing. I went up to look. It was still dark outside. Lights had been strung over the surface of the water to bring up live squid, which would serve as additional bait with the anchovies that the boat had picked up earlier. I told Tony, It’s still not time to fish yet, and I went back downstairs to resume my slumber.

A couple of hours later, Tony woke me a third time. We’re at Catalina Island now and the people are catching fish. You better come up so you can get a good spot at the rear railing of the boat (where there is more room to move about)! I sleepily went up to the deck. It was foggy and cold. There was no more room at the rear railing. Instead, I moved into a less desirable spot at the side of the boat.

I tied a hook and a floating sinker to my mid-weight fishing line on one of my 3 fishing rods (one rod had a 3 lb test line, another rod an 8 lb test line, and the last rod a 20 lb test line). I reached back to cast the line out into the water. As I swung the rod forward, there was a clatter of noise behind me and my reel spun out of control, causing the line inside of the reel to tangle into an unwieldy mass. While trying to cast, I had inadvertently caught my sinker around some of the other fishermen’s rods. These were secured to the side of the cabin behind me. It didn’t take me long to untangle my line from the other rods or from the inside of the reel. I simply cut off the tangled line and saved the hook and sinker.

I restrung my rod with the good line, and affixed the hook and sinker once more. I reached back to cast my line. This time as I cast, the hook caught on the back of my fishing cap and became embedded in the fabric. Again the reel spun out of control, causing the line to tangle inside the reel. After a few minutes, I loosened the hook from my cap, cut the tangled line from the reel, reset the line, hook and sinker, and tried to cast once more.

2.jpg

This time the hook got caught in the back of my flannel shirt. Again the fishing line tangled inside the reel as it spun out of control. I had to take off my shirt to loosen the hook, then cut off the tangled line and reset the hook and sinker.

Meanwhile, I was getting more and more frustrated and I was still groggy from the lack of sleep. Finally, I was ready to cast once more. I carefully reached back, confident that now I could start catching fish, but somehow the line got entangled in the wooden supports holding the rods behind me. Again the reel spun out of control with the line tangling inside of it. Fed up, I yelled out to no one in particular, To hell with it! as I disgustedly cut off the tangled line, saved my hook and sinker, put my rod back into a support, and told Tony not to bother me any more as I was going back downstairs to sleep.

When a fishing day starts out like this, there is nothing more you can do than go back to sleep for several more hours.

Chapter Two

A Boat Driving Lesson

After I had inherited a 14’ motorboat from my in-laws, I would take it out alone into the ocean, past the breakwater, to fish. A breakwater is a solid barrier, like a wall, made of rock. Each rock weights several tons, and a breakwater may consist of thousands of tons of rock. Breakwaters are built to calm the inside waters where boats moor.

Fishing is not much fun when a person is alone,