Gone Ghetto Fishing

I've been getting more and more into fishing with my buddies. My friend Jeremy and I went fishing in Quemado lake when we were elk scouting around there, and my buddy Efrain and I have been going to Tingley Beach, located in Albuquerque. Most of my interest in fishing comes from my:

1. A general desire to be able to survive general economic and social collapse.
2. The fact that my software based start up company may in part be subsidized by my fishing abilities if I run out of money and don't have any food (which may be able to be viewed as a localized, to me, economic and social collapse, depending on how my company performs.)
3. It's fun to hang out with my friends and do something other than drink beer, or work on projects.
4. I like practicing new skills.

When I was young, I remember fishing with my mother's father a bit. I was about five, so I don't remember much. He was nice to me, and I was scared of a garfish that he caught. Fishing with him was the only fishing experience I remember. Needless to say, I suck at fishing. Despite that, I've been practicing, listening to people when they give me advice, reading about it online, and trying to reason through different issues. This is with the goal of sucking less at fishing.

Tingley Beach

My buddy Efrain and I were going for cat fish down at Tingley Beach, and our bait kept getting robbed (eaten by fish, but we weren't catching them.) There were tons and tons of bluegill around, likely the culprits, so I switched out my large catfish hooks for smaller ones. I carefully baited the hook so the bluegill would have to get hooked in order to eat the bait. This strategy was successful!

Note the expert fishing equipment - rod courtesy of Efrain Grijalva 

After catching my first fish, I proceeded to rapid fire catch two more. This was all in about twenty minutes once I got the hang of it. Cheap hot dogs are kind of like crack rocks for bluegill in Tingley Beach. Another observation I made was that the fish slowed down and stopped biting as the sun rose - maybe this was because of the heat, or because the fish had been feeding like crazy and were full by that time. I'm not sure, but I think timing, and temperature, are both important while trying to catch fish.

Efrain and I gutted two of the fish, and I gave the third to a little boy that was fishing with his brother that had a fish cage to keep it in. The two brothers weren't catching anything, and I thought it would be nice for the older boy to teach his little brother how to clean a fish. Later, I fried up my fish after cleaning them a bit more, and ate them. They were bony, but good.

Some of my friends that are more into fishing are amazed that I go to Tingley Beach. It is usually crowded, kind of dirty, and the wildlife (especially ducks) are socialized and familiar with humans to the point of ridiculous, but it's fun. Tingley Beach is located right downtown by the river, it's easy to get to, doesn't require a costly and time consuming trip, and everyone I've met there has been very nice. For me, I'd much rather improve my fishing skills someplace close and easy to get to. Just make sure to bring your fishing license, the officials check!