Why don’t more women fish?

I have just spent a week fishing around the base of Fraser Island … beautiful weather, beautiful scenery and of the thrill of catching enough fish for dinner each night. But I wonder, why do the boats only seem to have men in them?

My husband introduced me to fishing by taking me barramundi fishing in the Normanby River. The quiet wait of watching your line for hours … all you want is for that tip to bend down! Then when you hook a barramundi, you are so ‘pumped’ and alive.

Barramundi tend to live among the branches of dead trees on the bottom of the river. They tend to be in a group. You can dangle a bait in front of them for ages but nothing will happen. When they do bite it is worth the wait!

Once the barramundi feel they are hooked they will swim away at a rapid pace so you must let them run, hoping all the time you have it well hooked. Another response from the barramundi is to change direction and swim back in among the branches and you cannot let that happen so you must work your line so carefully.

The barramundi tend to jump and twist up above the water level after you have had it hooked for a while. … some say this is their way of trying to dislodge the hook. Once I had experienced the thrill of the chase with those barramundi I was hooked (oops sorry for that pun!).

That was over four decades ago and I thought at the time I was a bold woman’s ‘libber’ to be involved in such a man’s pursuit. Perhaps I was lucky to have a wonderful husband to teach me all he knew about fishing. Why is it that there are still so few women fishing? Don’t let the men have all the fun!

There are no barramundi around Fraser Island but the sheer joy of sitting on that beautiful water in the wonderful sunshine waiting for the whiting to bend the tip of your rod and then being quick enough to respond and catch those quick little silver fish is still exciting.

Our fishing is very basic. We fish from a second hand 3.7 metre tinny that cost us $300; we did spend a little more than that to buy a new 9.6 motor. We buy only cheap rods and reels but ensure they are well cleaned after use. We only ever use live bait so this means an hour or less is used each day collecting bait … pumping yabbies or throwing a cast net. We tend to stay fishing till we catch our dinner…. so perhaps we stay out there longer than some.

I aim to be able to do it all so I either ask my husband to teach me how to tie on the swivel and hook, how to operate the motor, how to land the fish and how to clean the fish or I use Mr Google and YouTube to teach me.

I found I had trouble remembering how to use the knot for the hook so I searched online till I found another knot that I was comfortable with. If you fish with someone, there has to be a sense of competition, so when Ron was catching more whiting then I was i used my iPad to search for the best way to catch whiting. Next day I used a heavier sinker and a longer trace and seemed to be more successful!

Fishing is a fun, rewarding activity that has the benefit of being outside in the fabulous environment. So I wonder why don’t more women fish?