15 + 15 points
Something Fishy by Mr Everyday
October 16th, 2008 4:04 AM
Ok, so there were several options for this task. Goats sprang to mind (and might still be done), as did bees, old sticks, balloons and people (with coins). In the wake of my book task I even considered briefly becomeing a fisher of men (the fact that I hate proseltizing stopped me there, but still...). Eventually however, it all came back to Ducks.
Now, I've gone fishing for ducks before. Under the influence of Danny the champion of the world my friend and I once tried to catch ducks with raisins (unsuccessfully). We later tried fishhooks (successfully, but I'm not doing that again - too barbaric if you don't intend to eat them) and good old fashioned running (surprisingly successful for the diving kind). In this case however, I decided that bread and line were the way to go.
In order not to hurt the ducks, I just smooshed the bread over the thread (one thing we learnt with raisins is that ducks gobble things and have trouble getting unstuck - we never "caught" them, but we cam close). I didn't happen to have a stick with me (he said, before going to a beach covered in sticks), so I used a highlighter pen.
As you can see from the photos, the local ducks are quite tame. When using two hands I actually caught a couple just using the "eat bread from my hand... GRAB!!! technique, but various tourists got upset (and may have decended upon me were I not wearing my suit). This was no challenge at all, however, they were surprisingly reluctant to take the bread on the line... Perhaps I should have tried a lighter coloured cotton. Anyway, I "caught" several, but practiced a strict policy of catch and release. The photos turned out surprisingly well.
I should have gotten further photos, but unfortunately my camera died from lack of batteries... Next I decided to try something I haven't done in years, namely fishing for sparrows. When my brothers were small I used to take them to the park and cacth them sparrows to hold all the time. Now that they are 18 and 21 respectively I have not had cause to do so for some time.
The bread on string was actually surpisingly effectve in luring them towards me. Unfortunately sparrows will peck a small piece off and fly away qucikly. I went back to the old technique which was using crumpled pieces of paper. The sparrow will stop and peck at the paper repeatedly, trying to determine if it is in fact food. This gives you plenty of time to SNATCH!!! I must admit that I am MUCH out of practice. I don't think that I'm slower as such, but I've forgotten the timing. I only caught 3 in about 30 minutes...
The next stop was the duck pond, where a new batch of ducklings had just hatched. Ducklings are no challenge at all to catch, but they ARE very cute, so I caught them for a while (and gave them to some Korean tourists for a hold) until the park staff told me to leave.
All in all a grand days "fishing".
Now, I've gone fishing for ducks before. Under the influence of Danny the champion of the world my friend and I once tried to catch ducks with raisins (unsuccessfully). We later tried fishhooks (successfully, but I'm not doing that again - too barbaric if you don't intend to eat them) and good old fashioned running (surprisingly successful for the diving kind). In this case however, I decided that bread and line were the way to go.
In order not to hurt the ducks, I just smooshed the bread over the thread (one thing we learnt with raisins is that ducks gobble things and have trouble getting unstuck - we never "caught" them, but we cam close). I didn't happen to have a stick with me (he said, before going to a beach covered in sticks), so I used a highlighter pen.
As you can see from the photos, the local ducks are quite tame. When using two hands I actually caught a couple just using the "eat bread from my hand... GRAB!!! technique, but various tourists got upset (and may have decended upon me were I not wearing my suit). This was no challenge at all, however, they were surprisingly reluctant to take the bread on the line... Perhaps I should have tried a lighter coloured cotton. Anyway, I "caught" several, but practiced a strict policy of catch and release. The photos turned out surprisingly well.
I should have gotten further photos, but unfortunately my camera died from lack of batteries... Next I decided to try something I haven't done in years, namely fishing for sparrows. When my brothers were small I used to take them to the park and cacth them sparrows to hold all the time. Now that they are 18 and 21 respectively I have not had cause to do so for some time.
The bread on string was actually surpisingly effectve in luring them towards me. Unfortunately sparrows will peck a small piece off and fly away qucikly. I went back to the old technique which was using crumpled pieces of paper. The sparrow will stop and peck at the paper repeatedly, trying to determine if it is in fact food. This gives you plenty of time to SNATCH!!! I must admit that I am MUCH out of practice. I don't think that I'm slower as such, but I've forgotten the timing. I only caught 3 in about 30 minutes...
The next stop was the duck pond, where a new batch of ducklings had just hatched. Ducklings are no challenge at all to catch, but they ARE very cute, so I caught them for a while (and gave them to some Korean tourists for a hold) until the park staff told me to leave.
All in all a grand days "fishing".
A SIGN I TELL YOU!!!
Walking along the street, I saw A SIGN!!! And decided it was the perfect day for fishing.
My tackle.
Hightlighter pen and embroidery cotton.
The prey
An unsuspecting duck. This photo was taken JUST as I open the bag of bread I had. This duck had been sleeping. Suddenly there were 20 ducks RIGHT THERE.
By hand.
Heeeere ducky ducky ducky.
A strike.
This duck is officially on the line.
Another strike.
This one I nearly got all the way to me before the bread let go of the string. I love this as an action shot.
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posted by rongo rongo on October 19th, 2008 2:20 PM
Just reading about your duck baiting was hilarious. Better luck next time with the camera.
nice job, i like your action shot but i must admit, i was a bit dissapointed you didnt get more photos of the brand new chickys and the tourists holding it and park staff and the sparrows....or your suit. the suit = grand status of the mischievous.