Fishing

One of the biggest attractions up here is fishing.  Now I have to say that not only am I a poor fisherman, but I don't like it very much.  I think my previous career caused me to spend long hours on my own in hotels and aircraft, and solitude was not something I particularly sought out.  I'm not sure if I'm a bad fisherman because I have no patience, or perhaps I have no patience because I'm a bad fisherman.  But it bores me dreadfully.
Nonetheless, I fully accept the draw it has, and I enjoy seeing people with all their tackle and the sweet joy of apprehension of the day ahead.

Platform on the north shore of Big Bear Lake

Recently the authorities have installed a number of fishing platforms around the lake to help organize the sport for those who don't have boats.

It costs about $35 a year for a fishing licence and a quarter of that for a daily one.  Woe betide anyone caught fishing without the necessary forms as the fines are extremely high.

There is perhaps one exception to my dislike of fishing and that was when I used to go down to Cornwall - the furthest point Southwest in England.  There would be about six or seven of us, who would drive down and go out with a professional captain for about eight hours, fishing above the many wrecks that the dangerous seas there had claimed.  We use to pull up Ling, Wrasse, Bream, Pollock and the infamous Conger Eels which could be quite big.  They had a lot of teeth and they were not happy to be taken from their watery homes.