Here are 6 tips to help you go spearfishing more
If you want to go spearfishing more and you’re slightly sick of watching life (clean water + fishing opportunities) go by then this blog post might be able to help!
Prioritise
What does a good week look like to you? Do you want to go spearfishing once a week, twice a month?
Put first things first. Spearfishing will seldom come first, but lock in everything that needs to happen and get it done.
Eliminate or Delegate
Are you doing stuff that someone else could do or even worse, that no one needs to do?
Stuff like; cleaning the garage, moving your ‘mate’ for the third time in the last year, re-painting the house or some other task that can just plain wait.
Pay someone to mow the lawn and wash the car. What is more important, $50 + the costs of going out or staying home and DIY?
Take Sickies
“Work to live, don’t live to work”
Whether you own the business or you work for someone else – a mental health day spent spearfishing is a preventative long term health measure. If the world falls apart because you’re away for the day then chances are you are working under too much stress anyway.
Here are Turbo’s tips for pulling a sick day.
Ahh yes the sick day AKA “the sickie” or “chucking a sickie” I’m not sure what it’s called in other parts of the world, but here in Australia it’s a national art. We have spent many years perfecting the technique and as it turns out, it’s a crucial spearfishing skill and you need to get it right. Here’s my run down for chucking a sickie and keeping your job.
Rule no. 1 Be responsible with your sickies
Sickies are for the days when the conditions are perfect. They are for days when the ocean is flatter than Shrek’s Katy Perry renditions in the shower. They are for days when even the line fisherman are catching fish, for when the water has warmed up and the first of the pelagic fish are getting about etc etc. These “perfect days” are for sickies but be warned sickies are more addictive than cocaine and strippers combined so use them sparingly, you might actually get sick one day.
No.2 Check the weather in advance and monitor it.
If you check the weather in advance and it starts looking good you have a chance to get the crew ready who will also need to “chuck a sickie”. A group sickie needs planning and due diligence but if done properly is poetry in motion and can be described in the following equation Sickie * Sickie * Sickie = ice box full off fish
No.3 Laying the credibility bread crumbs.
Monitoring the weather and planning for a particular day gives you a few days to lay down your story at work in advance giving you credibility. It also allows your colleagues to unwittingly become your greatest alibi. Allow me to elaborate. It’s Monday and the weather for Thursday looks fishier than a trawler-man’s wife’s picnic basket. It’s time to lay the foundations. A little stretch of the back at lunch with a slight wince of the face says “ohhh look my back is playing up”. Hopefully a colleague will feign compassion in-between spoonfuls of light and easy and ask what the problem is. If he does it’s time to capitalise and let the whole world know you’re not a 100% “my backs playing up again but I’ll be right”. After all you’re a trooper and will come to work for the following two days until it finally flares up on Thursday and you need to spend a day in bed shooting Mackerel with your mates. The beauty of this is your colleagues become your alibi as they’ve been witness to your displays around the workplace giving you much needed credibility. Thanks guys!
No 4. It’s game day and you’ve got to be on the water early but you need to call the boss.
There’s a couple of options here for pulling the wool over the bosses eyes. They aren’t perfect and its all in the delivery. By waking up early and making the call while you’re groggy you can achieve two things. Firstly, you’ll sound sicker than an 80’s henchman whose been kicked in the throat by Chuck Norris and two, You’ll probably go through to message bank and your disgraceful deceitful conscience won’t be tested (you grub).
No.5 Wear plenty of sunscreen and cover up.
So you’re on the water and hopefully shooting some fish but just remember nothing looks as bad as someone who comes back from a sick day with an Irish tan. That’s right coming to work the next day looking like a pommy tourist who has just discovered the beach for the first time will raise some managerial eyebrows.
No.6 Remember you were sick
Have the excuses ready for the next day because you may be put to the test. Everyone is a potential rat so don’t go handing out slabs of kingfish and remember social media is not a friend of sickies.
Please note
It has been reported that sickies cost the Australian economy $28 billion in wages and lost productivity per annum so please do not take the above advice seriously and go to work you bludger.
Schedule Time To Go
Lock a day in on your calendar to go and then worst case, if the weather sucks you can go to work.
Focus
Get the things that need doing, done. Don’t procrastinate – get stuff done and then its spearfishing time. Write down the things that have to be done and put all the other stuff into another list called ‘LATER’.
Have a Code Name
Code names I have either tried or thought about – Meditative Retreat/Health Seminar/Holistic Conference/. None of these names are total lies as spearfishing is good for you! Only trusted people need to understand the CODE (the people that understand you!) and the rest can just hear what they need to in order for you to go spearfishing.
Conclusion
So there you have it 6 things to do that will help get you out spearfishing more + a rather well put together guide for ‘pulling a sickie’. The older I get the harder it seems to get out spearfishing. But its important to me, so I am making the effort to get out. Let me know what works for you in the comments!
Shrek
If you enjoyed this article check out ‘99 Tips To Get Better At Spearfishing‘ available here. Its actionable information to help you improve your spearfishing experience.
