The Three Months

The Three Months

Paul Arden | Monday, 8 June 2020

That was the longest period for me without fishing for about thirty years, back when I used to have winters and close seasons and all those terrible things. I’m going to be frank with you, I really don’t know what it was all about, particularly for me who doesn’t normally live anywhere near people, having to live next to people because they have a disease really made no sense to me. Going fly fishing, on your own, in a remote area, living in the wilderness, has zero social interactions and is about as safe as you can be. Three months without fishing? I don’t normally go three days without fishing! Next time, and I hope it’s not in about six months time, because next time I want to be sailing around the world, because living on a jungle lake is obviously not remote enough.

So, anyway, as of Wednesday I can go fishing again. And I will be living on the boat again. I’ll be back to living far away from other people. I will be able to play music again and no one else will hear it. I will have campfires and no one will see them. But most importantly, if someone happens to see me fishing, or moving around the lake during the daytime, they won’t report me to the police, who will come looking for me while I’m having breakfast in my underpants.

You’ve always got to look for a silver lining. Phew, ok… well I put 2000km into Zwift rides, and despite being indoors I’m more cycle fit that at any time since I cycled half-way around Australia. There is a certain amount of irony in that, which I love. I have a box full of Snakehead Poppers ready to go, and we have organised a Mahseer project with the Orang Asli in Royal Belum State Park, which should start very soon. I also got to spend a couple of months with my wife, which was a lot of fun, and she is getting quite fit too, because she is also on Zwift. Any more “silver linings”? No. Maybe less people have died? Yes of course, if that’s the case then great, but let’s face it, I was far more likely to be a cause of the problem living close to people than avoiding them. If I had got the disease and spread it around town, because I was locked-down in town, that would have been more likely. 

At the time I said to one of my police friends, “If I go to town and die of this fucking disease because of it, then I’m going to come back and haunt you!” 

Anyway Malaysia now allows boat fishing again. You can’t play rugby, or have big social interactions, but restaurants are opening again and ta-da I can live on my boat in the jungle. Unfortunately I won’t have any International guests - because who wants to go for a week’s fishing that first involves two weeks quarantine? But at least I can get back on the Snakehead and Giant Gourami, enjoy nature, look at the stars, have campfires, and feel human again.

Last week we had a very busy page where I asked for old unwanted fishing gear for an Orang Asli project that we have here. Please check it out and let me know if you have anything you can contribute:

https://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/two-articles-and-a-triangle 

Many thanks, Paul

 

 

Now I wonder if all my Snakehead will be 10 kilos…