The State of California vs. a toothbrush and packet of potato chips

“This products contains substances known in the state of California to cause cancer”

Hmmm… sounds reasonable if you’re perusing the paint isle, shopping for some rat poison, or maybe have a hankering for a smooth, oh-so-tasty cigarette. But going fishing? Seems strange, no?

Well, believe it or not, we somehow ended up with a fishing lure, an imitation purple squid, in our tackle box with this dubious claim written on its package. For obvious reasons it is with some embarrassment that I admit to this. We’re sailing around the world with a positive message of environmental conservation, yet here we are fishing with a lure that is carcinogenic?!?! Well, I can promise you that it we didn’t knowingly purchase said lure. However, I will admit that we have caught a few fish with it, and Ryan in particular joked about how ridiculous it was; maybe we’d see some 6-eyed fish out there.

But Deadly 2X Purple Squid got us to thinking: Do we really need fishing lures that contain cancer causing chemicals? Isn’t it a bit crazy that we need to use toxic substances to do something as basic and ancient as fishing? Is it really necessary? No. But for some reason most fishermen put their faith in technology and gismos, not good old fashioned patience and luck. Not surprising really; have you visited a fishing store lately? It is insane. For a male dominated sport that prides itself on getting back to nature and eschews metrosexuality, its practitioners are awfully concerned with latest colours and styles. In fact, a fishing store is more season-driven and accessorized than the latest Cosmo. You’ll be assaulted by so many fluorescent pinks, yellows, greens and oranges you’ll think you opened a teen-fashion mag. Have you tried the latest super-bait? Invisible, high-tensile strength yellow fishing line, lures that emit sonic pulses to attract fish from miles away, and hooks that hold bait in 12 different ways? A must have are the pliers specially designed to remove hooks from the mouths of salmon that are 5.6lbs to 7.2lbs… but don’t forget to buy the pliers for larger salmon. Those will be another $22.50 please.

So can you escape this? Can you fish without the latest cancer-causing lures? We decided to try. It was about this time that we stopped on the Island of St. Helena in the mid-Atlantic. After our Garbage Study at Sandy Bay we dubbed the beach ‘Glow Stick and Tooth Brush beach’ for the surprisingly large number of glow sticks and tooth brushes we found. We learned that squid fishermen use glow sticks to attract the slippery prey to their nets. But tooth brushes? Were did all these come from? Haven’t figured that one out yet. But hey! A white tooth brush looks an awful lot like the underbelly of a flying fish. Hmmm…

As Khulula bobbed gently at anchor that evening, Bryson, my Dad and I snacked on a packet of Salt and Vinegar potato chips discussing if a tooth brush lure would really work to catch fish. Cut in half, it was about the right size and shape, but perhaps not quite vibrant enough. Bryson tilted the bag of chips bag to eek out the last few tasty crumbs, and there I saw the 2nd part of our lure; the shiny silver chip bag. This was perfect; a found tooth brush and recycled chip bag.

So about a week into the passage, after our stores of perishable meat was exhausted, I set to work constructing a lure from the tooth brush and chip bag. After about 20 minute, a drill and some twine later, I had beautiful looking, um, lure? Out it went. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. Remember, it’s called “fishing” not “catching” for a reason.

For 6 days we dragged the toothbrush lure towards Fernando de Noronha with nary a bite, a bit discouraging to say the least. On the last evening before arriving at Noronha, just as the sun was setting, WHAM! A fish hit the lure and out went the line! I grabbed the line and it clearly had something on it, but after a few seconds, it went limp. Drat! It got away. On Noronha we learned that the waters are so warm (32 C) in that part of the Atlantic there is little plankton for smaller fish and squid to feed on, thus there are few of the larger pelagic prey that we target. So our lack of fish had an explanation. Oh well.

It would be a month later, upon leaving Forteleza for Ile du Salut, that we would be fishing properly again. Out went the Tooth Brush Lure behind the boat. And we waited. Late on day two, as I enjoyed an afternoon tea, SHAAA-BLAM!!! The Tooth Brush lure gets hit!!! 50m of 100 kg strength line is attached to a heavy bungee cord on the boat. At this point the bungee cord is stretched to about 3 times its length and bouncing wildly. And they, TH-TWANG, the bungee comes flying back dangerously as the line breaks at the knot! Drat, something very LARGE just bit the Tooth Brush and we lost it.

Not discouraged, I set to work again constructing a Tooth Brush Lure V2.0. It seemed the design was working, maybe even a bit too well. Soon we’re trolling Tooth Brush Lure V2.0. Yet now we’re north of the Amazon River and the water is murky and brown because of the mighty river’s muddy outflow. These are not our usual blue water fishing grounds, but there are plenty of local fishing boats out that we’re dodging at night. Once again, late in the afternoon while enjoying a cup of tea, the line is hit! This time it is evident that something quite a bit smaller has taken the lure. Suits me just fine, I don’t think my ego can handle loosing another fish! After a short but well fought battle, we landed a smallish, um, unidentified tuna-looking fish. Finally, the Tooth Brush Lure wins! We still have some fresh food from Brazil, so we decided to return this little guy to the sea with the hopes of being rewarded with a bigger, tastier fish…

So there you have it, you can catch fish with an old tooth brush washed up on a beach and a recycled potato chip packet. Cost = 0$

Epilogue:

On our most recent passage up from Suriname to Barbados we were fishing once again. Throughout their time aboard we had been telling Wendy and Shayla all sorts of stories of the massive Mahi Mahi we always caught and how tasty they were to eat. Needless to say they were beginning to get a bit skeptical as we had sailed over 1600 miles without catching one Mahi Mahi. In fact, we had yet to eat a single fish caught from Khulula.

So there we were, 36 hours out from Barbados and still no Mahi Mahi in our bellies. As usual, we were trolling two lures behind the boat; a white and pink store-bought rubber squid, and Tooth Brush Lure V2.0. Bryson and I had assumed our usual position: napping in our bunks out of the sun, while Wendy and Shayla were topside sailing the boat. A casual, ‘um, I think we caught a fish’ from Wendy got us clambering up topside. The line on the port side is bouncing wildly with a rather angry Mahi Mahi jumping out of the water trying to spit out the with and pink squid. Woo hoo! Wendy starts wrestling that fish and I turn my attention to the starboard line, with the Tooth Brush attached… my face fell. There, dragging in the water beside the boat is the limp end of the bungee, no fishing line attached… the line had broken, again. We know that Mahi Mahi travel in pairs, so I’m assuming the mate of the fish we were currently hauling in on the port side had hit the Tooth Brush Lure so hard it broken the line; a big disappointment to say the least.

I have yet to construct Tooth Brush Lure V3.0, but it is coming. Today we’re are going to take the bus to the east side of Barbados to do a garbage study there. We’ll be looking for the next piece of ‘garbage’ to construct another upcycled lure.