Tip of the month – Bungee jumping for Flounders.

[Greenheart]

With the onset of winter, many a fisherman’s thoughts will be turning to catching flounder. A particularly productive method that can be enjoyed by the more adventurous among you is to combine harpooning flounder with bungee jumping. This is an old & established tradition in Cornwall & experts at the art may be seen most weekends jumping from the Tamar Bridge at Plymouth. In this quaint & venerable pursuit, fishermen attach a suitable length of strong elastic to their ankles & the other end to the bridge structure. They then simply wait until a migrating flounder is seen passing below. (Large quantities of scrumpy are traditionally consumed whilst waiting ) On spotting a suitable target & clutching his harpoon, usually made from a modified toasting fork. They leap from the bridge & spear their unsuspecting prey. Improvised bungee’s may be made from recycled pole fishing elastic, often obtainable or stolen from members of the course fishing forum. A simple formula is used to calculate how many strands of elastic are required. Take the square root of your own weight & divide it by the breaking strain of the elastic used. Then multiply this figure by the liquid volume of your left wellie in millilitres. (Most keen fishermen are well aware of just how much liquid their wellies hold.) The final figure denotes just how many strands of elastic should be woven together.
The length of the bungee should be determined by measuring the distance from the bridge minus your own height minus another 10 percent to allow for stretch. Allow 5 percent if powergum is used. Allowance should also be made for the estimated weight of the flounder. I have heard that our Forum founder, Richard had a nasty accident, when he mistakenly speared a disorientated 200lb Halibut. There is a local Bylaw forbidding Scotsmen from wearing kilts when participating in this sport. This is not only to protect sensitive & shy local fishermen, But to prevent the attentions of amorous seagulls as well. There have also been reports of damage to the bridge structure caused by the sudden de-acceleration of the jumper & the reverse parachute effect of the kilt during the rebound.
Goose grease is traditionally used to protect the jumper from the effects of cold, however the ankles should not be greased where the elastic is attached for obvious reasons. The many pairs of feet protruding from the Taymar mud beneath the bridge bear witness to those who have chosen to ignore this advice.
The writer of this report will not be held responsible for any injuries sustained whilst participating in this sport nor for any increases in life insurance premiums.

Further information may be found at the Dangerous sports club web site:
http://www.btinternet.com/~dafyddk/dsc.htm

Happy Christmas everybody, & Tight lines for the New Year.

True insanity is to be found at the end of the long & difficult road of blank sessions.

[tommy a]

All them pasties have made them far too heavy for bungee jumping ........

[big guy]

are there any bungee fishing matches?

maybe you could mount the spear on to the top of a bash hat, just to add a bit of spice to what sounds like a bit of a boring sport. lol.