Ever since he retired last year, J. P. Janakan has been spending more time fishing than he was before.
The 60-year-old city resident has always loved fishing; for him, it’s more than just catching something, it’s about “getting out of the hustle and bustle of the city.”
Sport fishing, which involves going out into the sea to fish, is an activity that has been rising in popularity in the city. It also seems to be very popular with senior citizens.
“Over 50 per cent of our clientele are senior citizens,” said Santhosh Jagadeesh, director of BlueWaters, a sport fishing company, which has been operating in the city for nearly four years. According to Mr. Jagadeesh, over the years, the company has received a lot of enquiries from elderly residents of the city and elsewhere who are interested in exploring the activity.
For Mr. Janakan, who grew up fishing in ponds, the hobby offers unique experiences — new areas, getting close to nature, fresh air and relaxation. “When you are you out in the open and latch on to a big fish, it’s the biggest adrenaline rush that you can ever get,” he said.
“A lot of our older clients have been fishing for years, sometimes from the time they were very young. Earlier, the rules for fishing were more relaxed, there were more water bodies and more fish. Now, there are fewer water bodies, and many are polluted and there are fewer fish, so interested clients approach us,” said Manoj Chacko, director, Barracuda Bay Sport Fishing.
About 30 per cent of his clients, Mr. Chacko said, were senior citizens. “We offer the equipment and the advantage of going out into the sea on a boat. Commercial fishing activity usually takes place around 10-15 km from the coast, but we go 15-20 km in,” he said.
When Cana Naidu was young, he would take a bamboo stick and, with earthworms as bait, try and catch fish. The 65-year-old who runs a marketing agency fell in love with fishing all over again when he was in Sri Lanka, and tried it with Mr. Jagadeesh in Chennai, recently.
“It’s a very peaceful experience. You don’t think about work and it takes your mind off things,” he said.
King Mackarel, yellow-fin tuna, marlin and barracuda are there for catching, photographing and releasing. As Mr. Chacko put it, “Sometimes, when the ocean is calm, pods of dolphin come out to play. There are flying fish, pilot whales and heaps of turtles — there’s nothing like it.”
