Balloon Fishing

[MikeH]

I have done this in the past. It is how the locals fish in Aruba where I lived for a few years. I mostly did it with a conventional rod and reel but I also have one of the traditional Aruban hand reels (looks like a giant bobbin). The offshore trade winds in Aruba are pretty constant at the north end of the Island near the lighthouse, and using the ballon as a wind driven float you can get a chunk of bait out over the steep drop off on the other side of the reef even though the drop off is more than 500ft offshore.

It was great if you hooked a small tuna or a red snapper, but not so much fun if you hooked into a reef shark or tangled a leatherback turtle. The shark I eventually managed to land on the beach near a fancy tourist hotel at 5:30am, with the hotel manager screaming his ass off at me!
He was terrified that the guests would hear that someone had caught "a shark" at his beach. (duuur dum, duuur dum, duuur dum)

you need a brightly coloured balloon for long distance sighting