Turn knowledge into wisdom

night.
I was amazed by what I observed. Though there was no moon I could see clearly into the dam.
The reflection of water from the dam enabled us to see the dam structure clearly.

We could see the weeds and gaps in the dam. However, it was difficult to see anything outside the dam.
It was dark everywhere outside the dam. We had to fish near each other because we were scared. The good catches encouraged us to stay put.
Is it a new thing or phenomenon to fish at night?
Traditionally, we were told that “hove huru dzinodyira kana kwadoka” (big fish bite more at dusk).

I have known this saying since I was a toddler but I have never had the courage to test its authenticity.
Though we joked about it while fishing, very few fishermen have the audacity to try fishing at night.
So many evil things happen at night, which frighten people from working then.

Other people shy away from dams at night due to time restrictions imposed on some of them.
In addition, fishermen fear being attacked by animals. Reptiles such as snakes are nocturnal which makes fishing at night hazardous.
Therefore, fear of the unknown is among the reasons why many fishermen avoid night fishing.

Useless knowledge

One way or the other most people in Zimbabwe have amassed a lot of knowledge judging by our current literacy levels.
Given the productivity levels prevailing in the country, it points to the fact that Zimbabweans have a knowledge implementation gap.

I have heard that fishing at night is the best time but I had never bothered to verify this until I was forced by circumstances to fish on that particular day at Prince Edward Dam.

I am more comfortable to follow the routines, which are being carried out by everyone else.
I feel safer following the crowds than relying on what has been imparted to me.
I do not make it a habit to live from what I have learnt. I do not make it a habit to convert my theoretical lessons into practical applications.

Most of us do not practise what we have learnt. Most people live in two distinct worlds, that is the world of knowledge acquisition and the practical world.
There is so much we know that we have not been able to put into practice. We have not made adequate effort to bring about the convergence of these two worlds.
How many of us have bothered to try and prove any hypothesis? Most of us have a thirst to acquire new knowledge.

However, our clarity in thought goes as far as knowledge acquisition not acquired knowledge application.
Knowledge application requires effort which most of us are not comfortable with. Knowledge is useless if it cannot be used to improve our livelihoods.
Are bass fish learning fish?
Observing the behaviour of big bass over the past eight years has taught me to appreciate that bass is a learning fish.

The bigger it grows, the wiser it becomes. No wonder it is difficult to lure big bass fish.
This fish knows that it is less hazardous to feed at night than during the day because some of its predators such as kingfisher, eagles, ducks and other predators sleep at night.

This explains why big fish come out to feed at night. This implies that the bass uses the knowledge it acquires over the years to evade its potential enemies.
It is sad to note that some animals, reptiles and fish put into good use what they have learnt, perhaps better than us human.

Recreational fisherman
There are two types of fisherman — the recreational one and the career one.
Most fishermen are in the recreational stead even if they do it for a living. A recreational fisherman is not under serious pressure to learn and apply what they have learnt nor to perform well.

The career fisherman goes an extra mile to apply what he or she has learnt or to acquire new relevant knowledge.
I belong to the category of recreational fishermen. There are a lot of ideas I have learnt about fishing that I have never bothered to verify.
In most cases, these ideas have remained a myth to me. Sometimes we just get half-baked ideas and pass them on the way they are without making an effort to

interrogate them. Even if we get the meaning of these ideas, we are not willing to stretch ourselves to an extent of investigating whether these ideas work.

I believe in the safety of numbers. If the rest says it works, I also say it works. Very few people bother to challenge what they know or learnt by pushing our learning horizons a bit far.

Imagine for the 35 years I was saying “hove huru dzinodyira kana kwadoka”, without bothering to find out whether it is true or not.
We used this statement in various talk shows without making tangible effort to fully explore the possibilities created by fishing at night.

By and large, our knowledge tanks have not been exploited to transform our lives.
Most managers and employees take their employment as an extension of their recreational activities.
Needless to say that no one can be held accountable for recreational activities. They don’t want to go the extra mile to hunt at night in case snakes bite them.
Their minds only visualise big snakes biting them instead of big bass in their cooler bags.

They are only satisfied with doing the routine work that everybody else is doing or has been doing over the years.
They are not comfortable with changing their routine. They are not willing to subject themselves to applying what they learnt over the years.
Their brains must not do anything outside the routine tasks and the routine way of doing things (like fishing during daytime).
I believe we can all fly, provided we are willing to put together what we have learnt and make a deliberate effort to apply the knowledge in our occupations.