Mangaluru: Having stayed for about three decades in Mumbai for work and now back home, Chandrashekhar, a resident of Uchchila, off Mangaluru, does not want to sit idle at home.

Hailing from a fisherman family, Chandrashekhar neither owns a traditional boat nor has a companion to accompany him in the boat. Consequently, he hit upon a novel method to get engaged in his passion.

He got a rubber tube of a heavy vehicle tyre, got it inflated and ventured into the sea along with a small net. Sitting in the middle of the tube and rowing with his hands, Chandrashekhar spread the net and waited for a couple of hours before dragging the net back.

Chandrashekhar would not venture far into the sea but stayed close to the shore for a couple of hours early in the morning. He was not disappointed as a handful of fish fell into the net. “The catch is enough for my family and on several occasions, I was able to sell some extra catch,” Chandrashekhar said, while picking fish from the net with the help of his friend on Saturday.

Using inflated tube for fishing is quite economical and easy, Chandrashekhar said and added that one need not invest huge sums to engage in such fishing activity. The only thing is one has to stay wet for a few hours inside the sea while floating on the inflated tube, he added.

Like Chandrashekhar, many others indulge in similar fishing activity along the Someshwara-Batpady coast off Mangaluru.