Thursday, September 9, 2010

Fish stories

I went fishing today.  It was another good day to be on the water.  This time I took the flats boat to be able to get into very shallow water and fish the outgoing tide.  I used to fish a lot when I was a kid. My father was a recreational fisherman who really knew the water.  He first set me up with a hand line and as I got older and more capable, I graduated to a fishing rod with a Penn reel.

Later in graduate school, I would surf fish on the outer banks.  I built my own rods from blanks.  We called those long rods Hatteras Heavers.  Those were the days of sleeping in my truck on the beach, fishing the outgoing tide for blue fish and red drum, standing around a camp fire, telling fishing yarns and having a few beers.  It was serious fun. 

Sadly enough, two fellows who used to go with me died way too young.  One died from complications of falling off a pier at a Christmas party after getting drunk and passing out.  Those attending to him were also drunk, so when they picked him up and carried him, his spinal nerve was severed/damaged to such an extent that he became a quadraplegic.  He later died from the severity of this condition.  Another friend developed a brain tumor and died within six months of diagnosis.  I still have photos of all of us on the beach enjoying the comraderie and eating fresh fish cooked up in a skillet with some garlic, olive oil, and a bit of soy sauce.   It all seems like yesterday.  

Anymore, my fishing time has been limited by work and sailing.  But today, in mid-week, it just seemed like the perfect thing to do.  So I set out to fish the marsh fringes on the falling tide. 


At first there was a bonnet head shark and then a few small sting rays.  All the fish were caught on circle hooks which prevents swallowing of the hook.  Each fish was released after being caught. 
This poor bonnet head shark looked really scared.  He was fine though after getting the hook out of his lip and gladly swam away.
A small sting ray.  Note the circle hook which is easy to remove and prevents damage to the gullet.

 Finally, a school of red drum moved in after maximum ebb tide.  The oyster reefs were exposed and the drum were feeding on shrimp and crab around the submerged parts of the reef.  It was a lot of fun to catch these 7-8 pound fish.  Note that the hook is being removed by a telescoping device that acts a lot like forceps. 

Finally, it was time to head home.  All fish were released alive and swam away.  I don't like to kill anything anymore.  I guess that I have gotten really gentle as I've gotten older.  Hopefully, these fish will grow, reproduce, and provide some excitement for another day.  And maybe some kid will enjoy spending a day on the water fishing.  Today I was that kid.

16 comments:

  1. What a 'fun' time for you, Syd. And a great read, besides. See, retirement isn't TOO bad...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am told that fishing is quite relaxing. I have never done it! May be some day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I grew up fishing with my family.
    Sometimes the trips were hard on me due to my dad's heavy drinking. Today I can look back on some good memories we had too. Gar ran in the river which we caught on some occasions.

    ReplyDelete
  4. nice. looks like a great catch...i came back to fishing after a 15 year hiatus two years ago...its very relaxing and nice when you find those spots that just keep on giving...

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love fishing, being on the water, relaxing, waiting. What a nice and gentle trip. Thanks for taking us along!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My husband gets great joy from fishing. I think it's part of his genetic make-up to want to go out onto the water and fish.
    Another thing I don't quite understand but am understanding about, which is good enough.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I used to love to fish, I hope some day I will have the time to do it again. My kids are avid fishermen (and women).

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds like a great way to spend a day on the water. Nice pictures. Yes, the shark does look scared. He was lucky you were the one on the other end of the line. Sad about the friends you have lost.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice to read about your fishing and sadness at the friends story. We caught a nice brown trout on holiday ou in the middle of nowhere, the wonders of the world.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The good memories can outweight the difficult ones if we seek to find the enjoyment and light :)

    Fishing is an awesome pasttime and I want to do more of it, I hope to get to fish with my dad again as I can.

    He loves the water, fishing and all things natural

    ReplyDelete
  11. It makes me happy to think of you out on the water enjoying yourself, while the rest of us are at work. Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for sharing, and those pictures were really neat. You took me back to when I fished Lake Superior with my grandfather. Those were special sweet times, long ago.....

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like to think that catch-and-release is kind of like Mother Nature's karma. It sounds like you had a day right out of childhood. I wish you many, many more.

    ♥namaste♥

    ReplyDelete
  14. Catch & release is the best way to fish. Unless you are on a deserted island. Then you might want to eat what you catch.

    ReplyDelete
  15. what a great day. I'd love to fish salt water some day! Thanks for a great read!

    ReplyDelete

Let me know what you think. I like reading what you have to say.