Fish Story

I was up around 615am after a fairly good night of sleep 55 push-ups despite my right wrist aching after just ten Off on my run at 730am - completely cloudy - light drizzle- 81 degrees - 95% humidity Same run - through north beach and back along the gulf K & C family walking beach search for sea shells Kenny advises ugly weather forecast - storms after 12noon - jeopardizing our fishing excursion Rains lightly most of the morning - everyone up by 930am I eat lightly - cheese and fruit along with coffee 11am - Sky clears enough to promote hanging at the pool with my book Everyone else, including all the kids eventually join in At 12noon I head in and prepare for fishing trip, including the installation of the Transderm patch We plan to leave for our fishing trip at 1pm ( trip 2-6pm) Originally slated to be just the boys (me, Kenny, Jake and Jacob) Mindy opts in last minute after discussing with Chrissy. Bella staying back and going shopping with the girls Mindy provides souvenir money for Bella Pack cooler with sandwiches, beer, ice and pop - head to Marina just after 1pm - skies still cloudy but currently not threatening rain Kenny seeks parking pass Head to waiting boat (Snoopy II). Charlie, the deckmate, there and ready. I mistakenly thought Charlie was the captain. Bill is the captain, shows up minutes later. Just before departure and young man shows up asks if we have room for an extra. Mindy asks where he's from - Cincinnati. I agree provided he buys a share of the boat fee, which, again, is $450 for a 4 hour trip for up to six people. Chris made number six. We departed minutes later after he gathered his gear. Out to sea! Mindy strikes up a lengthy conversation with Charlie as we cruise along. Jacob advises he's not feeling so well after just 5-10 minutes of boating in the calm waters. Mindy eventually comes from under the boat's mid-shelter feeling peaked to get fresh air at the 40' boat's rear. Kenny cracks a beer. I sip water. Our destination was ten miles out - took about 55 minutes Charlie started readying the poles for the entire group without any direction All along, the plan called for us to troll versus bottom fishing With a little instruction, Charlie had Jacob and I bouncing a pole at the boats rear While three others were sunk in the boats structure awaiting a bite, which Charlie indicated would be easy to detect by a bouncing rod It didn't take long, soon I had a bite - not three minutes into the process. It got away, and according to Charlie, due to my poor technique. :) Charlie was the prototypical fisherman - crusty 65-70 year old New Yorker. Short tempered but friendly "Fish On!" soon became the phrase of the day - a signal to Bill, the boat's captain, to slow or stop the boat so we could attend the pole in question. First catch was Chris who reeled in what we later learned was a Spanish mackerel. Only one problem. As he was reeling it in from the gulf, a barracuda leaped up and out of the water and snatched it. In just a split second he tore the nice size mackerel in half. We were all blown away! We pulled 5 or 6 similar sized mackerel out over the next 15-20 minutes. Without prompting, Charlie took one of our mackerel from the fish keep and attached it to a homemade fishing lure comprised of about six enormous hooks in a chain. All of sudden, we were fishing for big game fish! It didn't take long before we had a bite. Mindy went first. She battled the fish, presumably a barracuda, for several minutes. Sadly, Mindy lost the big catch. Chris went next. He pulled in the first barracuda, and it was a big one. Awesome! Can't recall if Kenny or I went next. I think it was Kenny. Like the others, he got a bite almost immediately and the fight was on. The difference between his and Chris' was that Kenny's never surface, or jumped out of the water. Charlie found that odd. Thought it might be something different. It was. It was a 5-6ft shark! Charlie espoused, that he wouldn't be bringing it aboard unless Kenny planned to keep it, have it mounted. He cut the line. Awesome! Me next. I got a bite after one embarrassing false alarm. My left forearm, the one holding the pole, grew weary as I fought the fish. It was another barracuda, this one slightly smaller than the other. We caught a few more mackerel before it was time to start heading back. We left the lines in as we slowly turned towards the shore. Suddenly, one of the poles held in place by the boast's mounting started bouncing vigorously. Mindy & Jacob each took turns battling the fish, until Charlie asked that Jacob turn the pole over to me. He said it had to be big fish. It was fighting ferociously. As soon as we'd get it close it would run with another 50-100 feet of line. Charlie gave me one last opportunity to bring it in before we needed to severe the line and head back to the marina. I fought it hard and eventually won. We brought in the biggest yet, a 40 inch king fish. Charlie said good eatin', and rare this time of year. Feeling successful, we all kicked back for the 45 minute ride back to the marina. At the dock, Chrissy met us with the girls. Charlie hung our catch as we took pictures. He filleted it for us too. We had two big bags full of fish, which we planned to grill for dinner. Kenny and Chris gave Charlie a real nice tip - about $80. At the same time, Chris handed me a wad of cash. I didn't look, and even considered giving it back. At the car I counted. $120, certainly more than I expected. Back at the condo we got cleaned up for dinner. Kenny and I grilled brats and about ten pounds of fish. The fish was tasty, although the greater majority went to waste. Collectively, we couldn't have eaten more than about 2 pounds. After Kenny suggested we walk for ice cream, about a quarter mile from our condo While enjoying ice cream another heavy downpour struck holding us at bay for nearly 30 minutes Kenny and four of the kids walked home in the heavy stuff. Me, Mindy, Jake and Halley waited it out. We still got wet but far less, as the rain eventually slowed To bed.