Fish Tales

In this weeks post I would like to share a true "Fish Tale" of a story with my followers, and answer some very good questions that I have received regarding fishing. As I discussed in my previous post, there are several different styles of fishing. My personal favorite falls under the saltwater fishing category. For simplicity the two most popular styles of saltwater fishing are coastal and deep sea. They mean exactly that. Coastal means you are fishing within just a few miles of the coast and in relatively shallow water. Deep sea fishing you will find yourself in much deeper water, but it can still be within a few miles of the coast. This particular story occurred in deep water approximately twenty miles out in the Gulf of Mexico.

From the time I was a child and well into my teen years, I spent at least three months out of the year at my family's beach house in Alligator Point, Florida. It was there that I learned most if not all of my saltwater fishing skills. One summer, when I was ten or eleven, my neighbor, my dad, and myself went on a deep sea fishing trip about twenty miles out to the O Tower. It was well over one hundred feet out that far. We came upon a spot that showed lots and lots of fish on the radar equipment, so we stopped and dropped anchor. We quickly began catching a lot of large Red Grouper.

  

So fast were the fishing biting, that many times the bait did not even reach the bottom before a fish was on. Suddenly the "bite" just stopped. We couldn't even get a nibble or anything. We were not too bummed because we had caught so many already, but it was still early in the day. We figured we would wait it out a bit and see if the fish started biting again. During this lull in the action we decided to eat lunch, but we still had our poles in the holders and our baits in the water. Suddenly my rod bent completely over for just a heart beat and then went completely slack. I reeled in the line to find that my line had been cut. I re-rigged the hook and line with a steel leader and sent my bait back down to the bottom. Suddenly my pole bent over again, but this time with the steel leader in place it didn't go slack. I immediately went to grab for the pole. I vaguely remember my Dad yelling no, but I was to eager to fight this fish. When I grabbed the rod and pulled it free of the holder I quickly realized my mistake. At that time I was a scrawny little kid and probably only weighed sixty or seventy pounds. This huge fish on the other end began to pull me overboard, and I refused to let go of the rod. If not for my father's speed in reaching me I would have been drug overboard. He quickly grabbed hold of me and guided me to a special chair designed for a fisherman to sit in and fight large fish. After about two hours of fighting this fish we finally go it alongside the boat. It was a seven foot Nurse Shark.

 

This was my first real lesson in safety while fishing. Many more would follow, but this mistake could have cost me my life. It was from this point on that I began to seriously learn about the equipment involved in fishing and how it can aid and keep you safe. Has anyone else had an accident while fishing? If you have, did you have the proper equipment to handle the situation? I know that is one mistake I will never make again. When fishing, especially in saltwater, always expect the unexpected. 
       Finally I will address a couple of questions asked by a few of my readers.
  
Question 1: What is the most important thing to know about fishing?

I chose this question because it directly relates to the point of my story. The most important thing about fishing is safety, so the most important thing to know about fishing is what equipment you will need to bring for whatever style of fishing you are doing. Had I waited until my dad put the safety harness on me before grabing the rod, I would not have nearly been yanked overboard.

Question 2: What's the most difficult part about fishing?

The most difficult part about fishing is having patience. Most fishing trips will not start like the one in my story where the fish are biting like crazy at any bait you offer. You have to have patience to keep trying different techniques and baits if the fish are not biting. Eventually you will find the right combo and the fish will let you know.

Well that's it for now. In my next post I will answer more questions and introduce several huge organizations that every fisherman should be familiar with.