At Least I didn’t Barf

Let me just start by saying that I am a terrible fisherman. About the only time that I catch fish is when no one else is around to see me. My favorite fishing story is the time when I caught a 3 oz. brim using a stick with a found hook, line, and sinker tied to it. Nobody was there.

Another thing you should know about me is that I am the second cheapest person you will ever meet. My dad just barely surpassed me as the cheapest person alive when he picked up a half empty gallon of milk off of another person’s garbage can and stuck it in our refrigerator. This happened last Saturday.

In spite of my total lack of ability as fisherman, I really do enjoy fishing, so I was torn a few days ago when a friend and former student of mine invited me to go deep-sea fishing with him and his mom. On the one hand, it would be a wonderful experience to go deep-sea fishing, but on the other hand, $55 is a lot for me to spend on something that I desperately need, let alone something that I merely want.

What finally made the decision for me was the idea of seeing my friend Derek Kidd out on a ship at sea. Not only does Derek look the part of a pirate, he is tall with long, dark, curly hair which he often wears pulled back under a bandanna, but Derek Kidd is actually a direct descendant of Captain Kidd who was the only historical pirate known to have buried his treasure.

Early in the morning, Mrs. Kidd, Derek and I set out on the Emerald Spirit, a 65 ft. fishing boat. The water was calm, only 6 foot waves, as we made our way far enough out to sea for the shore to be completely invisible. It was actually a very pleasant ride. I barely got sunburned and only nearly threw up one time. Finally we arrived at our fishing hole and baited our hooks with chunks of squid. As we dropped our lines into the water, an interesting phenomenon took place that my dad had explained to me before I set out on this expedition. Immediately, almost everyone on the boat, except for me, had a red snapper on their line. But then, within 4 minutes of stopping, the captain came over the intercom and announced that “This isn’t the spot that we are looking for” and we were ordered to reel in our lines so that we could move to another spot.

Just as my dad had predicted, the captain took us to a spot where everyone would be able to catch a fish, except for me of course, and then quickly moved us away so that the hole would remain well stocked for his next set of customers.

The next two spots that we were taken to were decent fishing holes, but nowhere near as productive as our first spot. I was not entirely unsuccessful on the trip, however. In addition to having an excellent time with my friend the pirate, I managed to catch one red snapper, two vermillion snapper, and three other peoples’ fishing lines. That sure beats throwing-up the whole time with Derek’s mom. I definitely consider my deep sea fishing excursion to be money well spent.

So what did I learn from this experience? Aside from discovering that I enjoy deep sea fishing, I learned that sometimes it is worth spending a little bit of money for the right experience. This trip also reinforced my belief that there is more to fishing than just catching fish.