Thursday, September 28, 2006

Who caught the fish?




So here we are at our annual trip to Ocracoke. The weather has been pretty good, for the most part. I can somewhat understand the passion to fish - it is fun - when the fish are biting of course. But all these fish stories you hear make me wonder. And trust me, "the big one got away" has been said more than once. But a few questions have come to mind. Like, Who gets the credit for the catch? the owner of the pole? the one who baited the hook? the one who cast the line? the one who noticed it was being hit on? or the one who realed it in?So, if its my hubby's pole, my nephew baits the hook, my husband cast it into the ocean, I yell I have a bite and my brother reels it in...???
Normally, one person may do all of these things, then there is me. I hate to cut the bait , but if no one is around, I resign myself to the slimy, smelly things. I will bait my hooks, but depending on the bait, it may not stay. I can cast my own rod, but not if its got heavy weights on it that are needed on the surf side, it may not get very far out. I am not patient enough to just sit there and place my pole in the holder and wait for a fish to bite. It drives me crazy to just throw it out and just wait. However, this year, with an infant in tow, I am having to do as the "fishermen" do. In the few minutes Walker would nap, I would fish. I did catch three "Pompano" (pretty little fish, until they got cooked - yuk!) I also caught a flounder -too little to keep- and a couple of whiting. I hope someone else reading this wonders what those type of fish are too. Now, my little brother is here and he was giving me a hard time about catching only bait fish. But at least I caught something - so there is the question - if your competing, is it the number of fish? or the biggest fish gets the biggest braggin rights? Jerry wins both, unfortunately. He went and cast a net for some mullet and waala! He drags in tons. So, does that really count? And he did have a great challenge as he reeled in a sting raye of which had to be thrown back in. He was excited! So, as we enter our last day fishing, my questions remain. We'll see how the day evolves and who gets to tell what. :)

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