A Salt Water Fishing Trip

When I was seventeen and eager to go fishing, no matter where or by what means, I was invited on a salt water trip by my Uncle to Destin, Florida. This was in the sixties, and a long time ago.My dad and uncle took turns in driving us there, and we reached our destination in about four hours.Upon arriving there, my dad advised me to take anti-nausea tablets containing Promethazine for motion sickness. He did not take any for some reason. My dad was a Navy man and prided himself in his knowledge about the sea. We boarded a small seaworthy vessel and with a party of about twenty other fishermen, began to sail out of the docks toward our planned destination which was about six miles out. The crisp salt air and warm sunshine felt good on my face as we rolled and pitched in the early morning mist out on the waves. The deep blue of the ocean and the light blue of a fair sky, gave promise that we would have a nice outing that early July day.

It took about an hour to travel the distance to our fishing spot and the captain and his crew of three, were busy baiting up poles and passing them out to the fishermen on board. As we reached the good spot, my dad suddenly got very sick and decided to go in and lie down on a cot that was provided. He was sea sick from all the rolling waves on the trip out, and seemed very embarrassed about this. I tried to comfort him, but he told me to go ahead and enjoy my trip. He spent a good bit of the time inside that day. I did manage to go on and got a salt water rig. It was a heavy pole and large reel and the bait we used was cut squid and other cut fish. The crew members stayed busy assisting fishermen and fisher-ladies on board and we really began to catch a lot of Red Snapper. Most of these were about two to three pounds and good eating sizes. This was the main goal of our trip, and we planned to fill up two ice chests with the tasty salt water fish we caught that day. I was on number 15, when I suddenly hooked into a large Moray eel and one of the crew members had a fit about it. I asked him if he would help me out and he gave me a nasty look and told me that I should help myself! I did not like his attitude and later he came back with a rifle and shot the eel. It was a surprise to me and the captain explained that it was better than to try to handle the dangerous sea creature. I caught several more snapper and a sting ray before the captain suddenly decided to pull up anchor and threw several marker floats in the vicinity. I later realized after he had done this several times , that we were being used as a way to mark the fishing spots for other trips and paying customers. It did not sit well with many others on board that day, about this activity.

I checked on my dad several times and he dd mot seem quite as sick, a little later. He told me that he was beginning to get his sea legs back. We stayed out long enough to catch a good fifty snapper between the three fishermen in our group, who were fishing ,and when we left the last spot, a distant dark cloud was looming on the horizon. We had planned to stay out about five hours, but ended up with only three and a half, however, the time spent out on the salt water that day was well worth the experience, and the fish we caught was going to be fried up by my mother and aunt, and we would all enjoy a nice meal, with all the trimmings. That evening when we began to drive back home, I stayed awake and talked to my dad, who was taking his turn on the trip. I was glad that I got to go and fish, but kind of disappointed in that my dad did not get to fish. We never told my mother about this sea sickness, because I felt that it was a good idea not to say anything concerning my dad's uncharacteristic illness . He was always my hero, and this was just another fishing trip, be it good or bad in its ending. I was able to get to go on more salt water fishing trips in the future with my dad and other friends and most of them were very successful and enjoyable. My love of fishing still continues to this very day. I have recently been checking my rods and reels out for new line and oiling, and getting ready for a new fishing season to begin.

Fishing is a great way to bring up kids and give them something fun-filled and enjoyable and that will be a lasting gift of a lifetime, for their own future families. It has kept a lot of kids off the street, and giving meaningful pastimes to thousands of kids of all ages, as well as the Kids at Heart.