How To Catch Fish? Beats Me!

I have been both fresh and saltwater fishing since I was a young child. I often went shore fishing with my sister, then I ended up going out on a boat with my father and my grandfather. The boat belonged to my grandfather who passed away when I was 15. This boat didn't have a name.

When I went fishing on the boat, we always fished in saltwater. I remember one time my grandfather caught a giant crab and another time, someone caught a shoe or something typical of a 1980's TV commercial about pollution. I always enjoyed going out on that boat. Sometimes I would catch fish, and sometimes I wouldn't. But overall, I had to say that most of my fishing experiences with my father and my grandfather were always fun.

The one time that I remember not being so fun, was when the motor broke down on the boat and we were about a mile or so off-shore. Just to give you an idea of the size of the boat, it could hold about 4 people. It had a relatively small engine, although I don’t remember the actual amount of Horse Power it had, or didn't have , in my experience. Anyway, we were out there and the water was at least 60 feet deep, but the tide was easy going...Going out ...that is.

Since this was in the 1980's, there were no cell phones available for us to reach into our pocket and dial 911 for help, or to text message a friend with a bigger boat. We thought we would become stranded.

We could see the shore, which was a good thing, but it seemed pretty far away. And all of a sudden, my father comes up with this great idea. He decides that he's going to throw the anchor against the tide and drag us into shore. In the long run, it worked!

It took what seemed like forever to me, but was probably more like 4 hours for us to get to the shoreline. My father slipped and fell a few times while he was dragging us in because he was wearing rubber knee-boots while standing on the front of the boat. He kept getting splashed by the waves. I don’t know how he didn't lose his footing and fall into the water! I remember being petrified.

The reason we had decided to go back in the first place was because it had begun to rain. This was not the best of my fishing experiences.

The intention of this article is to share with you, the experiences of my misfortune when it comes to fishing.

Fresh Water licensing fees are up, and now the Federal Government has mandated licensing for all non-commercial fisherman and women. The program was implemented last year and was free.

Starting this year, there is a fee of $15.00 to fish in saltwater. The program is called the National Saltwater Angler Registry. This is a division of the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration. I was very surprised when the guy at the Sporting Goods Counter at Wal-Mart last year told me that I had to get a license for salt water fishing.

I went fishing about 10 times last year and the only thing I caught was a starfish! Seriously,I really did. And that's all I caught and I can't prove it because I was so worried about getting fined or something, that I forgot to take a picture! I really regret not getting that picture. I'm sure it doesn't matter because thousands of star fish hang out on the shore near my house every summer. Many of them die on the rocks. I have tried many different baits and rigs to catch other fish, but in the last few years, I just haven’t been able to land anything. I've broken a lot of lines in the process though.

Well, I hope that this year will be different. I would love to catch a great fish so I can take a picture of it with me smiling as I pose with it. I might even share the picture with friends and relatives. Maybe I can bring it home and share it with my wife? Who knows what I’ll do. I still have to catch that fish! My goal this year is to l take my kids out fishing, maybe even try some canoeing this year. Maybe they can bring me some better luck! I feel like the bait at the end of my hook; always waiting to see if I am going to get snagged!