Fishing Around

A couple of weeks ago, when the fishing started to get good, HWNSNBP realized that he had misplaced his tackle box.  He searched the closets and the shed at the condo and even the back of the car and truck, but he couldn't find it.  It was then that he realized that he might not have brought it back from the dock when he fished and crabbed on the morning of the 4th of July.  Miraculously, a good samaritan had turned it into the Dock Master's shed and it sat there unclaimed for two weeks.

It doesn't look like much, but there are 30-40 years accumulation of fishing bits and bobbers, hooks, sinkers, line, knives, etc.  Most of it replaceable, but not all.  

He had told me that he was saddest to lose the hatpin that my father had given him some years ago. He never wore it on a hat, but kept it in the tackle box.  My father liked to salt water fish also and we have many happy memories of  all of us, my husband, son and daughter, along with my parents spending vacation time at the Jersey shore and fishing in the evenings.  

I was very relieved, as I know he was even more so, to know that it was not lost forever.  

He's been busy the last couple of weekends getting the fishing poles all updated and we started our yearly fishing contest.  

After being skunked on Friday night last weekend, we had a great turnaround on Saturday night and caught more than 20 fish in just about an hour.  We didn't keep them all though.  We only brought home the ones that he thought he would eat in the next two/three days.  

There was a man and his father at the dock with two small children who were amazed at our "fishing skills".  They hadn't brought any fishing equipment with them to the dock and were lamenting the fact that it would have been nice to have the kids have that experience. After we had decided that we weren't keeping any more, HWNSNBP let the little boy reel in the next fish.  Then he let him cast, and the little boy brought one in on his own.  The father and grandfather were very appreciative and took pictures.  The little sister was over by me when I hooked another one, so I gave her my rod and let her reel that one in.  Again they took pictures of her and the fish.  It was quite a nice feeling to be able to share the experience with them.  

The little girl asked me if she could keep the next one and I tried explaining to her that she had nothing to put it in,  She thought about that and then told me that "they had a blanket in the car".  I told her that she needed to check that out with her dad.  But before she could get his attention I had to throw the fish back in or have it die in my hand.  

Here's the first catch of the summer.  Nice size.

After we got back and he cleaned them and I cooked them up, this ominous shelf cloud threatened us with a storm, but the rain never got to us.

And just to wrap up this fish story and our Fishmas, here are the thank you cards that I made for our guests.  

Basically the same card, but each a little different in it's own way.