Sunday, September 17, 2006
Fish on!
One of the most significant benefits of this job in Tampa has nothing to do with what the church has (amply) provided. Rather, it has to do with the fact that my uncle's fishing cabin (only accessible by boat and, aside from the river community, as isolated as you could desire) is only 45 minutes away. We headed up there this weekend and had a blast. It was my first trip in over five years, but the locals remembered the boy I was at least. Cricket said, "You done grow'd up an' lost yer hair! Guess that runs in your family though." Howard, the Lord of the River, said, "Shit! Welcome back, son! Welcome back."
And, by golly, it felt fantastic to be back. The cabin is one of my absolute favorite places to be and I cannot express in words how thrilled I am to be so close. But that wasn't the biggest of surprises recently related to the cabin. I knew it would be awesome to be back and be back regularly with my Uncle. No, the biggest surprise is that my uncle said he was getting me some keys to the place and I can run on up there anytime I like. He'll teach me cabin maintenance and the river basics, but as for learning the river past the point of getting to and from the cabin, that's up to me, just like it was once up to all of them. How great is that?!!?!!
Well, after quickly losing a trout on the first day of fishing (I had even reminded myself out loud just before I hooked him, 'soft mouths, Ryan, soft mouths') I found my touch again. It wasn't long before I had caught a 22" redfish (my favorite fish). Then we moved out into deeper water where I had my first taste of Spanish Mackerel fishing - a fantastic experience all around. I don't know how many we lost to their sharp teeth (we were retying hooks and leader as much as fishing), but we ended up with four keepers, all about 3 lbs.
The total tally for the day was 4 Spanish, 1 Red, and 1 Trout. With that, my uncle and I ate til we were stuffed, I fed 6 people tonight til we were all stuffed, and I've got plenty of leftovers to take to the Boss Man tomorrow. Hopefully, it won't be long before we get back out there. The more I can learn, the sooner I can start heading out on my own. Fish, you've got your notice.-R
2 Comments:
Ryan, you are a moron, you should have worked on those wicked tan lines u still have left over from Chicago, they were brutal. Sounds like you had a blast, I want to go next time. Peace
-Brennan
By 
, at
1:43 PM
Mark = Jealous
- Sherriff
By , at
9:04 AM
