Just spent a week down at the beach in Surfside. We had kids with us, went out with a guide one day, had to grind hard to get some trout, a pompano, and a nice red and black drum. One of the trout was pretty good size – 24 inches or so – and had a bite taken out of his back, which had healed. That was pretty cool to see. I’ll see if I can dig up the picture. We ate well, though -- red and drum on the half shell, fried trout, and broiled pompano. It was damned nice eating.
Otherwise, we mostly fished the surf right in front of our house – conditions were nice most of the week (cleaned up starting Monday, just started getting choppy again late yesterday). We tossed some lures and got some fish, and my daughter’s lifelong friend and fishing buddy figured out his casting net in a surf full of finger mullet. So in the afternoons, we’d hang out past the second bar, freelining finger mullet (and drinking beer – at least I was, as the “of age” member of the fishing crew. Another buddy who wasn’t as big on fishing would just bob next to us, hanging on to a boogie board and enjoying a beverage. He had it figured out). My daughter fished hard. She wanted to hook into a nice trout – and a fat 22 inch speck one morning made her happy. But we were also having some fun catching 2-foot class spinner sharks….all of us except her, that is. She really wanted a shark. Couldn’t catch one, even when the rest of us were. Finally, yesterday afternoon, she got her spinner shark. And she was just so damned pleased.
But here’s the really cool angle of the whole week. We were down at the beach in front of our house, and it was a public (vehicle access) beach, so we had folks at least nearby much of the time. We were able to keep our relative distance, and there was sunshine and a decent breeze, so we feel like we kept the illness risk low. But one crew we were near was the folks who were staying in the house next to us. A couple of ex-marines and their wives and kids. They were good guys, and great to talk fishing with. And on Wednesday night, our crew of young folks decided they were going down the beach after dark to try to catch ghost crabs. So, they knocked on the door next door, and took their two little girls out with them. They ran around chasing ghost crabs with a flashlight, and snagged a bucket full (that they of course let go), as well as some small blue crabs at the edge of the surf (also released). They came back all laughing and talking about what a blast they had, even our 19 yr olds.
And then the next day, the family next to us was Turkish – they fled Istanbul three years ago because they got crosswise with Erdogan. As my daughter and her friend worked a seining net, their kids were drawn in, fascinated by what they caught. She sat down in the sand, and taught them things like how to look at the underside of a crab to tell its gender, and how the little comb jellies feel (but don’t sting). She grabbed some floating pieces of Sargasso to show them all the cool critters that use it for shelter. She showed them the little coquinas that burrow in the sand at the surf line. Her brother used a pump we have to dig up some ghost shrimp from their holes in the shallows. She showed them how trash in the water could hurt the things that live in the ocean. By the end of the day, the kids were obsessed with sea life.
And then yesterday, she caught her shark. She brought it in, and a crowd of kids (and adults) gathered to look at it. She let the kids touch it, feeling the smooth skin one way, and the rough skin the other way. She showed them how they could tell it was a male (had claspers underneath). Then, she showed them how to revive it and release it in the surf, watching it swim off. One kid from the family next to us (a Mexican family, doing the whole awesome Mexican beach set up – grilling elotes and chicken, having a good time – and yep, when I complimented them on their chicken, they gave me a piece and it was f’n awesome) was around 5, and was asking her all about fishing. So, she went up to the house and got one of our old push button reel setups we use for the younger kids to fish on bottom. It was already rigged to fish dead shrimp on a treble hook. So, she spent a few minutes teaching him how to cast, and then when he had it down, baited his hook and took him to cast into the first gut. It took him a few tries, but after about 10 minutes, he hooked into a little 7 inch whiting. And you’d have thought he caught Moby Dick. He came back with the rod and fish held high. His parents gasped and came down to the water, taking pictures of him with his first fish. He held that fish up like a trophy, and had a grin bigger than Texas. His siblings and cousins all gathered round, excited as hell. Then, she helped him unhook it and release it back into the water, as all the kids gathered round and watched.
To see her share her joy and passion – she’s been fishing obsessed since she was 9 – and maybe to have turned on one or more other kids to fishing, goddamn. I’m serious, I had to keep from tearing up. It was just fucking awesome. It was right, and good, and everything I want to see in this world. And it made me reflect on both the diversity and shared experience of the past few days. Our kiddos had run around catching crabs, fish, and other sea critters with the daughters of two Marines, the children of a Turkish family in exile, and a passel of kids from a Mexican family. Every engagement was joy, and fascination, and the commonality of childhood. And as they learned a little bit about the ocean, and all the life in it, and how it ebbs and flows, maybe some of them became fisherman (it’s something that happens to you, it just does), and they’ll remember this week as when it happened for them. Maybe they grasped what an amazing ecosystem the sea is, and how it has to be taken care of. I think that the best conservationists and environmentalists are created by exposure, appreciation, and a balanced view, as opposed to dogma. [it actually gave me the idea for CCA to spend some summer weekends down at beaches with volunteer crews, doing exactly what my daughter did – using nets to catch and show kids sea life, and explain the life cycles to them, and have basic fishing gear and bait for kids to try out fishing – maybe when they’re done, hand them a coupon for a discount on a Zebco setup or something. If you want to create a new generation of fishermen and conservationists, that’s how you’d do it].
I fished, too. I caught some trout, caught a couple of spinner sharks. I cast, and hopped waves as they came in. I let the waves do their thing, and I was at peace. But if I’d never cast a line this week, if I’d never caught a single fish, it still would have been perfect.
And maybe I'm a little melancholy, and anxious, and venting here. Because this coming weekend, she goes back to school in Canada. And with the uncertainty of these COVID times, and quarantines (she has to quarantine for 14 days when she gets there), we don't know when we're going to be able to see her again. It may not be feasible for her to come home for Christmas, or for us to go see her. So I'm worried, and I'm going to miss her. And I'm so glad I had a week to fish with her. I wish I had another one.