(Warning: Do not read if you are easily bored by descriptive writing and offended by mild profanity. Off colored words are hyperlinks to other sites for additional info.)
Grandpa: Again with the fucking chicken.
Grandpa: Again with the fucking chicken.
Richard: Dad.
Grandpa: It's always with the goddamn fucking chicken.
Richard: Dad!!!
Grandpa: Every night it's the fucking chicken! Holy God Almighty! Is it possible just once we could get something to eat for dinner around here that's not the goddamned fucking chicken?
My friend J turned to look at me accusingly after we watched the abovementioned scene from Little Miss Sunshine. Instantly, I rolled my eyes as I knew what was referred to; fish. We have been having fish almost everyday and the fish is by no means small. As a matter of fact, there is a total of two big fish sitting in the freezer frozen solid as I am writing this. Although I have been cranking new cooking ideas for the fish, I must admit that I have been avoiding cooking fish at all cost.
It was the Friday before Labor’s Day weekend that I decided to go deep sea fishing. I have been itching to go on a fishing trip since summer started but never got around to it. Seeing that it was a long weekend, I wanted to make good use of it. The fishing adventure started before the actual fishing trip when J and myself spent time preparing for the outing.
That evening I was frantically looking for a pair of slippers with a base that grips to prevent me from slipping and falling on the boat while fishing. How about sneakers? It is not advisable to wear sneakers unless you want your sneakers smelling fishy. Fish blood or any fish essence will stay on the sneakers for a VERY long time, so I have read from fishing experts.
I started my slipper hunting pretty late into the evening because J whom I had dinner with that evening has a habit of eating extraordinarily slow (J, if you are reading this, I am talking about you. Come on man, a cow eats faster than you). It did not help that my slipper hunting did not go smoothly as stores that sell them did not have my size and it was 9.40 p.m. I finally managed to purchase my first pair of crocs footwear which I swore months before not to buy because they looked ridiculous. They were surprisingly comfortable but good God they drew plenty of attention.
I bought yellow.
Honestly, it was not by choice but there were no other colors my size and I was desperate. It was 9.55 pm and Whole Foods was closing in 5 minutes. I supposed during the fishing trip everyone would be engrossed in fishing and not my feet. Nonetheless, I was happy to know that I can now fish in peace. As I tested my new crocs shoes, J was laughing relentlessly (thanks a lot, you were the cause).
The next stop was Stop N Shop to purchase a disposable cooler, ice and food items for the fishing trip. We had tuna bites, diet ginger ale, sandwich ingredients and Lunchables stackers. J insisted that he needed to eat plenty when he is on the boat (What is this? A picnic? geezzz……).
The boat leaves at 9.00 am hence, we were at the dork by 8.40 am. We boarded the boat with our food and cooler filled with ice. Subsequently, we rented our tackle/fishing rod and rested the rod in empty poles on the boat. As we sat waiting for time, we saw a group of men hauling a huge cooler on board. J and I looked at each other puzzled at the size of the cooler. We had the expectation that the fish was not going to be huge and that we were lucky if we manage to catch one.
Fifteen minutes after sailing from the dock, all on board was hauled off to the end of the boat where Captain Keith briefed us on the safety and process of fishing on his boat. When we stopped at a suitable fishing location, we had to release our line upon hearing the first boat honk. Upon hearing the second honk, we had to reel up the line as quickly as possible. With everyone’s fishing rod out of the water, the boat will move to another spot. The rational for the boat to continuously move is to ensure that we catch as many drifts as possible that will inevitably affect the number of times we were able to fish. Catching drifts is essential to a successful fishing trip as the fish feeds where the drifts are. Furthermore, lifeless bait gives the impression of being alive when the drifts motion against them.
Nonetheless, armed with fishing tips from the Captain and experienced fishing mates we let our line go down into the sea when we heard the first boat honk. I let my line go as far as it can go while keeping my thumb on the reel to prevent my line from tangling up together. As I felt the end of my line hit the bottom, I began reeling the line towards me about 25 times and waited. I waited patiently for the bite; nothing
The second time around, I had a bite but the fish escaped while I was reeling it in hence, nothing. The third time I had another bite, only this time I was fighting with the fish while I was reeling him up. It swam from one end to another tangling my line with everyone else’s lines. The others had to stop reeling so that I can reel mine up without snapping the lines. I reeled it just below the surface of the sea and the Captain using a hook, hooked it up onto the boat. There it was my first conquest flopping helplessly on the boat. The head of the bluefish was almost as big as my head and the length was almost 28 inches with the weight of approximately 15 pounds. Not too shabby for a novice.
(J caught his first fish on his first try while I successfully caught mine on the third. However, my fish was bigger than the one he caught…Booyah!).
I must admit that I was tired after catching the rebellious imp. It tired me out, so much so I sat on the boat in a daze recovering from the adrenaline rush of fighting the fish. I had repeated performance from these fish throughout the trip. For these, I could not reel them up quickly as they were too huge and they put up a good fight. Instead of seeing my reel reeling towards me, it was reeling in the opposite direction. It came to a point J questioned me, ‘What the heck are you fishing? A monster fish?’ Truth was I chose the biggest bait I could find from the bucket of supply. This may translate to a whopping fish that were trying to prey on the large bait (Yes, I was greedy trying to catch a fish larger than I could handle).
Thinking that I will only catch one that day, I was surprised that I managed to catch another almost at the end of the fishing trip. This one is slightly smaller than my first but it is still huge nonetheless. All in all, J and I collectively caught six bluefish. Our next challenge was to put them all in the cooler and realized the purpose of the huge cooler brought by those men much earlier. We managed to cram three in the cooler and the rest in the rice sack.
By 3.00 pm, we reached the end of our exhilarating fishing trip. Saying goodbyes to our fellow fishing mates, I became self conscious of my yellow crocs as I heard them say ‘Bye Sharon, nice shoes. Hope to see you again’. That debunked my theory that they were indeed focused on the fish and not my attire. Clearly, you will not be seeing me wear the crocs unless I am going fishing.
We made our way home only to find the fish toppled out from the cooler and lay lifelessly all over the trunk/boot when we finally arrived at our destination. It left the car smelling fishy even after a week. Thankfully, the car was a rental which I later returned. The lesson learnt here is this; bring a huge non-disposable cooler on fishing trips unless trunk is deliberately used to store fish.
Now then, what exactly did we do with the six bluefish?
One was given away to the chinese restaurant that I frequent most and we had them cook another for our consumption. The leftovers were eaten for lunch. The third we marinated and barbecued the following day, also eaten for lunch and dinner. The heads were used in making soup and we had the soup the day after. The fourth was given away to SC another friend of mine. That leaves two along with my brain and taste buds screaming ‘Holy God Almighty! Is it possible just once we could get something to eat around here that's not the goddamned fucking fish?’
Richard: Dad!!!
Grandpa: Every night it's the fucking chicken! Holy God Almighty! Is it possible just once we could get something to eat for dinner around here that's not the goddamned fucking chicken?
My friend J turned to look at me accusingly after we watched the abovementioned scene from Little Miss Sunshine. Instantly, I rolled my eyes as I knew what was referred to; fish. We have been having fish almost everyday and the fish is by no means small. As a matter of fact, there is a total of two big fish sitting in the freezer frozen solid as I am writing this. Although I have been cranking new cooking ideas for the fish, I must admit that I have been avoiding cooking fish at all cost.
It was the Friday before Labor’s Day weekend that I decided to go deep sea fishing. I have been itching to go on a fishing trip since summer started but never got around to it. Seeing that it was a long weekend, I wanted to make good use of it. The fishing adventure started before the actual fishing trip when J and myself spent time preparing for the outing.
That evening I was frantically looking for a pair of slippers with a base that grips to prevent me from slipping and falling on the boat while fishing. How about sneakers? It is not advisable to wear sneakers unless you want your sneakers smelling fishy. Fish blood or any fish essence will stay on the sneakers for a VERY long time, so I have read from fishing experts.
I started my slipper hunting pretty late into the evening because J whom I had dinner with that evening has a habit of eating extraordinarily slow (J, if you are reading this, I am talking about you. Come on man, a cow eats faster than you). It did not help that my slipper hunting did not go smoothly as stores that sell them did not have my size and it was 9.40 p.m. I finally managed to purchase my first pair of crocs footwear which I swore months before not to buy because they looked ridiculous. They were surprisingly comfortable but good God they drew plenty of attention.
I bought yellow.
Honestly, it was not by choice but there were no other colors my size and I was desperate. It was 9.55 pm and Whole Foods was closing in 5 minutes. I supposed during the fishing trip everyone would be engrossed in fishing and not my feet. Nonetheless, I was happy to know that I can now fish in peace. As I tested my new crocs shoes, J was laughing relentlessly (thanks a lot, you were the cause).
The next stop was Stop N Shop to purchase a disposable cooler, ice and food items for the fishing trip. We had tuna bites, diet ginger ale, sandwich ingredients and Lunchables stackers. J insisted that he needed to eat plenty when he is on the boat (What is this? A picnic? geezzz……).
The boat leaves at 9.00 am hence, we were at the dork by 8.40 am. We boarded the boat with our food and cooler filled with ice. Subsequently, we rented our tackle/fishing rod and rested the rod in empty poles on the boat. As we sat waiting for time, we saw a group of men hauling a huge cooler on board. J and I looked at each other puzzled at the size of the cooler. We had the expectation that the fish was not going to be huge and that we were lucky if we manage to catch one.
Fifteen minutes after sailing from the dock, all on board was hauled off to the end of the boat where Captain Keith briefed us on the safety and process of fishing on his boat. When we stopped at a suitable fishing location, we had to release our line upon hearing the first boat honk. Upon hearing the second honk, we had to reel up the line as quickly as possible. With everyone’s fishing rod out of the water, the boat will move to another spot. The rational for the boat to continuously move is to ensure that we catch as many drifts as possible that will inevitably affect the number of times we were able to fish. Catching drifts is essential to a successful fishing trip as the fish feeds where the drifts are. Furthermore, lifeless bait gives the impression of being alive when the drifts motion against them.
Nonetheless, armed with fishing tips from the Captain and experienced fishing mates we let our line go down into the sea when we heard the first boat honk. I let my line go as far as it can go while keeping my thumb on the reel to prevent my line from tangling up together. As I felt the end of my line hit the bottom, I began reeling the line towards me about 25 times and waited. I waited patiently for the bite; nothing
The second time around, I had a bite but the fish escaped while I was reeling it in hence, nothing. The third time I had another bite, only this time I was fighting with the fish while I was reeling him up. It swam from one end to another tangling my line with everyone else’s lines. The others had to stop reeling so that I can reel mine up without snapping the lines. I reeled it just below the surface of the sea and the Captain using a hook, hooked it up onto the boat. There it was my first conquest flopping helplessly on the boat. The head of the bluefish was almost as big as my head and the length was almost 28 inches with the weight of approximately 15 pounds. Not too shabby for a novice.
(J caught his first fish on his first try while I successfully caught mine on the third. However, my fish was bigger than the one he caught…Booyah!).
I must admit that I was tired after catching the rebellious imp. It tired me out, so much so I sat on the boat in a daze recovering from the adrenaline rush of fighting the fish. I had repeated performance from these fish throughout the trip. For these, I could not reel them up quickly as they were too huge and they put up a good fight. Instead of seeing my reel reeling towards me, it was reeling in the opposite direction. It came to a point J questioned me, ‘What the heck are you fishing? A monster fish?’ Truth was I chose the biggest bait I could find from the bucket of supply. This may translate to a whopping fish that were trying to prey on the large bait (Yes, I was greedy trying to catch a fish larger than I could handle).
Thinking that I will only catch one that day, I was surprised that I managed to catch another almost at the end of the fishing trip. This one is slightly smaller than my first but it is still huge nonetheless. All in all, J and I collectively caught six bluefish. Our next challenge was to put them all in the cooler and realized the purpose of the huge cooler brought by those men much earlier. We managed to cram three in the cooler and the rest in the rice sack.
By 3.00 pm, we reached the end of our exhilarating fishing trip. Saying goodbyes to our fellow fishing mates, I became self conscious of my yellow crocs as I heard them say ‘Bye Sharon, nice shoes. Hope to see you again’. That debunked my theory that they were indeed focused on the fish and not my attire. Clearly, you will not be seeing me wear the crocs unless I am going fishing.
We made our way home only to find the fish toppled out from the cooler and lay lifelessly all over the trunk/boot when we finally arrived at our destination. It left the car smelling fishy even after a week. Thankfully, the car was a rental which I later returned. The lesson learnt here is this; bring a huge non-disposable cooler on fishing trips unless trunk is deliberately used to store fish.
Now then, what exactly did we do with the six bluefish?
One was given away to the chinese restaurant that I frequent most and we had them cook another for our consumption. The leftovers were eaten for lunch. The third we marinated and barbecued the following day, also eaten for lunch and dinner. The heads were used in making soup and we had the soup the day after. The fourth was given away to SC another friend of mine. That leaves two along with my brain and taste buds screaming ‘Holy God Almighty! Is it possible just once we could get something to eat around here that's not the goddamned fucking fish?’
Infamous croc shoes
My whopping catch
Me (big biceps), J and Bruce 
For more pictures, please visit http://rhys31.multiply.com/photos/album/10/Fishing_Trip_on_Hel-Cat_II
