Big Dreams…Big Fish!
Keywords: Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, fishing line, Pompano, shrimp, small crabs
Five more months of this obscenely cold weather with its snow, ice and freezing winds and I can take my annual vacation, relaxing for a week on a beautiful, warm and sunny beach in northern Florida. Just imagining the sun and salty air enveloping me sends a shudder down my spine. I know somewhere out in the Gulf of Mexico there are fish that I didn’t catch last year that are hungry for whatever kind of bait I’ll be throwing out! They won’t be able to help themselves!
Unfortunately I’ve had nightmares almost every night since last June. It’s the same dream every time. In living, breathing color, it’s the ghost of the one that got away! In my dream, after the fishing line has parted with a firecracker snap, a huge fish of indeterminate specie makes a huge leap out of the water. Then for a moment it stands on its tail and with a grin, waves at me with one of his fins.
This is a sad story, but true, of the hold fishing has on a person of otherwise reasonable intelligence. I’ve been fishing most of my life and rarely have I been so consumed by a fish that escaped my hook! After torturing my brain for months, trying to figure out what kind of monster made my line break after running over two hundred feet of line off my reel, I have finally come to a conclusion! Whatever specie of fish that made off with my shrimp that day must have been a world record!
To think that I was within minutes of landing a world record fish and couldn’t bring him in is a disheartening experience. Just a short distance away from a world record is mind boggling. I don’t know what kind of fish was attempting to catapult me into the fishing hall of fame, but I firmly believe he is waiting out there close to where we first met and is going to give me a chance to redeem myself!
At the time I was fighting this monster, it was in late June and hot. That is the kind of weather that brings Pompano cruising up and down the gulf. This is why I think it might have been a pompano that stretched my line that day. Pompano, (Trachinotus Carolinus), usually are in the 1-3 pound class; the Florida state record is 8 pounds. The one that I lost had to have been much, much larger; I’m guessing 15 to 20 pounds from the way he pulled on my line.
Knowing that pompanos are bottom feeders dining on mussels, small crabs and shrimp, leads me to believe that this is the fish that gave me a fight to remember. Since they do not eat fish and I was using their food of choice as bait, it’s a further indication of the specie I was trying to bring to shore.
It’s possible that it could also have been a flounder since I was fishing in an area known for their big flounder. They also eat shrimp as well as mullet, anchovies and other small fish. Unfortunately they do not put up a great fight when hooked, leading me to believe that my fish was not a flounder.
Redfish is another fish that could have attacked my bait but since I was fishing more on the coast than in the bay areas, or any of the bayous and marshes that are in this area of Florida, if it was a redfish he must have been lost.
Maybe it was a shark. I’ve caught several small Black Tip sharks in the 10-15 pound range off the beach here in the Apalachicola area and they hit like a freight train and keep moving out to sea. I will never know what I hooked that day, but that doesn’t keep me from dreaming about how large the fish was that got away.
A line that has been attributed to Donald Trump reads, “As long as you’re going to dream anyway, you may as well dream big.” That applies to most of us fishermen, always dreaming about catching the big one. It’s funny but in our dreams we never see the little fish.
Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, holiday eating and leisure living.
Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at:
www.bluemarlinbob.com
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Adding A Metal Garage To Your Landscape (1)
For people who need to store tools and movable equipment, or live in places with a harsh climate, a closed metal garage is a better idea. It comes with the security of locked doors and protection from all the elements.
How To Make Money Flipping Real Estate (2)
In order to calculate your total profits, all you have to do is subtract the buying price and the money you put into the home from the selling price. This will tell you how much you have made with the particular transaction.
How To Value Coins Using A Coin Value Guide (3)
Keywords: old American coins, find old coins, coin collecting, coin collecting values, how to value coins One of the most important pieces of information that a coin collector will want to know is how much a coin is worth.
Primary Causes For Business Bankruptcy (4)
Primary Causes For Business Bankruptcy And Its Effects There are many reasons a company may file for business bankruptcy. One large problem may be at the root of a failing business.
How Garage Storage Can Save Your Marriage (5)
With all the extra things you have tucked away in your overstuffed house you can use a little garage storage space. And believe me, you spouse will thank you for not putting your "crap" where it doesn't belong.
Moving On Up With An Overhead Garage Door (6)
It may seem like a subtle change at first, but once you discover that the panelling on your garage door can be changed to fit your desires and that your entire house can mold and be modelled right into a pattern with your door, you may never look at the overhead garage door the same way again.
What's A Garage Kit? (7)
You can now get your garage kits fabricated from "white metal", which is a type of lead alloy, or you can get them fabricated from resin, soft vinyl, or even fabric.
How To Manage Your Career (8)
There is always room for improvement and scope to grow. You just need to explore the realms of your potential and the options at hand. This book is about career management, and it can serve as a useful tool to anyone who wants to make a success of their working life, and tha's possible only if people find fulfillment in their work.
Learning And Growth Or Fear Of Failure (9)
Embrace work and life as a glorious experience with gratitude. Blessings to you! Joe Farcht is the founder and president of Leadership Advantage, Inc. His purpose for living is to develop and coach leaders, executives, managers, and supervisors to new levels of performance and success in their work and life.
Garage Storage Cabinet Keeps You Organized (10)
Keywords: garage storage cabinet The organizational possibilities in having a garage storage cabinet is only as good as your commitment to keeping your garage organized. There is an old saying, "A place for everything, and everything in its place," many people use to accomplish this.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
The Easy Way Out Of A Windows XP Problem (1)
This system restore is not a replacement for full backups of your system. It is a tool that is used but not guaranteed to bring your system back to a working state.
Walking For Fitness And Weight Loss And Better Health (2)
Think about squeezing walking into your everyday routine and you will discover lots of ways to fit walking in to your everyday life. After you have been walking long enough to work your way up to thirty minutes or more you will find many health benefits you probably never even thought about.
How Do You Decide On The Best Home Business Possible? (3)
The best way to have success with it and lighten the load in the beginning phases is to start up an internet business based off of something you already have knowledge in.
Dealing With Employee Insubordination (4)
This way of handling insubordinate workers will help preserve a more orderly workplace making it better for all of your employees. EmployeeInsubordination.net provides information and advice on this topic for small business owners and Human Resource Managers.
How To Protect Vehicle Occupants (5)
The further away you are, the more efficiently the bag will work. Pregnant Women, Children And Pets Pregnant women should position the lap belt as low as they can under the abdominal bulge and let the shoulder strap rest across their chest.
How To Cash In With Private Label Articles (6)
They are also cost and labor-efficient, which means you can focus more of your time to more important matters, whether they are for business or otherwise. Wink, Wink! Jo Han Mok is a #1 bestselling author and a masterful planner in using private label articles to develop his successful online business system.
An Interactive Branding Agency For Your Online Business Needs (7)
An e-commerce function may even be put in for taking online orders and payments. An efficient interactive branding agency does all these for you. They take out the hassle and technical stuff out of the picture - what they give you is the end product - a fully functional website that fits your business, with substantial Internet traffic - and with all the tools and features for a complete and satisfying customers online interactive experience.
Great Barbeque Smokers (8)
Also, the food will have a rich and smoked taste to it with barbeque smokers. While you might have to wait a little bit longer for your food, using barbeque smokers and other smokers is really going to enhance the overall flavor and quality of the food that you are cooking.
Online Credit Repair Myself, Is It The Best Way To Go? (9)
I have seen them buy uncontrollably. When they walk into a retail store the sales people are positioned to the front just waiting to pounce. The salesperson is pushing in store credit cards.
Make The Most Of Your Garage Space With A Garage Organizer (10)
Helpful Tip If you do not know how to go about your garage to make the best of it, try and get some professional advice in the domain and you will be able to transform it beyond your wildest imagination.