This is my post for #freewriters Monday prompt future business hosted by @mariannewest
The weather has warmed up which makes the river water warm and I felt better so I went fishing today. I can not remember when the last time that I went. I got over to the Big Flat and saw a pompano boil so I anchored. A boil is what we call the swirl of water that fish make when they run off. I was anchored for over 30 minutes without a bite and was thinking of moving, this happens a lot as soon as I think of moving, I catch one. I got it to about 20 feet from the boat, and it got off. Five minutes later my husband texted me and said he had one on but it went around his anchor line and got off. I sat there for a total of one hour and 15 minutes without another bite.
I reeled in all 6 rods and moved. I saw 2 boils so I anchored, I was there 15 minutes and something very large got hooked, I got lucky with this one because he straighten my hook out, I did not lose my rig. I said to myself, I am not sitting here with big creatures that might bite and take everything. I picked up one of my rods to move and a different rod had a pompano. So this is when I decided to stay and deal with the big creatures I never hooked another one. I had a double pompano and got them close to the boat and one got off. I caught 3 more on this anchoring.
I went to move and when I tried to start my motor, the battery was dead. I have been having trouble with it. I guess I have gotten too weak to pull start it so I rowed to my next anchoring. On this anchoring, I caught 10, I had another double, the picture is them.
My husband took the fish to the fish house so I could go to the auto store and buy the right battery connections, we had another battery but it is not a marine battery. Marine batteries have studs with wing nuts so you can hook the motor cables to the battery.
My husband weighed the fish together we had 52 pounds, which makes a very good day's pay, that is if they are still 6.75 a pound.
My husband has always been good at knowing what our future business was going to be, by this I mean he always knew what we were going to fish for next. Now with the condition of the river, our ages, and the condition of our bodies, he does not need to worry about what will be next. Now we fish pompano in the fall, winter, and spring. In the summer we fish trout. I think back at all of the different types of fish that we used to catch and now be down to just 2 species, I just do not have any words to explain how I feel about it.
This is the list that we no longer catch. Spots, sheepshead, drum, grouper, pogies, flounder, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, croakers, whiting, bluefish, jacks, weakfish, silver trout, sharks, and snapper. I am sure that I am leaving some out but that is all I can think of at the moment.
photo is mine
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This sounds like a perfect day, except for the dead battery! That was a lot of fish you used to fish for. Is it because they're harder to make money from fishing them?
No, it is mainly because of the net ban, some do not bite a hook, and others we used to catch in the ocean in our nets but now if we use nets we have to be more than 3 miles offshore and most of the fish do not go out that far, they stay just offshore of the reef, they do not want to be out in the open ocean where they can not hide from predators. And some we can catch on a hook but they do not pay enough for it to be feasible, we used to catch hundreds of pounds and the days are not long enough to catch that many one by one on a hook. There are only 2 species that on occasion will go that far offshore when the ocean has a big swell, but for the most part, they like to stay inshore. All of these fish are still swimming out there.
That's interesting. It's amazing how much the government controls. I can compare it to the deer population around here since it's so controlled. The are here is over run by deer and you need licenses for every kill. Deer are a huge problem and I've hit over 18 myself and damaged all my previous cars, sometimes more than once, have been in deer accidents. It's quite costly, too. The other issue is deer tics and Lyme disease. We have been inundated with tics where we live and they jump on you if you are near any high grass or trees. A lot of people in this area, Jeff included, have been treated for Lyme and one of our dogs got sick and was bit again last summer and needed antibiotics. Government control always brings imbalance in my opinion.
So much loss ... BUT, the Lord sees to it that you have what you need...
Yes, He has guided us well. We are still fishing, but if we still had kids at home, we would not be fishing.