days earlier, lots of families of three to six, vacationing, and hoping to catch Moby Dick, or at least catch a big one to take a family photo with to put back on their office desk in Real World, U.S.A.
My first trip out was pretty uneventful. Most of the time I helped children bait their hooks when the parents didn’t want anything to do with it, or know how. Being a novice myself, I had many of the children laughing at my futile efforts, despite Tommy showing me how to do it properly more than once. Most of the bait, to me anyway, just seemed like smaller versions of the fish that the tourists were trying to catch. It was obvious to everyone on board, including Tommy, that I was ignorant to just about anything to do with fishing, but luckily they didn’t care that much.
About halfway through the trip, one of the father tourists on the trip brought up a decent-sized grouper. He had no desire to keep it, and was about to toss it back over board when I saw Tommy stop him. Tommy put the fish in a giant cooler located in the center of the boat, while explaining to the father tourist that groupers are one of the hardest fish to reel on board, and that it was a small miracle that he did it so easily by himself. Grouper, I learned from Tommy, and later watching others drag them in, dart around frantically, smacking against the boat repeatedly. It’s not uncommon for it to take 30 seconds to bring it to the side of the boat, but ten minutes to drag it in. This didn’t explain why Tommy wanted to keep the fish, but I didn’t think much of it.
In a lull in action, Captain Casper gave me a rundown of the best places to catch specific types of fish, most of which I forgot immediately. He said the grouper we caught was native to a group of reefs where not many of the other party boats go. He said he usually goes to this place because most people just want the thrill of catching a fish and having to fight a bit for it. For some of the afternoon partiers, those that are just treating this as a respite until they can get to Duval, he heads out into the ocean. The bites are fewer, but the partiers hardly notice, but when they catch one it can be one of many types of fish, delighting them. I was beginning to feel sorry I wouldn’t get to be a part of the rowdier groups that hunt for the more exciting types of fish, but was happy to learn a solid lesson from Casper.
When we got back to the dock, I helped the guys hose off the deck, and restock the bait for the next session, taking off in less than an hour from when we got back. When I was getting ready to head back to Jean’s, Tommy stopped me, holding the grouper he had saved.
“You know where O’Riley’s Place is, the restaurant around the corner?” he asked. I remembered this was the restaurant I had watched the family go to with their catch unintentionally.
“Yup, pass by it almost every day. Is this where this guy is heading?” I asked while pointing to the fish.
“You got it. Bring this over there, go in the back door, and give it to whomever the cook is today, probably Seymour. Tell him to cook it up for us and have it ready at 7; tell him we want his famous sandwiches. You’ll meet me there?”
“Yeah. See ya then.”
“You can bring your dog too. They have outside seating, plus I’m guessing she’ll like what we’re having.”
“Great, she’ll like that.”
I went over to O’Riley’s Place, handed the fish off to a large Samoan man with a bigger knife, giving him the specific directions from Tommy. Seymour smiled and said, “No problem,” and went back to work just as
My first trip out was pretty uneventful. Most of the time I helped children bait their hooks when the parents didn’t want anything to do with it, or know how. Being a novice myself, I had many of the children laughing at my futile efforts, despite Tommy showing me how to do it properly more than once. Most of the bait, to me anyway, just seemed like smaller versions of the fish that the tourists were trying to catch. It was obvious to everyone on board, including Tommy, that I was ignorant to just about anything to do with fishing, but luckily they didn’t care that much.
About halfway through the trip, one of the father tourists on the trip brought up a decent-sized grouper. He had no desire to keep it, and was about to toss it back over board when I saw Tommy stop him. Tommy put the fish in a giant cooler located in the center of the boat, while explaining to the father tourist that groupers are one of the hardest fish to reel on board, and that it was a small miracle that he did it so easily by himself. Grouper, I learned from Tommy, and later watching others drag them in, dart around frantically, smacking against the boat repeatedly. It’s not uncommon for it to take 30 seconds to bring it to the side of the boat, but ten minutes to drag it in. This didn’t explain why Tommy wanted to keep the fish, but I didn’t think much of it.
In a lull in action, Captain Casper gave me a rundown of the best places to catch specific types of fish, most of which I forgot immediately. He said the grouper we caught was native to a group of reefs where not many of the other party boats go. He said he usually goes to this place because most people just want the thrill of catching a fish and having to fight a bit for it. For some of the afternoon partiers, those that are just treating this as a respite until they can get to Duval, he heads out into the ocean. The bites are fewer, but the partiers hardly notice, but when they catch one it can be one of many types of fish, delighting them. I was beginning to feel sorry I wouldn’t get to be a part of the rowdier groups that hunt for the more exciting types of fish, but was happy to learn a solid lesson from Casper.
When we got back to the dock, I helped the guys hose off the deck, and restock the bait for the next session, taking off in less than an hour from when we got back. When I was getting ready to head back to Jean’s, Tommy stopped me, holding the grouper he had saved.
“You know where O’Riley’s Place is, the restaurant around the corner?” he asked. I remembered this was the restaurant I had watched the family go to with their catch unintentionally.
“Yup, pass by it almost every day. Is this where this guy is heading?” I asked while pointing to the fish.
“You got it. Bring this over there, go in the back door, and give it to whomever the cook is today, probably Seymour. Tell him to cook it up for us and have it ready at 7; tell him we want his famous sandwiches. You’ll meet me there?”
“Yeah. See ya then.”
“You can bring your dog too. They have outside seating, plus I’m guessing she’ll like what we’re having.”
“Great, she’ll like that.”
I went over to O’Riley’s Place, handed the fish off to a large Samoan man with a bigger knife, giving him the specific directions from Tommy. Seymour smiled and said, “No problem,” and went back to work just as
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