I have been fishing on the beach numerous times in my life. And, while I have caught countless fish from boats and piers, and while two of our kiddos have IGFA Junior World Records (that have since been broken), I have never managed to hook a fish from the beach. Not once in my entire life. UNTIL NOW!!

Armed with some dead fish from the bait shop, hearty lines, heavy weights, and all that other fun stuff, I walked into the ocean to cast, got walloped by a wave, got bumped by a fish (which made me yelp and dance an embarrassing jig for a second), got my line pretty far out, kept the bail open while walking back, closed the bail, put my pole in the pole holder, and plopped down on my lawn chair. And, I watched…

I watched as the tip of the pole wavered with every breaking wave, and with the retreating surf. Some waves were bigger than others. Is that a fish? No, just a wave… Was THAT a fish? No, just a bigger wave. I watched as several beachcombers ducked under my line. I watched the sun begin to set. And, I continued to wait, very patiently.

It only took about 30 minutes for the pole to bend over. Yep, that was no wave! I jumped to the pole holder, grabbed the pole, set the hook, and started reeling. People stopped to stare. I reeled while relaxing the pole forward, stopped, pulled the pole back against the invisible adversary, and did the same thing over and over. He ran once. I could tell it was big! He was a fighter! Oh, MAN! I was SO EXCITED!!! Was this the trophy fish I’d been dreaming about my entire life? Would I be able to land him all by myself?! How many dinners would this monster make?! Whoo HOOO!!!

I finally got him up on the sand and…this was his actual size:

I got the hook out, put him back in the water, and sent that cute baby blacktip on his way while humming the Baby Shark song. I didn’t catch any more sharks but I did catch two saltwater catfish (we call those hardheads). But, I didn’t care. I just wanted to catch fish, no matter what kind. I got to talk to people passing by, including a couple from Illinois. I got to watch for sea turtles (didn’t see any of those). I watched a ghost crab repeatedly tossing sand out of his hole. And, I got to commune with God for awhile, staring out at his massive, brilliant beauty as the galaxy became more vivid and bright from that darkening stretch of sand.

I spent the rest of my sitting time (waiting for the pole to bend) by re-applying insect repellent countless times. Each time I had to go into the water to cast (getting slammed by waves), I had to spray myself all over again. The no-see-ums were having a field day with me. I must be very tasty. I literally have hundreds of bites on my ankles, legs, and arms. I woke up scratching like crazy this morning but I didn’t care because I CAUGHT FISH ON THE BEACH FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!

🙂

RELATED

• Island-hopping and Deep Sea Fishing!
• Played Hooky On Monday To Go Fishing!
• Deep Sea Fishing!
• Two Waterspouts = Huge Adrenaline Rush!!!
• Fishing for Fun and Profit By Stephen King

Follow Angela: twitter | facebook | linkedin

HOW TO REMEMBER, WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR LIFE STORY

Angela Hoy's popular online class is now available in book format!

Remember Your Past
Write It and Publish It
in as little as 12 weeks!

Angela Hoy's book will get you started!

• Using Angela's MEMORY TRIGGERS, recall memories that have been dormant for years
• Record those memories in chronological order in your memory notebook
• Using the memory notebook as your outline, write your autobiography!
• Also works for biographies and memoirs!

Read more here:
https://booklocker.com/books/4764.html

TRAVEL WRITING 2.0: Earning Money from your Travels in the New Media Landscape - SECOND EDITION

Completely revised edition of the ground-breaking travel writing book that provides a road map to success in the digital age. It dives headlong into the entrepreneurial world of blogging and digital books, while still acknowledging the real money to be made in declining print forms.

Drawing on interviews and survey responses from more than 100 successful travel writers and bloggers, this is the definitive guide to creating success instead of waiting for permission. Written by a veteran, award-winning writer with two decades of experience as a book author, online publisher, freelancer, and blogger.

Read more here:
https://writersweekly.com/books/4814.html

The Art and Craft of Writing and Editing

Writing is a constant dialogue between author and reader.

The craft of writing involves an interchange of emotions between an author and a reader. An author creates a story line, conflict, and characters, gives his characters words to speak, and then hands off these materials to a reader. This process results in a constant dialogue between the mental imagery produced by a reader and that proposed by the author.

Read more here:

https://writersweekly.com/books/6712.html