The Ones That Didn't Get Away - My First Fish

I never did get it, the stories told by anglers of the ones that got away. Where's the story in, "I hooked this fish...but it got away."

By the time I was six I was using a hand-line, catching small fish like doctorfish and squirrelfish off the rocks. (I couldn't find a picture of the doctorfish, all the links have to do with fish pedicures.) We used whelks (pictured at left) to bait our hooks. We'd smash the shells with a rock and get our fingers all gooey with whelk guts. But hand-line fishing isn't the same as fishing with a rod and reel. What it was was preparation for the "real" thing when I caught my first "real" fish. (There's a pun in there....)

I was maybe 8 years old. It may well have been the first time we went out in the F. D. O. Certainly it was the first time I ever had a rod and reel in my hands. Between Dad and Erva, I learned how to lock the line and was told about the star-drag. You want the drag tight enough to keep the line from flying off the reel, but you want it loose enough to give the fish some room to run. If the line is too tight, a fish can break it.

We came out from Number Seven Beach and were trolling between Henley and Ramgoat Cay. I got help getting my line out and I was just settling in. I hadn't even gotten the handle of the rod locked between my legs when, BAM, I got a strike. I was nearly pulled out of the boat and almost lost my grip on the rod. Erva, sitting on my right, grabbed my right arm, Mom whipped around from the front seat and grabbed the rod before it disappeared into the water. Once we were all sure me and the rod weren't going to go overboard, I started reeling in the line. Dad cut the motor back and paid attention to the rocks of Henley Cay so we wouldn't smashed up against them. Erva had me by my shorts. It was just about all I could do to reel in the line. The fiber-glass rod was bent almost double. All three are yelling and encouraging me and telling me when to loosen or tighten the star-drag. I'm reeling, it's pulling. I'm reeling, it's pulling. It's pulling, I'm losing strength.

It was all I could do to turn the handle, but somehow I managed to get the fish to the boat and Dad grabbed the line. I had caught my first fish. Not just any old fish, mind you, but a kingfish. a member of the mackerel family. They are large fish, known to be good fighters. I don't know how much the one I caught weighed, but it was probably over eight pounds and less than twelve. I was so proud. Everyone was so proud.

So that's how I was introduced to fishing. We had it for dinner that night, but not until I learned how to clean it. Because, as my parents said, what you catch, you clean.