Deep Sea Adventure!

Melissa's best friend Colleen was getting married in the Dominican Republic and we were invited to spend a week with them at the beautiful Dreams resort in Punta Cana. I have always wanted to go deep sea fishing and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Several species were active this time of year so I booked an excursion. Unfortunately our first attempt was destined to fail as stormy weather and rough seas caused our first booking to be canceled, so we rescheduled for the next day. The weather was better, but the seas were still rough as it was reported that there were 9-12 foot swells. Colleen’s husband Brian, Melissa, and I met with Roberto, the first mate of the boat we would be fishing from. Roberto was a short, stocky charismatic man who was entertaining, engaging and you could tell was a very seasoned fisherman. He explained that we would be pursuing Dorado (Mahi Mahi) as they preferred the choppy seas. White Marlin were also running at the time; however, they favor calmer water on the surface and would be difficult to attract at that time. Roberto explained that we would be going roughly 20 miles from shore and would be trolling with a five rod spread trailing a bait fish. I was very excited to get underway. Little did I know what I was truly in for, had I known I may have reconsidered signing up for this trip. It wasn’t very long into the trip when Brain began to feel the effects of the rough seas. I remember feeling bad for him, and then I began to notice that I was starting to feel sick myself. If you couldn’t make it to the side of the boat to throw up there were buckets available, which we kept near us at all times. Melissa was the last to get sick, and while she fared better than Brain and I did it certainly was no picnic for her either. Eventually some Mahi did hit and I forced myself to rally. On one occasion two Mahi hit at the same time on separate rods and Melissa and I each took a chair fighting the fish together; which at the time was hard to appreciate due to the seasickness, but as I look back on it now it is truly something I will always cherish, my wife and I fighting two monster fish together. Truly this was the largest fish I had ever fought, as well as, the longest amount of time I had ever fought a single fish. Again, it was hard to appreciate this at the time because during the course of the whole fight I was both nauseated and dehydrated. There was one moment when I almost had the fish close enough for the gaff but he bolted before we could land him taking out all the line I had worked so hard to bring in, prolonging both the fish’s misery and my own. While there is a certain amount of shame that I bear for my total lack of constitution on the open seas I was left with a little consolation in regards to the amount of grit I had to get up off the floor, as sick as I was, and fight the brute of a fish as well as I did. I have to take this moment to comment on Brian’s fortitude as well. While all of this was unfolding and as sick as he was, he managed to fight through it and get some really great pictures. He didn’t have to do that and I would have certainly understood if he had chosen to just lay down, but he didn’t and for that I am grateful. Roberto and the Captain were great and were able to gaff and land the fish with all the speed and efficiency that only true seasoned professionals possess. After that it was time for pictures and then back to the hotel to go to bed. I don’t know if I’ll ever try something like that again. If I do I’ll certainly take more precautions to prevent seasickness. Either way I have some great memories and some outstanding pictures thanks to Brian.

Bella's First Fishing Trip

Bella has finally gotten old enough to take fishing. She's talked a lot about it as she has played with her Barbie fishing pole in the house, but until now has never actually caught a fish. On this particular Sunday afternoon Austin and I took our girls up to the Wykle pond to try and catch some bluegills. Nighcrawlers with a bobber were the bait of choice. Bella is still a little too small to cast the bait very far or set the hook, so much of that work was left to me. I have to admit I have never considered the challenges faced in using an undersized Barbie fishing rod before. I had to add a sinker just to be able to cast is more than five feet. Once hooked Bella was more than eager to reel the fish in. She did a great job and was very inqusitive about the fish, wanting to touch it and be the one that released it. There were no bass to be had that day, but I had more fun catching bluegills with Bella than I ever would have bass fishing alone. I look forward to more fishing excersions with her in the future and am eager to take her bluegill fishing on the lake this summer. The girls had a really good time as did I.