I set my first hook as a kid
on the all-day boat out of San Pedro. Me, my uncle (N.K.) and about thirty other fisher
folk were after yellowtail off of Santa Catalina Island. There and back nobody caught
anything worth lying about. Heading into port, the captain rode the surf to give us a shot
at the sea bass. N. K. hooked a sand shark, and the little devil rounded the boat,
snarling everybody's line. By the time N.K. landed the thing, the shark was encased in a
nylon cocoon. The other fishermen spent the rest of the voyage trying to sort out their
snarled tackle, and were mad as great white with a tooth ache. When N.K. suggested that
the sand shark be weighed for the biggest catch of the day ($30.00 pot), I thought sure
those angry anglers were going to cut us up for fish bait. The captain personally showed
us off the boat! But it was too late, I had been hooked.
Since then, my misadventures include a large fish of unknown species towing me about the
Gulf of California in a row boat; coming under a mortar attack while fishing the waters
off Vietnam; and being pray to "the big one that got away" in four of the seven
seas. On the plus side, my pennant has flown atop a charterman for landing a (smallish)
marlin. |
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