When we moved here, having a boat was something that I had very briefly considered, but never very seriously. My experience had been that they were a lot of work for little enjoyment; the concern for the added burden of the effect of salt water made the idea unappealing.
I didn't like to eat fish, except for salmon. Fishing was, in my mind, right up there next to watching paint dry.
One of the social events we attended shortly after getting settled here was the very popular Freeport Fishing Club Fish Fry held in Queen's Cove. I went for the social side of it, hoping there would be something else to eat. It's really a barbecue party and the fish is marinated and barbecued on a huge custom made barbecue. I had a small piece, with a large helping of fresh corn and a tossed salad, which was preceded by a wonderful fresh conch salad. I tasted the fish and was amazed to find that is was delicious and did not resemble any fish that I had ever tasted in my life before. I asked one of the local people I knew what this was. Tuna, was the reply. I said, no way; tuna's the dry stuff in a can for which you need an equal part of mayonnaise, to get it to slide down your throat! He said, no, this is FRESH tuna. How do you get it, I asked. They fish for it right off shore here, he said. I gotta get me some of that, I said. Well, he said, ask one of the fishermen here. They go out frequently and are always glad to have company. That's what I did and got an excellent education from a couple of great pros about serious fishing.
Cutting the story short, I bought a boat that December, joined the club and became fairly proficient at it. I would frequently go off shore in our 19 ft skiff, up to 20 - 25 miles off shore, long out of sight of land. After a few years, I was either second, third or fourth in the club tournament standings each year, being surpassed only by the professional fisherman, and was quite proud of my results.
I don't go out as often now, in 2005, but as I write this, as we say here, "I'se gern fishenin" this afternoon.
I didn't remember this until I found this picture in an old album. My father, being the great outdoorsman and sportsman that he was, started me fishing when I was 9 years old. Later he took me out deep sea fishing where I caught my first dolphin in 1965. If you believe this story about my father, please drop everything but your chequebook; I'll pay your airfare down here because I have some prime oceanfront property for sale in Dover sound, 15 minutes from downtown Freeport.
A wahoo, probably 30 - 40 lbs, in 1996
A day's catch of yellow fin tuna in a 1996 tournament
A wahoo tournament in February 1996. Six wahoo and a tuna
Another wahoo in 1997
The end of another tournament in May 1997. Three dolphin (Mahi mahi) and a shark. I had gone out alone on this one.
What an amazing experience this was. We were out about 15 miles and couldn't find any fish. But we did come across several pods of pilot whales and we were able to cut the motor and glide up to within 5 feet of a few. We counted a total of 28 of them. The sea was flat calm.
Now this is a serious wahoo, probably about 65 lbs.
A Port Lucaya Marina Tournament. 6 dolphin between 3 guys. Fun.
Another Port Lucaya Marina tournament. This was the largest tuna caught, only 37 lbs and Marion wears the silver coin around her neck that was the prize for the largest fish.
Another dolphin. Went out for the afternoon and only hooked one. But even coming home empty, it's almost always a beautiful day out on the water.
