Sunshine State Fishing

This story is for those of you who have seen it all. Now I?ve fished almost the entire west coast of North America and only done this once. My dad asks me to go rock cod fishing with him and as usual I say yes. So we load the truck with poles, reels, tackle, ice chest and motor to Oxnard, Calif. We leave dock at about 11:00 pm, to be at the fishing spot, Pickup bait at the holding barge then head out to sea. As the boat cruises outward, the seas start to pick up. It wasn't long before every body noticed the waves slamming the side of the ship. Now mind you, these are only six foot waves and our ship was 85ft bow to stern. That?s a pretty good size ship for an overnighter. But something never occurred to most of us sea worthy, seasoned veterans of the ocean. The beam of the boat was as narrow as an arrow.

As the night goes on, things get worse. A big wave breaches the starboard side while some of us are eating, sending plates of food flying everywhere. Bruised ribs came from being pushed into the edge of the galley tables. I thought to myself, the boat is going to roll over. Houston, we have a problem. Even before the sun comes up, all persons onboard are seasick, excepting my dad, who had to stay below because of his age, and myself. Who's driving the boat? I'll never know. The entire crew, the fishermen were hanging over the side. Anybody?s guess, the skipper takes us to the leeward side of Santa Cruz Island. Like magic all the anglers are all better.

With little time left, the fishing starts. Nobody, including myself gets even one bite. The skipper says reel them up, so we do. When I pull in my line, I find I have this tiny fish on the end of my line. I didn?t hook it, I snagged it, behind the gills. Now, since nobody else caught a fish, I won, for the first time, the jackpot. All's well that ends well.

By Jim Dandeneau

http://www.bestfishing-365-24-7.com

I am a fulltime carpenter that loves to fish and like to write about fishing.

Return to Index