Gone Fishin'

Went down to LA this past weekend for a father's day visit. My Dad invited me to go fishing with him on a boat just off the coast of where I'd spent my childhood summers boogie boarding and building sand castles. He likes fishing the way I like taiko. Actually, I think he likes fishing even more than I like taiko. He's been fishing since he was a teenager, but I think he put it on hold when he had us kids. He did take us out a couple of times to fish in nearby lakes. I remember once my older brother hooked my little brother's ear, and then I don't think we ever went fishing after that. But after we were all grown up and my dad retired, he totally got into it. He even joined a club and everything. As we were packing up, I realized that he and I are exactly the same:

Exhibit A: Dad's Stash


Exhibit B: Mine

Do you see the similarities? Am I my father's daughter or what?

Anyhow, we headed down to the Redondo Beach Marina and boarded a boat with a bunch of other fishermen. As we were waiting, my Dad taught me how to cast a line out without taking anyone's eye out (or ear). My Dad said the water that day was pretty smooth, but for a novice like me, it had that nauseating rolling quality to it. Good thing I took a pill--didn't feel a thing.

Now, I don't really think of myself as a fishing kind of person. Waking up early and boarding a boat to trick seafood into taking my bait isn't my idea of weekend plans. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some people can't handle the sport; my little brother doesn't like the gore of it (maybe because he's traumatized by being caught by my big bro?). But I have to say--fishing is kind of fun. Actually, one of the funnest parts for me was putting live anchovy on my hook. You grab the little fish out of the bait tank and, according to my dad, cover its eyes so it doesn't squirm as much. Then you put the hook through it's nose and let it swim away and then hope something much bigger eats it. I don't know why this appealled to me so much. I did not torture insects or small animals growing up. I think it may have something to do with being at the top of the food chain for once. It's as if I'm out there pretending to be a lowly anchovy, but when a barracuda bites into me, I'm the one who's catching the barracuda. And I really did catch a barracuda this past weekend! I had to throw it back though--it wasn't the legal size--but hey, at least I can say, "Yeah, I caught a barracuda once--scrappy little sucker." My dad also turned his pole over to me when he had something very large on the other end. I apparantly "chased it down the rail," meaning I had to run down the side of the boat so that he didn't get tangled in the other fisherman's lines. It pulled and pulled, but it eventually got away. Yeah, it was gigantic--could have been a 65 pound yellow tail, maybe. Maybe 75 pounds. Almost pulled me in. Yeah. Well anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Here's what I actually pulled out of the ocean:

They may look small, but believe me--they put up quite a fight! And here's me and my dad. He listens to his ipod all the time. Reminds me of me.

Well, everyone should try fishing at least once.