Gone Fishin'

Took a trip to LA to spend some time with my family. On the auspicious day of 08-08-08, I went fishing with my Dad on a boat out of the Redondo Beach Marina. Fishing is the closest I get to that primal feeling of killing my own food and being on top of the food chain using the ancient tools of hook and line to drag my dinner out of the sea. There is a part of me that actually likes pulling the little bait fish out of the tank and impaling it on a hook and throwing my line out to chance. Here is a leftover fish I found in our gunny sack:They squirm and fight in their own way when you stick the hook through them. For some reason, when I'm on a swaying boat with a bunch of other fisherman, I don't feel remorse for the little fish. You just cover their eyes and they stop squirming in your hand.

I caught a sand bass, which I'm told, is good eating. My friend caught a baracuda, which we're having for dinner tomorrow night.

We don't go far off the coast. On the day we went out they had us anchored just off shore where they have the oil refineries and a large boat the like I've never seen so close to shore:
One of the things that makes these fishing trips so nice are the deckhands. They know exactly what they're doing, and what you're doing, even if, like me, you don't no idea what you're doing. When you've got something on your line all of a sudden a salty, bare-chested man is at your side telling you how to pull your fish aboard and clearing the way of the other fishermen so you can get your catch on deck. They are right there with a grappling spear and pulling the hook out of the fish's mouth and bagging the beast. They're nice guys. Total dudes in every sense of the word, but nice. These fishing boats are definitely an insightful glimpse into MAN-WORLD. A neat place to visit, but not where I want to live. But fun.

When we've pulled up our lines and are heading back to the dock, they offer to clean and/or fillet your fish for you. Here is my salty deckhand cleaning our catches of the day:Knife. Muscles. Tatoos. That's MAN-WORLD if you ask me. That's my Dad to the right of him. Man of the Universe, my Dad. That teeny fish Ol' Salty is cleaning--that's my big catch of the day.

But fishing comes with its annoyances. One of the most annoying things, besides tangled lines, are the other wildlife that wreak havoc. First are the seals, which bite the bodies off the bait fish you've got on your hook. They'll leave the heads on, because that's where the hooks are, but then you have to rebait, which is a pain. The other even more annoying things are the pelicans. They're endangered, so you can't harm them, and they also love to eat your bait fish. The problem with the pelicans is that they'll eat the hooks too, so you'll have a darn bird at the end of your line. You have to pull them in and get them off your line. I saw one guy who pulled a pelican in and he just cut the line off, leaving the hook stuck in the poor bird's tongue. There was a little boy fishing who caught a pelican, and my Dad helped pull the bird in and he unhooked the bird, leaving the bird unscathed and unhooked. My Dad is a hero--to me and the pelicans. But he also said that the salt water is so caustic that the hooks dissolve in a couple of weeks, but still. I saw a pelican get unhooked and he went right back again after our bait. They're not dumb, but not particularly smart either. After I saw that I found it hard to sympathize too much with the pelicans. But still, my Dad is my hero.

Here is a video of the pelicans who followed us back to the port as Ol' Salty was cleaning fish and throwing the innards and junk into the sea:

Endangered? Really? Reminds me of an old Hitchcock movie if you ask me.

But it was a fun day. I like getting to participate in my Dad's world. Plus we get dinner tomorrow night. All you have to do is wrap the fish in some tin foil along with some salsa and cilantro and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes. Squeeze a little lemon and serve it with some steamed rice and it's delicious. Yeah, it's good being on top of the food chain.