July 23 – “Fish police”

I managed to sneak in a little bit of fishing yesterday before the onslaught of grandchildren began.  Well, technically it was between waves of the attack.  Cailyn had already swooped in, and the Jachin, Micah, Josiah and Noa maelstrom had not yet set down. 

I went to my usual spot  down in front of WalMart and weaved my way through the tourists to stake out a claim.  (Wait a second.  Is “weaved” correct, or should it be “wove”?  No autocorrect yet, so I’ll leave it as is).  The water was pretty clear, but still pretty choppy.  No.  It was very choppy.  Not a lot of whitecaps, but the swells were oppressive.  The tide was running consistently, though, so I figured there should be some fish in there somewhere.  I set up my rig to sink below the waves and made my first cast.  And my second, and third.  It took a while, but I finally started successfully feeding the little fish beneath the waves, which I don’t mind doing a little of.  If they are eating what I offer, the will draw the bigger guys in to see what’s going on.  I did make some catches, too.  Enough to bring home and fillet up for later.  One really nice speckled trout.  Numerous whiting.  I threw back three undersized reds.  Kept one black drum.  Shook off a few ladyfish.  There was one that got away.  Always have to have at least one of those.  I felt the tug and then it was gone.  That quick.  Hook was gone.  No idea what it was. 

Once again I had to move around way more than I like.  Part of that was due to getting pommeled by the waves.  Most of it was to avoid the tourists who kept easing closer and closer, either to me, which I don’t mind, or to the area I was casting to, which I do mind.  I sure didn’t want to hook a tourist.  They are really difficult to gut and clean, so you end up just tossing them back.  I did have a conversation with one of the fellows playing in the water next to me.  It was a Chinese family … from Calgary, Canada.  They were on a major vacation through the states.  Next stop after Galveston would be New Orleans, before spending a week in Miami.  Really nice guy.  He didn’t recognize any of the fish I caught, though.  He was also amazed that I could actually keep what I caught and eat them.  After I tossed back one of the redfish, he asked what would happen if I kept an undersized fish.  Wanted to know if the fish police were waiting on shire to give me a ticket or something.  I assured him that I had never seen the “fish police” at the beach in all the years I had been fishing here.  Throwing the undersized fish back was a matter of integrity and of a desire for them to grow and reproduce so I could keep doing what I was doing.  That one kind of took him aback.  He shook his head and slowly backed away, never to be seen at my side again.  Sometimes integrity is a concept far beyond what the average person expects to be confronted with. 

Romans 16:20 says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.  The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

Father, thank you for the fish.  And for the Canadian.  Keep them safe on their journey around the states.  Amen.