Memoir Monday #34 What things are you proudest of in your life?

This is my post for #memoirmonday What things are you proudest of in your life? hosted by @ericvancewalton

Other than my children and grandchildren, I am proud of being a commercial fisherman back before the net ban and before the river crashed and after it crashed until my body would not let me fish. I was the only woman fisherman in my town. I can no longer fish but I look back on my life and I am proud of the things I did. I was not the top fisherman but I was not at the bottom of the past either. I caught fish.

I had always fished the same boat with my husband and one day he had to go to a fisheries meeting and told me to take the boat and catch jacks, we had been catching them. I did not want to take the boat on my own but thought I would try. I caught 1,500 pounds of jacks, my husband had to get himself a new boat because from that day on, that boat was mine. I am driving my boat sitting on my net with pogies roped in.

I am proud of being the only fisherman who used a splatter pole to catch their limit of trout and never moved my anchor. A splatter pole is a 19 foot pole with only a line and hook. My splatter pole is the long pole lying flat on my boat. It is basically a long cane pole.

When I caught them one of the best splatter pole fisherman was fishing near me, he later told me he could tell I was catching them but had no idea I was catching that good. I had 77 head on that anchoring, I counted wrong, our limit is 75, but I only weighed up the 75 so the fish house would not get in trouble for buying over the limit. I kept the last two on ice and weighed them the next day.

Before the net ban, I would take my boat across the river when it was blowing so hard that not many men would cross it. I would have to have full rain gear on while crossing and sometimes I could hardly see from the salt spray. It was this time of year, October, right ahead of a cold front, I had a bigger boat with 600 yards of net. I caught sheepshead as they were leaving the river for the ocean. I had a place at Peppercove where I could run my net over out in the rough river and then I could go into the cove to get out of the wind. I could see my net and when all of the corks went under I knew I had fish and would have to use the motor and drive while pulling the net into the boat. After I got that net in, I had another piece of net I would run back over and take the one with fish in it back into the cove where it was calm and I could clear the fish out and ice them.

I am proud of this set of fish. Every roe mullet season I would sit at the creek and wait for the mullet to come under the bridge, we were not allowed to catch them on the other side of the bridge. This guy was with his Father and I was pulled into shore cooking boiled peanuts when a mullet just cleared the water. This guy started setting his net and I jumped in my boat and threw my buoy. He had 1,100 pounds and I had 4K, after he got his net back, he got on my boat and helped me get mine back, I had a disposable camera on my boat and snapped this picture of him.

When we fished the ocean, we always fished together, I am proud of the man he is and his knowledge of the ocean and river, I learned everything I know from him.

After the net ban, we both started fishing with rod and reels, now this is what I knew all about since I grew up at the Inlet, and nets were not allowed there so I grew up rod and reel fishing. I am holding two 5 pound pompano, the biggest one I caught was 6 pounds, I fished for Judahs when I caught it. I am proud of that fish, my husband has never caught one that big, hehehehe.

I also learned how to throw a 12 foot castnet, but it was too much webbing for my hand so I went down to a 10 foot net.

I caught a fish called Goats with a castnet. I learned how to drive a trolling motor mounted on my bow with my foot, when I made a throw, I would swing the trolling motor around backward and step on a switch that was attached to my bowcap to back up and tuck the net.

I caught jacks on my splatter pole, one day I was drifting and hooked a 12 pound jack. I had to stand up to fight it, it kept going round and round my boat pulling me in circles. A huge Bull shark got after it as we were going round and round. When the shark hit the jack it cut it into just behind the dorsal fin, the front half weighed 6 pounds. I saw it cut the jack into but did not feel a tug or anything, he cut it like cutting butter. Not really something to be proud of but it made an impression on me.

After I hurt my back, I could no longer use a splatter pole or a cast net, I could only use a rod and reel. I am proud that I could still make a living by only using a rod and reel.

I could not sell snook or redfish, they were against the law, so when we were tired of eating them, I would give them to people I know or strangers on the river. Sometimes I would see someone who was living on their boat and I would stop and give them fish, or if I saw someone on the shoreline fishing or at a homeless camp, I gave them fish. I have been at a store or the boat ramp and have had people come up to me and say that I gave them a fish and how the appreciated it. That always made me feel good and proud that I gave it to them.
photos are mine