First-time surf fishing

June 13, 2015—I am red-faced, but I am not embarrassed. I am slightly sunburned. That’s what a day on the beach will do to you, if you don’t use enough sunscreen. And apparently I did not.

We drove down to Mexico Beach on the Gulf yesterday. We first dipped our line in a quiet lagoon near the gulf; no fish took the lure. We then found a bait store and beach access and set up, for the first time, our surf-fishing rods.

My first attempts at getting the line in the water were comical. I can cast a normal, six-foot rod pretty well, but the surf rods are about 10 feet long. I did not have too much luck. Instead of going 100 yards straight out, my line had a tendency to go about 10 yards to the side!

Jim came to my rescue. He was able to cast pretty well, most of the time. I tried again several times, and eventually made a few good casts. Good casts aside, we still came away from the beach fishless, despite the yummy bait we had on the hooks.

After several hours in the sun, we went back to an inlet where a number of fisher people were trying their luck. Something— a crab—decided that our thawed shrimp would make a good supper. I actually caught a crab on my line and managed to pull it in without losing it. Alas! I got the crab on the land, but we had left the fish net in the car, so when it landed on solid ground, it let go of my line and scurried away. I admit I was too concerned about getting pinched by its claws to make much of a grab for it and by the time Jim came to my rescue, the crab was gone, safe in Davey Jones’ locker.

We had great time, but it was also a reminder of why I don’t go to the beach, which is only less than 20 minutes (with traffic and parking) from my house: I don’t like the sand.

I had sand in every crevice, and the car is filled with the white, sugary stuff. I managed to find a shower at the fishing pier, but I don’t think I ever felt so grubby! I think I will confine my surf-fishing to our home base, so that I won’t have to wallow in the gritty stuff for very long.

Until later,

Your Reluctant RoVer,

Linda