Sand and surf fishing

June 6, 2019—Surf fishing. Jim loves it. He claims it is relaxing and meditative just to sit on the beach, watch the fishing rod (in hopes that it will bend to the weight of a catch), and listen to the waves break on the shore.

He’s right. It is relaxing. The only problem is that to do surf fishing, you have to go to the beach. And the beach means sand. Sand. Sand. And more sand.

Hard sand by the seashore is OK. But to get to the shore, you have to walk across soft sand, the kind that makes its way into your beach shoes and hurts the bottoms of your feet. Walking in soft sand reminds me of walking in knee-deep snow. I never liked snow-walking. I hate walking in sand.

There is really only one rule about surf fishing: don’t set up your gear and fish around swimmers. Avoiding swimmers means having to hike down the beach. In sand. Soft sand. Soft sand that swallows your feet. Did I mention I don’t like walking in sand? (I think there is a reason why I have been to the beach less than a dozen times since I moved to Florida 21 years ago, and it has to do with sand.)

OK, enough about the beach and its sand that creeps into every crevice of your body. We went surf fishing today. Catching was not great; we brought home a few small fish. I guess the fish weren’t too hungry today.

Jim is holding the baby hammerhead shark I caught at Anastasia State Park while surf fishing. Weird-looking fish.

Shortly after I cast out my line, however, I got a bite. What did I catch? The brother of the little shark I caught yesterday. It was about the same size, around 8-10 inches. We released him to grow up.

I cast my line again, and within a few minutes I had another bite! It was not a heavy fish. It was…another shark! This time a baby hammerhead! We released him, too, to grow up.

Today is the last day of our mini-vacation. We return home tomorrow. As usual, we have had a good time. Our next adventure will be six nights at St. George Island State Park on the Gulf, in the panhandle, at the end of June . We also have time booked at Faver-Dykes State Park (central Florida, east coast) in mid-July, and at Fort Clinch State Park (about an hour north of Jacksonville) at the end of July. After that? Well, wehave to get out the state park map and start planning.

Until next time,

Your Reluctant RoVer,

Linda