FISH ON

It was a calm, clear, warm, and sunny Saturday in May of 2020. We decided to go fishing.

My husband and I are avid anglers and look forward to being on the water as often as possible. While I have other commitments that prevent me going as often as I’d like, he has many friends that are as eager as he is.

However, on that beautiful Saturday morning, I put everything aside and prepared my gear. I really wanted and needed some downtime and fishing is just what I wanted to do. As he readied the boat, I packed the lunch. It didn’t take us long, and soon we pulled away from our dock. We don’t live far from Charlotte Harbor, and that’s where we were headed!

While we enjoy fishing, all too often, we’ll take a photo of the fish we caught and gently put it back in the water before it dies. We practice “catch and release” hoping that our part in this practice might help to increase the fish population, which due to storms and cooler weather, has depleted the fish in our part of Florida drastically. Each year, Southwest Florida goes through a red tide algae bloom that often kills thousands of fish. Practicing “catch and release” helps increase the fish population. We heartily encourage others to do the same.

My husband and I are also members of our local fishing club and the club’s board had just announced the start of their monthly contest, and the targeted fish of the month was shark. Just to be clear, yes, we have monthly contests and each month we target a different species of fish. The club also encourages its members to practice the “catch and release” method.

The rules are easy. Catch a shark, and while it’s still in the water, take a photo of the fish, then cut the line so the fish can live and hopefully reproduce. We are warned to be cautious and never take the shark out of the water. They’ve been known to attack whatever they sense while in captivity.

Before you panic and say, “But the hook is still in the shark’s lip!” I can assure you that the shark’s saliva will dissolve the hook in about 48-hours.

We were out for a few hours with no hits! Not a bite, not a nibble. My husband took a break and using our trolling motor, took us into shallower water. Yes, sharks will swim in the shallows. We’ve spotted a few in as little as 6-inches of water.

He trolled and I kept fishing.

In the middle of the afternoon, while my husband was at the bow of the boat trying his hand at catching fish, I sat on the seat in the middle. We caught a few small trout and ladyfish. Nothing else seemed interested in our bait.

Then, I felt a slight tug. It wasn’t much, just enough to let me know there was a fish showing a bit of curiosity in my bait. The tug came again. Ah, I have its attention. Another tug, and this time a bit harder. I took this as a sign that whatever fish it was, it was now hungry enough to bite.

Suddenly, my line began to pull and yank. I had a fish on! At this point, I had no idea what it was, but it was there and had my bait in its mouth. I let it swim a bit so it would think it was getting a free meal.

Then, I began reeling in. At first, the fish cooperated. I knew this meant that the fish still didn’t understand that it was hooked. It began swimming harder. I reeled harder. The more I reeled, the more the fish fought. He (or she) now understood there was little hope to escape.

The shark and I fought for the better part of an hour. My arm muscles were screaming and burning. My back hurt with the strain of holding the rod and reeling in this fish that was fighting so hard.

How I wished I could have told it to just allow me to reel it in for a picture and then I’d let it go. We all know that doesn’t happen!

I reeled the fish in closer, and we saw it was, indeed a shark!

The closer it got to the boat, the harder it struggled.

The harder it struggled, the harder I fought to hold on to the rod.

Lower the rod a bit and reel. Raise the rod up and pull. And repeat!

To say the sweat was pouring out of me is a mild statement. I felt more like someone had dumped a bucket of water on me. Yet, I was determined to get the shark close enough for a picture.

This was shark vs. woman!

Yes, I was determined to win. I was hoping it didn’t break my line before we got the picture. That was going to be my prize. It didn’t matter if I won the fishing club’s contest. This was a personal battle between the shark and me – with each of us determined to win.

I realized my husband was so engrossed in watching my bout of wills with the fish, he never thought of taking a picture. I finally screamed at my husband, “Get the damn camera!”

Finally, he moved fast enough to take the photo and I was beyond pleased. The shark and I were exhausted.

I held the rod while my husband grabbed and cut the line. Yes, he grabbed it first. Otherwise, the line could have snapped so violently, it might have injured either one of us.

The shark lumbered away, tired but free. I sat on the seat, emotionally and physically spent but still had enough energy to drink an entire bottle of water.

I reviewed the photo my husband had taken and felt very pleased and proud of myself. I had my photo!

And the shark and I both lived to fish another day.