This page will give a little history about my fishing career and future as a fisherman.
Some of the first memories I have are of fishing with my Dad and Grandfather. I got hooked on fishing when I was around seven years old. Dad and I went to Radio Island one fall afternoon when the bluefish were running. We were casting broken back rebel lures to hungry blues and hooking one on almost every cast. I even caught two at a time on one lure. We caught fish until dark and we had all Dad wanted to clean.
I started commercial fishing when I was eleven working summers with a neighbor setting nets and clamming. This was great exercise that kept me out of trouble while having fun and making some money. I loved being on the water, driving the boat, and catching fish. Commercial fishing was in my blood even though my only immediate family member that commercially fished was a Great Grandfather that I never met. My Grandmother told me stories of rowing the boat as he set nets. She told me about otters playing around them as they worked. She recalled how plankton would glow around the otters swimming at night as they disturbed the tiny bioluminescent creatures. She told me about how he would give fish to people that could not afford to buy them. I felt a connection with my Great Grandfather as she recalled those happy memories. She also recalled a sad memory of her Dad being fined for not getting a fishing license when they first came out. He had Cherokee blood in his veins and did not believe he should be forced to buy a license to fish the water his ancestors had worked for thousands of years. The government did not care what blood flowed through him, they wanted his money before he could continue feeding his family and others in the community.
I started working on the charter boat "Sunrise" when I was sixteen. I made some good money for a teenager and we got to commercial fish when we did not have a charter. That was always more fun to me than running the charters. One of the first commercial trips we made was a great one. We caught some snowy grouper and other bottom fish until the dolphin fish came around. We bailed about 600 pounds of them in a couple of hours. They were nice 8 to 10 pound fish. They covered the deck, slung blood everywhere, and slapped my legs raw with their tails. I loved it! We caught 777 pounds of fish that day. I stopped for gas on the way home and filled up the tank. It took $7.77 exactly. That was when gas was cheap and 7 became my lucky number. The Captain of that boat is a great man that I respect and admire. He taught me a lot about fishing. He also taught me a lot about other things as we had great discussions during the three hour boat rides to the fishing grounds and back to the dock. I fished with him for years until my love of commercial fishing led me to working full time on a snapper grouper boat. I was incredibly lucky to work with another great man on the "Zig-Zag". The name came from the way his boat would zig-zag because of the keel under it (especially in a following sea). We would pick the best weather to go out for two or three days and catch as many fish as we could. We would cook steaks on the grill at night and enjoy the moonrise or the stars that shown bright when there was no moon. It was hard work but I loved it and wanted to fish for the rest of my life.
The worst part about offshore fishing was that I had to be away from my family for days at a time. I decided to work my skiff in the sound so that I could control my time and be with my kids when my wife was working. I did not like sending them to somebody else to raise while we both worked. I set nets for Spots, Flounder, and anything else I could catch. I worked crabpots and castnetted for shrimp. I also picked up conchs and oysters. I carried my camera with me on most of these trips and was able to photograph many wonderful sights. I was able to take my kids fishing with me as well. My son and I would camp out on Shackleford. I would set the nets while he set up the tent. We would then go exploring the island. We would take pictures of the wild horses that live there. We found the old grave yard from Diamond City one day. We went back that night with a spotlight for a spooky adventure. There were giant spider webs between old oak trees with huge spiders that blocked our path. We took some pictures of them before turning back. I could not take a good picture of one of the most amazing sights we saw. The mosquitos were terrible one calm afternoon around sunset. They always liked my son for some reason and he was not happy. Then a bunch of dragonflies came and started attacking the mosquitos. You could see them catch the pest and do battle in mid-air. They would have a brief struggle before the dragonfly consumed the nuisance bug. The sun set and the mosquitos left or were eaten. Those memories and that time with my son were worth more than any boatload of fish or even gold.
I loved being a commercial fisherman. I loved the sights, sounds, and even the smells of working the water. I loved the freedom of being my own boss. I could responsibly harvest this great Nation's seafood and earn an honest living by providing the public with access to a safe dependable supply of it. I literally put my blood, sweat, and tears into working my way up to owning and operating my own snapper grouper boat. I was living the American dream until big brother came to "help". With one act of incompetence, the SAFMC and NMFS destroyed my fishery. Their refusal to properly manage the Vermilion Snapper quota they set based on "fatally flawed data" with Trip Poundage Limits created a derby fishery. This and other derby fisheries caused long closures that mandated the waste of countless fish and devastated our income while greatly increasing our chances of injury or death at sea. The council is listening to us and starting to properly manage some quotas with split seasons and appropriate possession limits to avoid extended closures and excessive regulatory discards. Our voice is making a difference. There are still many things we can do to improve our fisheries. The NC Fisheries Visioning Project and SAFMC Visioning Project are great places for us to offer solutions.
http://www.freefish7.com/nc-visioning-project.html
http://www.freefish7.com/safmc-visioning-project.html
You can read a couple of short stories about a some fishing trips on my blog. www.freefish7.wordpress.com
I started commercial fishing when I was eleven working summers with a neighbor setting nets and clamming. This was great exercise that kept me out of trouble while having fun and making some money. I loved being on the water, driving the boat, and catching fish. Commercial fishing was in my blood even though my only immediate family member that commercially fished was a Great Grandfather that I never met. My Grandmother told me stories of rowing the boat as he set nets. She told me about otters playing around them as they worked. She recalled how plankton would glow around the otters swimming at night as they disturbed the tiny bioluminescent creatures. She told me about how he would give fish to people that could not afford to buy them. I felt a connection with my Great Grandfather as she recalled those happy memories. She also recalled a sad memory of her Dad being fined for not getting a fishing license when they first came out. He had Cherokee blood in his veins and did not believe he should be forced to buy a license to fish the water his ancestors had worked for thousands of years. The government did not care what blood flowed through him, they wanted his money before he could continue feeding his family and others in the community.
I started working on the charter boat "Sunrise" when I was sixteen. I made some good money for a teenager and we got to commercial fish when we did not have a charter. That was always more fun to me than running the charters. One of the first commercial trips we made was a great one. We caught some snowy grouper and other bottom fish until the dolphin fish came around. We bailed about 600 pounds of them in a couple of hours. They were nice 8 to 10 pound fish. They covered the deck, slung blood everywhere, and slapped my legs raw with their tails. I loved it! We caught 777 pounds of fish that day. I stopped for gas on the way home and filled up the tank. It took $7.77 exactly. That was when gas was cheap and 7 became my lucky number. The Captain of that boat is a great man that I respect and admire. He taught me a lot about fishing. He also taught me a lot about other things as we had great discussions during the three hour boat rides to the fishing grounds and back to the dock. I fished with him for years until my love of commercial fishing led me to working full time on a snapper grouper boat. I was incredibly lucky to work with another great man on the "Zig-Zag". The name came from the way his boat would zig-zag because of the keel under it (especially in a following sea). We would pick the best weather to go out for two or three days and catch as many fish as we could. We would cook steaks on the grill at night and enjoy the moonrise or the stars that shown bright when there was no moon. It was hard work but I loved it and wanted to fish for the rest of my life.
The worst part about offshore fishing was that I had to be away from my family for days at a time. I decided to work my skiff in the sound so that I could control my time and be with my kids when my wife was working. I did not like sending them to somebody else to raise while we both worked. I set nets for Spots, Flounder, and anything else I could catch. I worked crabpots and castnetted for shrimp. I also picked up conchs and oysters. I carried my camera with me on most of these trips and was able to photograph many wonderful sights. I was able to take my kids fishing with me as well. My son and I would camp out on Shackleford. I would set the nets while he set up the tent. We would then go exploring the island. We would take pictures of the wild horses that live there. We found the old grave yard from Diamond City one day. We went back that night with a spotlight for a spooky adventure. There were giant spider webs between old oak trees with huge spiders that blocked our path. We took some pictures of them before turning back. I could not take a good picture of one of the most amazing sights we saw. The mosquitos were terrible one calm afternoon around sunset. They always liked my son for some reason and he was not happy. Then a bunch of dragonflies came and started attacking the mosquitos. You could see them catch the pest and do battle in mid-air. They would have a brief struggle before the dragonfly consumed the nuisance bug. The sun set and the mosquitos left or were eaten. Those memories and that time with my son were worth more than any boatload of fish or even gold.
I loved being a commercial fisherman. I loved the sights, sounds, and even the smells of working the water. I loved the freedom of being my own boss. I could responsibly harvest this great Nation's seafood and earn an honest living by providing the public with access to a safe dependable supply of it. I literally put my blood, sweat, and tears into working my way up to owning and operating my own snapper grouper boat. I was living the American dream until big brother came to "help". With one act of incompetence, the SAFMC and NMFS destroyed my fishery. Their refusal to properly manage the Vermilion Snapper quota they set based on "fatally flawed data" with Trip Poundage Limits created a derby fishery. This and other derby fisheries caused long closures that mandated the waste of countless fish and devastated our income while greatly increasing our chances of injury or death at sea. The council is listening to us and starting to properly manage some quotas with split seasons and appropriate possession limits to avoid extended closures and excessive regulatory discards. Our voice is making a difference. There are still many things we can do to improve our fisheries. The NC Fisheries Visioning Project and SAFMC Visioning Project are great places for us to offer solutions.
http://www.freefish7.com/nc-visioning-project.html
http://www.freefish7.com/safmc-visioning-project.html
You can read a couple of short stories about a some fishing trips on my blog. www.freefish7.wordpress.com