Give a Man a Fish and You’ll Feed Him for a Day, Teach a Man to Fish and He’ll Stand on the Beach With a Stick in His Hand

One thing in life I absolutely love doing is surf fishing. I tie my own rigs, take great care when selecting hooks, reel lubricants, line, and all the particulars needed for a successful outing.

Just imagine how exciting a story would be about a man, a rod, an ocean and a fish thrown together in a battle of life and death.

The man (we’ll name Fishing Guy) scans the surf. He’s looking for where the waves break over sand bars then begin to build a second or even a third time. In between these sand bars are deeper troughs which allow larger fish to swim searching for food.

Fishing Guy locates his target, “100 yards should do it.” He rears back and heaves 8 ounces of lead and circle hook loaded with a large chunk of bunker.

The bait is perfectly placed. Fishing Guy smiles, allows the rig to settle, then tightens his line and sets his drag.

He stands, poised to pounce when his quarry takes the ruse. After 30 minutes, he decides to reel his offering in to check the condition of his bait. Before he can touch the handle, he feels a slight tug. He stands stoic refusing to move.

There it is again. It won’t be long now, he thinks. Being there’s no need to set a circle hook, Fishing Guy makes a slow deliberate pull on his rod and the chase is on.

Line begins to peel from the reel at an alarming rate. Fishing Guy tightens the drag slightly hoping to turn the behemoth. It works, only now the prey is heading directly for the beach. This causes Fishing Guy to have to wind faster than is possible to keep up with the unknown aquatic creature moving toward him.

Fishing Guy wears a pair of chest waders. Unknowingly, he is standing in knee deep water when his line goes totally slack.

“All that work,” Fishing Guy says, “and I lose him.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” a voice from the deep bellows, “nothing was lost…my catch is exactly where I want him.”

A rod and reel are pushed onto the beach by an incoming wave.

On second thought, maybe I’m not as fond of surf fishing as I originally said. It’s definitely something to consider before venturing anywhere near the briny deep…or for that matter the briny shallows.