Carolina Fishing From The Perspective Of An Ignoramus

There’s a great deal of fishing going on this time of year on the coast. Most mornings, I wake up to at least one fishing boat not that far out from shore. They’re a thing of beauty, I think, with their gear fully extended, the sunlight reflecting off the white of the boats.

Sometimes, in the evenings, I can hear the hum of the engines and see lights in the distance, and even, if they are close enough, the faint outline of the fishermen as they work through the night. I’ve often wondering what it would be like to spend the night on one of those boats, out on the Atlantic when all the land folk are asleep.

It’s still a dangerous job, too, one of the most dangerous of all, in fact. But, oh, what you’d see out there, from all the life teeming in the Atlantic to the stars so clearly seen shining down from the heavens.

I love to watch some of the surf fishing, too. The shore is lined with pockets of fishermen this time of year as well.

On Sunday afternoon, I had great fun watching this guy. He was out there, looking like he was wrestling a whale and having the time of his life doing it. He’d end up so far out that I’d lose sight of him for a minute, and then there he’d be again, dragging himself back toward shore.

I try to be inconspicuous about it, but, on a warm, lazy afternoon, it is sometimes hard not to appear what I am: voyeuristic. I’m ivory tower-like about it, both fascinated and grossed out by the whole bait thing, since it tends to involve raw fish. This trait also makes me fun to be with in the kitchen, by the way.

A fisherman himself, Hemingway once remarked, “Somebody just back of you while you are fishing is as bad as someone looking over your shoulder while you write a letter to your girl.”

Ugh. I guess, some days, that’s me, the back-of-you girl. But I can’t stand side-by-side with a fisherman unless I know him, because really, I know so little of the sport, and to try to pretend otherwise would be nothing other than tomfoolery.

So I mostly watch from afar.

On a slightly different note that’s just as applicable in my case, Steven Wright said, “There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.”

Oh, there’s no question I’d fall into the idiot category on that one if I tried my hand at fishing.

I wouldn’t attempt to pretend otherwise.

One Reply to “Carolina Fishing From The Perspective Of An Ignoramus”

  1. What beautiful photos! I especially like the one of the fishing boat with the fog (?) on the water. I am definitely in the Steven Wright “idiot” category of fisherman. I can bait a hook and toss a line, but beyond that, I have no idea what I am doing.

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