On a Sunday afternoon, a friend visited my home and asked me to go fishing. It was August and gator-like bluefish were terrorizing our local striped bass. I said: “Let go!”. When we arrived at Surfland, we were greeted like old friends returning from a distant place. While my friend told stories, I purchased three pounds of his favorite bait. With bait in hand, we were off to our bass hunting grounds. Based on the entries in my fishing journal, I know where to go to avoid the tourists.
We finally reached “the zone”. I read the water and found a fishy spot. My fish sense was on code red. I quickly rigged up my friends rod and dressed his bleeding sharp hooks with tasty clams. I asked me friend: “Can I make the first cast?” He hesitated. “For good luck.” I said. He agreed. I walked to the water’s edge and loaded his rod to its maximum and propelled the bait rig past the breaking waves. As I returned the rod to my friend, he said “Good cast. Thank you”.
As the sun started to set…BANG! My friend’s rod was ben over and the spool was screaming. The fish was irate! My friend fought the fish from his chair. After a few minutes, the waves pushed a beautiful striped bass to his feet. The fish was full color and well proportioned. I removed the hook with care and showed the fish to my friend. At that moment, my friend was the happiest I had seen him in months. To my surprise, he said “Put her back to grow.”
The drive home was quite, until my friend broke the silence. “Today was a good day. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the doctor to discuss the chemotherapy results.” Take a friend fishing. You will catch more than fish.
