Family Fishing Derby

Hello everyone! Have you ever been on a fishing trip? Ever seen someone catch a bass in under five minutes? Ever got the chance to go out boating with your favorite family member? After Tuesday I was able to say yes to all of these questions. Now I've been on boats before, in fact I go out every day to the islands on a boat. But I rarely get the chance to go out to the harbor on a boat and just "have fun" with my friends. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I wouldn't volunteer to change it for the world. After Tuesday I can truthfully say that give me a beautiful day, a nice boat and my best friends, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

We started the day off bright and early. I rolled out of bed at 5 am then walked upstairs to wake Aidan, my younger brother up. He was my guest for the day because if there's anything he loves more than watching video games, it's fishing on a boat. We got to Fan Pier at 7 on the dot. Perfect timing to see my best friends Kharliyah and Damani. Aidan was excited as soon as he saw all of the boats loaded with rods and bait for the day ahead. We boarded Charlie's boat, The Belle, at 8 and took off into the harbor.

Baiting a line with a sea worm

Our first stop was just off of Camp Harbor View, otherwise known as Long Island. I remembered back to orientation about how many flounder we caught learning to fish in that area. As soon as Charlie gave the "okay" to cast out our lines, the wait began. I always tell the kids on All Access that fishing is a waiting game. It may not be the most heart racing activity of them all, but when you do catch something it sure is exciting. Within the next 5 minutes, Aleena was leaning over the side of the boat, with her fishing rod styling a deep arch at the top. She was putting a lot of strength into reeling her catch in. Sam, Charlie's deckhand, was over in a flash with a net trying to scoop the hooked bass out of the water. After some struggle, he got the fish up onto the boat. Sadly, it was only 24 inches, so we had to toss it back.

An hour or so passed without much luck but many laughs, and Charlie decided it was time to take a ride to a new spot. We ended up right near Quincy. On the way there, we spotted fish leaping out of the water. It was clear that we were going to have more luck over here. Looking over the side of the boat, you could easily see the entire school of fish beneath us. There were so many it seemed that if i were to stick one foot out and reach down i could walk across them. Sam kept throwing cast after cast out into the school hoping to grab something. At one point he even let me reel in a fish that got hooked.


We returned to the pier both tired and happy. Despite waking up at the crack of dawn, it had been a great day.

Until next time,
Patrice