Skip; two things from your post.
First; usually when John cooks, I get to steer the boat whereever I want. If I think we might have a chance of picking up a big cow in the channel, I head in that direction
. If we have been pounding the 55-65 ft of water on the edge of a dropoff, I can go into 30-35 ft to see what's happening. However, on days like Sat., all I could do was put the swells behind us and ride them in a straight line as John cooked
.
Second; I didn't originally post this because someone will misinterpret the post and think we are selfserving or trying to drum up business
. But since you broght up "wish a fish" and your experience, I'll share what happened to us on Sundays charter.
It was another group that had to make a long drive to the dock. They were from Virginia and they had made a summer trip with us for rock and blues. We had a banner day and the dad had his 6 yr old son with him on the trip. It turns out the kids birthday is this month and when he was asked what he wanted, he said "another trip fishing with Capt John and Mr. Marty".
We told them the fishing was not up to par in our area, but the trip was already planned with Dad, Mom, son, Uncle, and another friend. Six yr old Nate got to bring in three smaller rock (24 inches) on Sunday.
As I talked with the family, I found out Nate had a 4 yr old brother. The dad said his brother was really bummed he was not going with the rest of the family. I said, "you should have brought him along". Then the father dropped the bomb. He said the younger son has MS and is confined to a wheelchair. The grandmother was watching him today so the mom could get some much needed relief and could be with the rest of the family.
It hit me hard. I have two new twin granddaughters who were born premature and only weighed 3 pounds each. By the grace of God, they are quite healthy and just turned 1 in November
.
I'm in the back of the boat and told them that this coming summer, if they wanted to bring Nate's brother with them; we would take the family out for some perch/spot bottom fishing on a day we didn't have a charter. I told them I would give them my time gratis and maybe they could give John a few bucks for fuel.
When the opportunity came that everyone was out on deck, I went into the pilot house and told John, "I just made an exeutive decission that cost you some money"
. What's the worst that could happen, I get fired and have to fish out of my own Judge more often
.
Thankfully, John said we can make that happen, and they don't have to pay for anything".
I told the family John was on board with the idea and they had a free trip coming when it was convienent with their schedual. They were realy excited. I also told them about "wish a fish" and they said they would look it up on their computer.
I sent Nate home with several filets of rock for his birthday dinner. He also took home some sassy shads in different colors to share with his brother. He did some drawings in my "charter book" that holds my spread for different seasons along with some of our charter captains phone numbers I contact from time to time.
Everyone had a great time. It was another "lunch" trip so everyone ate well.
Nate has another fishing memory to keep him through the winter months, and it appears we will be seeing them again this summer for another "fun trip".
5th (Marty)