Chasing Orchid: Gone Fishing

A picture of the StrikeZone, the charter we went fishing on. They're an awesome group if you ever want to go fishing on Maui!

It was a beautifully clear day, a hint of a chill in the air, as the sun rose over Haleakala. I still had another 15 to 20 minutes before full sunrise. I took a deep breath, cleared my head and wondered “What the hell am I doing!”

Seriously I must be a glutton for punishment. I had rolled in at about 2:30am that morning and here I was at 5:30am driving to the harbor to go fishing for six hours. I think the sea air had finally gotten to my brain.

Yes, the city girl was going fishing for the first time in her life. One would have thought I would have been smarter and made sure I was well rested for this trip. But no…one of my friends wanted to go see a band and go drinking, hence why I was driving on about 2 and a half hours of sleep.

Lack of sleep aside, it was a gorgeous day to go fishing. The sky was clear, the water calm as glass. We got into the charter boat as I fervently prayed I wouldn’t have to deal with live bait. I have enough bugs and creepy crawlies around and the last thing I wanted to do was touch something wiggly and alive.

My prayers were answered, the bait was fish belly and strips of squid. Aside from the smell and the gooey texture, it was a hell of a lot better than I thought it would be. I found out we were going trolling and bottom fishing. I just shrugged and went along for the ride.

After being shown how to bait my hook, I took a try myself. I must admit I did pretty well for a beginner (minus the tip of the hook in my finger). However, no one had bothered to mention that when I felt a tug on my rod I was supposed to jerk the pole up a bit to hook the fish. Needless to say I lost quite a few as I was reeling in the line.

Apparently we were trying to catch some sort of Snapper. I did get one little red fish but it was so small I had to throw it back. The fish we were looking for were a beautiful yellow with stripes, it seemed a shame to hook them but that was the name of the game.

I did manage to catch a couple fish by the time my six hours was up. I was hot, tired, a bit sunburnt but completely happy. Who knew dealing with slimy bait and wiggly fish could be so much fun? But as I’ve said before, I love to try new things, I’ll definitely be going fishing again.

Meanwhile….off to try my balance at surfing. *chuckles*