March Madness

March has been full of firsts for me. I snorkeled in the ocean for the first time in my life. I made about five open water dives and I caught a lot of weird fish. One thing about saltwater. You can never guess what the hell u might catch or when u might catch it. I have included a few pics of the weirdness I have encountered here at GTMO. That fishy fellow hoppin out of the cooler was an especially funny story. I decided I wanted to go fishing. Nothing out of the ordinary. It just happened to be 1in the morning. I hopped out the bed with visions of fish dancin in my head. I had to catch the tide going out so I was in a rush. Needless to say I left a few crucial things. First of all, I forgot the ice. You never go fishing without a cooler of ice. It is one of the most useful things you can bring. It keeps your drinks and bait cold, and once you do catch some fish it keeps em fresh if you don't have a livewell. After about 3 mins in ice most fish(except catfish) pass out since they are cold blooded. Well either way I didn't have any ice. I also forgot a lot of important tools. Needle nose pliers (for plucking hooks out of toothy mouths), multi-tool (Gerber for us military folks), Kabar (for real ornery fish and anything else that goes bump at night) and nail clippers (quick snip fishin line). Well all of the above items are metal. All of my metal items happened to be drying off on the shelf. Saltwater does a number on metal so a good rinsing in fresh water and oiling needs to be done after every trip. Either way I left damn near everything I needed. Of course this night would be the night I needed all of those items. I broght my usual rods. The Lunker Buster (Penn Levelwind) and my bait fish yanker(light spinning rod). Well of course everything worked out bass ackwards. I caught a eater size snapper on my heavy rod. I learned before (the hard way)that fish tend to bite the hell out of you when you stick you fingers in to retrieve a hook. Since I was without tools I used what god gave me. I bit the line off (I know ewwww). Right as it popped loose my lil rod shot off the deck like a rock out of a sling shot. I made a sad attempt to grab it but it was gone in a blink. I had that moment; you know when you debate whether or not you feel like jumping in to get it. I probably would have but I didn't even see it. Whatever grabbed it took off in a big hurry. At that point I was pissed to the inth level of highest pissedivity. And then that fish had the nerves to get out in the surf and completed an aerial display to rival that of the Blue Angels. I just muttered under my breath things that I can't write. Well I had almost had enough fishin that night but I couldn't give up yet because out of four casts I had hooked into two fish in the span of thirty minutes. Any fisher will tell you thems is some damn good fishin odds. So I loaded up my Lunker buster and tossed it out past the waves. In about 5 mins I felt a faint tug. I figured damn another bait stealer cleaning off my hook. So I started reeling it in. The tugs didn't stop so I figured I caught a brave lil reef fish or somethin. I say he's brave because the hooks I put on the lunker buster are pretty big. They usually keep the lil nippers at bay and off that rod. Either way I reeled him in. Then a miracle happened. That wasn't a lil fish. I had snagged the line from my other rod. To make it even better it still had Mr Aerial Acrobatic Fish on the other end. I pulled it in and dragged the rod end out the water. Then the fight was on! That toothy feller in the cooler gave me a great show complete with airborne head fakes, tailwalking, and a couple of good runs. I pulled him in and that was enough action for one night. The next problem was getting that hook out of his mouth. One look at those teeth and I cut the line on that one too. I tossed him in the cooler and he got to thrashin around like a wild banshee. I figured I'd cool him off so I stopped by the ice machine on the way home. Nedless to say he did not appreciate the ice treatment. I had to snap a pic. That fish had been out of water at least 15 mins and he still wanted a piece of my finger. The next day I went out on the boat and caught the rest of the fish pictured. I got a new fishin bud. We are on the same wavelength when it comes to fishin. March has been fun. I also got my dive certification. My next class is underwater hunting (AKA spear fishing). You can't be a real angler until you hop in the water and beat a fish at his own game...