Fisherman

I am technically not allowed to fish in MA. I don't have a license. I'm fine with this, really.

But the last time we spent the night on the boat, Steve was still sleeping and the boys were getting all antsy, and I decided that it couldn't be THAT horribel if, maybe, you know, the KIDS were fishing. They didn't need a license.

So I took initiative and placed a sea worm on the hook of a rod that was just sitting there.

This is a bigger deal than you'd think. The sea worms are huge, like a foot long. And they have little leggy things. Like giant centipedes. And they have teeth, and they bite you when you pick them up. Probably they don't like the idea of being impaled on a fish-hook and then dunked in the water to be eaten.

But I did it.

Having accomplished this feat on one rod, I decided to take the next step and bait the hook on the second. And so I did, but I noticed that the reel on this one was different. This second rod was Steve's, and a little more complicated.

At this point Andy, who was holding the first rod, announced that he needed help. He had reeled in until the worm was dangling in the air and couldn't cast. And so I handed the complicated rod to Nick, and stepped over to fix Andy's problem. I flung the worm and the hook far from the boat - it took maybe thirty seconds - and turned to Nick.

I don't know what Nick did, but what I saw was a boy with a look of panic all over his face, and a huge tangle of fishing line. The line was so tangled, and the tangle so huge, it was just comical.

But I couldn't undo the knot. I didn't have a knife, so I couldn't cut the line. And at this point Steve came up and saw the knot and was not exactly pleased. But he told me he would take care of it as soon as he made coffee.

Three seconds later the rod I was holding tugged. The one with the huge knot and the line still in the water because I forgot to take it out. Yeah. That one. So I had to call Steve to come up and free the little skate I caught.

Steve went down to make the coffee, and I tried to clean up. And I went to pull out the first rod, which had been placed in the holder thingy. But as soon as I started reeling in the line, it moved and I got a huge tug.

So I had to call Steve and get him to free yet another accidentally caught fish. Before coffee.

It's funny NOW, though.