Richie Catches a Prize

Al, Paul, Richie, Anita and I were fishing with live greenies when I noticed Richie’s line moving against the current. I yelled “You got something on there”, as Richie was quickly winding up the slack. When the line came tight, Richie pulled hard and the fish kicked it into high gear. We quickly pulled in the other lines, started the boat, and gave chase just in time to prevent the speedster from spooling us. We chased this bulldog of a fish around for a long time trying to get a glimpse of it, all the while, trying to guess the species. When Al finally scooped the beast up in the net I couldn’t believe my eyes. “A permit!” I exclaimed. We noticed that the giant fish had 2 other hooks in its mouth from previous battles with anglers. We snapped some photos and Richie released the big boy back under the water to perhaps thrill another fisherman some day.

It was a great day for me to spend time with some fishermen that had been friends for 50 years. They had some apparent health issues but forgot all about that on this day and were joking and laughing like good friends do when they get back together. A day of fishing with old friends is just magic sometimes.