Deep Sea Fishing

Written By Shanan age 13:

While we were visiting with our cousins in Destin, Uncle Tim graciously offered to treat Dad & I, (really anyone who really wanted to go--he's one generous guy!) to a day of deep sea fishing! Fishing is something I really enjoy but hardly ever get to do, and time with Dad & no siblings is also a rarity, so I jumped at the chance!

Our day began very early as we had an hour drive from Holt to get to the pier in Destin by 7:30. Mom dropped Dad and I off while the rest of the family continued to the Lindholm’s condo, where they would spend the day hanging out with them.

Uncle Tim

Leaving the Destin Harbor

Not long after arriving at the pier, it was time to board the fishing boat, the Swoop 2. The first thing I noticed once I stepped foot on the ship was the smell; the odor of fish – lots of it. The next thing I saw were the huge buckets of chopped up squid. Now, I’ve put earthworms on a hook before, but the idea of using real squid made me feel a bit squeamish, to be honest... I put the thought out of my mind as Dad and I set our cooler down in the inside cabin area. We found an empty spot on a bench in the bow of the boat and sat down, despite the wet condition of the seat.

My cousin Caden rested his head on my lap

It took a good hour and forty-five minutes to arrive at the fishing grounds, and by then it was shortly after 9:30 am. During the trip, we saw some flying fish! It was super cool, as I had never seen them before. There were also a few jellyfish floating in the wake of the boat. And once we reached the fishing grounds, I even spotted a pair of dolphins! They were really amazing to see.

When the boat stopped, despite my misgivings, I baited my hooks (there were two of them -- just my luck! ;D) and dropped my line into the water, per the instructions. It took a while, but I caught two Red Snappers, one average-sized and one large one, along with another small fish I had to throw back. Meanwhile, Dad reeled in a HUGE fish called an Amberjack, which unfortunately we were not able to keep, as it was not in season :( He also caught a few more Red Snappers to add to our catch.

The huge fish that Dad caught

These are all the fish I caught....actually these are what our whole group caught :)

To my dismay, it appeared that I had inherited Dad’s seasickness genes, because I felt rather queasy when the boat was stopped. But I managed to get my stomach settled without ever once throwing up over the side, thanks to liberal use of peppermint oil & nibbling on candied ginger (Uncle Tim went above & beyond providing everyone with all kinds of ginger to quell our queasiness). Despite this setback, I thoroughly enjoyed the day on the water, and would happily do this adventure again! Thanks for an awesome time, Uncle Tim!