I have been looking forward to my 30th birthday pretty much all year. I know not many people get thrilled about breaking the ceiling into the next decade, but I was because it meant an excuse to go big or go home! Of course, why can’t you go big every year? Every year is a blessing and a gift, and I am slowly learning to appreciate that a little bit more.
So, while many people go to Vegas or go on a wine tour (both of which sounded fun), I wanted to tap back into my outdoors loving, traveling, adventurous spirit! It has sort of been buried after years of responsibility distracted me from one of my biggest dreams – traveling and experiencing the world.
One of my favorite things to do outdoors is fish! I am not well versed in fish types, lures, knot tying or rod/reel combos, but I tend to have pretty good luck when I go and I really enjoy it. It’s addictive – I keep waiting for the bite and the reward and it is so inconsistent, it keeps me on the edge of my seat with suspense! This last August, I had the amazing opportunity to go fishing with my dad in Alaska – I fished SO MUCH that I actually injured my wrist from casting all day, every day.
Out of 120 pounds of fish between the two of us, my favorite things to eat out of that trip ended up being those Dungeness Crab and the Halibut. Of course, I can’t complain about salmon, but the halibut and crab were just so good.
So, what did I want to do for my birthday this year? I wanted to go on a 12 hour long deep sea fishing expedition! We set out from Port Aransas’ Dolphin Dock Charters at 6:00 a.m. and traveled for around three and a half hours before we got to our destination, 55 miles off shore.
Almost immediately, Steven was not looking so great! He gets car sick, so sea sickness was a real possibility, but he forgot to take anything to prepare for the trip. Poor Steven had a very long day.
We got to see the sun rise over the open ocean and had dolphins swimming alongside the boat a few times. It was really beautiful, but I was impatient to start fishing, so the hours passed very slowly. I was trying to keep my balance with 3-4 foot swells (not bad by any means, but my land loving legs weren’t handling it very well). Sitting down made me feel a little off, so I stood nearly the entire day.
We finally got to where we were going and we started fishing for Vermilion Snapper. Normally I have pretty decent luck, but that day was an exception! I only caught three tiny little Vermilion Snapper and several Red Snapper (we had to throw those back since it wasn’t in season).
Excitement really picked up when the hammerhead sharks started coming around to check out what we were dropping in the water.
Finally, at the end of our time out at sea, we did a really fun trolling trick to catch Kingfish. We (all 30 of us) got on the right side of the boat with little sardines hooked onto our lines. We dropped them in about 180 feet while the boat slowly moved away from our starting point. It would be dead quiet on the lines and then suddenly everyone was lighting up. The excitement would build as one, two, and then suddenly 7-10 people would have a fish on. We had to follow them, so we were ducking and weaving under everyone else’s poles – the chaos was wonderful.
We wrapped up the trip and I was so worn out I just fell asleep on the table inside of the main cabin area on the way home. I had not really eaten much that day, for fear of getting sick, so I was completely worn out. When we got back to shore (finally), they hung up the entire boat’s catch.
My catch wasn’t really that spectacular, but we are looking forward to fixing it up for dinner in the near future!
Do you enjoy fishing? Do you prefer salt or fresh water fishing?
What is your favorite fish to eat?
What was your most memorable birthday celebration?
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