The Fishing Monster

I feel like Dr. Frankenstein, as I believe I have created a “Monster”! Not a BAD monster, but a really GOOD monster. I refer to my one and only granddaughter, eleven-year-old Amanda, who lives in South Dade County, Florida with her mom Laura and dad Ty. You see, I introduced her to fishing a couple of years ago, and now FISHING is one of her most favorite pastimes. She also is a member of a soccer team, swim team and water polo team, and an A+ student in school. She must get her good looks and brains from her grandfather?? NOT that I am complaining, I look forward to her regular visits to our home in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the regular treks her grandmother and I make to south Florida. And her dad, who was never really an avid angler, has had to learn the craft and begin taking her fishing at home when I am not around. THAT is another GOOD thing about this creation… The two of them get to spend more time together. Her mom, Laura “Cokes”, is real fisherwoman also, and my “Fishin’ Budz”, but she is never interested in bass, bluegill and the like. If it can’t pull you overboard and feed a family of four for a month… Laura is not interested in catching it. She got the nickname “Cokes” while on a Mahi-Mahi fishin’ trip off Islamorada a couple of years ago, when SHE drank the ONLY Diet Coke I had taken FOR ME to drink that day.

I started Amanda out, at the age of about three, on bluegill at the local Sportsmen’s Club pond, and she was an eager angler from the very start. It was only a couple of years, and she was picking out the perfect worm from the box, and soon was baiting her own hook. Like most females, she has her days when she just can’t seem to catch a minnow out of the bucket, or thinks worms are icky. But I’m sure it is just an act to get someone else to bait her hook. She and her dad fish a good bit in one of the Miami canals, in the backyard of a dear friend of mine, John Goble. John is an angler’s angler and will fish for anything, anytime and anywhere. Amanda pretty much has John wrapped around her little finger and he gladly helps her out when she is in one of her “icky” moods.

In the summer of 2002, Amanda came for a visit. She bounced out of bed every morning at 5am and was ready to go fishing. We took the boat up to Meadow Grounds Lake a couple of times, but spend most mornings and evenings on the bank of one of the three ponds located on my brother-in-laws farm. One day she hooked and landed a 22 inch, 5lb 8oz Largemouth Bass, and you would have thought someone had given her a new BMW. It took a little coaxing to get her to hold it long enough for a photo, but pride overcame fear. We took the photos and she graciously eased the fish back into the water. She is already big on “Catch and Release” fishing. We hear about that fish to this very day, and the fact that she out-fished “Poppie” by a large margin that day. In fact, she will still stop people in the grocery store or Wal-Mart to tell them about that adventure. Gram and I had a reproduction mount of the fish created by “Artistic Anglers”, for a special present last Christmas and it hangs proudly on her bedroom wall.

I was in Florida last February, and decided it was time to introduce my fishin’ buddy to saltwater angling. I called my good friend and terrific fishing guide, Capt. Izzy Donatiello, of “Reel Style” fishing adventures in the Florida Keys (305-451-2521 or captizzy@reelstyle.com). We decided it would be best to take out the smaller of his boats, a 19 foot center console, and fish the backcountry wrecks and reefs for whatever we could find. Mackerel were running pretty well and snapper fishing had been good for Mangrove and Yellowtail. It sounded like a “plan” to me!

Gram and Amanda were ready to go and were dragging me out of bed about 4am that Saturday morning. We loaded up the drinks and lunch, jackets, cameras, and all of the “girl” stuff we needed and headed south into the keys. After a quick stop in Islamorada for breakfast and a “potty break” we arrived at Robbie’s Marina around 7am. Capt. Izzy had everything we needed on board and was ready to go.

As we headed out across the west side flats, Gram motioned for me to come forward and talk with Amanda. This was her first time on big water, under the power of a large outboard, and she was concerned about the slapping noise and the vibration in the bottom of the boat. Seems that some “Sea Monster” might have been trying to chew through the keel. I assured her that the noise and vibrations were normal and explained just what they were and why. It didn’t take long for her to relax and have confidence in the ride. In fact, it wasn’t long before she was aft with Capt. Izzy and me, and was soon running the boat too! Capt. Izzy is GREAT with kids and novice anglers and took Amanda under his wing, teaching her how to drive the boat, handle the throttle and read the water and marker buoys.

After a run of several miles, we anchored-up on one of Capt. Izzy’s “Secret” wrecks and got out the tackle. Live shrimp were the bait of choice and Amanda soon boated her very first Mangrove Snapper and Mackerel. Right away she wanted to know if “Poppie” was going to have mounts done for THEM too? We caught lots and lots of fish that day, and a wide variety of species. It was a day Amanda will remember LONG after “Poppie” is fishin’ in heaven.

You can say what you wish about “Bass Tournaments”, “World Records”, “Trophy Fish”, and fishin’ trips to exotic lands and locations. The fondest memories I will forever cherish are the ones created by my granddaughter and I on the banks of a pond, on a quiet lake somewhere, or on the Gulf of Mexico. If you haven’t taken your child, your grandchild or just ANY child fishing lately… YOU SHOULD! It will do you BOTH a world of good and give a child something to think about besides getting into trouble and drugs.

TAKE A KID FISHIN’!

Tight Lines,
Will Whitehead
"Pro Staff" Director