My dad suggested that we head out for a day of fishing at Gosman's Dock, and I thought this sounded like a great idea. The rocks at the Gosman's Inlet are known to be home to keeper fluke, which is a type of fish that my family enjoys to fish for. Both my father and I have caught keeper fluke at these rocks before, my father many more than I. When my father and I arrived at the rocks, we began to fish and things started out slow. My dad reminded me that it is very easy to snag your hook on the seaweed infested rocks, and therefore to make sure I reel in quickly as my hook approached the rocks. We fished for about 30 minutes and caught nothing.
Soon, two of my uncles arrived at the rocks. I was now in the company of three of the most talented and accomplished fishermen that I have ever met. Just when you thought that the fish of the sea may have finally out-smarted us humans, one of these men found a way to reel in a keeper fish. We continued to fish for the next hour or so, and none of us caught a single fluke, nonetheless a keeper. Our only luck was catching some sea robin, which is not a fish that we keep to eat. To make matters worse, the sea robins were quite literally barking at us as we threw them back into the water as if they were saying thanks for the meal and the trip to the surface!
Anyways, time passed as we continued to haul in sea robin, and soon we were joined on the rocks by some unfamiliar individuals. A man and his daughter were now by our side, two complete strangers. The man had a fishing pole, the girl did not. He began to fish as his daughter watched and explored the rocks. My dad proceeded to strike up a conversation with the man. As he introduced himself to the man, my dad decided to offer his fishing pole to the girl. Upon handing the pole over, the girl's father asked my dad: Are you sure? She may snag your hook on the rocks. My dad did not care, as those hooks only cost a dollar.
My dad began to chat, and the girl began to fish. It was immediately evident that she was quite unexperienced. Nothing wrong with that, she was having a good time. Isn't that what fishing is all about? Turns out she had never caught a fish before. Every few casts she actually did snag her hook on the rocks, and I was luckily able to un-snag the hook each time. She was very appreciative of all the help.
Another half-hour passed and it was time for us all to head back to land for some lunch. The father and daughter were leaving too. The girl gestured to hand her pole back to my father when my dad exclaimed that she should make one more cast. He told her that this was going to be the cast she catches a fish. My father baited her hook and she casted once more. She began to reel and then stopped as her pole began to bend. She turned to me, I'm snagged on the rocks again. She handed the pole over to me to un-snag the hook, but this was no snag. YOU HAVE A FISH ON, I yelled, as I desperately handed the pole back to the girl.
A few moments later, she hauled a 17 and a half inch fluke onto the rocks. Not only was it the catch of the day, it was her first fish ever caught. I had never seen someone so excited in her life. And the look on her father's face was priceless. He was so proud. He whipped out his cell phone to take a picture of his daughter with the fish, but his phone did not have enough battery to snap the photo. In that brief defeating moment I realized that I had tossed my phone in our fishing bag before we began our trek out onto the rocks. I offered to snap a photo and text it to the man. He was thrilled. I took the photo, the man read his number out loud so I could send it, I hit send, we said our goodbyes, and that was the end of our fishing trip. Little did I know that there was much more to that brief encounter. Let me explain.
When we got back to land my dad began to explain to me the following information: In talking to the man my father found out that he was here in Montauk with his daughter visiting some family. He also found out that the man's wife had been fighting brain cancer for the better part of two years. Things just took a turn for the worse and the family just found out that she had three months to live. Three months to live. This man was about to lose his wife. This girl was about to lose her mother.
The man thanked my dad for helping to take his daughter's mind off everything that has been going on as of late. He was so grateful that my dad offered up his fishing pole, which led to such a moment of pure joy.
There was something so special about that moment. We had been fishing for hours, and no fluke were caught. No fluke were caught by a group of individuals that have caught more fluke in their lifetime than you could count. But that girl caught a fluke, on her last cast, and it was beautiful.
It was truly a great reminder that we have no idea what is going on in the lives of those around us. There are strangers walking among us, and they have struggles. Struggles perhaps much greater than your own. It was a reminder that, yeah, if we all threw our problems in a pile, you better believe you would probably grab your problems back.
Say hi to people. Make friends. Strike up a conversation. Because you never know who is out there that may touch your life in a positive way, and heck—you might just touch their life too—and not even know it.
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| Half-inch short of a keeper! |
Your trip ended up not being a fluke at all.
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