First Time to Deep Sea Fish!

by Curt Miller
(Gulf Shores)

Recently I went on my first ever deep sea fishing trip off of the coast of Gulf Shores. Wow, not only was it the most fun I have ever had in my life, but also blew my conceptions of fishing "out of the water". I went on the trip with my girlfriend and her father. He's an avid fisherman and has his own boat that he takes out several times a year. He is primarily interested in swordfish.

I knew what a beautiful place it was, but I had never been so far out into it. We were completely out of site of land; kind of a weird feeling at first.

Back at my girlfriend's father's house, he has a giant swordfish hanging up over his mantle that must be fifteen feet or more in length. One would think after seeing this and noticing how big the reels were on his boat that I might have guessed what I was in for on that trip. You would be wrong! I had no idea what monsters these swordfish are. They are very strong indeed.

It took me a full hour and a half to reel in my first fish! I nearly gave up right before we pulled it out of the water. What a thing of beauty! After we had subdued it on board the boat, I couldn't help but be transfixed on the catch. It wasn't as big as the one hanging over his mantle, which made me realize how much of a fight that one had to of put up.

I was the only one to catch a fish that day as a storm was coming in that cut us short of our adventure. We returned to the peer and took the fish to a family friend of theirs. He was to gut and clean the fish for us. We returned to the boat and opened a nice bottle of wine to celebrate. For the first time, my girlfriend's dad told me to call him Frank. Wow, talk about bonding! I had always been a little scared of him until then.

The swordfish meat was returned to us a few hours later and we grilled some of it on board the boat. My girlfriend whipped up some sides and we had ourselves a feast! I have never been more satisfied or full in all of my life! I only wish that I had a mantle back home to display my wonderful catch.

We spent the next few days fishing, though I was the only one not to catch anything else. It didn't matter to me though- a feeling of accomplishment stayed with me for the entire trip. I can't wait to go out again!