Story Fishin' and Catchin'- very short story

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
Fishin' and Catchin

The perfect vacation; the smell of salt and sun screen, a tropical ocean... palm trees, gentle trade winds and a beach chair to nap in after a decadent breakfast. Vacation and diet don't belong in the same sentence. The wife was doing her thing surf fishing. Earlier, I'd checked out the reef snorkeling, some fish, the bigger ones were out further... but whatever. I hunkered down getting comfy in the beach chair and pulled a hat over my eyes to take said nap.

Woke up a while later.... The wife's pole was braced against her chair. The end of it was jerking around in the air. Must be a monster on the end of it! Wife is nowhere in sight and the snorkel is gone! Well her loss I'll reel in the whopper! It's putting up a fight! WHooWEEEE! Let me tell ya! The big un....

.......?

So how was I to know she snagged on the reef and snorkeled out to unhook the snagged line? She's still not talking to me.
 
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West

Senior
Fishin' and Catchin

The perfect vacation; the smell of salt and sun screen, a tropical ocean... palm trees, gentle trade winds and a beach chair to nap in after a decadent breakfast. Vacation and diet don't belong in the same sentence. The wife was doing her thing surf fishing. Earlier, I'd checked out the reef snorkeling, some fish, the bigger ones were out further... but whatever. I hunkered down getting comfy in the beach chair and pulled a hat over my eyes to take said nap.

Woke up a while later.... The wife's pole was braced against her chair. The end of it was jerking around in the air. Must be a monster on the end of it! Wife is nowhere in sight and the snorkel is gone! Well her loss I'll reel in the whopper! It's putting up a fight! WHooWEEEE! Let me tell ya! The big un....

.......?

So how was I to know she snagged on the reef and snorkeled out to unhook the snagged hook? She's still not talking to me.

What a whopper!

Hopefully you don't have to sleep with Rover tonight.
 

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
OGM - Look I'd no intention of ever adding to this thread and then....

Chapter 2

So we're at the beach again, a little lagoon known to locals and seasoned travelers.....

This time I decide to take the nap and DH decides to snorkel. A while later I wake up and see an endangered Hawaiian Monk seal just off DH's elbow. For the uninitiated, these things are huge as like seven feet long and up to six hundred pounds! They've been known to grab tourists and use them for chew toys, sometimes dragging them down repeatedly as the swimmer desperately tries to reach the surface for a breath. DH is intently watching and filming a niche in the reef filled with brightly colored tropical fish. He's no idea the seal is there and he's between the seal and it's lunch.

DH finally picks his head out of the water long enough to hear people yelling "GET OUT OF THE WATER! SEAL!!!" from shore. He looks around and comes nose to whiskers with the seal. DH tries to stand up, swim away and panic all at the same time and ends up doing a belly flop in the shallows. Luckily the seal is chill like: "Hey Bruddah? Can you move the buffet line along?".

DH makes it to shore, a little nicked up from the reef and the seal hung out at the reef for a while.

Who knew taking a nap was so dangerous?
 
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Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
"Stand up, swim away and panic all at the same time and ends up doing a belly flop" is probably what 90% of us would do lol. I'd love to hear more fishing stories!
He says he tripped.

It was the thirty or more people hollering from shore that woke me up from the nap. Below is a recent Monk seal attack. And all you thought you had to worry about in Hawaii was the sharks?
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sTNVpflGGA8
 

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
Chapter 3

So we're back at our favorite lagoon. THREE monk seals are napping up on the beach under the watchful surveillance of a Wild/Sea life watcher. Don't know what their official title is but they take the job seriously. They post picket string fences with warning signs around beached sea life, guard them from tourists and warn of fines for touching sea turtles, etc. I've even seen them get between tourists armed with a camera, cell phone and a sense of entitlement and napping endangered Hawaiian wild life. Monk seals can weigh in at hundreds of pounds, reach lengths of seven feet, have some impressive dental work and are known for a less than friendly demeanor. So the job has some risks.

The wildlife guardian had put the fear of $2,500 dollar fines into the tourists and locals nodded knowingly. Most had vacated the water, decided to climb on the nearby reef, were snorkeling farther out or like the seals, napping on the beach.

We waded into the shallow end of lagoon a healthy and respectful distance from the seals and their sentinel. The water is a little chill for Hawaii but hey its Hawaii! We find ourselves surrounded by sea turtles! Not one or two like usually, I'm talking six or more in a relatively small lagoon. They can swim surprisingly fast, ducking and weaving in the water. The strong glare of the tropical sun reflecting off the water, doesn't help those trying to keep track of them.

DH and I soon find ourselves doing our own ducking, weaving and back paddling trying to stay out of their way. Locals on the beach are quietly laughing at our antics. Then..."Whoomp!". A big turtle swam into DH's back. Scared the crap out of him. Having something big and heavy bang into you in waters known for things like tiger sharks, hammer heads and great whites can be more than unnerving. He hollers Why didn't I warn him?! as I'm scooting out of the way of one coming from another direction. I swear they're having fun with us.

We exited the water with a speed and agility note worthy of boomers of a certain age. Luckily the watcher didn't see our hard to miss escapades or was too busy laughing. Either way we didn't get fined and decided we'd enough of the beach for the day.
 
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