Happy Halloween! Part IV

When we arrived on the dock, Tony and John immediately baited their hooks—the fishing had commenced! Tony caught the first fish, then John, then Tony, then John—it was if they were taking turns. John, who has done a lot of saltwater fishing told me, “The fishing here is incredible! In the many years that I have fished on the Coast—I’ve never caught this many fish, so fast!”

With a big smile on his face, I could tell that Rick was pleased, that the guys were having so much fun. “It doesn’t get any better than this,” Rick said. “I’m going up to the house to cook us some breakfast. After Rick had excused himself, I took out my camera and started shooting the guys, the many different birds, the Lighthouse and ‘our house’—before calling Harley, up in Kerrville.

When it was time to make the call, I dialed the number. “Okay, everybody, it is now time to talk to everyone’s favorite morning person—Cousin Nancy, of the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch! Good morning, Cousin Nancy,” Harley said. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, Harley,” I said. “Guess where I am?”

“I have no idea, Cousin Nancy” Harley answered. “Tell me.”

“I’m standing on a gigantic, dock with Tony and John, on a privately owned island, that has a Lighthouse on it—in the Gulf of Mexico! And, Tony and John are fishing, and they have nearly caught their limit on Red Fish and some kind of sea trout!”

“You’re kidding, me?” Harley said. “That sounds incredible! What happened? Did Kinky drive y’all crazy and y’all quit and ran away?”

“Nope,” I answered. “The three of us just decided to take a mini-vacation. In fact, we will be back at the rescue ranch, later this afternoon. Oh, my gosh! Tony just caught another big Red Fish and John just netted it for him! This is unbelievable!”

“That’s great! I wish I was there,” Harley said. “Now, Cousin Nancy, you know Randy and Lisa, over at ‘The Save Inn Restaurant,’ that sponsor this segment of the show, for you and the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch—are now open in the evenings!”

“That is great news!” I said. “We need to all go over there real soon, and have dinner, when Kinky is in town. I can’t wait for him to try that ‘Sinker Omelet!’”

“Sounds good to me,” Harley said. “Cousin Nancy,who is the Harley Pet of the Week?”

I started laughing. “I don’t know, Harley?” I answered. “I forgot to check before we left yesterday. I knew I had forgotten something. Sorry about that.”

Then we both started laughing and then talked a little bit longer.

When the show was over—breakfast was ready! Rick had cooked up a big platter of bacon, homemade biscuits and the biggest omelet—that I have ever seen! The meal was delicious—we cleaned our plates.

Following breakfast, the guys went back to their fishing, while Andy and I washed dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. With that done—we joined the men on the dock, who were still busily catching fish. I asked Rick if I could use his rod and reel, so I could say that I had fished, too. Rick baited my hook and I made a few casts, but never caught a fish—which was actually fine with me, because I am not much of a fisherwoman. On my final cast, the line backlashed and all of the line was tangled up! I didn’t know that you were supposed to hold your thumb on the line when you cast—Rick’s reel was different from the little Zebco, that I own. After spending too much time trying to help me untangle the mess I’d created, I told Tony to get back to his fishing, and to let me work on the line.

Then John reels in a Blue Crab! John quickly unhooked the crab and set him free on the dock. I grabbed my camera and began following it—as it snapped—I snapped! And, fortunately, I was lucky to finally get a great picture of him! Then the cute, little crab, crawled away and went back into the water.

Knowing that we needed to get back to the rescue ranch, John started cleaning all of the keepers that they had caught, while Tony and I went to ‘our house’ to pack. While packing, Tony told me, “That was the best fishing I have ever done. I have never caught that many fish so fast! And, I know, we threw back at least half of the fish that we caught, because they weren’t big enough.”

After the guys had loaded the boat up with all of our luggage, Rick and Andy took us to shore. In the parking lot, we thanked Rick for taking his time—to show us a grand time! And, I will never forget that trip! I had a blast and so did John and Tony! Thank you Rick, Kelly and Pete and Andy! I love y’all! Now, it’s your turn to come visit us!

Late in the afternoon, we arrived at the rescue ranch to find that Ben had everything under control. And, I want to thank our team of friends: Mr. Cooper, Charlie and Ellen Cooper, Maribeth Couch and Ben Welch for taking good care of the ranch—so we could get away! I love them all!

The next day, at noon: Ben, John, Tony and I had a delicious fish fry!

End of a Short Story—Made Long!