Chapter 33

“This is Daniella G out on the Big Blue Sea coming to you from the fantail of HMS Andi’s Dream. The owners of this seventy-two-foot-long luxury yacht tell me that this is also a fishing machine, and it’s decked out nicely with live wells, fish bins below the deck to ice your catch, downriggers, and look at this cleaning station! Once you clean and fillet your catch, you raise the work surface and there’s a grill underneath. You can do it all right here – catch, clean, cook!”

“Not only is this carnival cruise ship equipped with all the hardware you’ll ever need, but we also have an entire squad of girl anglers ready to fight some bill fish. You’ve met Bitty, Sandy, and Madeline. Let’s meet their moms. Sunny, we know a bit about your history as a fisherman’s wife and an amazing fisher in your own right. How do you encourage Bitty in the sport?”

“She need no encouragement, since she was first able to stand on moving deck she have wanted to fish. Bitty is always there to help when she on the boat and her dad or I fishing. Very smart girl when choosing bait or lure.”

“Andi, how about you? What is your history in the sport? And what do you do to encourage the twins?”

Andi shook her head. “To be honest, this morning was the first time I’ve even actually watched a fish being caught. I’ve never held a fishing rod in my hand before, so I’m here to learn. As for the girls, this is the first time for them too. They’ve been handling bait fish this entire trip and are loving it. But it’s time to learn. We have this big old boat, and we have a pond full of fish on our farm back home.”

“Well, your girls are on their way to a great start in the sport. What about you Macy? How familiar with fishing are you?”

“I grew up in a family of fishermen in the Québecois village of Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon, fishing for tomcod all winter long and fishing for Atlantic Cod all summer long. I did not like the cold or the cod, so I moved on to modeling and school. Since I married John, Paul’s brother, we have been down here fishing every winter for the past 6 or 7 years. Sport fishing in Florida is so much more fun than chipping holes in the ice. I personally like fishing for cobia, but you can’t beat the fight you get out of an amberjack.”

“Sweet!” Clearly Daniella did not expect that answer out of the beautiful, leggy model. To be honest, Daniella expected to hear, “Ewwww, fish? Ick!” She turned to Miss Nicoletta, “And you, Judge Atherton?”

“You know what they say, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you get him out of your hair every weekend. That goes for us women, too. I wanted nothing to do with fishing, except maybe eating them. But once Donald got me hooked on snook, that’s all I want to do anymore ... sort of,” she added with a grin.

“Ain’t that the truth!” Snook being one of Daniella’s favorite fish to catch.

Soon they were dashing out to sea. Andi’s Dream was bounding gracefully over the waves as the twins told Miss Daniella about how they “used to live in the mountains” but now they “live in the sea.” Daniella watched as Stan turned the reins of Andi’s Dream to Andi as they approached the fishing grounds. There were three big multi-function-displays constantly feeding the captain information on location/heading/depth to bottom, and also cameras to the engine room, salon, and anchor. Another valuable function was fish finder. Every so often Andi would slow the big motor yacht to a crawl and engage the fish finder and peer at the display until she smiled and pointed to a cluster of moving images on the screen. “There they are.”

“Aye, you found ‘em,” agreed Stan.

Andi hopped up and resumed control at the aft helm and leaned over and called out to Yi, Don, Paul, and Miss Nicoletta, telling them they were on the sailfish. Don and Paul swung out the outriggers, then went aft to set out the lures, while Miss Nicoletta and Yi attached their rods to the outriggers. The lures that Don and Paul set out were dozens of plastic squids tethered to what looked like a mobile you would see hanging from a ceiling. They were towed behind the boat, and they excited the sail fish. Far to their port side, Daniella’s boat, the Danni G, filmed the fishing expedition.

“You handle this boat like a pro. How long have you been a captain?” Danielle turned her camera to Andi.

Andi glanced at her watch. “About an hour. No, seriously, before last week I had never been on a boat in my life, not even on a cruise ship. When we first took this out last Wednesday, Stan and Paul wanted to do some fishing, so Sunny was at the helm. She looked at me and said, ‘It’s your boat, you drive.’ And I did, and it’s something I really enjoy. As for fish – I’m still at the stage where I’d rather touch them with a fork.”

Laughing, Daniella made her way down to the mezzanine where Bitty, Sandy, and Madeline were lined up, kneeling on the bench seat, looking aft at the fishing cockpit. “Who is going to hook up?” she asked the youngsters.

“Yi!” they all cried.

“You sound pretty sure. Are you sure it’s not Miss Nicoletta?”

“No, she’s too old.”

“What about your mom, Bitty? She’s a very good fisher.”

“She’s not fishing, she’s in charge,” said Bitty as she sipped her can of cola.

Daniella watched and sure enough, Sunny was telling Yi and Miss Nicoletta what to expect should they get a strike, so she turned to the twins, “What is your dad going to do?”

Sandy looked annoyed. “He’s going to go upstairs and get all kissy with mom.”

“Happens all the time,” added Madeline.

“YouTube GOLD!” thought Daniella.

The wait wasn’t long. “I think we have a hit,” said Miss Nicoletta, as the reel connected to the starboard outrigger spun crazily.

“Ok, who want it?” asked Sunny.

“I’ll take it.” Miss Nicoletta stepped up and took the rod and made sure she had a good grip on it, then seating the butt end in the fighting holster she wore, she set the drag. The tension on the line caused the clip on the outrigger to release, and the fish was all hers. Paul and Don set to reeling in the lure spreads and the Danni G moved outward to give the fishers on Andi’s Dream room to fight this fish.

“Oh my God, I wasn’t ready for this!” exclaimed Miss Nicoletta as she settled into the fighting chair. The fish was obviously much stronger than she was expecting. Taking Sunny’s advice, Judge Atherton let the fish take a lot of line in its run for freedom, but all the while she tightened up on the drag. Finally, she started reeling it in, and when she did, she felt a strong vibration coming back on the line.

“He shaking his head,” explained Sunny, “he want to run!”

The Judge fought the fish for what seemed like ages, pulling and reeling, pulling and reeling, only to lose whatever victory she had when the fish tried to run and pulled out more line. At one point, she almost gave up. Even though Andi was skillfully backing the yacht toward the fish, it seemed like she would never gain some ground on the fish. Just then, the fish jumped, showing his huge sail and his beautiful blue fighting colors, and the sight gave Miss Nicoletta the willpower to go another round. But after fighting that fish nonstop for ten solid, agonizing minutes more, the retired judge was exhausted. Sweat poured off of her. Her arms were shuddering from the effort. “Get ready to take this, darling,” she called to Yi.

Yi peeled off her t-shirt and shorts and stood in the tiniest black string bikini she owned. She stared out at the fish, who leaped again, spinning as it fought against the hook and line. “Alright bitch, come to mama,” she muttered as she put on the fighting harness.

“Are you naked fishing?” her mother asked.

“I may not get a chance to wear this again for six months,” Yi said, considering her employment in the cold, snow covered north which will start in a few days.

“You not wearing much of anything now,” Sunny said, distasteful of her daughter’s exhibitionism.