1st post so I thought it should be something to make you locals shake your heads.:D
15+ years ago I made a trip down and attempted fishing off the pier. Terrible experience as I was unprepared and didn't ask questions. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago where I met Haywire in the parking lot. He and I parked next to each other and my having gotten over being afraid of asking questions, I asked probably more than he wanted to answer, but Haywire was patient. We talked as we prepped our carts, Picked up conversation again at the end of the pier. he taught me more in 1 afternoon than I had learned about pier fishing in 15 years. He let me borrow his bait rod, he advised me about keeping them alive. He then proceeded to hook up on a couple of good fish. I managed 1 Red and had a King at the pier to gaff before I lost it.
I told him to let me know if I was being stupid(and I was a couple of times). Walking inside the red line and not being on the rail, and I did the ultimate sin and watched someone else do something and thought it was O.K to do also. I cleaned a fish next to my cart (Some lessons are harder learned than others). So I did my best to clean up my mess like I was told( fish scales don"t clean up easily) . I also learned that he really like Cheek meat from a red. said it tasted something quail or something.
At the end of the day I consider the lessons garnered from Haywire to be worth their weight in gold.
Thanks for the education.
Phil
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