It was a LARGE Day…

A Newfoundlander would say (as I am a Newfie Girl). It’s a day when you have fun, excitement, new experiences happen, or accomplishments of the day!! Well, that’s what we all felt at the end of a long day out in the Thailand Gulf off of Sattahip, deepsea fishing!!

We filled two buckets with plump good pan size fish! Tasty as could be, straight from the sea!! Fortunately, my husband Richard doesn’t mind cleaning them or cooking them. I just like catching them!! The thrill of a tug on the fishing line, they nibble and pull and sort of tease you, trying to get the bait, testing you, to see if you can catch them. There’s a skill to it but they were plentiful that day as well!!

After the bait was caught, the fisherman we were with, set up mighty poles, and anchored onto the boat firmly attaching at least 5 kilos of weight to the lines with hefty bait attached!! I looked at that and realised only the men were gonna be hauling in anything that is hooked as already it was too heavy for me! (well maybe Roseanne or Cindy can do it).

It was a very refreshing atmosphere; the cool breeze, relaxing, lovely scenery of little islands in the distance, peacefull…. when suddenly we heard one of the fishing rods making a reeling noise and the pole was bending. Mike, Roseanne’s husband grabbed the pole and began struggling with the almighty weight on the end, excitement in the air waiting to see what he was going to pull up!! After some time of it wriggling and flickering about in the water up comes a Baracuda WOW the look on Mike’s face said it - all it doesn’t get much better then this!

Then suddenly, with all the excitement, one of the fisherman was adjusting another rod, and realised there was something grabbing at the bait and in no time up comes a shark about 3 feet long! He was a hard one to kill! These fish were unexpected catches indeed! I got brave and had my picture taken with him (the shark), so did Roseanne and as she held him by the tail he came to life again, he was a powerful one. The fisherman grabbed it and then threw him in the ice chest to keep him nice and fresh for steaks later!

Craig’s turn was next; another rod went reeling and after a big fight with this one out of the depths came a 6-8 kilo grouper fish that shone silvery like Mother of Pearl! A little while later a smaller grouper was caught and the fisherman had it, cleaned and in the pan with his tail still flapping! You can’t get much fresher then that! Delicious!

A good time was had by all! Wonderful company, great experience and as they say in Newfoundland…it was a large day!

Patricia Foulstone