I was vacationing on Cape Cod with my hubby and two teenage daughters. Martin, my hubby, picked the tip of Cape Cod because he heard the fishing was great there this time of year. Yes, he loves fishing; something I had never quite understood until this trip. My girls wanted to have nothing to do with fishing; they'd rather stay at the hotel, lay out by the pool and text, or whatever it is they do on their iPads. But, Marty talked me into going along to surf fish; I figured I'd just spread a towel out and get a tan while he fished. And then he put a pole in my hand when we got there.
"Here, hold this while I bait the line on the other pole," he told me, as he shoved a rod and reel in my hands.
"Ah, ok," I replied, not at all sure what to do with the damn thing. Just hold it like I'd seen him do so many times while I sunbathed, I guessed.
While Marty was fiddling with the other fishing pole something started pulling hard on my pole; forcing the tip down almost to the sand.
"Oh my god Marty! Something's wrong!"
He looked over.
"Hey babe, you got one," he shouted back.
"What the fuck do I do with it?"
He got up and hurried over and wrapped his arms around me, grabbing the pole, and he helped me pull it up.
"Geez, honey, it's a big one," he shouted again ... in my ear.
He put his hand over mine and showed me how to reel it in; first, pulling all the way back on the rod, and then cranking furiously on the little handle thingy as I lowered the pole. Then, repeat; over and over until I had the fish out of the water.
"Oh shit, it's a stingray," he said. "That's why it pulled so hard."
He proceeded to get the hook out and managed with some difficulty to get it back into the water; careful not to come into contact with the fish's barbed tail.
"Babe, your first fish," he said. "What'd ya think?"
"It was fun," I confessed. I never thought I'd hear those words leave my lips about fishing.
We kept fishing together the rest of the morning. I caught a flounder, some pompano, and even a 'blue' which was almost as feisty as the stingray. It was really fun. I stunned myself that I enjoyed it so much and was beginning to appreciate what my hubby saw in it.
Until, that is, it came time for ...wait for it ... CLEANING THE FISH.
Hey, I'm a mom. Cleaning is my business, among others; like cooking, laundry, walking the dogs, picking up after everyone, scrubbing toilets, tending the garden, and holding down a full time job.
But, cleaning fish! Absolutely disgusting!
Martin showed me what to do. I closed my eyes when he had me cut off its living head, and I almost barfed. God, that poor thing; only minutes ago, it had been swimming around and decided to have a bite of lunch. Now its head lay on a board.
But, I got used to it as we cleaned the rest of our catch together. Hey, as a mom, I got used to poop that looked like butterscotch pudding but smelled a lot different, and being pee'd in the face when changing my baby's diapers, didn't I?
"Mmmm, we're gonna eat good tonight," Marty said. Thing is, I don't even like seafood; well except for shrimp. We didn't catch a single shrimp.
oBut I fished with Marty again the next day and had a good time; until the cleaning.
On the third day, Marty announced he'd booked a half day fishing trip on some boat. Told me we'd have even more fun, until I reminded him how deathly ill I get just stepping onto a boat; even before it leaves the dock. Well, almost.
"No way babe; I'm not going on any friggin boat, ever!" I told him, leaving no doubt that there was no way he'd persuade me otherwise. My seasickness had in the past dashed any hopes of ever going on a cruise which Marty had always wanted to do.
"But you go honey. Maybe the girls would want to go along, just for the boat ride," I said, never for one second thinking they would want to; but they did. It left me by myself the next day. So, I decided to head out on my own and enjoy some more surf fishing, especially since I'd become a seasoned pro.
I got to the beach the next morning and it was a beautiful sunny day. There was hardly a soul around. I stripped out of my shorts and tank top, leaving me in my rather skimpy bright yellow bikini.
I had just gotten everything set up and cast out my line for the first time when I noticed a figure off in the distance; coming slowly toward me. After a moment or two I could make out it was a woman walking my way. As she got closer, I was able to determine she was very pretty with dark hair, very tall with nice legs and gorgeous breasts.
Ok, let me explain about the breast thing; I told you I'm married, and you might quite naturally assume I'm strictly hetero; so far I am. But, I have a secret. In college I had a brief thing with my roommate; mostly just kissing and heavy petting. Well, maybe a little more than just petting; we went so far as rubbing each other and inserting fingers in each other until the other one would have an orgasm, all the while kissing passionately. Those memories of my college roommate stirred something in me that has lain dormant all these years. So that, sometimes when I see a beautiful woman, I get these funny feelings in the pit of my tummy. That day was just such a time, because as she neared me, I saw her face was so pretty, her hair long, and her tank just top barely covered her gorgeous breasts, which I was fairly certain were not restrained by a bra; I felt that old familiar feeling in my tummy.
"Hi, catch anything?" I heard her say as she drew abreast of me and stopped.
"No, I just started a few minutes ago. I'm pretty much a novice, only been fishing a few days. Hubby went off on some deep sea fishing thing and ..." I tend to ramble. I was pretty sure she wasn't impressed.
"Ok, well, have a nice day," she said and turned to head on her way down the beach; when I screamed.
Something gigantic had pulled the rod from my hands.
I dove for it as it skidded across the sand and I managed to get a hand on it before it went into the breaking surf. Marty would have a fit if I lost one of his precious fishing poles
I tried to get up and was pulled back down on my face; which was when I knew I'd hooked some sort of whale and frantically tried to think whether or not it was legal to catch whales. Aren't they protected or something?
As I struggled to get up again, I yelled "help me!" to no one in particular.
Just as I was about to go back down again, I felt arms wrap around me and pull me back away from the water. In spite of my fear of being dragged into the ocean and drowned by a fish, I became acutely aware that there was a hand on my left breast.
I was lifted to my feet. Those same arms around me grabbed the rod with me and together we managed to back up and start reeling the sea monster in.
"Oh my god look, see it...the dorsal fin? It's a shark!" I heard a woman's voice say.
At that moment, we, together, gave a mighty heave and the line snapped with a twang and wiped past our heads. We fell backwards on our butts; looked at each other, and laughed. Belly laughing; couldn't stop kind of laughing.
"I'm sorry," the woman said after she got herself under control.
"What for? You were great; saved my butt." I told her.
"Sorry for grabbing your boobs."