With my new toy fishing pole on board, my father, brother, mother, and I all set off to have a great family outing. We loaded our boat onto the Homosassa River Boat Ramp, and then made our way out to the Gulf of Mexico.

We dropped anchor somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. There wasn’t another boat insight. My dad baited my hook, and showed me how to cast a fishing pole. Then I waited. And waited. And waited.

Finally, I felt a tug and saw that little orange ball go under the water. I began to reel the line in vigorously. I knew I must have caught a big one. My father watched me closely. At one point he had to help me reel-in my catch. He began pulling up the line, hand over fist. When the fish was finally out of the water, we saw that it wasn’t a fish at all, but a small (3-4ft) shark.

Needless to say, my dad cut the line and I watched my first catch swim away. However, my dad never doubted my choice of fishing poles again.


