Big Game Fisherman Norm Isaacs came by the office last week.
He’s been on ESPN for 16 or so years, fishing the world’s greatest spots. I’d never met him before, but he’s a great guy. He was here doing a piece on fishing in the Dominican Republic. See your local listings for show times.
He asked me about my fishing interest and I explained that I really enjoyed coming back from successful day on the high seas and brushing my teeth. Vomiting all day can give you a bad taste in your mouth.
I went with my Father-in-Law once. We went about 45 miles off of the Wilmington, North Carolina coast. Getting there was fine. Going around in circles was not.
He offered to go back to shore immediately, but I toughed it out for eight hours. We caught a ton of fish, mostly grouper. He told me it was a good-eating fish. He was right.
He told me the next time we went I could take some medicine to avoid the nausea…but I had a plan of my own. I told him the next time he wanted to go, let me know, I’d be happy to mow his lawn or paint his house.
My friend Jean-Pierre took me a few months ago on his boat. Same results. After a while, I was hungry, so I made a sandwich and threw it in the ocean. Why use the middle man when you can go direct?
On the way back, one of the guys asked me why I went if I knew I would get sick. I told them I enjoyed their company. He said it wasn’t really mutual, since I spent the day leaning over the boat throwing up.
He had a point.
For more on Norm, go to www.biggamefishingtheworld.com.
