After a slow winter of fishing, many people assured me that things would get better around Easter. One day I arrived home after school and, from our balcony on the hill, I spotted a bunch of birds working bait along the beach. The next day they were at it again, and the next. I took my light tackle rod down at sunrise and fished along the beach. The bait fish were very small, I don’t know what type, and I would wait until a school of small jacks, usually blue runners, showed up for a meal. As soon as I spotted the splashes that indicated feeding predators I would cast my lure right to them and, most times, hook up immediately.
One morning I spotted some larger than usual splashing. It was a bit farther off shore than the blue runners usually fed, but I had a top water lure tied on that I could cast pretty far and I got it out to the action quickly. As soon as I started to retrieve it got a solid whack and I soon had a nice jack on the beach. Small jacks (under 10 inches) just don’t have that much meat so I like to release them and give them a chance to grow bigger. Spawning females release eggs on a non-linear rate with size, so once they reach about 18 inches they contribute far more to the population than even a slightly smaller fish. I always assume the big ones are females and try to release them quickly. But this fish was the absolute perfect size for eating.
I killed it quickly and slipped it into a bag. The sun was up so I made my way back to the wharf and into the village. Along my route home was the house of one of our acquaintances, a farmer who generously supplied us with vegetables on a regular basis, and I decided that, if he was awake, I would give the fish to him. He was on his porch and was delighted when I stopped with a gift of fresh caught fish. He had already started cleaning it before I reached the end of his street.
When we first arrived in the Caribbean I tried planting a few vegetables, with minimal success. Eventually I realized it was better to play to my strengths and just share the fish I caught with people in the community. This proved to be a good strategy. There is a strong cultural tradition of sharing here and we have received far more in fruits and vegetables and herbs than the amount of fish we have given away.
The Fishing Dojo 