Making the best of a rough day

The weather forecaster took a swing and a miss on the weather for Friday evening. While the outlook called for light winds and gentle seas, the reality on the water was a bit of a different story. With Jake, his wife, Dana, and their boys, Wyatt and Cole (6 and 4 years old, but I can't remember which was which... so I called them Thing 1 and Thing 2), I was a little worried that the choppy seas would be too much. But we made a go of it. Jake had mentioned that he hoped we could see some dolphins, and this time they obliged, feeding in a deep spot behind a sand bar in Topsail sound. It wasn't Marine World, but they put on a pretty good show, slapping their tails and then popping up their heads to look at us. Finally they swam off with the rising tide to hunt the marsh creeks, and we kept moving. We crossed the bar at Topsail inlet in some sloppy conditions, and it was still kind ugly on the ocean. I did a check-in and everyone wanted to keep going, so I rolled out the lines. I had barely put the first Clark spoon out and was getting the second line when we had our first fish. It turned out to be an undersized Spanish, the first of several we would catch that evening. The boys were pretty tickled, though, and since they were fishing for fun and not to fill the cooler, I don't think it mattered. Given that this was mostly about the youngsters having fun, and the boat was a little crowded with beanbags and youngsters' stuff, I decided to run just two lines. That was probably a good choice, because even though the fish were small, they were hungry! It was all I could do to get fish off the lines and get them back out before another one was hooked up. About an hour into the three hour trip (Kids' Trip), mom started feeling a little under the weather, so Jake asked if we could head in to calmer water. Since that's exactly what the Kids' Trips are designed for, I told him we could go inshore, anchor up and fish in the sound for a little while. Or if he'd rather, we could just do a little tour. The kids heard the options and were loudly unanimous... FISH SOME MORE! We pulled in another small fish, and then something thumped the other line. This was a nicer fish for sure, and Thing 1 did a great job bringing it to the boat. It turned out to be a chunky Spanish and a keeper without a doubt. Since they did not want to keep any fish themselves, I asked if they'd mind me taking it home. I thanked Thing 1 for catching my dinner, and we pulled the trolling lines and headed for calmer water. Back in the sound, I found a good place out of the channel and away from the crowds and anchored us up within easy casting of a grass bank. I rigged up a couple of store-bought chicken rigs with some shrimp and pitched it out. I didn't really expect anything of substance, although there's always a chance. As it turned out, the kids had a ball doing battle with bait thieves, and Thing 2 was first on the board with a small croaker. After I dehooked the fish, I let him hear why they're called, "croakers," before releasing it. It took Thing 1 a little longer to get a hook set, but he finally connected on a pinfish. I gave them a moment or two to feel how they got their name. Time and shrimp ran out almost simultaneously, so with a hearty farewell to the fat bait thieves, we pulled the anchor and headed for home.