My friend, Ann, and I lead a 4-H club here in Fairhope. Last week we all attended a fishing workshop at Bass Pro Shop. The kids (and moms) learned about the different types of fishing rods, lines, weights, hooks, and bait in addition to tying knots. The boys and girls also got a chance to practice casting.
So, we decided to meet this week at the Fairhope Pier to practice what we learned. The day is absolutely gorgeous (even better than that). A front had come through taking with it the heat and humidity and the bugs. While a bit chilly, the weather didn’t bother us. The sun was very warm.
Some of the kids didn’t have rods; they came out hoping to borrow one or just watch and have fun.

A great day for fishing

The fish were not biting. The water level was really low and while we camped out, not quite in the middle of the pier, even those fishing at the end were not catching anything. But we had a good time.
One mom asked if anyone wanted to fish with her daughters rod, since she was taking a snack break. Of course the offer was taken upon quickly and with a quick and fierce cast, the baited hook, the line and the rod ended up in the Bay.
We all looked down and were able to see it. The best way to get to it was to walk out from the beach since it was rather shallow.
A gentleman had his casting net with him and stopped to help. With several tries, he got the rod’s hook attached to his net and slowly pulled in the line until the rod lifted out of the water.

Pulling up the rod by pulling up the fishing line

Cheers arose from the 4-H members and the crowd that had gathered behind us.
Safe on land, the rod was found to still have enough line in it to continue fishing.

Happy to have her fishing rod back

As to add some comic relief, as the gentleman walked back to his fishing equipment, he accidentally kicked a small tackle box that had been lying in the walkway. It went over. Thankfully, there was a ledge along that side so he hopped the railing, got the box and came back over the railing.
We were so grateful that such a sweet person came to our rescue. Who ever you are, thanks a lot. We’ll pass the favor along to someone we find in need.
We still didn’t catch any fish. We got some windburn, maybe some sun on our faces and some great memories.