80’s

A retrospective:  As a longtime resident of the Washington, D.C. area, I would join “the boys” for twice-a-year treks to that wisp of land in the Altantic Ocean. We would make the 6-hour trip every spring and fall always in hopes of hitting the bluefish run. In our later years, we succumbed to bringing along our missuses, or other significant others, in what would become more like eating and shopping expeditions. But always, we just enjoyed being there – and this gives me an opportunity to display some of the photos taken through the years.  (This set-up is a re-post from 2011)

October 1982

[A favorite – how could it not be?]

[Early morning at the beach – the smell, the feel . . . ]

[Weapons standing tall in their bumper rack as Jim’s 4-wheel drive Jeep Cherokee (in later years, a Ford Bronco) heads to the beach for fishing.]

[And here we are.  It was always fun to see the size and types of vehicles that would make it onto the beach.]

[Unload!]

[Has fisherman written all over him.]

[And looking stylish in his white tennis shorts!]

[Man does not live by fishing alone . . . ]

[As I recall, this was Sea Scape golf course with a nice view of the . . . Sea.]

[And this is the sea.]

[It must be early in the engagement because the boys are still standing, holding their rods.]

November 1983

[Outer Banks Motor Lodge, Kill Devil Hills, a surf rod cast from Miller’s Seafood & Steakhouse and the Buoy 9 – the eating hangouts!  We returned as regularly as the swallows to Capistrano.]

[To next level, from standing with the rod, to standing with the rod in a sand spike. That’s Oregon Inlet Bridge in the background, once destroyed by a hurricane when we were there.]

[There once was a time when the wind mussed his hair . . . ]

[Now we’re getting there – rod in the sand spike, chairs up against the truck as a wind break, and soaking up the sun.]

[The boys head into action!]

[Surf rods were from 9 to 13 feet long, with several hundred yards of 50-pound test line on a reel, with 2 to 6 oz. of lead weight on the end, and cast out, as best you can, past the breakers, letting the bait bounce along the bottom, and hope nothing bites while you sit back in your lawn chair for a nap.]

[Still early in the day, the guys are still in a vertical position.]

[The trail in – you let a bunch of air out of your tires before you venture onto the beach so you don’t get stuck.]

[One of my all time favorite photos.  I printed it in blow up and framed it, and it hangs on our bedroom wall to this day.  That’s John Smith . . . yes, John Smith.]

Fall 1989

[Now we’re talking – never let fishing interrupt a nice nap!]

[Double napping!]

[Ooops, better wake up and see if there’s any bait left on the hook.]

[We timed it right this year!  A 10-pound blue out of the surf is quite the tussle!]

[They have teeth like piranhas, so don’t get your hand too close . . . ]

[Protect the rod before unhooking the fish.]

90’s

April 1992

[We’re here – let the good times roll!]

[Say, bluefish!]

[Alex once hooked something that just took his line straight out, he couldn’t stop it or slow it down, until finally all the line was gone.  We figured it was either a big shark or . . . a submarine?]

[Is a fish causing the pole to wiggle?]

[The crowds have rolled in.]

[Cape Hatteras lighthouse in the background.]

[Where the coozie was invented?]

[A different perspective – above the tide line?]

October 1993

[Ready for action . . . ]

[What’s not to like?]

[The fish haven’t bothered us so far.]

[Terry launches a high, hard one.]

[Jim just hangin’.]

[The brothers Brown]

Fall 1999

[In later years, we opted for comfort – renting a big house and having the ladies join us!]

In general, there are obviously many more pictures, but I never got around to digitizing them.  That could take years.  And I would love to do the Outer Banks again sometime, but I just don’t think it’s likely unless some “old guy” pushes big time for a reunion.  Surf fishing did ruin freshwater fishing for me – I have never been able to get back into it.  🙂

[Here’s looking at you, kid!]

How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is clearly Ocean.  ~  Arthur C. Clarke

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