AITC REMEMBERS FLOUNDER FISHING ON THE OCEAN CITY DRAWBRIDGE.

As we, I, take a moment to regroup a bit, and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air, bittersweet memories flow in like tsunami. I was born to a single mother in the late 60s-not quite the accepted gig it is today. I never even met my father until I was about 35. As a result, if a precocious young boy was to be properly raised, some ladies had to get their hands dirty.

Pitching Wiffle balls was the easy part; although, if you remember back then, before President Al Gore invented Wal-Mart, you only got ONE ball with your bat purchase. Heaven help you if you started hitting the long ball and had a neighbor who was a shithead and would keep your ball {author feels rage rising..rising...}. The tougher gig was when my grandfather got sick with lung cancer, and was unable to continue to take me to local parks/farm ponds to catch fish. Even at it's best, my grandfather had never taken me to a salt water environment.

Well, my mom, always a lovable dingbat, did what, as I reflect now, was more impressive to me than landing on the moon. Armed with knowledge gained from local volunteer firefighters, two very basic rods and reels and a shitload of shiners for bait{mom always drew the limit at using squid..}, we found ourselves parking near Shanty Town and strolling up on the Rt. 50 drawbridge as if we actually knew what we were doing. I can still see the looks from the 'real' fisherman when they saw the sight their eyes likely could not believe.

Through trial and error, and love, my mother became quite the angler. our family enjoyed eating flounder, and money was tight sometimes. I regret I am unable to supplement the post with some of the pictures today {they are old 'hard copy' pictures in a box waiting for me to rescue them}, but we always came home with a stringer of fish. My best memory being the one day a friend allowed us to fish aboard their party barge in the OC bay. As a vicious storm came in, we all started pulling in our lines, but my mom seemed to be snagged. After handling the rod, it was certain to me that whatever was pulling that line was a live entity. I gave her the rod back, and after a few more pulls the largest flounder I have ever seen came to the surface. It was so big it looked like a damned Soviet submarine.

I didn't eat fish back then, so I can't say I had a bite of that magnificent creature, but he fed about 6 I think. Thank you mom...and thank you to all moms like this. I will carry, and share, these memories with my children, and your love can shape them as well. Mom, I love you!! Always will. :)