[Ol Pedro]

I was born in the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1955 . My father was in the Navy for 24 years . My first memory of fishing was with my father on a dock on Sugarloaf Key . The first thing I caught was a Spiny Lobster . I was three years old . My Dad had a trailer and owned a lot on Key West where we lived . Mom ,Dad , Grandma , one brother, and two sisters in that little trailer . Our backyard was on the water . There was a channel and mudflats . My dad and his friends built a seawall/patio and brick BBQ . At night when the tide was high it sometimes came up on the patio . We could see the reflective eyes of Shrimp attracted to the light . Every day Grandma and I would catch lunch . Grunts and Snappers were the main fair . A handline or cane pole was all we used . My Brother Raymond would throw rocks at Balyhoo and stun one once in a while then jump in the water and get them for bait . I was only three or four but it stuck . We moved to San Francisco and lived on Hunters Point . I continued to fish almost everyday with the other Navy Brats . We were like a Mongrel Pack and had the run of the base . Stripers ,Perch ,croakers , Rockfish ,and Jack Smelt were our targets from the piers and coves . Dad got Stationed in San Diego and I continued to fish for anything that swam in fresh and salt water . when I was 11 I went on the New Seaforth on my first Albacore trip . It cost 12 dollers and that was one months wages on my paper route . I caught 2 Longfin and a couple of Jack Mackerel but I was hooked on Offshore Fishing . To this day If given the choice I would fish Tuna over everything else . It's still a long story how I ended up in New Jersey . Thats just 8 years of a 50 year run . I guess that the bug bit bad .