So what did Brandon come up with? Shark fishing!! I mean, come on! How fun is that?! We were just as giddy as the girls. We couldn't stop talking about it. "What if we catch a record breaking shark?" or "I hope I get a hammerhead!" or "How cool would it be to catch a stingray?!". And once we showed the girls the promotional video of where we were going, they joined in all the talk. "This is so cool!" and "Is it Saturday yet?!" and "I know how to fish because Grandpa taught me".
Saturday morning finally rolled around we all had a little extra pep in our step. Brandon packed the ice chest with water and I slapped some ham sandwiches together. And then we were off! Sharkin Charleston, here we come!
Waiting for our boat.
Our boat arrived and Captain Kevin welcomed us on board!
On our way out to our fishing spot we were able to see tons of dolphins and some awesome shrimping boats. The area where we loaded is also known to have manatee swim in this time of year. Kevin said he'd heard reports they were here, but we didn't see any. We'll definitely be going back to look for them though! We love manatee!!
Dolphins!
Super cool shrimp boat!
Before we even stepped foot on the boat we decided who would go first when we got the first bite. Cay immediately volunteered and then we went from youngest to oldest. Perfect! We had just anchored in and Kevin baited all six fishing poles when he said "It usually takes about 15 minutes to get the first bite". He no longer got those words out of his mouth and we saw the pole bend over. That was Cay's cue to grab the rod and get to reeling it in!! She did fabulous! Kevin immediately recognized whatever she had was larger than normal. She wrestled with it for over 10 minutes and was all over the boat. It was hilarious and so exciting!
In my mind I had her wrestling a 12 ft. great white shark. And she was winning! It wasn't until the stinkier on the end of the line started to get tired when we realized what it was...
A stingray!!!!!
Way to go, Cay! That was one feisty stingray!!
When we first got started Kevin told us to always keep an eye on the poles. Even when someone was reeling a catch in, always remember to keep looking for more bites. Well, while Cay was battling the sting ray, the next pole bent over and Bay jumped all over it!
We were all anxious to see what she would reel in. It was so exciting to see she had caught a.....
SHARK!!!
We would've been perfectly happy with those two catches and said we got our money's worth, but no. There was more!! All in all we caught five sharks, one stingray, and two sharks got away. Brandon and I each caught a shark and the two that got away were my doing. I was super bummed, but insanely giddy when I finally reeled in my shark!!
Bran, my handsome shark fisherman, and his catch.
And me! Yay!!
And for fun here's a couple of pics of Cay's shark and Bay's second shark. While Bay was reeling in her second catch the ferry heading to Ft. Sumter passed by. She had people waving at her and snapping pics. She loved it! But I was too busy videoing or snapping my own pics I forgot to take a pic of her paparazzi. ;)
Cay apparently wanted to make sure this guy didn't get away so she hooked it twice! ;)
Bay loved all the blood! In fact, she got some on her shirt and didn't want to wash it off and Cay got some stingray blood on her leg and didn't want to wash it off either. Ha! Silly girls!
Cay's shark. This was the only one Kevin measured, but they were all about the same size.
This was one family outing we will never forget and definitely treasure forever. And thanks to all of the pictures and videos we took, we can always look back on that day and smile. We could've stayed on the water all day catching (& then releasing) those sharks, stingrays, and whatever else is out there! Thanks for the memories, Bran! We had a blast!! :)
