That first day I went out in Jolly Roger with Galen and caught three mackerel. We lost the first one. As I grabbed at the fish my hand caught around the orange nylon line and as I tried to untangle it without getting caught on a hook the fish arched and fell back in the water. Maybe this was some part of getting used to be being back, another hour or so I would have been more firm, less concerned by a scratch from a hook, and more concerned with getting the mackerel into the bucket.
Galen had wanted to kill the fish that we managed to keep in the boat and as I held the it still so he could deliver the blow the priest caught my finger. The first ‘buggeration’ of the summer!
We filleted the other two and ate them around the fire on the beach. The fillets thrown into a frying pan for a few minutes and then chopped into two, garnished with chopped fennel from the pier patch and put on plate and eaten with our fingers.