"I was 12 years old on a class trip to Jamestown. After the visit we took the ferry across to the south shore of the James river. There were three buses in our group. The ferry was about full when the first two buses got aboard. I was in the third bus. They checked it several times and ours would just fit on the ferry. We actually had the rear end of the bus hanging over the back of the ferry. The safety cord to close the ramp area went under the bus and behind the rear tires. They forced everyone off our bus to be safe. Well, I hid and stayed on the bus. I knew that it wasn't a very long ride across, so I worked fast.

I had my dads "Pocket Fisherman" with me cause I had planned to fish. The part I never got to do was find some worms while at Jamestown. So, I improvised. The only edible thing I had was three of those little wax bottles with the candy liquid in them. So I baited up by running the snelled #2 gold hook thru the neck of the bottle. About 7' up the line I had threaded on a Carl YAZz baseball card to use as a side planer board. 5' below that was a washer that I removed from the next to the last seat of the bus. Anyway, I poked a tiny hole in the bottom of the wax bottle so the fluid would leave a chum line. I checked to make sure the coast was clear, slid down the last window on the starboard side and out she went. I swear, that YAZ planer had barely cleared the prop wash when "BAM" the water explode with a topwater hit! But no hook up. And my wax bottle went flying off the hook. Darn! I quickly baited up, poked the hole and out she went. Man, they were all over it. I immediately had a small fish on. Don't know what it was cause as it flashed up to the surface, a huge fish ran up and ate him. I know I was young, but that fish looked longer than that short bus I was on!

I reeled in, very excited yet upset that I had missed him. I knew I had only one bottle left. i reset the rig for one last try. The YAZ board was soaked now and was not taking the rig out to the side. It was floundering and skipping in the wake behind the ferry. It wasn't what I wanted but I was out of cards and almost across the river. Little did I know what was about to happen.

As that rig skipped and popped in the water the card began to come apart. The pieces were coming off and the gulls began to dive for what they thought was food. The first gull touched the water for a scrap of paper and "SPLUUUSH"! He was bitten and taken below. I couldn't believe what I saw. The next gull tried it and "ZAP" same fate! I did see feathers surface farther back. This scene repeated itself maybe a dozen times. The water behind the ferry was red with gull blood. And that is when it happened! My last bottle was hit hard and line peeled out of the Popeel Fisherman!. I instinctively knew I would be spooled if I let it continue. I tightened up the drag but still lost line. Again tighter but no use. I locked the drag and held on. It was all I could do to hold on to the rod. I was physically spent very quickly and knew I would soon lose the battle if something didn't change. I braced my feet against the bus wall and pulled maybe three feet of line inside. I took a deep breath, said a little prayer and let go of the rod. I lunged for the window. It was just a stroke of luck I know, but I was able to get the window closed on the line, trapping the Pocket rod inside. I ran down to the bus door and out to the back to watch the carnage. The fish thrashed, jumped and pulled. Words cannot describe the sight. I remember hearing the line hum it was stretched so tight. That fish must have been 17' long. I thought it was my imagination, but it felt like the ferry was slowing. I thought "Great we are going to dock and this fish is MINE!". I was wrong, the fish was slowing the ferry. I heard the captain come across the PA for the deck hands to see what the trouble was. I felt the diesels' RPMs increase and that clacking was killing my ears. I will never forget that sound. The motors roaring, staining against that monster. The fishing line singing in the wind. The splashing behind the boat. I still think that fish was growling at me. Kinda speaking in tounges. i don't know what he was saying, but he was not happy.

The deck hands yelled and screamed and jumped around. They told the Captain what was happening. All of a sudden the motors got quiet. The door to the pilot house opened. The deck hands fell silent. The captain slowly decended the the stairs to the deck. All the kids and teachers and parents went silent as well. The line went slack. I thought the fish was gone. The Captain came to the back of the ferry. A wild look in his eyes. He remained silent for about a minute. The ferry had stopped it forward movement. The line lay limp.

It was eery. Then the water erupted. That fish flew thru the sky. Then down, down, down. The line pulled tight and sounded electric. The Captain reached in his pocket, pulled out a Barlow single blade folding knife. He stretched out his arm, and with a snap of the wirst, the line let out a crack an disappeared into the river. The Captain turned to me with an evil yet beaten gaze. He only said "It was him. He lives. It was him". He turned, walked away and went below. Nobody said a word. Then a mate said, "He is done. I never believed that story he told. We have to get this boat to dock". We motored over, hooked up, loaded the buses an returned to Chesterfield. No one spoke on the ride home.

I didn't land him so maybe it doesn't count. I have no pictures. The only two classmates that I still know will not talk about it.

You will just have to take my word for it.

Dayton