The Little Things Make it Special

Growing up, my cousin Chris was the closest thing I had to a brother.  My grandparents would occasionally bring him to my house when they visited each Sunday.  During the summer, we would stay a weekend at each other’s home.  One summer, my Aunt Kay allowed us to ride our bikes a few miles from the house and eat lunch at the Pizza Hut.  That little something extra changed an anticipated event to something even more special.  I was reminded of this as I watched my son, his cousin, and his friend walk to the nearby Burger King Sunday around lunch.

Each year my family takes a trip to the coast with my wife’s extended family.  Usually, I will try to take all the kids to the pier for a late night fishing trip.  This way we do not have to endure the heat of the summer sun.





Zach Acevedo with his 'prize' fish.

This year my son got the itch a little sooner.  With the talk of taking Cooper on fishing for the first time, Turner grew anxious for his own fishing trip.  The moon was as close to full as we would get on a weekend and low tide would be near midnight, meaning the tide would be coming in afterwards.  From my experience, this was the making of a good fishing trip. So, I agreed to take him to the coast for an all night pier fishing trip.  Before I knew it, we had my nephew Zach and a friend of Turner’s, Todd Kelly, on the passenger list as well.  I checked some of the fishing pier websites and decided we would head to the Bogue Inlet Fishing Pier based on their success during the week.  We arrived Saturday night after a few hours’ drive.  The kids had played music from the mp3 most of the trip, and we were all getting a little stir crazy from the road.  The fishing started slow with just a few fish caught.  We did not see much action from the other fishermen on the pier either.  Shortly after midnight, the action held true to my research, and the fish started coming over the rails.  Do you want to know a secret about overnight fishing?  The others tend to leave you their extra bait when they leave, so you do not have to buy as much!  That is a side benefit.  We caught mostly spot, croaker and mullet, and there were enough fish to keep us awake and active even through two different rains.  While we had a great time, the little extra of staying up all night, long after many on the pier had given up, made the trip that much more special.  I am certain all four of us will remember the road trip, the fishing, the rain, and the all-nighter.