Free Write Tuesday prompt Uncertain Future

This is my post for #freewrite prompt Uncertain Future by @mariannewest

Being a commercial fisherman I have always had an uncertain future, I never know what amount of money I will make when I leave the house each morning. Some days I make very little or even nothing when expenses are taken out. Other days I can make very good money. I can go for weeks without making a dime because the weather was to bad to fish. This is why it is important to fish everyday weather lets me.

Many years ago before the net ban, we were roe mullet fishing, we use to make 6 months of our money in the 6 weeks we fished roe mullet. We knew the right weather that the fish moved on and knew where they would be coming from. They came out of the Sebastian river to go in the ocean to spawn, we were regulated on what size mesh our nets could have and there were closed times so many of them had a chance to spawn.

My husband in his boat, me in mine. We got to the mouth of the Sebastian river before daylight and there were three Fort Pierce boats sitting there waiting on the fish to show. But the guys in all three boats were asleep, my husband saw a mullet clear the water, he told me he was going to set his net to the south and he wanted me to set to the north of him. We both went to making our circles, my husband went so close to one of the sleeping boats that he knocked the guys oar overboard. The guy later told us he thought someone was shooting at him, it was the lead line going out the boat. By this time the guys on the three boats woke up and saw all the mullet in the air and us setting them. It was all over by the time they got their anchors pulled. One of my sisters was driving by and saw what was going on, she went to the fish house and borrowed someones sleekers and gloves then drove back to where I was and walked down to the shore and yelled for me to come get her, she got on my boat and helped me rope the fish in. One of the Fort Pierce boats pulled up to me and said, lady, you are not going to get all those fish back on that boat, I told him to watch me. He was wanting me to tell him to go to the other end of my net and start picking it up. I was not going to give the fish to any of them, I was waiting for one of my friends to get there and give them to him. When my friend got there I told him what the guy said and told him to start on the other end. He said like hell you can't put them on your boat, I will guide you. We would put so many in the bow and he would say ok now start putting them in the stern, now put them in the middle, then back to the bow and so forth till I got them all on the boat, my sister ended up getting on my friends boat, my boat looked like a sheet of plywood with a big mound of fish on it. My boat was an 18-foot flat-bottom skiff and I put 4500 pounds of mullet on it. My husband had a 24-foot bowrider that he built, a bowrider is a boat with the motor near the bow. He had over 6000. When we left the house that morning we knew the weather was right for them to move but never dreamed we would catch that many. The kids had a great Christmas that year. We had to get the fish house to give us two checks because it was over 10,000.00 and someone told us if you get a check over 10 grand it sends red flags to the IRS.

This is the boat my husband built and used that day, he is setting mullet in this picture but it was not this day

This is the boat I fished that day

My fish was smaller than yesterdays fish. I had 21 trout that weighed 40 pounds