Our spot was, of all places, the end of the Haulover Beach 

 Docks. Charter boats lined both sides, and a forest of outriggers 

 rose high all around us. It was close figuring on the backcasts. 



The guy who had brought us here gazed at the unbroken sur- 

 face of the water, looked at the maze of stuff in back, and said: 

 "The fish were breaking last night." 



Just then a splash resounded twenty feet out from us. 



"There they are!" shouted our friend. "Out there!" 



"A hound fish," I ventured, but added: "Well it could have 

 been a ladyfish." 



I stripped off my reel, shot out a backcast, held my breath, 

 delivered a forward cast, and watched my white popper settle 

 quietly on the surface. I popped it once, then struck as the water 

 flew apart and the biggest ladyfish in the world started emerging 

 from the water. On and on he came and finally leaped clear. 

 He looked as long as a singing birthday telegram, and as he 

 reached the apex of his leap I saw the popper continue up free 

 into the night. 



By the time I had retrieved my fishless lure, all hands were 

 throwing bugs to the spot where that elongated silvery thunder- 

 bolt had disappeared beneath the surface. 



When things had quieted down, I helped the anglers unhook 

 lures from the flying bridge of the Huskee, the port outrigger of 

 the Lady Luck II, the fighting chair of the Anhow, and another 

 from the seat of my friend's pants. After that, the ladyfish didn't 

 hit any more, as I should have expected, because this bird had 

 caught his the night before at i :35 a.m. and here we were at only 

 10:36 p.m. with the tide still coming in and having no intention 

 of going out until exactly 2:44 a.m. 



Two nights later I went back there in the wee small hours, 

 haunted by two days of thinking about the length of that fish, 

 and what did I see but a new sign, hung from a rope stretched 

 across the dock, with these words: "This dock closed to all 

 fishing." 



What can a guy do? The trouble is that it's beginning to get 

 too civilized around these parts. But now I've found me another 

 bridge so long! 



29 



