This is my post for #freewriters Monday prompt gear hosted by
In 1995 the State of Florida passed a net ban, ending 200 years of net fishing in the state. This is my grandson standing on a pile of our nets.
People thought that we could take one net and it caught every kind of fish in the river and ocean. This was far from the truth. I do not remember how many different nets we had. We caught spots, mullet, pogies, sheepshead, trout, and pompano in the river. In the ocean we caught spots but the net was deeper, croakers, whiting, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, weakfish, and silver trout. We had to have a different net for each type of fish that we caught, different mesh sizes, different twine sizes, and different depths.
Bundling up our nets to take home after the net-ban.
This is my husband standing by his truck loaded with the last of our gear that was at the fish house. It was a sad day, the end of the way we made our living.
I think the people who voted on the net-ban thought that once they got rid of the nets, they would get rid of us.
But they did not get rid of us, we are still there, not making the living we once did but we got our kids raised and now we fish with rods and reels and can make enough to support the two of us. We are right there in their faces and they get so pissed when we are catching one fish after another and they can not get a bite. I tell them, this is what you voted for.