Surf Fishing Fever

Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t doing what you want to do, but what needs to be done.

(March 2020) … I want to start out this story going back almost  2 weeks ago ….in PA…When life was still normal. 
I am not sure what made me have an uneasy feeling…the news … the stock market….but I felt it was time to maybe stock up on a few items (not hoard). But just be prepared for being in a week or two.
I encouraged my son-in-law to leave Brooklyn NY and  come here in PA where my daughter has a small business just to be on the safe side. Thankfully they came here that day. I do not have a big house and figured if it gets to crowded here, I will just head to my place at the beach, do some cleaning up and most of all some surf fishing. 

    I have fished Delaware all my life and have had a place there the past eighteen years. I have many friends there, my favorite bars, and spend a lot of time there when I am not at work. I am a small business owner, and self employed. I had to close my business this past week per the governor’s close down of all non life essential services.  I am the income at my house. This was a very hard thing to do, but for the safety of myself, my clients, my family,  and everyone in my community this was for the best. I have had to make hard decisions concerning family members, that are still having to go to work. Who have been exposed to large groups of people recently and who may come to my home. We need to take this seriously, and if I am not surf fishing it is serious.  I have been planning surf fishing in Delaware since the beginning of January strategically.  

  I have watched not only in Delaware, but Florida and other states where people are going while they are not working or in school and wonder ….I am not even sure what to wonder….I feel our society has become spoiled….we want what we want, when we want it, and do not think of the consequences of our actions. We have never had to deal with anything like this in our lifetime. We have been too comfortable for a long time. This is an awful situation for everyone but it’s also a wake up call in so many ways.  We need to start thinking about others, our health, our finances , our neighbors, our environment, and our future.    

 This is not a where you are from problem, this is a humanity problem. Here we have people coming from all over to our farm land to get groceries and supplies.  I saw it last week in the stores here in PA, out of state people getting stocked up. I also want to mention here that my daughter who has been in PA all her life has a NY tag on her vehicle and could be mistaken for an out of stater…..just saying….things are not always what they seem. 

  So here we are currently.  I would love nothing more than to head south and clean up….do some fishing ….see friends….and I know people who are there now practicing social distancing in a responsible way as it should be everywhere. Not everyone there that is an out of stater is being irresponsible.  I have chosen to stay in my PA house and prepare (again not hoard) for the next thirty days for myself and my family. I look forward to days of fishing with friends and family as soon as possible.  This can only happen if everyone does their part in not spreading this awful virus and thinks further than the moment.
I feel being outside in the sunshine and fresh air is the best thing for everyone at this point. Getting out to fish, walk, bike, kayak is a great thing , but respect of distance is high priority at this point.

  I can hope that soon this will be over with and my biggest problem is getting my rack on my Jeep and keeping bait fresh. By the way, am not a germaphobe either, I can cut bait and eat a sandwich any day.
But till then I wait, not knowing if I or anyone I know is a carrier and wanting to stop the spread of this.

 Be kind and think of a healthy future for us all. 

      Peace out and Fish on, 
                           Suzanne Martin