THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 25, 1994 TAG: 9412220165
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tight Lines
SOURCE: Ford Reid
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Somewhere - maybe even right here on the Outer Banks - someone is fishing today.
I can imagine that there are anglers who could not wait to try out their Christmas presents.
They just had to get out on the beach to use that new graphite rod, those new neoprene waders or that shiny new Range Rover.
Nothing could keep them from fishing today.
Most of us, though, will spend this day sitting around the tree with family and friends, eating too much and, maybe, telling too many fishing stories.
Christmas is a day for reflection and the season is a time to show our gratitude.
Many people are in the habit of offering small Christmas gifts to the garbage men, the newspaper delivery person or a favorite, ever-cheerful stock boy at the grocery.
That is a good habit and one to be encouraged.
But this is also a fitting time for a simple thank you and special season's greetings.
Here is my short list of friends of the fishermen who deserve an extra Merry Christmas:
To all of the staffs of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, I say thank you for helping to protect our beaches.
Yours is an often thankless task, especially when it is your duty to enforce rules, but it is appreciated by the thousands of anglers who fish the surf.
Keep up the good work.
To all of the tackle shop owners and employees, I say thank you for all of the dumb questions that you have answered over the years.
How many times can a person hear ``Where should I go to catch a fish?'' without going nuts?
But most of you answer that question, and others, with kind patience and it is appreciated.
I know that you sell tackle, but it is the information that you gladly offer for free that makes you so special.
To the officers and members of the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association, I say thank you for your educational programs and your help in getting the occasional stuck vehicle rolling again.
Thanks, too, to the state and federal fisheries biologists who are doing what they can to save the species that we love to catch.
Talk about an unfairly maligned group of people! Too often, when they impose catch or size limits we imagine that they are trying to take something away from us when, in fact, they are trying to protect us from ourselves.
Most of all, I wish a very Merry Christmas to the anglers, experts and novices alike, who day after day take part in what I think is the greatest hobby around.
I hope that all of you got all of the fishing gear that you wanted and that you will put it to good use next year.
Merry Christmas to one and all! by CNB