Steamers & Kelp Pt. 7

Bill went first and made it over with much show and concern. “I’m going to break my arm “ he said as he approached the gap. “shut up man, you must have done this before, you’re just putting your mouth all over it” replied Pete, impatiently. He was always a bit nervous about crossing, especially in those types of conditions but he’d rather not have Bill make it worse than it had to be. Bill went finally and Pete followed, shaking his head and trying not to look down. Once across, it was a steep climb up the big rock, made easier by the deep cuts that horizontally traversed the stone. At the top, the granite was lighter - bleached all beige by the sun. The rock cut down towards the water from the highest point, probably shaped by years of breaking waves. More often than not you would find somebody else fishing off of it but the conditions around the gap probably deterred the other fishermen - the only ones they could see now were off to the left, casting off the big smooth slab that sloped easily into the surf. They both had their rigs set up with two hooks about a yard apart and Pete fished the box of frozen squid out of the bucket. They separated two of the smallest ones from the thawing block of bait and Pete separated the body from the hood by pulling them apart. He strung the hood through the wire leader and over the glow in the dark float that one armed John had given him on his last trip to the bait shop. Pete knew he needed the float here to avoid all the kelp. He hoped the glowing squid looked as convincing as he hoped for those damned stripers.