TIGHT LINES
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
with Andrew Spencer
Bo Pilgrim, chicken guy extraordinaire, was the "inventor" of the boneless chicken back in the '80s. I'm not entirely sure how said boneless chicken maintained its upright stature, but that's another story for another column. The issue I'm interested in here is the revolutionary nature of the boneless chicken and its emergence in the meat department at the grocery store. To say the least, the boneless chicken was pretty much the biggest innovation to hit chicken since the Fry Daddy (remember, friends and neighbors, I'm one of those Southerners you hear about every once in a while). In fact, Bo Pilgrim himself used to say of his invention that it ranked in importance "with my first bicycle."

Speaking of bicycles, I think we can all agree that one of the prouder moments we've all experienced is that day the training wheels come off. Shane Reeder, son of Nat and Leslee Reeder, can relate, as he just took off his training wheels, and now he's talking about getting his first "Hawg." Just don't tell his mother; Shane told me that he wants to break the news to her gently.

Another first that recently appeared on the horizon was the first loss by my beloved University of Texas Longhorns. It wasn't the first loss ever-God only knows I suffered through enough of those as a student there-but it was the first one since last year's undefeated National Championship season, and it stung. That wasn't such a great first, but it was a first nevertheless.

And yet another first is here at The Nantucket Independent, where we've got a brand-new Sports Editor, Steve Sheppard. This is the first fishing column I've ever sent him, because last week's was in before Shep started. I'm just that much on top of things around this joint. Anyway, welcome aboard, Shep, and remember this little bit of wisdom that I finally managed to instill in your predecessor just before his departure: It all revolves around the fishing column, man. Everything else is just window dressing.

Anyway, all these firsts got me thinking about the importance of firsts in our lives. Some are good, some are bad, some just sort of happen and we don't really think about them. You've got your first tooth coming in and your first tooth falling out; you've got your first hair coming in and your first hair falling out. Your first car is a major one, as is your first love. And don't forget that first boneless chicken and your first bicycle. Those two are biggies.

But none of them can really compare to your first fish.

Bada-bing! No matter how many of these segues you read, it always feels like the first time, no?

Who can ever forget the first fish they caught? Actually, now that I think about it, I did. I have absolutely no recollection of the first fish I ever caught, though I have a vague memory of my first bluefish and my first striper-at least I think I do. At my rapidly advancing age, the years have begun to gel into a big blur. So I've taken it upon myself to help others to avoid that situation to the best of my ability, and I'm starting right now.

Dominic Costanzo recently landed his first-ever fish from the surf, a bluefish, out at Surfside. And, as a side note, you've got to give a lot of kudos to his father, Don, who asked yours truly where to go fishing. So, while it's pretty much cheating to get your information from a font of information like me, Dominic did all the hard work and deserves all the credit. Well done, sir.

And Robert Bretschneider caught his first legalsized striper off Sankaty a few days back. It's great to hear about young people catching stripers of any size, especially legal-sized ones. As I've said before, when I was a teenager, there were just no striped bass anywhere, and it's exciting to hear about so many stripers coming back. Let's just remember to keep the conservation efforts going so that Robert's kids can tell us all about their first stripers, too.

And since I'm on a roll here with the firsts, let's talk fishing tournaments. The first annual Nantucket Anglers' Club Nantucket Inshore Classic kicked off on September 16, but runs through October 14. It's all inshore fishing-striped bass, bonito, bluefish and striped bass-and the tournament is open to everyone. Stop by the Anglers' Club or any local tackle shop for details and registration information. Proceeds benefit the Anglers' Club Scholarship Fund, and there are plenty of great prizes to be won.

And now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work on my latest invention, the first-ever boneless scup. Oh, yeah. This is the one that'll get me that condo in Aspen.

Tight lines.

I