Spawn of Satin

[Captmikestarrett]

It was many years ago and I had given a fishing trip to an organization for a raffle. The winner gets a day fishing for Stripers (convict bass) and spot tail drum in the hot months of Sept or August. At the time of this trip the lower Potomac was chock full of feisty stripers up to 28 inches and lots of spot tail drum around the rock piles and rip rap. It was a simple outing that guaranteed a good time. The winner contacted me and set a date during the week as to avoid the weekend crowds. He also wished to fish a second day and said he would gladly pay for it. So I set him up at a local hotel and picked him up on a beautiful clear day with light winds. I had to use my bass boat due to my center console was in the shop. It is a sleek Gambler of 19 feet and a fresh motor only a year old provided plenty of power. This boat flew around 60 mph and could easily scare you straight. But I kept it at half throttle for my customers and only let the horses out of the yard when I was alone. That day when I arrived at the hotel the gent had a son who was; let’s say “The spawn of Satan”. This boy had issues for sure. He starts out by stepping on his dad’s expensive fly rod and breaking the tip in the parking lot of the hotel. His Dad takes it in stride and the boy starts screaming he did not do it. His speech is peppered with curse words. I guess he was about 12 years old and cursing like a sailor on shore leave.

We arrive at ramp and the spawn of Satan opens the door and runs down the beach picking up rocks and throwing them into the water. He leaves the door open and I have to put it in park and walk around and close the rear passenger door. It was then I noticed him throwing rocks out in front of a couple of fishermen who where fishing the beach. They yell at him to stop please and he responds with more sailors like language. I act as if I did not know who this child was or where he came from.

The boat is launched and the boy corralled in to the boat. I require a life vest on my boat to be worn and the spawn of Satan is now pleading not wear one. At this point I am wondering if it is worth the hassle of dealing with this child. I give a stern look to Dad and he just put his hands up like “Nothing I can do” sign.

I decide to shut him up and gun the boat. We achieve mach 1 in 2 seconds flat and the boy is still. His mouth is wide open but no sound comes out. Dad is smiling the biggest grin I have ever seen.

Twenty minutes later we arrive at our first spot. Tide is right and fish are busting around us on all sides. Dad pulls out his only fly rod and proceeds to tie on a fly I gave him. Ten minutes later he has a fish on. He catches maybe 50 at that spot up to about 20 inches.

Meanwhile I am left to get “The spawn of Satan” hooked up. With wild casts and sporadic retrieves he luckily hooks a fish. This is where it gets weird…. “The spawn of Satan” hands me the rod. He wants me to real it in and take it off. I oblige and the dance continues for 15 more fish. Finally I mash down the barb to allow me to shake the fish off at the boat.

It is now two hours into the trip from hell with the “Spawn of Satan” and the tide is stopping. Also my trolling motor batteries are dying too.
The worst and unkind thing in all my guiding years happens then. I figure at this point the boy is content and I have made a connection with him and he is enjoying his day on the water. Fishing tends to allow those connections and break down barriers between adults and young men. Fishing is slowing down but I am packing stuff up for the next run where I will anchor up and start the fish catching all over again. He says to his Dad “This guide is terrible; where in the hell did you find him” “He really sucks” …. I was in shock and hurt. His dad turns around and says “He really likes to tell it like he sees it doesn’t he?”

I stood there mouth open and with no response I could come up with. My pride and heart have been stomped on by a 12 year old and a complacent dad. After the shock of that comment I began to get upset. And decided a break was needed for me to keep from killing the little brat. We headed in to the dock at 10am.

Dad was complacent again about this turn about of events. We dock and tie up. I hooked up an extension cord to my charger and started recharging my batteries. I asked them to find something to do around the docks while I cool down. About twenty minutes later I am in the ships store and I see the boy running from my boat with one of my fishing rods. I walk out to find that he had hit the tilt switch and crushed the rear deck panel into the motor. The motor cowling was broke in half and the deck plate bent like a horseshoe. He screamed as he ran away “I did not do it”

Two hours later I have the motor cowling duck taped into position and with the help of some the people around the docks we managed to get the deck lid straight enough to close it. It took four persons standing on each side to bend the aircraft aluminum deck lid straight.

We went out for another hour but the bite was over and the day as far as I was concerned was over. But not without one more incident. The last straw was when the “The spawn of Satan” threw my rod in to forty feet of water. Day is over.

Back at the dock dad purchased a cold adult beverage while the boy ran up and down the beach. He explained he was ADD and hypertensive with some terrets too. Dad asked if the red hots are good here and I said if can handle them YES. We each had one and another beverage to put out the fire.

Later that night he calls from the hotel room and says he will not be able to make the second day due to intestinal issues from the earlier red hot..

Yes… no pay but I was happy none the less. I danced a little jig.

Capt Mike

Did I spell satan =satin...ha

[chase_cooley5308]

dang man im sorry to hear that lil brat did all that to you...i dont see how you didnt lose your cool! i probably would have snapped!

[Wishing2BFishing]

I hate spoiled kids. As a father of two (one boy and one girl), I understand that children will not always behave and sometimes forget to use their manners. But there is nothing more crass and low class than an uncontrolled kid with the mouth of a sailor.

You see, this is where things are going wrong is society. Parents give kids everything they want and then the kids don't respect property or understand the value of hard work. In short, they begin to feel entitled.

Mike, you are much more forgiving than I would have been. That Dad owes you for the boat repair and the rod. If he was a real parent, he would pay you and then make his kid work to reimburse him. Of course, I know Satan's Dad won't do this. Evidently, his child is permitted to behave any way he sees fit.

Lastly, the "I didn't do it" quote will soon lose its luster. At some point, this kid will be part of the criminal justice system. He will look at the Judge and say "I didn't do it" and then will visit the others whose mantra is "I didn't do it".

By the way, can you give me some information on your Striper trips (how much, best time of year, ect)? I have never caught a Striper and would love to have a professional, such as you, take me out.

[Captmikestarrett]

I run striper/blues/trout trips from Solomons during weekdays only from mid June to late October. Best time to go is July anytime. We average about 50 fish per person a day. Mostly light tackle jigging and topwater. Fly too.

By the end of the day your arm will hurt from pullage.

Capt Mike

[MississippiBoy]

If Spawn had thrown my rod and reel overboard, he would've gone fishing for it.
Headfirst.
With my foot broken off in his ***.

Originally Posted by Captmikestarrett

By the end of the day your arm will hurt from pullage.

Capt Mike

That's what I'm talking about...

[chase_cooley5308]

Originally Posted by MississippiBoy

If Spawn had thrown my rod and reel overboard, he would've gone fishing for it.
Headfirst.
With my foot broken off in his ***.



That's what I'm talking about...

lol MB thats funny!

[aikenyounggun]

dont you just hate kids!!!!! im just kiddin... not all of us are bad.... if you take me fishin ill show you how a teenager should act..... sorry it happened..... sometimes the ADD and hyperactive crap is just b/c the parent cant control their kids

[WTL]

I wouldnt have kept my mouth shut after being back at dock. I would have told the father how to raise his son. I know people get upset when you do it, but a man like that is clueless and needs to hear it even if he dont want to. I would also have demanded to be compensated for the gear. There would be no chance of a 2nd day.

I think we cant let stuff like this go. I know you were doing your part to be gracious and also a pro businessman, but there should be a limit.


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While I'm at it, on the subject of ADD, ADHD, learning disabilities and the like. Its the biggest scam infecting the education system today. Trust me, I was diagnosed with a learning disability just cause I didnt care to do homework. They put me in a special class - one day we took IQ tests and I beat everyone else in the class by 30 points - but nobody there was dumb and the only disabilities were a lack of "want-to"


I remember one time in 11th grade we had the most difficult teacher in the school give us a choice for a book report. We could either do it on "the Red Badge of Courage" or "The Scarlett Letter". I was in the LD enabling class at the time (I treated it like study hall).

The teacher in the LD class, who was a nice lady but not really helping, decided that everyone in our LD class would be better off if she just read "Red Badge of Courage" to her students. It was about a 6th grade book and even then she thought it was too much work for the LD students.

I was so disgusted with the whole ordeal that I decided to sit in the back of the room and read Scarlett Letter on my own. I did the book report on my own. I received an A+ on my own. I was only 1 of 2 in the grade to choose that book. And in the process, I gained an appreciation for the work of Hawthorn.

I wonder if they diagnose so many kids with LD or ADD cause it allows them to get in on more federal funds. Like they send a list up to washington or their state capital, says they have X amount of needy students, we need an additional 100,000. I bet thats close. Cause what I saw would not make sense any other way.

[BigBassin144]

God, if that was my son, I'd have thrown him out of the boat or locked him in the hotel room...

BB

[jig fisherman]

I don't know how you dealt with him, I know if I had done that I would never see the light of day again. Now I'm not so sure I want to be a fishing guide.(I can dream, right)

[The Doc]

Nothing a good old fashioned asswhoopin wouldn't fix. I have a young son, and if he would have acted like that, he wouldn't be able to sit for a week. I'd put something on that behind ajax wouldn't take off.

[bamabassman]

sorry capt....i can't put the correct words here. i would get kicked off the site.

[cassidyta]

Capt,
I have to say that based off of your recent stories, your customer service is incredible. I can understand why you bit your tongue and you are a better man than I for being able to do it.

[Foyt20]

I feel ashamed sometimes to grow up in this generation, and to have a hand in raising the next. The label of ADD, ADHD, and other hyperactivity disorders have made an easy answer for parents to drug their kids when probably 75% of them dont need it.

I was diagnosed with ADD when I was in 5th grade or so. My mother took me to a specialist, i got an EEG done and my brain waves were the perfect match for the brainwaves of someone with ADD.

I could not pay attention in class. Some topics would catch my attention, but no matter what, I would always drift off out the window from 2nd to about 5th grade.

After my EEG, the doctor recommended Adderal, time release pills, so that I didn't have to worry about taking a pill at lunch in school, like the other kids with ADD. After taking Adderal for a year and a half, I decided after much research (one thing that I could do when i was a kid was READ voraciously, any topic, any book, any amount) that I no longer wanted to use Adderal. In the next five years, I went on and off Ritalin and Adderal about 4 times.

I say that I have ADD, I make jokes about it sometimes even. But, I have never, NEVER, NEVER used it as an excuse for my actions or behavior.

Some (maybe a majority) don't need medication, just an excuse so their parents can ignore their bad parenting, and drug their kids up to keep them quiet.

Im not quite sure where I am going with this, just trying to explain it from a non doctor, or one of the bad parents that my fiancee has to deal with every year.

Capt, I am really sorry that that happened to your boat, and your gear. You seem to have a great handle on your customer relationship skills (this and the cheapskates story) and you should definetly be rewarded for that. Im sorry that this a$$ whole dad decided to use something as an excuse, instead of trying to parent.

Im gonna get off my soapbox now

[Foyt20]

Oh yea, and I thought this may have been a thread about sewing when I first clicked on it

[Captmikestarrett]

I do alot of trips a year and maybe four really stick out as a problem. But the way I see it, it is my job is to insure a safe and memorable trip with maximun patience... I get excited and whoop and hollier right along with my customers and in some cases more. I am going on 18 years as a guide and another four as a mate. A couple years ago I thought it was time to document some of those memorible fishiing stories. So I did and next thing I know I am writing page after page of stories. Someday I will compile them into a co-heasive mass called a book. You guys will all get a copy for sure..

I also wanted to point out that as kid I was more than a handfull for parents..in fact they would send me away each summer to work on boat or golf camp so they could have some sanity.

I had a military upbringing and rules where not to be ignored. But I often did and still have no reasoning for acting out..

I have one more to share with you guys but let me warn you, it is a long funny one. I also have about 10 more that will someday gel into my book..

But for now remember "the best doctors have the most patience.."

Capt Mike

[MarcBorger]

As a diagnosed ADD "sufferer" (I couldn't pay attention at all as a kid but I wouldn't call it suffering) I know I was a tough kid to deal with but I was never that bad. I have cousins who are though but I know their parents would NEVER take them out on a boat for a whole day out of respect for the guide! If your kid is that messed up then you need to tell the guide in advance or understand that he can't do that stuff until he matures.

[jmartin]

Have you ever thought about concealed carry for times like that? LOL just kiddn I do think I would have strangled the little B@stard. ohh well you see them in all types of jobs. I enjoy the occasionall A-hole in my Farm Equipment dealership from time to time P.S.... The customer is always right when there in the store(or boat)but you can cuss them when they leave.

Jerry

[Foyt20]

Well said Jmartin

[doc]

You should have made some Cut-bait outta the little brat, and brought in some of those big cats. That is if the meat wasn't sour.