I fish a lot, and I also love sports of all types. And in recent years, betting on sports has become commonplace, so much so that virtually every televised event has commercials advertising responsible betting on your favorite team. As I sat on my couch one Sunday afternoon, I reminisced about fishing with Capt. Rich Tenreiro, the owner at that time of R&G Bait and Tackle in Port Washington, NY. I fished with Rich a lot, and we bet on every aspect of fishing and then some. We bet on the first fish, last fish, biggest, most, lost bait, first one to fall down… anything and everything.
The stakes were very high at times, $1 to $5 (you can insert one of those LOL emojis here)! On one particular trip we decided to go high stakes, agreeing that the loser would have to buy breakfast! On this trip, we were bailing fluke non-stop, with fish over 5 pounds quite common, so towards the end of the trip after running out of bait, we decided the one who caught the most and last fluke of the day would win breakfast. To make it even tougher, the only bait we could use was the small spearing fluke spit up on the deck of the boat while off Mattinecock Point in the Long Island Sound. Have you ever tried to hook a 1-inch spearing that was regurgitated? Lo and behold, I drilled the most and last fluke, and in such, breakfast was mine!
Back at the dock, the betting continued. Who could fillet the fastest, who could wash the rods best – which was an easy win because if you know Rich, you also know that cleaning rods was not his forte. As we headed for the diner, several friends joined us, and naturally, it was all on Rich’s dime for losing the bet. We went to our normal haunt, Haven Diner in Port Washington. The waiter, as we called him, was the “Memory Man.” This guy could take 10 orders of various concoctions and never once write anything down. And as the six of us ordered, Rich threw out one more bet. “I’ll bet you a $1, he forgets something on one of the orders.” Game on, this was an easy win as he never messed up.
The six of us ordered a variety of options – bacon and scrambled, avocado toast with a poached egg, no butter, pancakes with ice cream, and so on and so on. When it got to me, I ordered the basic two over easy, well-done home fries and well-done bacon, with an extra order of white toast.
While we sat waiting, we jostled back and forth as to what Rich thought would be an easy win. Several others, who had been with us on previous trips, were skeptical Rich would win. After all, Memory Man had never let us down in the past. As the orders arrived, everything played out as expected. All the orders were correct, except for one small detail. When my order was put in front of me, there was only one order of toast. Rich almost jumped out of his seat claiming the win. I abruptly stopped him and said he did not forget, he just did not want my second order of toast to get cold before I ate it.
With this, I said, double or nothing, and we will not say a word until he brings us our check, and no toast had arrived. “Deal,” said Rich, “This is an easy win for me.”
About three minutes had passed when the waiter came by and asked if we needed anything else. We all said no, and once again, Rich was glowing with the potential win. About a minute later, the waiter brought my toast and politely said, “I did not want your second order to get cold, so I held off a few minutes.”
The win was secured, and Rich was beside himself…again!
At the end of every day, fishing with friends is not just about fishing; it’s about memories made from everything and anything you did that day. Fishing will bond friends forever. Next time out, enjoy the day, bet a little – it is fun, and catch a boatload of fish, or lose a boatload of bait. Either way, another memory will be made.
