Almost everyone you know has a fish story or two to tell.  Captains Jack and Debbie Wilhite have more than 20 years worth of them!  Both Jack and Debbie are Master Captains and their charter boat is the Summer Hunter.  In visiting with them I learned that to be a Master Captain, one must have 720 days logged on the water to be eligible to take the intense, four-part master captain exam, which takes a couple of days to complete.   In addition to being Master Captains, the couple are on the Board of Directors for the Orange Beach Fishing Association.   

So, how did this 20+ year journey begin?  Jack and Debbie, originally from Jackson, Alabama, met while diving.  Jack is an advanced dive master and Debbie has advanced open water.  The two began dating and decided they would buy a boat together.  Debbie giggled as she recalled the day she called Jack and said, " Jack, I think I bought us a boat." Jack replied, "Wait Debbie, you either bought one, or you didn't buy one."  But she wanted him to look at the boat, because after all, he was paying half!  Turns out Jack did like the boat and they became co-owners of a boat, the Summer Hunter.  The boat got the name because, as Jack explained, "We were always hunting summer days to go out on the water."

Debbie explains that there is so much extra time diving, that she and Jack started fishing too.  The two had so much fun catching fish, and caught so many that they couldn't give them all away.  So, Debbie decided to try selling the fish to a fish market.  Jack was convinced they would not want the fish, so he stayed in the truck while Debbie went inside.  To her surprise, after taking a look at their catch, they did want to buy the fish.  Debbie explains that they paid her and Jack over $200 for the fish.  Now, this was back in the early 80's and making $200 for their fish was quite exciting.  Debbie remembers saying to Jack, "Oh my gosh, $200 for getting to go fishing!"  So then, they started selling their fish all the time.

During this time, the couple were married, and would come down to Gulf Shores every weekend and fish, always dreading having to return home on Sunday.  Eventually, fishing went from a hobby to more of a commercial fishing business and the couple had to start paying taxes.  And, in addition to commercial fishing, people started asking Jack and Debbie if they could pay them to take them out fishing.  This lead to the question, "I wonder if we can do this for a living?" 

The timing worked out perfectly for the Captains because Jack was at a good place to leave his job and new condos were being built on the island, which meant there were more people coming in to charter fishing trips.  When asked why they went from commercial fishing to chartering, Debbie explained, "Commercial fishing is hard work, catching fish every day.  It's easier work watching someone else do it!" In time, they moved to Gulf Shores and began a successful charter boat business and part of the family of charter boat captains.   

They have such great memories of the people they've met during their charters.  Jack tells of one of his favorites, "We had one charter where the dad took his kids out fishing when they were little.  The two boys just absolutely loved to fish.  And the kids have grown up and, over time, have brought their girlfriends and then they got married.  Now they book 12-hour trips and take their dad out.  So what started out as their dad book the trips for them, they now book the trips for their dad."  He went on to say, "They didn't come for a couple of years, then called last year and said, so do you think my kids are old enough to go fishing?"  Looks like they are going to carry on the tradition...

Jack and Debbie explain that one of the most fun trips to fish for is shark!  They explain that it is the most fun because of the people. Debbie said,  "It's the adrenaline rush that really scares you and excites you .  All these emotions at the same time because you are looking at this fish that is as big as the back of the boat!  When it comes up, everyone is screaming because they are excited, and they are excited because there is a fear factor there, especially if it splashes water with it's tail..the fear factor makes them enjoy it more!"  She said, "It's a thrill to catch something that could eat you."   

They recall one trip in particular where a man called and said that he wanted to take his older son on a shark trip.  He had taken his younger son and they had caught a shark, so he wanted his older son to catch a bigger shark.  So,  Jack and Debbie took the men out and after two hours of fighting it, the son brought in a 500 pound shark.  Jack laughed as he recalled the father taking him to the side and saying, "That is a really BIG shark!"  To which Jack replied, "Well, you said you wanted a big one."  And the father said, "I didn't know they came that big!!"  So when you ask Captain Jack and Debbie to help you catch a big fish...make sure you clarify your opinion of what big is, because they will bring in BIG fish!!

When asked what was their most memorable or fun trip, Debbie said, "Any trip where people get excited about fishing, it makes you excited."  Jack recalled, "One of the funniest things was, this man - who I can't recall the name, was fishing for Wahoo.  There was a really big Wahoo behind the boat and I told him, when he hits the bait, set the hook hard.  So the fish took the bait and the man set the bait hard like I told him.  But he had the rod upside down and when he went to reel in the fish, he was actually unscrewing the handle.  The man was reeling and reeling and all of the sudden I heard, 'What do I do now?'  He had unscrewed the handle and it had come off! Deb was rolling on the deck because she is laughing so hard!"  Debbie adds, "I was laughing so hard, but I said "Oh no, we have to put it back on!' He had a really big fish on the line and the handle in the other hand!  I was trying to put the handle back on and the fish was pulling and I was telling him 'You have to be still.' And I almost gave up because I was laughing so hard, but eventually we got it back on and he got the big Wahoo, but it was so funny watching him stand there with the rod in one hand and the handle in the other!"

Debbie said she adds to the excitement by hollering out "Fish On!" when someone has a fish on the line.  She giggled as she told the story of a group of little boys.  She said she numbers the rods one through four so it will be easier to know which line has the fish.  She recalls, "I hollered out 'fish on three' and the  bigger boys knew to look for rod number three, but the little ones just followed the big boys.  The boys ran around looking and realized they were on the wrong side of the boat, so when they turned to run to the other side, they ran right into the little ones who were hot on their trail!"

Debbie said, "The parents always want to give each kid their own rod.  I try to tell them they should rotate, but they insist on having their own rod. The biggest kid usually get to pick which rod they want and they always pick the one with the biggest lure and the littlest kid gets the rod with the littlest lure.  And I will guarantee you that the little kid (who gets stuck with the last pick) will catch ten times more than the other bigger kids.  Then the parents will say 'well let's rotate' and the little one says 'no, I'm catching all the fish!' and I'll say 'I know, you've got the lucky lure!!"  She said, "It's fun when you take children out because it's fun seeing the children get excited, catch fish and everything.  And, it's something new to them."

And if you are curious, like I was, as to what Jack and Debbie do in their spare time...I asked and with a huge smile on both of their faces they answered, "We go fishing."

Happiness comes when you believe in what you are doing, know what you are doing, and love what you are doing.  - Brian Tracy