House Divided Comes Full Circle

My love of roosters now sleeps with the fishes.

In my teens, I spent several summers working on a farm that belonged to family friends, Collecting eggs was one of my duties. In my twenties, I moved up the feathered ladder and worked for a poultry distribution company, selling chicken to grocery stores and restaurants. Apparently it was meant to be.

This led me to start collecting rooster art. Although I was selling pieces and parts I prefer to collect whole, non-edible statues, signs, wearables and bags.

When I met Pete, his house – now OUR house – was decorated with fishing memorabilia. When I moved in, I wondered if he would let me display my rooster collection. We reached a compromise and I claimed the kitchen. Thankfully it is a large kitchen with a lot of shelves and wall space.

Pete always says we have too many roosters. He’s certain that there are more roosters than fish, but the nieces and nephews have counted and the fish still dominate (even when you include Rooster, the dog).

Before our trip to Panama one of my goals was to catch a roosterfish. I figured that would finally and completely bring our worlds together.

With 50 species of fish to be caught in the Gulf of Chiriqui, I still wasn’t certain it would happen, but I put in my time targeting them inshore. We went inshore and targeted them. We cast, we trolled and we CAUGHT my Roosterfish. In fact, I caught two of them.

The next question is do we get a replica? I think I’m going to wait until I catch a true trophy, maybe later this year.

Want your chance at a mount? Our return dates will be early November or December 2021, so please continue to check in with Half Past First Cast, email us fishmore@halfpastfirstcast.com or call me at 703-932-6299 to inquire about this or any future trips we have on the schedule.

Just remember: Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched…or landed.