Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Hello, I'm Jenna, and I love fishing.


Hello everyone! My name is Jenna Kim. I’m a graduating senior at Kennesaw State University majoring in accounting. Currently, I’m also working as a staff auditor at Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts. Most importantly, I’m a mother to a beautiful 6-year old girl and a wife to a wonderful man. My family is so precious to me, and I’m thankful for the life that I have with them. Okay, so what is this blog all about?

Growing up in South Korea, I knew little about fishing. I just saw it as a dull activity requiring a lot of patience and pricey equipment. That all changed in the summer of 2008 when my husband and I had an opportunity to travel to Savannah to visit a pastor who is also our close family friend. He took us to a private seaside community in Savannah and introduced us to his new hobby, saltwater fishing. At first, I didn’t really know what to expect. I’m not that fond of going on a boat of any kind because I’m a terrible swimmer. I haven’t even held a fishing rod in my life. But we were told not to worry, since we will fish off a small pier and that we are almost guaranteed to catch something. My husband had some fishing experience, so I counted on him to show me how to bait the hook, cast, and retrieve.

For bait, we used a small bag of raw shrimp bought at a local Kroger, the cheapest one we could find. I was shown how to cut the shrimp into a size no bigger than the first joint of my pinky finger. Then with some trial and error, I managed to cast my line into the water, and said a quick prayer for a good catch. After about 30 minutes, I felt a little tug on my line, and I instinctively snapped the rod back. Much to my delight, there was something at the end of the line swimming hard. I reeled in the fish, almost hyperventilating with excitement. I quickly landed my first fish, ever, on the wooden floor of the pier, fearful that it might manage to escape. It was a croaker, or a drum fish, measuring about 8 inches. The pastor told us that croakers are not particularly popular in the U.S., but they are very popular in Korea as food fish. We continued to fish for about several hours, and if I remember correctly we came back with at least 14 croakers in our cooler. It was so much fun! I knew I was hooked for life.


That’s my husband at the pier in Savannah. I didn’t want my picture taken because I wasn’t looking my best.

Before I post any further, I need to make a disclaimer. I’m not an expert fisherwoman, and my husband is only slightly more experienced. I cannot give you any great tips on catching a lot of fish consistently. But I do want to encourage those who have never gone fishing to try it. Who knows? You might catch a big fish and have a lot of fun. Please stay tuned, since I’m going to share my past fishing trip stories on this blog.