by Mike VanZandt
Dewey Jones approached his favorite flounder hole on Frenchtown Road as the sun came up on the first day that a fellow could catch four flounder instead of two. Dewey knew that many Bolivarites would catch their limits, take them home, and return over and over again until their freezers were full. Dewey would have none of that cheating. The game warden was welcome to stop Dewey anytime because he never kept more than his limit.

Dewey mostly fishes from the bank, but this morning he slipped on his life jacket and edged into the semi-clear waters of the bay to get a little closer to his work. Quickly, Dewey caught his first flatfish, and it was a fine one, going probably 8 pounds. Then another, and another and before he knew it, he had four fish weighing over 35 pounds on his stringer. Dewey changed bait and netted two slot reds and three sow trout in seconds. He figured he had caught sixty pounds of fish in less than half an hour in the most remarkable fishing experience of his life. He looked up to check the location of this honey hole and noticed he had drifted a couple of hundred yards from his truck. With his bum knee, it was going to take some effort to get back to shore.

What happened next is a little scary because it could happen to any successful angler harvesting the bounty of the Bolivar Peninsula. Acting as if they had one mind, the entire stringer of fish clipped to Dewey’s belt struck out for open water, pulling Dewey deeper and further from the bank. Out into the ship channel, the fish continued their journey south, past Pelican Island, past the jetties and into the clear blue water of the Gulf of Mexico. Unable to free himself because the speed at which he was traveling, Dewey hoped someone had seen him being pulled out to sea. His prayers were soon answered.

The USCG cutter “Dauntless” appeared as if out of nowhere and plucked Dewey and his runaway stringer of fish from the frigid December waters of the Gulf. The nine lunkers weighed in at a whopping 63 pounds. The men and officers of the Dauntless congratulated Dewey on saving his awesome stringer without regard to his personal safety, exemplifying the true spirit of the “Dauntless”, whose ship motto is “Sin Miedo”, which in Spanish means “Without Fear”. Forget the rumors you may have heard, because now you know the real story of “el hombre sin Miedo”, Dewey Jones, and his rescue from the Gulf of Mexico.