59 His wife of 44 years, Lillian, says she married an endangered species. Bill Hurst hauls in spot using a 130-yard net. Dozens of fishing nets remain useful through continued repair by Hurst. out with the rising tide, fishes the high water and comes back on the falling tide. Before outboard motors, fishermen did the opposite. “They would go out on the falling tide, drifting with it and fish on the low water, turn around and fish their way back in on the rising tide. On the low tide, the fish are concentrated because there’s less water. On high tide, the fish can scatter,” he explains. “It’s just now time for fish to start migrating, the mullets bunch up in schools and come down jumping, the spots should be running strong. And when it gets real cold, speckled trout and puppy drum come in.” Accustomed to always working with his hands, when not fishing, he makes cedar chests and baskets out of grapevines from his prop-erty. His wife of 44 years, Lillian, says she married an endangered species. But as long as he can, he’ll fish Hewlett’s Creek like his predecessors. “If I wound up dying in my boat I would rather do that than be in a nursing home,” he says. “Oh Masonboro, My Masonboro, I love thy every hill, I love thy every tree and path, thy every daffodil, I love the rustic beauty of thy enchanting shores, I love thy mystic, timeless way of life, and with its lore, So rich from times of old.” — Excerpt from “My Masonboro” by William A. Hurst, 1956 www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
2014-11
To see the actual publication please follow the link above