Fishing on a Saturday Night

So Ross, Jen and I went for a little fishing trip on Saturday night at about 11 Pm with Kerry and Vincent. It was pretty fun, I wasn't sure at first. But I thought, eh whatev, i'll go. Ended up fishing and drinking. We caught 2 star fish, which weren't "hooked" they were just attached to the food. We were using squid and then Ross and Jen traded some for some shrimp with other fisher...people...

So then Ross caught this thing that I thought was a sting ray, and turned out to be a skate? i think? Looks like a sting ray, but no stinger. and then sent it back...

Then I caught a fish. I forget what it was... but it was like 9 inches long or so, and Ross unhooked it, but it we didn't keep it cause it was too small to eat, or "gut", and sent it back. But i think it died when it hit the water!!! It was floating belly up. Pretty sad...

which makes me kind of think, aaw... isn't there some way to "fish" without the hooks? do they feel them? What are there nerve endings like, if any... are they wired to understand pain, etc.

the heroic moment of the night was when we looked over and thought a seagull was chasing Jenfa but she had actually found a bird that was caught in a bunch of old fishing line! So she has this bird on a string, and it's freaking out but she is trying to help it. who knows how long it was like that...
so Ross runs over and just GRABS the bird. I go see, only to hear ross calmly saying "let go. let go. let go" to the bird, as it has its beak planted on his hand and his not giving in. I see the line, and go get a knife. I come back, Ross has the bird like it's some duck, hands over the wings and it's just sitting there, waiting for an opportunity to bite. We try to get the line off, the bird fights. So I cut a bunch off, thinking, well if we can't get the rest at least he can fly now... but then Ross and Jen saw how it was attached and got it off his foot!
I thought that was a very brave moment. lol. this crazy seagull.. and ross just had to throw it in there after. Then we all went to the beach with firewood, fireworks, and jiffy pop?!?! Yea, Jiffy over the fire is pretty hard. Kerry and I burned it right up. yum.......