Barefoot on the beach, my heart pounding, I moved to my right, holding the rod steady and letting the fish have its way for few seconds. Then I began to reel slowly, still moving to the right, recapturing some of the line … and the fish suddenly made another powerful run.

After about two minutes of me reeling line and the fish peeling line, I managed to maneuver this tenacious fighter into the shallow breakers, and using the action of the waves to help bring it in, I carefully pulled the fish onto the beach. I was 25 yards away from where the hook-up began.

And what a sight to behold: Break-dancing on the sand was the biggest Florida Pompano I have seen in a half century of fishing these abundant local waters.

This handsome flat-bodied bottom feeder was greenish gray on the back with a butter colored underbelly. His downfall was to strike a piece of cut shrimp skewered on a 2-ought circle hook. (Note to readers: I offer my fish the same quality shrimp I would serve you in my home. This particular wild caught Lowcountry shrimp was bought from a Shem Creek purveyor of fresh seafood.)

Well, I knew right then and there I should hightail it to Haddrell's Point Tackle & Supply in Mount Pleasant and have the pompano weighed and registered in the Charleston Trident Fishing Tournament; however, knowing that pompano run in schools and hoping to snag another big one, I continued to fish the rumbling surf in front of my friend Jaybird's house on the Isle of Palms. (Note to readers: Jaybird was the guy who a week earlier tried his level best to convince me that there were no fish in the ocean in front of his house. He also believes (1) the Earth is flat, (2) flying saucers are taking over New Jersey and (3) other mystifying things I dare not reveal in a family newspaper.)

But I digress.

After pulling in three fat whiting to add to my catch of the day, I packed my gear, fired up the jeep and drove to Haddrell's. There, a store employee officially weighed Mr. Pompano, which tipped the scales at 3.4 pounds, good enough to capture first place in its category in the tri-county fishing tournament. I have named this trophy fish SeaMore.

A Web site about the Florida Pompano says it is rare to catch one weighing more than three pounds. What the Web site fails to mention is that it is even rarer for Bill Walker to catch any fish weighing close to three pounds.

I'm a happy angler for, at long last, the fishing gods have smiled upon me.