My fursona Buster Cougar and a cheetah friend Bernie went salt water fishing one weekend twenty miles off the coast of Saint Petersburg in the Gulf. After a few hours of it looking like nothing was going to bite, my fursona felt a hard tug on the line. It put up a fight as Buster began reeling it in. Buster and Bernie knew the fish on the line was a big one. The fish jumped out of the water trying to shake the line loose to no avail. Buster Cougar said with excitement, "A swordfish! A big one too!" Bernie Cheetah told Buster, "Oh boy, you got a prize there!" That's when Bernie Cheetah laid his rod and reel down in the boat to assist Buster at the time he gets the swordfish near the boat.. It was a fight and a challenge reeling the fish in. There were times the swordfish at the end of the one hundred and thirty pound test line would bolt out away from the boat as the reel set at forty drag would sound off a rapid clicking whir. Buster would pull up the rod and wind in the slack as he let the rod back down. The swordfish would bolt out away again as the reel sounded off a rapid clicking whir. Buster continued to raise and lower the rod while reeling in the slack. The swordfish jumped above the water again and again trying to shake the line loose. After the swordfish putting up a fight for more than fifty minutes, Buster finally managed to reel the swordfish to the stern of the boat. Bernie Cheetah extended a gaff down and hooked it under one of the swordfish's gills. Even then the swordfish tried to shake loose from gaff, but Bernie made sure the gaff had a good hold on the fish.
Then with help from Buster they both, pulling with all their might, pulled the swordfish into the boat. Buster and Bernie were also being careful not to get impaled by the fish's sword like snout. When Buster and Bernie returned to the marina, everyone came to see the big swordfish and to take pictures. The local newspaper even sent a reporter to get a story and a picture taken with Buster Cougar and Bernie Cheetah posing near the swordfish. The article appeared on the sports page the next day. Buster Cougar's mother, father and sisters, friends and girlfriend were mighty proud. So were Bernie Cheetah's family and friends being that he helped to bring the fish into the boat. The Cougar family agreed to have the swordfish mounted and displayed on the wall behind the counter of the family owned business consisting of a used car lot (offering inhouse financing), a vintage car broker service, a towing service (also providing repo services to a clientele of local banks and auto loan lenders they are contracted with) and an auto auction that runs every first and third Friday evening of each month. They have a large attendance on auction nights with lots of cars running through. The Cougar family also agreed to have a food vender and his mobile kitchen truck present during the Friday night auctions (Dealers and public welcome to bid and sell. Successful bidder pays 17% of hammer price commission to the auction house. Seller pays 8% of hammer price commission to the auctioneer. There is a ten day limit buyers have to pay for and remove their purchased vehicles from the premises). There have been times the Cougar family conducted salvage auctions on the last Monday afternoon of a month for insurance companies selling wrecked cars to junkyard dealers. Those are insurance company and junkyard dealer only auctions.
btw. At the "buy here pay here" used car sales lot (Not the same as the auction house), Daddy Cougar's finance manager has a plaque on the back wall of his office that reads, "The best way to get back on your feet is miss a payment". Daddy Cougar's wife (Mama Cougar) is a certified notary public.
The family is in a large circle of friends with other business owners in the local community.
