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Neither he nor his father were fishermen. Although they lived on the water, they did not take advantage of it as much as they could have. The boat they built was small. They only dared take it out on the Bay when the water was glassy. By and large, the Bay's waters were choppy and much too dangerous for their boat. So, apart from the handful of times they had sailed on the waters in back of their house, they had sailed on a nearby river. They had another boat, as well. An even smaller one of the kind they call a John Boat. It was made of some form of corrogated metal and had a flat bottom. This boat was no better for the Bay than the other, but it was much better for the estuary slightly to the north of their property. He and his father would take the John Boat to the estuary and try to catch crabs using chicken necks attached to string. They didn't tell people much about this because "chicken necker" was a derogatory term to the watermen in the area. And, when they lived down there, the vast majority of people you spoke with were either watermen or related to watermen, so word got around. If you told one person you used chicken necks to catch bluecrabs, it would not be long before everyone knew. And things like this are important to a young boy in a small town. Especially if he is not related to anyone except his immediate family.
And yet, he truly enjoyed catching bluecrabs with his father by dangling chicken legs. The way you did it was you felt a pull on the string and you pulled back as though you were not pulling back, because if it felt in the least way as though you were pulling back, the crab would know it and you'd lose him. But when you got him, you knew you got him. You got on a roll.
And when you got on a roll, you knew that, too, and you could never fail.