From outside magazine, this is the outside podcast.

A couple weeks ago, I took my 11-year-old son fishing.

Why are we cutting fish?

Who's fault is that?

No, it's not.

We fished together a lot, but this time was different.

It was our first attempt to catch tuna, which, where we live in Northern California,

requires heading far offshore.

We have a small open boat, and running at 25 to 45 miles off the coast comes with some

risks.

Now, we took all kinds of precautions, including, most importantly, waiting for a window

of calm weather, and heading out alongside another boat, so we could help each other out

if something happened.

But still, my boy is 11-years-old, and in the days leading up to the trip, I seriously

questioned my judgment.

One night, I woke up in a panic, imagining worst-case scenarios.

The next morning, I called on some experienced anglers, who are also parents, and they assured

me that I wasn't crazy, that the risks we were taking were quite reasonable, all things

considered.

So we went for it, and we was spectacular.

We didn't catch any fish, but we saw huge, bluefin tuna leaping out of the water,

groups of white-sided dolphin, and a distant blue whale.

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