Michelle Menningmann Catches More Than Ground Balls
3/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? Growing up along the coast of Florida, Alabama softball senior Michelle Menningmann became a certified boat operator in the state of Florida and quite an open water fisherman.
Menningmann moved with her family to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. when she was 12 years old. They moved about 45 minutes north up the Atlantic coastline and bought a house on the water that had a dock on the intercoastal waterway.
"It was something my dad always wanted to do," said Michelle. "He wanted to move up and be by the water. He loves it and I love it; we all do. He got a boat a year or two after we moved up there. I showed a special interest in boating with him. Growing up I was always the athlete or the outdoorsy one out of the three girls, so I have always been close to my dad. We have gotten along because I have shown interest in his kind of stuff like cars, the outdoors and boats."
Michelle's parents, Jorg and Cindy Menningmann, purchased a 22-foot Mako boat and would later sell it and buy a new Angler boat, which they still own today. Michelle enjoyed taking the boat out with her family and would sometimes get to take over driving duties, but only under the supervision of her father.
"We have had that boat for five or six years now," said Michelle. "When we got the second boat, I would drive it with him (Jorg) sometimes but he would never let me take it on my own. It was his pride and joy and he takes care of things very well. He would let me drive it sometimes and I was getting experience because eventually I wanted to take it out sometimes with my friends."
In the state of Florida, all individuals who are the age of 21 or younger must pass a boater education course approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators before they can legally drive boats with a motor of 10 horsepower or greater. Michelle decided to take the class and become a certified boat operator and take the boat out by herself.
"I didn't want to have to wait to have my dad in town to use the boat," said Michelle. "I grew up loving the boat so I wanted to be able to use it on my own if my dad would allow me to. My dad made me go through the class and there was a test but I got certified."
After Michelle received her boater's license it was still a while before her father would let her take the boat out on her own.
"Even though I got my Florida's boater's license my dad wouldn't let me take it out until I fully new how to operate everything," said Michelle. "Our dock is at a weird angle so I had to be able to back it up. Boats are a lot different than cars so he wanted to make sure I could do it. I think my dad now thinks that I am a good driver and trusts me with it. I love taking it out now and when I go back I can take it out with friends."
Now when Michelle goes home she usually has time to take the boat a few times. When it is around Christmas break and during the winter season, she says her family may only take it out and eat dinner on it one night but in the summertime she tries to take it out more.
"Every time I am about to come home my mom always tells me on the phone that my dad just took the boat out of the water and got it fueled, fixed it up and everything. He gets it all fixed up so when I come home we can use it. I think I give him the initiative to use it more when I am home."
Michelle remembers one particular time when she went with her father, her cousin Summer and her cousin's husband Brian out to the ocean to go fishing. Bad weather started to roll in and they found themselves in a situation where they couldn't beat the storm home and had to dock on a beach and hide under the boat in the water to stay warm.
"We just went out because Brian and myself were both dying to fish," said Michelle. "We saw the clouds coming in with bad weather and my dad said a little bit of rain won't hurt so we stayed out there as long as possible. Once it got really black we started to head in. We couldn't get probably a half mile before it pounded us and we couldn't even see to drive the boat. We had to beach the boat and get out of it. We actually got in the ocean water beneath the hull of the boat to stay warm because the rain was so cold."
The thunder and lightning ended up being really close to where they had beached the boat and they could tell how bad the storm was. The next day they read in the paper that two kids were struck by lightning only 50 yards from where they were.
Michelle uses the boat for several different things. The Menningmann's dock was located in an intercoastal waterway and Michelle would take the boat out to go tubing or water ski in the waterway, but one of her favorite things to do is take the boat out for a day and go fishing in the Atlantic Ocean, a short drive north to an inlet that led to the ocean.
"When my dad and I can get into town at the same time and plan a trip we will get up at 5 a.m. and pack up and go out for eight hours," said Michelle. "We have taken family trips to the Florida Keys. I remember one time when me, my dad, my uncle and two family friends went out, so it was four guys and me. My sisters stayed home but I wanted to be the one out on the boat. We went out for eight hours in 4-6-foot waves. A lot of people wouldn't be able to take that but I loved it. Every fish we caught, my uncle let me reel in."
Some of the fish that Michelle and her family catch include dolphin fish, which are often referred to as mahi-mahi, king fish and barracudas, but one of Michelle's favorite type of fish to reel in is bonitas.
"Even though bonitas are not very good to eat because they are bony and don't taste as good, they are probably the best fight to reel in," said Michelle. "Bonitas give the best fight because they run under the boat and if they run you have to let them run and then reel them back in. I have had a 45-pound dolphin fish reel-in once in the Keys with my uncle and it took me 45 minutes to bring in. That was when I had a bum shoulder too so I guess it was pretty good therapy for my shoulder. I do love fishing. Once you catch one it is worth the wait."
Although Michelle has been on deep-sea fishing charter trips in the past, her family likes to go trolling.
"We do trolling," said Michelle. "We go about 20-30 miles out and we troll about five miles per hour and you just drag a line behind you. You try to look for any kind of debris like wood or seaweed because the fish like to congregate under the shade and eat off of the debris. We also look for birds because where there are birds usually means there is always fish underneath."
Michelle always looks forward to catching fish, not only for the sport but also because if they are big enough they will take them home to eat.
"If it is a good size fish we take it home and eat it," said Michelle. "Mainly it is dolphin (mahi-mahi) we catch and my whole family loves that. We can freeze it. My dad likes to say if we go out and get skunked and don't catch anything than we don't have dinner. We will stay out there all day to try and catch something. Sometimes you just have bad days but usually we catch some and bring them in to have fresh fish for dinner."
Of all the fish that they would catch, Michelle says her favorite fish to eat is dolphin fish. She especially likes the way her father cooks the fish with lemon pepper on it. She has turned several people into fans of dolphin fish just by having them over for dinner.
"My favorite fish is probably dolphin but I have always been spoiled about the way my parents cook," said Michelle. "My dad can cook something on the grill at home and it is absolutely to die for and then I order it out and it is not the same. My friends and sister's friends don't necessarily like fish and we would have them over for dinner and tell them to try my dad's fish. A lot of our friends started liking fish because of the way my dad cooked it."
Michelle will be honored on Saturday with Michelle Menningmann Senior Day. The No. 3 Crimson Tide are hosting Seton Hall and No. 11 Louisiana Lafayette in the Easton Spring Fling. Alabama starts on Friday with a contest against Seton Hall at 6 p.m. Saturday they will play back-to-back games against ULL and Seton Hall beginning at 1:30 p.m. They will conclude the weekend with a game on Sunday against ULL at 1:30 p.m.
