Jackie Paskal said her addiction began in 1948 with a hot dog and a bamboo rod.

It was summer in St. Louis and the yellow fish in Forest Park were plentiful. She hadn't yet celebrated her sixth birthday; but, the day she landed her first fish, Paskal knew she was hooked

Paskal outgrew the city park ponds in search of bigger fish. She took trips to central Missouri and tested her luck in the Lake of the Ozarks.

She got used to being the only girl to cast her line in an all-boys club. She married and moved to Boothbay Harbor with her husband, Robert Paskal, 20 years ago. Her fishing hole might have changed, but her passion for the rod and reel never let up.

“I'm a 70-year-old, little Jewish white-haired grandma who loves to fish,” Paskal said.

Paskal said she first climbed aboard the fishing vessel Blackjack with Boothbay Harbor Captain Dan Stevens 15 years ago to fish for stripers along the coastal waterways.

But stripers were just a small-time gig for Paskal, who desired deeper waters.    

Groundfishing requires a long line and a sturdy set of sea legs, Paskal said. The seasoned angler travels 40 miles off the coast of Boothbay Harbor out to Jeffreys, Platts and Cashes banks, fishing grounds known for haddock, cod and halibut.

Since the Gulf of Maine fish stock has depleted over the years, sportsfishermen have to travel greater distances to find what used to be fished in abundance only 15 miles off shore.

Paskal uses a sinker (a weight attached to a hook) to reach groundfish at depths of 200 to 300 feet. With 60 percent skill and 40 percent luck, haddock and cod are reeled in by the dozens over a 12-hour period, said Paskal.

“I think groundfishing is her real expertise,” Captain Stevens said. “She's very talented. When it's time to head home, it's always 'one more cast.' It's never time to stop with Jackie.”

Last year Paskal caught a 55-pound cod, followed by a 40-pound cod 30 minutes later.

“By no means am I an expert in fishing,” Paskal said. “But I can usually out-fish most men. Women just have a better touch sometimes.”

Although women are a minority when it comes to sportsfishing, Paskal is known in fishing circles as a “true angler” who holds her own on the high seas.

From Ogunquit, Paskal once took a fishing trip with a motorcycle gang.  

“They were big and burly with tattoos and bandanas,” she said. Not only did Paskal outfish them all, she enraged the gang leader.

“They were really mad, so I rubbed it in their faces a bit more. I love to beat the guys,” she said.

For Paskal there is an enjoyment that carries her out to sea.  

“When you're out on the water, it is just so peaceful and so calm. There's no phones, there's no nothing; and every time I put my sinker down and anticipate that first bite, you can't beat it.”

Paskal said she keeps her gear and tackle box in the dining room. After a long day at sea, she returns home to husband Robert, who prefers the landlubber lifestyle.

“Did ya catch a side dish,” Robert asks, referring to seaweed as the coleslaw of sea.

“No, Bob, just fish,” she says.

Pascal takes home her catch but gives most of it away to friends and food pantries throughout the region. She's not out to make profit, so she substitute teaches during the school year and works at a T-shirt shop in the summer to earn money for her fishing trips.

But when the good fishing weather arrives, Paskal is up before the sun rises to catch the first boat steaming from the harbor.

“If anybody went out on a boat with her haddock fishing, good luck. Don't put in any money in the pot, because she's gonna getcha,” said Linda Paul, a fellow fisherman and friend of Paskal's.

Paskal recently brought her grandchildren on a fishing trip in hopes that they, too, will get hooked. Sam, 10, and Aaron, 14, call her Grammy J.  

“I would love for my grandsons to become fishermen,” Paskal said. For Paskal, the rod and reel has kept her connected to her friends and family and provided a healthy hobby throughout the years.  

When asked what type of fish she looks to hook next, Paskal sported a playful grin.

“Tuna!”