“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in ….” Matthew 25:35.

What a trip it was to Washington, D.C., with the bus of fishermen.

It was 18 hours up and 17 hours back — all for a three-hour United We Fish march on the Capitol.

As we got off the bus at Union Station there were 10 other buses unloading from New Jersey and others coming in from all over the United States.

On the two-block walk up to the Capitol, we ran into folks from Clearwater and St. Petersburg.

And before you knew it, our group of 35 or more that was on the bus that left from Capt. Anderson’s Marina on Panama City Beach, had gotten lost in the crowd.

I remember at one point looking around and the only familiar faces I could see were Capt. Ken Bolden and deckhand Tom Stewart.

“They all scattered like a flock of doves in a hunting field,” Bolden said.

But it wasn’t long after, that Destin folks started popping up everywhere. And I was so proud of our guys and gals for making the effort to be a part of something that big — and it did turnout to be big — 4,000 to 5,000 big.

The march was all about trying to get some flexibility with fishing regulations and  fixing the Magnuson-Stevens Act that is so messed up. All agreed that the science is “flawed” and that something has to be done.

And the word from the 20 or so senators and congressmen that spoke throughout the rally were — “We ought to care more about our fishermen, than the fish.”

And I agree.

The red snapper is not overfished, just like the cod in the northern states isn’t.

The regulations and the counting of fish are putting folks out of jobs — and the fishermen are a good bunch of folks.

And you know, I’m not the only one that likes to hang around the fishermen. Jesus liked to hang out with fishermen back in his day.

As a matter of fact there was one little kid from New Jersey who was sporting a sign at the march that said, “NOAA, Jesus was a fisherman. Why can’t I be?”

The kindness of our local fishermen shined through on the trip.

“I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”

Early on in the trip after staring at the computer screen trying to write while going down some of the back roads to Dothan, Ala., I started to feel a little ill.

I remember looking over at Capt. George Eller who was sitting nearby and letting him know I wasn’t feeling so well, and asking for water.

He immediately reached down in his bag and pulled out a bottle of water.

“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.”

By the time we got to Eufaula, Ala., for lunch, I was still feeling a bit nauseated, but I knew I needed to get off and get something to eat.

Just standing out side and having the cool breeze in my face felt good.

I, along with a few other captains headed over to Subway.

As I sat trying to write, Capt. Jason Mikel asked if he could get me something to eat. He knew I wasn’t feeling that great. So he offered to stand in line and get me a sandwich and drink.

“I was a stranger and you invited me in.”

Out of the 35 or more on the bus, about 25 were new faces — all from Panama City and Mexico Beach.

Capt. Hank Hunt of Panama City Beach, who was kind of heading up the trip, welcomed me aboard the bus and was extremely nice throughout the trip.

I ran into one guy who used to work with my dad at St. Joe Paper Company years ago, and then there was Capt. Chuck Guilford out of Mexico Beach who took me in right away.

There were other acts of kindness shown by our fishermen along the way.

•Capt. Mike Eller, who saw me working and taking photos of all of our guys, said “Hey, Tina stand over there by the flag, and let me take your photo.” — and he did.

•When the camera strap on my camera fell off, Capt. Ken Bolden was there to help me put it back on.

•All were quick to give me a hug as they spotted me in the crowd through out the day and thanked me for coming along.

But you know, that’s the way of a fisherman — kind at heart.