This is Megan Shaw

My name is Megan Spencer Shaw.

I grew up in the inland part of Hyde County N.C., without stoplights or taxis, much less a big-box grocery store. Being reared in such a Mayberry setting, I initially, bucked the trends of country music, good suppers at night and the overall feel of living off the land. Now that I’m all grown up, I guess the reason I did so was to broaden my horizons. The farthest away I got was Greenville, where I got along decently with Pirates. Otherwise I never would have known about the Misfits or Max Cavalera or a how to pronounce spanakopita. I came home to Hyde at the turn of the millennium and lived on the island side for a little while before moving up the beach to get into communications. The search for knowledge is always rewarding, but now I know in order to get where you’re going, you gotta know where you came from.

I was in Dare county for ten years living the beach life (and continuint to cavort with pirates). I dabbled some in radio and was a weekend personality “Trixie”for 94.5 WCMS for about five years. Eventually, I signed on as a staff writer for The Coastland Times in 2007. It wasn’t long before I found myself very involved in the fishing scene and became a columnist with “Fish On! (the title was inspired by a Primus song). The column lasted four years and I found my true zest. I love fishing and everything about it.

Summer 2011 brought lots of changes, namely Hurricane Irene. I moved back to Swan Quarter after the storm to take a job in public information with the county. In retrospect, I can see that my life was preparing me to come back home. Country music and fishing…

I’m missing my beach fishing times, but I’m glad to have gotten back to my roots. These days, I love my mama and daddy, Sunday dinners and George Strait. I get all nostalgic and teary when I think about the time I caught a big old flounder with my Mama Edith off Bell Island Pier and how my Pop used to laugh at for not being able to stick my hand in the peeler tanks without a glove. I absolutely love the fact that a commercial fisherman taught me how to cast my rod and to respect the resource. I’m proud to say Sunday dinners are still the product of the fishermen (like Pop) in my community and there’s nothing better than oysters on a Friday night.

Like all the thick-headed fishermen I know, I don’t want any hand-outs or subsidies. I want to talk fishing like I know it and I want to be myself while I do it. I love to fish.

So, this is me. The former Miss Engelhard Seafood Queen - turned writer, country music personality and fishing activist. Love me or hate me. Either way, if you have an interest in fishing I want you to know who I am. I’d love to hear from you, too. We’ll get along fine as long as you  keep your facts strait and don’t offer me any imported shrimp or a frozen fillet of some shit-sucking tilapia.

Fish On & On!