VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — As the nation remembers former President Jimmy Carter, one local man is reflecting on the times he took the president out on the waters off of Virginia Beach to catch some fish. "It was a big year. We caught a lot of big fish, and the president," said boat captain Mike Romeo. Romeo, only 21-years-old at the time in 1978, had just gotten his captain's license and recalls being just a little naïve to the gravity of the situation. He said he was a little aggravated with the Secret Service going through all of his things and remembers thinking, "Wow I just want to go fishing." Now, the weight of it all hits him like a wave. "I start looking back at old pictures, I go, 'Wow, that's me and Jimmy.' ... I called him Jimmy 'cause he came on the boat and said 'Call me Jimmy.' ... I said, 'OK.'" Romeo said they chewed the fat, about what he can't recall, and then reeled in three tuna despite not pushing off until after 10 a.m. He still can't believe that happened. The following year, Carter came back, and for Romeo that fishing trip was much less stressful. The weather was not optimal, but the blue fish were biting like crazy.After a few hours on the water, President Carter and then-First Lady Rosalynn Carter each caught about 15 fish — and then called it a day. "I gave him a course, a compass course, and I said, 'Take us home, Jimmy.' So there he is, just driving the boat home," Romeo said. Now, despite a lifetime of experience at sea and a new perspective on his presidential encounters, Romeo said he wouldn't change a thing. "Like I said, 21-years-old, taking the president fishing, you know, a lot of responsibility," he said. "I didn't know what responsibility was back then. You know, we just went fishing and had a good time."