Happy Thanksgiving/Hanukkah

Well, by now, everyone has hopefully had a couple plates full of all the delicious foods prepared for the holiday and maybe like me have had those one or two Tums to help keep it down -- while we enjoyed a much needed nap (or an early night to bed).  Only about one fourth of the fifty some campers here at Bow and Arrow Campground made it up to the screened in room for the feast -- thankfully too, there was a roaring fire in the pit just out front so some of us could go to warm our chilly toes (mine were just in socks and sandals since the swelling has kept me from forcing my right foot into any type of shoe just yet).

The weather cooperated just enough to let us enjoy our selections from the sixteen foot table of food that everyone brought to the gathering -- and now we all have those yummy leftovers to consume over the next few days.  Turkey sandwiches, chips and a big glass of milk I see.  I had cooked a 5 pound turkey breast earlier in the day so that I could enjoy the smell permeating the RV and be assured of having the necessary ingredients for those sandwiches.  First though, I enjoyed watching the Macy's Parade in the morning and after Santa made his appearance, the turkey went into the oven.

I made a plate of my devilled eggs for the gathering and warmed up a dozen sweet rolls along with a pan of steamed, mixed veggies (topped with browned almond slivers) and also had bought a pecan pie at the Wynn-Dixie -- forgot to take along the small plate with sliced cranberry sauce (canned).  There was just so much food and two plates full was just about my limit -- haven't eaten that much since the pot-luck dinners this summer in Colorado (or the $5 all you can eat specials at the Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque back in April).  Good thing I had a fairly new bottle of Tums.

Certainly would have been nicer if that little grandson, his parents and my daughter had been closer by to share the day with them.  It was in the low 50s in the early afternoon yesterday and the sun's appearance made it feel nicer outside than in the RV so, I had the twins outside until shortly before 3:00 p.m. (when the gathering was supposed to start).  The young stray kitten showed up for the third day in a row and I was happy to see it had made it through the freezing cold night but, I still don't want a third cat to care for -- though it seems intent on adopting us.

Looks like I will be back to fishing today and maybe tomorrow -- around mid day both days (if the temps get to what they are supposed to be).

Chipping Away at the Freezer

Last night I cooked four of the Blues that had been in the freezer from earlier outings -- decided I had better grille them before the rain arrived today (as it certainly has).  No fishing today or tomorrow for sure and probably not on Thanksgiving Day either since they are supposed to have a dinner here at the campground that day.  So, I am looking at midday Friday and Saturday since the low tides occur around then and the temps are forecast to be decent then.

I did go out last Friday and Saturday but, only managed to catch one Blue each of those days -- did however, catch a nice sunset on both those days since the clouds and rain came through then too.  On Friday, I took along one of my neighbors (Steve Burcham) as he had expressed a desire to get out on the beach and try fishing again.  He used to fish a lot while living in the Virginia Beach area and now has the bug again even though we each only caught one Blue that day.  Interesting guy to talk to also and turns out he used to be a "Roadie" for Joan Jett and ZZ top -- fun times and good memories he says.  The inside of his trailer has lots of pictures and memorabilia from that part of his life and I hope to get a closer look at some of his photo albums.  Right now he is struggling with a leaky roof and lots of mildew in his unit -- for which he is suing a roofing company for damages (most likely it will be a total loss).

Still have lots of frozen Mullet in baggies so, I will be eager to get out there again -- after the rain and cold weather clears out.  Managed to break the little toe on my right foot last Friday morning too so, I will be hoping it is all better by this Friday.  Pretty sure it is broken from the swelling and discoloring.  It happened during playtime with Tiger when I was chasing him back and forth in the RV -- slammed my little toe into the top edge of the litter box (it was kind of like kicking a bucket of dirt).  I would have yelled really loud but, figured that might only scare some of the you know what out of the kitties -- and I had already seen enough of that.

Caught My Limit -- Freezer is full

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be the two best days for fishing (until next weekend) but, yesterday the Mullet were thick in the shallows near the entrance to Nassau Sound so, I caught my limit of those little bait fish -- and I caught a few of those tasty spotted Sea Trout too.  Two of the trout were in the keeper size so, they are now in the freezer and it is full -- now spilling over into the right half of the freezer where I keep other things (less smelly).  I also caught some more of those Blues but, opted to not keep any of them since I have a dozen in the freezer -- did look for an Osprey to give one or two of them to but, none were in sight (probably too busy catching some of those Mullet too).

Friday was a dreary overcast day and I never saw the sun once while fishing that day (or the rest of the day) and there was a light rain falling off and on all the time I fished (more of just a nuisance than a real rain).  I only caught a few Blues and threw them all back or to the Pelicans and I could only manage to net a half dozen of those Mullet that day.

Now I have enough of those bait fish to get me through next weekend and today and tomorrow.  It's supposed to be in the low 80s today so the drive down A1A should be enjoyable at mid day (don't really remember a day when I haven't enjoyed that drive with its palm trees, palmettos, flowers and beautiful homes).

Another Week -- More Catching

The first two days this week were quite similar -- weather wise and what was caught.  On Veteran's Day (a big salute to those that served), I fished the entrance to Nassau Sound hoping for another Flounder or some Spotted Sea Trout but, the first thing again was another shark -- a three foot Black-tip, I think.  It was the earliest I had been out to fish since getting down here and that was dictated by the time of the low tide (when I like to fish the outgoing tide) and the fact a cold snap was expected on Wednesday.  The action was really pretty good and I ended up catching nearly a dozen Blues -- twice brought in two at the same time on the deep line.  Only kept four for the freezer.

Replacements

Next day, I fished the same spot and had almost the same results -- one thirty-inch shark and more of those Blues.  Fed the first two Blues to the nearest Pelicans and left one flopping on the beach where I hoped an Osprey would swoop down from the sky so I could snap a picture of the beautiful bird.  After about 5 minutes the Blue was totally covered with sand (closer to the water) and I didn't see an Osprey in the sky so, I tossed the fish back into the choppy waters.  Of course, another 5 minutes later, the Osprey did come swooping down from behind me and made off with the small Blue -- I missed the shot because I put the camera back in the Jeep since I was standing in the water.  I also missed numerous bites and ran out of the frozen little Mullet so I hunted for some in the tidal pool to my left but, found none.  I headed back toward the access point and stopped near the point where the pipeline came onto the beach and netted some of the little bait fish -- replacements for what I had used in the morning.  Only caught another Blue there and left after about a half hour.

Monday and Tuesday were both in the mid 70s and sunny.  Wednesday was much different with temps only in the low 50s and winds of 20 to 27 mph out of the north and northwest -- spent my day inside getting lights ready to put around the windshield of the RV and keeping an eye on the awnings.

Yesterday, it was supposed to be only in the mid 60s but, since the low tide came shortly after noon, I decided to venture out again but, the breeze was slightly more than I expected.  So, when I reached the same spot as Monday and Tuesday, I stayed farther to the right -- to keep the blowing sand (coming down the beach from the north) at my back.  I had brought the frozen replacements which I netted on Tuesday and another pack of 12 finger Mullet.  It was rather brisk out there to say the least and I kept my corduroy pants on over my hiking shorts, tucked in my long-sleeve jean shirt and dug out a green wind-breaker to put over my two long-sleeve shirts to make it bearable.  No one else was out there except for me -- only passed some walk-on fishermen along the less windy shores of the river on my way out.

It certainly seemed like a day for the birds -- about 50 Pelicans were on the sandbar to my left and a dozen or so were diving over and over into the water off the point of the sandbar -- apparently feeding on a small school of those Mullet.  More Pelicans dropped onto the waters to my right, near the beach and were feeding on another apparent school of the bait fish.  I only put one hook on my deep line and after missing a few bites, I finally hooked what seemed to be a nice fish -- had me thinking it might be another one of those sharks but, luckily it turned out to be an 18-inch Sea Trout.  Thank you very much, I said -- so glad it wasn't another shark.  Every time I got slightly distracted, there seemed to be a hit on the smaller rod and I missed whatever it was -- probably that Flounder (though sometimes it was apparent that a Blue had hit the bait and only left the head).  I did manage to hook more of those Blues and one really nice one that was about 17 inches in length (on the deep line).

After about two hours of fishing there, I decided to take my last few Mullet and head back upstream to a spot out of the wind -- thought of stopping just beyond the pipeline but, the sand was still blowing down into that area so, I continued on to a spot out of the wind.  I stopped about a hundred yards from the first vehicle I had seen on the beach and got out my small rod and wriggled a support into the sand after I cast out the small mullet.  I let it sit for a few minutes and pondered whether to get out the big rod, bait it up and cast it out too -- decided not to do so and went back to the small rod.  I knew the bottom of this stretch had lots of oyster shells and other shells so, I decided to reel the bait in and work it across the bottom hoping for that monster Flounder.  Within the first few turns on the reel, I felt a good bite and set the hook into something really nice and ended up fighting it for 5 or 6 minutes and had to walk downstream with it for about 50 yards.  It occasionally broke the water's surface and kept pulling line off as quickly as I would try to take it in -- my thoughts were hoping this would be that doormat-size Flounder and I prayed it would stay on and that my 50 pound line would hold.  Soon I was dragging a nice Red Drum onto the beach as a lone Pelican tried snapping at its tail -- he must have known it was too long.  Indeed, it turned out to be 28 inches -- one inch too long (and I didn't need to risk the $500 fine by throwing it into the cooler).  Darn!  Would have been nice to have a couple good filets in the freezer too.

I fished for a little longer and then fed the Pelican a couple of the leftover Mullet.  A couple went to the sea gulls too and it was fun to watch them tug at each end of the little fish.  I cleaned the two fish and gave the guts to the seagulls too before heading back -- fresh fish for the grille.

Back to the Beach -- and Fishing

I decided to take a break yesterday from tending to the cats and their frequently used litter box.  The afternoon skies became less cloudy and the low tide was supposed to be around sunset so, I couldn't resist taking a pack of frozen mullet and a Gatorade over to Nassau Sound (the southern tip of Amelia Island).  I headed out around 2:00 p.m. and got to the same spot I have recently fished where four other anglers were already fishing -- left my spot free thankfully.  I hadn't fished since this past Sunday and then I was preoccupied with thoughts of Tiger and the intestinal problems he was having.  Of course, Molly finally has the same thing going on since late Wednesday evening too.

Once all the clouds pushed off to the east, the sun really warmed things up probably into the 80s or high 70s -- had to dig out the sunglasses too so I could watch the tip of my surf casting rod while I worked my smaller rod in the shallows with it in my hands.  The first couple of finger mullet were stolen almost as soon as they hit in the shallow waters and it took a while before there was any action on the large pole -- and that turned out to be about a 30-inch sand shark.  After getting that shark unhooked and returned to the water, I put some new cut mullet on and cast out farther to the left at the tip of the sand bar.  Soon, I hooked something again on the large rod and could see it splashing about over the sand bar as I started reeling it in -- turned out to be another, slightly larger sand shark -- one I could hardly get my gloved hand around while unhooking it.  It also broke my line as I drug it onto the beach but, I luckily could grab the sinker and the rest of the rig to keep him from wallowing back into the waves with my hooks and sinker still attached to its mouth.

After releasing this latest shark and retying the rig to the line of my surf casting rod with new bait on the hooks, I tried casting and in my mind was thinking of a spot somewhere between the two previous casts.  However, the nearly invisible monofilament line must have twisted around the tip and the rig went flying into the waves -- after snapping the line.  I tossed the big rod into the Jeep and fished on with the smaller rod hoping for another Flounder.  Instead, I caught a nice little spotted Sea Trout but, he was a half-inch too small to keep.  Had to release him -- not risk a fine.

As the sun began to drop to the horizon, I saw lots of little mullet running along the edges of the beach and couldn't resist throwing my net out a few times and did manage to net a few.  I decided to head back and left the other fishermen behind -- drove slowly along the beach and didn't see any other vehicles on the way back to the access point.  I could see lots of little wave action (possibly mullet) at the edge of the river and stopped for a while to cast my net about a dozen times into the water -- managed to catch some of those perfect, finger-sized mullet -- enough to fill five little baggies (about $15 worth of bait fish).  Not a perfect end to the day but, still not bad.  Fifteen degrees chillier today and windy.

The drive back up the Amelia Parkway with the sun already gone was rather spooky with the Spanish Moss hanging from the tunnel like canopy of trees -- made me think of Sleepy Hallow.

Halloween Conch Shell

Today started with rain early in the a.m. and so I slept in a bit later than some other mornings with a dark and dreary feeling staying around almost all day --  until almost 4:30 in the afternoon when the sun finally broke through (after I returned to the campground).  Since the fishing forecast called for the best fishing from 12:30 until 2:30 p.m. with low tide at 2:27 p.m., I decided to get some dishes done and have a late breakfast before heading out to the beach to fish.  Why rush when you're retired?

Early playtime with the kitties and a pot of fresh Chocolate Caramel Drizzle coffee made the dreary morning a little more pleasant (for all of us, I think).  Don't remember exactly when I headed out but, the late breakfast hit the spot and the twins had settled in for the usual time of my departure --  probably heard me emptying the ice from the freezer and triggered their disappearance to sleepyville.

I'm sure that I arrived at the beach earlier than the 12:30 starting time for the best fishing but, at least I didn't have to lotion up since the sun was well hidden by the clouds streaming constantly from the south southwest.  I went directly to the spot where I had caught the nice Flounder  a couple days ago and fished for nearly an hour and a half while getting only a couple bites and nothing on my line.  The tide looked lower than usual and I decided to move farther back upstream to fish -- thought of that sandbar where the Osprey came to get fed but, someone else already had taken that spot so, I moved farther on.

I fished for more than another hour and nearly decided to stop and head for the biker bar up the road from the campground to watch the Florida/Georgia game but, I noticed something in the sand near the waters edge and pulled out this beautiful conch shell with its Halloween colors.  Two days late but, it's still the season, right?  This kept me going and soon I had a bite on my deep rod and reeled in a nasty stingray -- didn't exactly get my hopes up but, I focused on the blue sky on the horizon to the west and kept hoping the clouds would push off to the east and let the sun shine down (perhaps energize the fish to start biting).

Shortly thereafter, I reeled in the smaller rig with the idea of checking its bait and then I hooked something in the shallows -- another nice Flounder (17 inches this time).  After I unhooked the Flounder and took its picture, another angler to my left brought in a nice 30-inch plus Redfish so, I headed over to get a look -- pretty fish and a really happy young guy (he had let out a yell like I had a few weeks back).  A few minutes later, I brought in another Blue and threw him in the cooler.  I put my camera in my pocket and hoped another Osprey might show up but, that didn't happen.

What seemed to be a disappointing day of fishing, suddenly had turned to the good.  I even had a few of those finger mullets left for tomorrow.

Feeding the Osprey

Yesterday was a beautiful day on the beach and the fishing was okay -- if you like catching Blues.  Another equipment failure resulted in a fairly nice looking fish to escape my cooler.  I was fishing the same hole short of the sandbar where I caught that nice Flounder the other day and I was using the same rig I had caught him on.  This time, the snap on the end of the mono leader was torn open and the fish splashed out of the water just at the edge of the sandbar and got away with my little finger mullet and the hook.  Of course, it didn't help that I had my big surf casting rod in my right hand tending to some bites on it and it slowed me from getting the smaller rod into my left hand as the pole was being doubled over by the fish.  Just cleaned both reels the evening before and the drag was set loose enough -- I thought.  I checked it twice after the fish got away and still think it should have released some line.

Disappointing at best, and since I was down to just a few Mullet, I decided to put away the big rod and just continued fishing with the smaller rod.  As low tide settled out and the waters became shallower, I decided to move farther off the point and stopped at another exposed sandbar where I walked out to fish from there -- some distance from my Jeep parked on the beach.  Another angler came by attempting to get some Mullet with his casting net but, had no luck.

Soon thereafter, I caught another decent Blue and decided to just throw him up on the sandbar after getting him unhooked rather than taking the time to walk back and throw him in my cooler.  A couple minutes after getting more bait on my hooks, two seagulls popped down on the sandbar a short distance from the flopping Blue.  Then, out of the sky this big Osprey dropped down and planted its talons into the Blue and took off over the water as the seagulls tailed him (probably hoping the Osprey would drop the fish).  I noticed the feather that the Osprey dropped and stuck it into my pocket (didn't have my camera there either).

A short time later, after losing a couple more fish and the rest of my bait, I headed back to the Jeep for some artificial bait (Fish Bites) and brought back another Blue from the cooler -- tossed it onto the sandbar about where I had dropped the other Blue.  A few minutes later, another Osprey dropped out of the sky and buried its talons into the dead Blue and took off with it firmly in its grasp.  As I readied myself to leave, I dug out the two remaining fish in the cooler (one Blue and one Whiting) and deposited them on the sandbar -- saved me from having to clean them and two more meals for the sharp-eyed birds of prey.  Beautiful birds.  Would hate to have them plant those talons in me --  guess they enjoyed the fish.  Maybe they will be looking for me to return today (if only the rain would stop).