Last week marked my 43rd year on this rock. I celebrated by taking the day off from work, loading up my kayak, and drowning 4 dozen shrimp, one by one in an effort to catch some fish. I was hoping for some sheepshead,  a dear favorite of mine, but in sticking to my Hillbilly ways, I’d probably keep and eat ALMOST anything I caught. (Even I have standards)

My kayak is an Ocean Kayak Prowler 13, a 13 foot (duh!) kayak designed for cruising, fishing and it even does well for scuba diving. It’s an older model with some things they’ve since improved, but being frugal, I’ll probably never upgrade to a newer model. Even with its few shortcomings, it mostly just works. I can’t complain about that…..

I have a favorite spot to launch, at Indian Riverside Park on the south side of the property. This gives me access to a certain abandoned concrete dock and/or boathouse (its really hard to tell after all these years) within a few minutes paddling. Far enough away from everything (and everyone) to be peaceful, yet close enough to the real world, that I can yell for help, or even wade ashore, if needed. Solo trips are not something to take lightly, I AM a paranoid, remember…

I got on the water with minimal incident, though I quickly realized how longs it had been since my last trip out. Muscles long unused, and various little items I’d forgotten to bring along (like a life preserver?!?!?!? wtF?) were all foremost in my mind as I tied off to my favorite concrete stub of a piling. Next time I’ll be better prepared…

I watched as several snook swam away, then realized just how many mullet were all around me. I should catch some for canning….

My fishing rig consisted of a spinning real with 50lb braided line for abrasion resistance, a single split shot, and a circle hook. Head hooking the shrimp, I cast into what at one time was a concrete wall, but was now only a pile of submerged rubble…and commenced converting shrimp into mangrove snapper.

I then proceeded to catch snapper after snapper, most being under sized. As I watched my bait bucket become more and more roomy for what remained of my bait, I was please d to see my stringer getting more than enough legal fish to make the trip worthwhile in a food-collection sort of way -I took them home and made ceviche’.

Life is GOOD!

db