Weird and wonderful (?) finds!

  There is a young man that grew up around here that is my "go to" man when I want to know something about fish or fishing or, for that matter, fishing gear.  He knows it all!  Taylor is one of those rare young men that is always eager to help even if it calls for helping a old Bayou Lady.  Now that he has moved to other parts, he tells me to "send pictures of any weird catches" and, so, I do!  I do believe that today's catch might even be a little too weird for him.

  Mark went out fishing early this morning but for some strange reason never got a bite.  He was cruising along the shoreline searching for "runs" of big reds or trout when he came across the most unusual catch of the year.  It seems that not once did he find a redfish or trout but instead saw something stuck in the marsh.  Curiosity got the best of him and that strange item pulled all of his attention away from fishing.  He tugged, pulled and otherwise hoisted his find from beneath the marsh roots.  This thing was STUCK!  

  Finally, he succeeded!  Whump!  A Santa Claus was plopped into the boat!  Yep, he "caught" a Santa Claus!  This was a three foot tall Santa yard decoration.  At one time, the thing obviously had a light attached and a much better paint job but even without all of that, its identity was very apparent.  He headed home and hoisted the thing up onto the pier. When he called me down to examine his "catch", I had to start giggling. Only my husband would tote something like this home for me to photograph!  He is amazing!  Ms. Ez, the Bayou Dog, was not so thrilled with the newcomer on the pier.  She never barks at strangers yet this Santa was enough to send her into a frenzy!  Between her barking and my giggling, Mark never got to fully explain how he came about giving a boat ride to Ole Santa.  It took a while before he could finish his story!  

  Yep, this is probably the weirdest catch that I have ever seen pulled from the Bay but, then again, no one really knows what is under that water or, in this case, in the marsh.  Mark and I figure that this thing has been stuck out there since Hurricane Katrina.  How strange that no one has ever seen it before!  Santa Fish, anyone?