Brave Little Turtle!

   Life is far too fragile and precious for any of us to not lend a helping hand when any creature is in need.  It saddens me to know there are those who refuse to rescue critters.  I, for one, have no problem "diving right in" to help.  Although, in this case, the diving part was not needed.  The rescue was needed, however.

  Mark has some crab traps at the end of the pier.  He faithfully baits these things and waits.  The otters faithfully eat the bait while that waiting is done.  Consequently, not many crabs are enticed into the traps.  Other critters are, at times.  This morning, a hapless turtle had made its way into the trap.  While I am not up on my turtle identifications, Pop always called these "Cooters" so the name stuck...Cooter it is. The little turtle was about the size of my hand and was as calm as any "stranded" animal could possibly be.  Mark wanted to just dump the poor critter onto the pier but I insisted on being a tad more gentle.  The crawler (open spot) in the crab trap was large enough for me to poke my arm inside.  The turtle looked a bit uneasy at the approaching hand but I think it realized I was there to help.  It gave no struggle as I lifted it from the trap and sat it on the pier.  Wow!  It was a pretty, little thing!  After a few moments and a couple of photographs, I slid the turtle back into the water so it could go on its merry way.

  I often wonder what the wild critters think when I am rescuing them.  Do they truly understand that this huge creature (me) is just trying to help or do they go into panic mode and purely freeze on instinct?  I like to think they are familiar enough with me that they understand there is no need to fear my helping hand.  Folks, be kind to all critters.  Sometimes, they need a helping hand just as we do. Just be kind.

Lessons From The Bayou

  It is a rare time that the pier is not in constant use to catch food for the folks of the Little Bayou House and those who come to visit.  Lately, however, the weather has not be considerate enough to allow much fishing.  If there is not a stiff north wind blowing the tide far out from the pier, clouds cover the sky and rains empty upon the Bayou.  Thankfully, during better weather, we stockpile enough fish, shrimp and crabs to tide us over through inclement weather.  

  Today was one of those rainy days.  Although predicted, there were no torrential downpours but a drizzly rain kept me indoors most of the day.  A quick trip to the pier now and again was all that was in order.  On one such trip, a thought entered the mind.  How sad that the crab traps sit empty on the pier even though crabs were wandering about in search of an easy meal.  The crab traps can sit through rain without us having to tend them so it would seemingly be an ideal situation.  Nope...that north wind will leave them high and dry.   If this happens, any crabs inside would surely die and I am not about to let that happen.  There are strict rules regarding things like this.  Around here, if you kill something, you had better make use of it in some way.  

  The thought about the crabs and not killing things evoked a memory from years ago.  A trio of teenagers came to the Bayou to visit Son.  As usual, they wound up on the pier fishing.  I was happy to supply fishing gear, bait and time.  Son came back to the house after a bit to do some chores and left his friends on the pier.  A couple of hours later, I meandered down to check their catch.  The three fellows proudly showed me an ice chest with about two dozen croakers in it.  "Wow!  That is great!" I exclaimed "You will eat good tonight!"  All three boys looked at me in astonishment.  "Oh, we were not going to eat them...just catch them."  Huh?  Not happening, my friends!  I quickly reminded them of the rules of the pier that they agreed to follow and told them that they would, indeed, clean those fish and eat them.  "We cannot.  We do not know how to clean fish." a chorus of voices followed my statement.  Needless to say, those three were quickly plied with fillet knives and a lesson on cleaning fish.  Once they managed to chop (literally) their way through the fish, they were mighty proud but then asked me what should they do with the fish since their moms would not cook them.  "Fry them yourselves." I said.  Well, that seemed to present another problem because nary a one of these teenagers knew a thing about cooking.  I was appalled, to say the least, and immediately told them that a cooking lesson was in order.  "Up to the house, boys. You are going to cook your first meal."

  That said, we all headed to the kitchen where I showed them how to wash their fish, prepare the seasoning, heat the oil and fry fish.  Son came in to help with teaching his buddies on preparing a few side dishes to go along with their catch.  Afterward, we all sat down to a hearty meal and some happy conversation.  The boys were proud of their accomplishments that day and needless to say, they never wasted another fish from that point.  When any of them come back "home", they are quick to remind me of that day and how they learned a lot of lessons from coming to the Bayou.

It has been a while....

  The Bayou and surrounding Back Bay offer a variety of creatures to observe.  Most are the usual fish, alligators and birds.  Occasionally, however, something is seen that either gives you a case of jitters or causes you to stop and ponder.  That was the case today.  Not so much the jitters but the pondering was sure set into motion. Mark and I had just started our morning routine of fishing for lunch when I decided to check the crab pots.  We were not really interested in catching a lot of crabs but Mark had a hankering for a few soft shells.  If you keep  a single crab in the trap long enough and overfeed it, the crab will shed and become the delicacy that he wanted.  I knew we had two crabs in the pot but was hoping to find one of them had shed during the night.  Hopefully, the other crab had not cannibalized the soft one as they are prone to do.

  When I pulled on the rope that held the pot, I was not ready for the weight that I encountered.  Ugh!  We either had a turtle or lots of crabs!  I hoisted the crab pot up on the pier only to find that I had neither.  Inside the trap was a wiggly eel!  Wow!  That was one FAT eel!  It took me a moment to realize that the eel had gotten into the trap to eat my soft shell crab!  No wonder that fellow was so fat!  It does not pay to be greedy!

  Now that the eel had eaten an entire crab, it had gotten itself into a fine fix.  Going into the trap was easy.  The eel had slipped right through the wire mesh to dine upon my crab.  Going out afterward proved to be the problem. The now fat belly of the eel prevented it from making a quick escape! It was stuck!  Well, I surely was not going to grab hold to that slimy, wiggly eel!  It took me a while to unhook the crawler door and shake the eel out onto the pier so the critter was a bit exhausted after its ordeal!  Silly eel!

  It has been a while since I have seen an eel.  Back when I was a kid fishing this area with my cousin, we regularly caught the critters on our fishing poles.  My cousin and I used to hate when we pulled one out of the water.  Being six year old girls, we were not about to unhook that thing!  (Yes, we were allowed to go fishing by ourselves back in the day.)  Since we did not have replacement hooks, we came up with a removal method that worked for us but probably was a bit uncomfortable for the poor eel.  We would slide the fishing line between the pier boards with the eel under the pier.  Then....we would pull up on the line as hard as we could to literally rip the hook from the eels mouth.  Sometimes, the eel suffered a tear but I never remember hurting one to the point that it went belly up on us.  Goodness, how things can bring back memories!  Like I said...it has been a while...and I still do not like them.

A New Generation of Thieves!

  For the past few years, we have had numerous critters stealing our crab bait.  For a while it seemed that the otters were doing the best job at the thievery but then the alligator came along and beat their best efforts.  The turtles added their jaws to the job and our traps took a beating.  Mark constructed new traps and improved the bait boxes. That solved the problem for a short bit but, then, our bait started disappearing again.  My word! What are we going to have to do to get a few crabs?

  Early this morning, Mark and I were on the pier enjoying a mug of coffee.  There is just something rather nice about this bit of calmness before the hectic day starts.  While we were sitting staring at the water, I noticed Ms. Ez's ears flick.  She heard something!  Not a lot gets by that old dog.  I turned just in time to see a large "break" in the water between us and the shoreline.  Wow!  That was a huge fish!  I was just about ready to tell Mark to get the fishing poles ready when I saw bubbles..lots of bubbles.  Bubbles making a beeline for one of the crab traps.  Uh oh!  I knew in an instant just what made that splash!

  
  Sure enough, the rope attached to the trap started to wiggle. Something...some critter...namely an otter was raiding the trap.  This guy was quite nervy!  We were sitting on the pier with a large dog and, yet, the otter thought breakfast should be served.  Hmmph!  I don't think so.  I eased close to the edge of the pier and gazed down into the murky water.  Aha!  I saw the otter's tail just beneath the surface...then lots more bubbles.  In just a matter of seconds, a head popped up right under the edge of the pier.  There was the little rascal!  

  This was one of the young pups that were born earlier this year. Obviously, Mama Otter had trained her little ones the fine art of stealing the crab bait and the little guy was just following her lead.  Still, I was amazed at how brazen the otter was.  The head bobbed back beneath the water and the trail of bubbles headed for the next trap!  Oh, my goodness!  At this rate, I will never get any crabs!  What can be done about an adorable otter youngster that wants breakfast at the expense of my crab traps?

A New Face!

  Mark and I headed to the pier late yesterday evening.  It had been a hot, tiring day of shed-building and we needed a little rest and relaxation.  A bit of fishing would suit the bill just fine.  Earlier in the day, he had emptied the crab traps of their dozen or so fat crabs and noticed that there was still plenty of bait but we would soon have to refill them if we wanted to continue to get crabs.  We were in hopes of catching a few catfish to use as bait and perhaps a redfish or flounder for the next day's lunch.  When we pulled up the crab traps once again, they were all torn open.  Hmmm? Something was definitely amiss here!  The trap doors were closed once again and we started our fishing.  Mark caught a huge flounder but that was the only bite we got the whole evening.  Still it was interesting.

  Just about dark, I noticed a small blob out on the water.  It seemed to be getting closer and closer as the sun started to set.  I knew that "blob"! That was a gator!  I had been missing Big Mama and the youngster from last year but this one seemed a lot smaller.  This was surely not Big Mama and not even the eight footer that had been hanging about the pier.  This was a new face..one I did not recognize!  We watched for a bit as the little rascal drew near the pier.  We knew all to well what that little fellow wanted!  He was the culprit that had left the crab traps in such a mangled condition!  The bait was too much of a temptation for the gator.  

  Mark came to the conclusion that he was going to have to find stronger wire to make new traps.  The standard coated wire was just not gator-proof.  It seems that every summer we spend a good deal of time and effort to outwit the critters of the Bayou.  Our efforts seem to be in vain, though, as the critters always manage to feed upon our bait.  They are just a bit too wily or perhaps a bit too strong.  It is a battle of the wits with the critters winning at this point.  Given time,  I am quite sure that Mark will come up with a sturdy trap that can withstand the otters' cleverness and the gators' strength.  Until then, I will just sit back and enjoy the company of the gators, otters and any other critters that wish to pay me a visit!

See ya later, Alligator!

   For the past few years, our crab traps have been robbed of their bait on almost a nightly basis.  At first, we blamed the otters.  These likable critters have the smarts to unhook most any latch that they encounter. We figured that the otters had taken a liking to our crab bait and found it an easy meal.  Not that I mind sharing a bit of bait with them but without bait, I would catch no crabs.  That made me unhappy indeed!  Then the blame moved on to the snapping turtles that seemed to find the crab traps a delightful perch on which to spend the day.  I admit that I was more prone to blame the snapping turtles since they are not so cute and comical.  They have a tendency to have a foul temper and do have strong jaws that can rip into the traps.  I had noticed that the bait doors were not simply unlatched they were removed!  Turtles...definitely turtles were damaging the traps and stealing the bait!  Then one morning as I sat watching the sunrise, the true culprit ventured under the pier.  An eight foot long alligator decided that the chicken legs that Mark used as bait the previous evening, smelled mighty fine. I watched as the gator slipped under the pier, chomped down on the trap mangling it and then removing the bait.  Chicken parts were floating everywhere making the gator extremely happy and making me extremely unhappy!  I apologized to the otters and turtles and started blaming the gators!  There was not a lot we could do about the gator stealing the bait as it actually would rip the wire.  The traps were more or less rendered unusable.

  This week, I noticed a few crabs crawling about under the pier.  Mark set about devising a new bait door for the traps.  It had to be tough enough for the gator to at least have some trouble breaking it yet simple enough to open so we could stuff the bait in the box without difficulty.  He pondered a bit and then headed off to the building supply place for parts.  This morning, he toted all six traps back to the pier.   He had rigged up a grand door for each trap using a piece of steel sheeting and some rods.  This should work!  Yep, now my traps may be able to capture a few crabs instead of sitting baitless under the pier.  

  We shall raid the freezer tomorrow in search of possible crab bait. Since crabs are not particularly nit-picky about their diet, it should be relatively easy to find enough chicken or fish to bait the traps.  Then we shall sit back and wait.  I will sit observing the gators as they attempt to filch their breakfast.  Hopefully, the steel plates will hold and nary a bait will be lost to the would-be robbers.  Hopefully, I will get enough crabs this summer to replenish the freezer.  See ya later, Alligator!  Go elsewhere for your breakfast!  This cafe is closed!  (I hope!)

Self-baiting Crab Traps!

Every day, I head to the pier to bait up my crab traps.  More oft than not, I have to catch a few catfish to use as bait.  These are the Hardhead Catfish that hang around the pier.  They are not desirable as a food fish and have a tendency to  make a nuisance of themselves so I have no qualms about making bait out of them.  Most of the old-timers around here (me, included) will tell you that they are a "dime a dozen" since they are so plentiful.  Lately, however, I have been so busy that fishing was out of the question.  Yesterday, I planned on just grabbing a bag of bait from the freezer.  When Mark is home, he will catch mullet by the hundreds and bags some for me to use as crab bait.  As I rummaged through the freezer, I came across some ham.  Ugh!  That stuff seemed terrible!  It was so freezer burned and..well..nasty!  I really must clean that freezer!  Into the bucket went the ham!  That and a bag of mullet remnants would become crab bait for the day!  I headed to the pier and filled the traps..three of them received a helping of ham, while three had mullet.

Today when I went to check the traps,  I found that I had eighteen nice, fat crabs!  Every trap had crabs in it but three had extra surprises in them! As I pulled on the outer three traps, I was sure that they were filled with crabs!  Those traps were extremely heavy and something had them flopping around like crazy!  When I finally got the contraptions up on the pier I was amazed to see that there were five nice-sized catfish in with the crabs! The three ham-baited traps had caught catfish! Well, that was a happy incident!  Self-baiting crab traps are always nice!  I made a mental note of the fact that catfish seem to like to eat ham!  This could come in handy if I ever run short of fish bait.  The catfish are not too good to eat but make the best crab bait and I really like crabs!  I suppose this is a story of "trading  up".  Something that would have normally wound up as trash was turned into something useful.  Freezer burned ham turned into fish bait for non-edible fish which turned into crab bait for delicious Blue Crabs!  I do believe that was a happy turn of events!

Setting the Trap!

I have been itching to do something since the weather first showed the sure signs of spring.  On the Bay, there are plenty of indications that I should be out fishing and crabbing!  Minnows abound and I can see mullet leaping happily as if they had not a care in the world.  Another one jumping about is the flounder!  When bait is plentiful, it is not uncommon to see a flounder jump clear out of the water!  Several have been spotted near the pier and I do believe they are calling my name!  I want to go fishing!  I want to go crabbing!  If the fish are here, then the crabs are here.  That means I should have my crab pots out and baited but there has been just one problem..no decent traps!  My traps or pots, as they are locally called, are in a mess!  The otters, turtles and, most likely, the alligators have demolished the pots until they are unusable.  The lack of traps has made me sad as I know there are crabs just crawling around out there!  I could be filling my freezer with the finest of all meats!

Today, Mark took pity on my plight and rolled out the wire.  He cut, spliced, seamed, clipped and wired together a few pots before a thunderstorm chased him inside.  I had no idea that the man even knew how to make these things but he was out there whipping out pot after pot!  The first thing he did was to create a table from old sawhorses and plywood.  On this, a bit of finagling was done to make a rack for a huge roll of mesh wire.  Not any old wire would work in the making of the crab pots as the salt water would take its toll on any that was not coated with some sort of plastic protective covering.  The mesh wire was unrolled over several "marking" slats and cut to the perfect size and shape.  Each piece was then bent into form and clipped together with wire "staples".  A nice box with an inner "shelf" soon was created.  Now to cut in the "crawlers".  Crawlers are the openings or doors that let the crab enter the trap.  Once those were cut, a funnel-shaped "hallway" (for lack of a better word) was made out of more mesh.  Then a bait box was added with a handy opening or flap for filling.  Ta-da!  I have a crab pot!  All that was needed was a latch on the opening (for removal of the crabs) and a rope to attach the trap to the pier post!  I was in business again!  My freezer can be filled to the brim with fresh seafood!

Since Mark made my crab pots today, we have decided that tomorrow morning would be a good time to set the traps and also do a bit of fishing.  Not only will any fish caught provide us with lunch, the ummm...discards from cleaning them will make nice bait for the traps.  Nothing goes to waste here on the Bayou..we use everything!  Next, Mark has promised to make me a few boxes for soft-shelling!  These are individual traps that will float from the side of the pier.  Each will hold a single crab that will be heavily fed until it sheds it shell.  After a good cleaning, the critter will become a delectable treat for our table!  Mark loves these fried and made into a sandwich with tartar sauce, lettuce and tomato!

A Time for Everything

There is a time and place for everything..sometimes it is just hard to distinguish just when and where that is. On the Bayou today, it was a time to quit. When I was on the pier this afternoon, it became quite apparent that crabbing season was finished. This made me sad as I have not gotten many of the blue crabs for our freezer this year. The season came and went without me ever getting even one nice bucketful. The season ending actually has nothing to do with the lack of crabs...they are still there swimming around under the pier. I almost felt as if I heard them snickering at me as I pulled up the traps. They knew they had won this season! They were the victors! The whole reason that the crabbing season has ended is OTTERS! Those cute, little, playful critters that I love so much! Well, they have not been playing nicely this summer! They were quite the menace to my crab traps!

There are at any given time, six crab traps tied to the pier posts during the summer months. These crab "pots" as they are called stay tied there catching crabs all season unlike the sweet, little nets that some folks use. I go for the "big daddies" of the traps! I want crabs..not "a" crab! These traps are made of heavy gauge wire and are baited with "scrap" fish or the yucky stuff leftover after cleaning edible fish. All of the nasty parts are stuffed in the bait box of the trap (nothing goes to waste here on the Bayou!). The trap is then tossed back into the water in hopes that some hungry crabs will amble in to dine.

This summer, however, my pots were raided on a nightly basis. At first, I was blaming the huge snapping turtles. I did this since several times I found them resting on top of my traps!...and...I did catch one ugly fellow inside munching on a crab! But then...the alligators were always hanging around the pier and they would not hesitate to make a meal out of any discarded fish. They are opportunists that will steal just as soon as hunt. My traps were like "sitting ducks" out there with no one to guard them! Then one morning..I spied the culprit and that culprit was not one but several! A family of otters were helping themselves to my crab bait and make shambles of the traps!

The crab pots have seen better days. There is no way a crab would be caught in a trap that has huge holes ripped in the sides! They could just walk in one side and right on out the other! The otters must be tremendously strong as they merely shredded the heavy gauge wire in their efforts to free the crabs....er....get my bait!

I sadly pulled the crab pots out of the water. Son will haul them back to the yard so we can discard of them safely. Too many (not-so-smart) crabbers will just cut the ropes and leave the traps in the water. This causes so many problems as fish, crabs, turtles, diving birds and yes, even the otters could become trapped inside and die. Our traps will be dismantled so no land animals can become snared in them, either. Hopefully,before next summer, some new crab pots will find their way to the Little Bayou House. In the meantime, what little crab meat that I have in the freezer will be saved for special occasions....and the crabs in the Bay shall snicker all they want!