What a Battle!

  Since the heavy rains last week, fishing has been poor on the Bayou.  Fresh water has come barreling down through the rivers and creeks to make our normally salty or brackish water unusually fresh.  This has pushed our salt-loving fish out to deeper waters and left us with things like bass, shellcrackers and perch. While those will do in a pinch, I am spoiled by the flavor of saltwater fish.  Freshwater fish just do not taste right.  

  Today, all that changed and our fish came back.  After a few tide changes, we are back in business!  The fish are biting and the Bay is filled with little mullet to use as bait.  Early this afternoon, my friend, Darlene, came to visit and, as usual, we wound up on the pier. While she piddled around catching small croakers, I decided to go after the big fish.  A six inch long mullet was chosen as a bait and I tossed the line out far from the pier.  First bite and I had a 17 inch long speckled trout.  Nice!  This was going to be a good day!  I baited the hook with another six inch long mullet and tossed the line again.  It wasn't long before the line started zipping out.  I set the hook and immediately could tell that this was a huge fish.  "Here", I told Darlene, "Catch this fish."  She argued a bit but I shoved the pole at her.  "Yeah, right!  You want me to reel in your catfish." she said before even taking the pole.  At that point the line started singing as it was being pulled out.  The drag on the reel was not even slowing down this fish.  "Hold the pole up!" I told her.  "Get the fish on the top of the water!"  By experience, I knew that if she let that fish stay deep, she would never be able to land it.  

  It was a good thirty minute battle between my friend and the huge fish.  I knew she had a gigantic red drum but I did not know just how big it really was.  Just as I thought she was going to give out and grow too tired to reel any longer, the fish came to the top.  "Its a redfish!!!" she yelled as her strength was renewed.  "Yup." I agreed while I was photographing her battle.  Then came time to land the fish.  Scooping that thing in the net was a problem and it was a greater ordeal to get him up on the pier but we did.  Now to measure.....44 inches!!!!!  That was one big bull red!  I heard a thump and looked over to see Darlene flat on her back!  Side by side, Darlene and the fish laid on the pier.  Both were exhausted!  She had her fish and the big grin on her face proved that she had won the battle.

42 Pounds and a Good Friend

  Every year, my husband drives to Alabama to purchase 100 pounds of pecans.  These are in-shell but cracked.  We give a good many of the pecans as gifts to friends and coworkers but the remainder is mine to do with as I see fit.  Since I bake a lot, the nuts come in mighty handy!  This year, "mine" came out to be just about 42 pounds.  That is a lot of pecans to shell by yourself!  Thank goodness, my good friend came to help.  Darlene had gotten ten pounds of pecans so we shelled hers first then set to work on the ones that I was to keep. She has been doing this for the past couple of years and it sure saves me a lot of work.  Shelling 42 pounds of pecans by yourself is a tedious task.  With her here, we did it in a record time of about 3 hours!!  Of course, in that 3 hours we also took a couple of coffee breaks (Well, I did. She had lemonade.), did a lot of talking and an equal amount of laughing.  The time flew by and we were almost sad to see the box get empty.

  After shelling that many pecans, it is only natural for me to bake.  Son put in a request for the Pecan Tassies (recipe included in "Cooking on the Bayou" page on this blog) so...Pecan Tassies it was.  This is the second batch of these tasty treats that I have made this season.  He loves them, as does just about everyone who tastes the treats.  Since Darlene had helped with the pecan shelling and baking, she took a good many tassies home with her.  Her son loves them just about as much as mine does.  The rest of the pecans were air-dried, bagged and stuck in the freezer for future baking.

  Pecans are one of those so-called "super" foods that can lead to a healthier body.  With their high protein and "good" fats, they are a great alternative to meat.  Personally, since I am a pesco-vegetarian, I am always on the lookout for meat substitutes.   Meat seems to not agree with me in so many ways physically, that I have totally given up trying to eat it.  (Seafood is a different story, though!)  Eating tree nuts provides a tasty alternative.  These pecans are my healthy choice! (As long as I do not eat too many tassies!)

  

More than one way....

  Back in the day, Pop would use some rather comical phrases when explaining something.  One that sticks out as quite odd is "There is more than one way to skin a cat."  I could never figure this one as Pop never skinned a cat in the first place so how in the world would he know more than one way.  Why not "More than one way to skin a hog....or deer....or steer....or rabbit...or squirrel...or even a frog"?  Those he skinned...we all did as part of work on the farm but skinning a cat...nope.  Never wanted to do that.  Cats were valuable workers on the farm and we could not afford to lose one.  So, I figure Pop must have heard this phrase as a kid and it stuck....just like me as the phrase pops out of my mouth as often as not.

  This afternoon, my friend came to the Bayou for a bit of "fishing therapy".  That is something that is good for what ails you.  (Another of Pop's favorite idioms.  He was good at throwing them out there when needed.)  My friend and I headed to the pier after doing some baking. After tossing out several lines, we sat back to have a bit of conversation.  It was not long before she got a nibble or what she refers to as a "tink".  "A tink", she explained to me, "is not a full bite but just an aggravating nibble."  She and the tinker played a game of cat and mouse for a while before she reared back and got the fellow.  "Aha!  I got you now, you little tinker mug!"  (So, now the fish graduated from being a tinker to being a tinker mug!)  Darlene played her fish well and brought up a stingray.  This is where that "more than one way" came into play.  She had not hooked her fish in the normal way via the mouth.  Somehow, she had snagged the fish in the pectoral fin that runs down along the edge of the fish.  The hook was nowhere near the mouth!  I guess there really is more than one way to skin a cat...catch a stingray!

  Once we unhooked the stingray, I noticed something poking out of its mouth.  Aww, poor thing!  That stingray had already been hooked before Darlene snagged it.  The fish had a hook embedded deep down in its gut from some previous fisherman.  There was no way that I could retrieve the hook without doing major damage to the fish so I just scooted him back into the water.  I sure hope the other fisherman had used the same kind of hooks that we use. We use hooks that rust to pieces in a matter of days so that if something like this happens, the fish does not suffer long.  Poor stingray!

Twice the Therapy

  Sometimes folks come to the Bayou to escape the hassles of the "outside" world.  When things get a bit hectic or stressful, they can escape to the relative peacefulness of the Bayou and leave the mess behind. Most want to sit on the pier and cast a line regardless of whether the fish are biting.  I do not mind as I fully understand.  The Bayou is my little bit of paradise even if there are those who disagree.  Sure, the place may seem a bit rough around the edges and not at all "livable" to those not accustomed to this life but that, in itself, suits me fine, as well.  It sort of weeds out those who do not need to be here.  The life isn't for everybody and I will be the first to say it is not.  It is perfect for me, though.  I love it here...rough edges and all.

  Today, a friend was in need of a little Bayou Therapy.  She has been having a rough month and was not feeling too well.  She was stressed, exhausted and just needing some good old peace.  As she walked down the pier, she said she could just feel things being lifted from her.  We chatted a bit, fished a bit and then Mr. PJ worked his magic.  The old dog must have somehow felt that she needed a bit of attention.  He rose, ambled over to Darlene and lifted his head.  She started petting him and cooing to him.  Another stress instantly left her.  Come to find out, she had been missing the two dogs that were with her for the past few years.  Her daughter moved out of state and took the dogs with her.  Mr. PJ was just what Darlene needed.  

  Not only did the Bayou work its magic but Mr. PJ worked his as well.  After catching a few fish, loving on the old dog and then having a fish dinner cooked up for her, Darlene left the Bayou in much better spirits.  She promised to come back for a second therapy session this weekend and I am sure that Mr. PJ will be so willing to apply a bit of his charm to go along with that of the Bayou.  Nice!

A Little Old Time Technology!

  Occasionally, you just have to throw modern technology out the window and enjoy some good old fashioned methods.   While I have nothing against moving forward, sometimes moving backwards is a step in the right direction.  It gives us a break from everything that is bombarding us from all angles.  This afternoon, my friend came to visit the Bayou again.   The first words out of her mouth were  "Lets go fishing!"   I am always up for this so we headed to the pier with two brand new rods and reels.  Mark was too sweet to think of us by purchasing the new poles and new scoop net.  Of course he had an ulterior motive as we promised to catch a few crabs for him.  I had an idea!  Before we headed to the pier, I grabbed a ball of new, nylon builders' twine, some huge hooks and a few sinkers.  Darlene looked at me a bit strangely but never said a word.  She knows by now that nothing remains the same here and always expects the unexpected.  


  Once on the pier, I rigged the new poles and caught a few little mullet to use as bait.  "Here catch some catfish." I told her.   Once again, she eyed me suspiciously.  "Why?"  I informed her that we needed bait for our hand lines.  She shook her head and took a pole while I set to work on our hand lines.  A couple of minutes later, she had a catfish and I had the lines ready.  I cut a slice from the catfish and hooked it onto one line.  It was tied to one of the posts and tossed over.  This was repeated with three other lines but on the fifth line, she wanted to hook an entire fish so the mangled fish was used as bait.   We continued fishing with the poles but now had five hand lines tied to the posts.  "Just watch the lines and if you see the string move, you will have a bite."

  Nothing happened for the longest time.  Then one line started going out at a rather fast speed for a crab.  She pulled on the line and the unthinkable happened.  Yep, there was a crab but a humongous fish came out of the water and grabbed the bait.  It happened so fast that the fish was gone before we could do anything.  Then about an hour later, it happened again.  Our "crab" hand lines were getting better bites than our poles!  

  Sometime later, we had the brilliant idea to head to the Little Bayou House for a snack.  Mark had gotten a watermelon and that thing was just calling to us!  Before leaving we baited each hand line and made sure they were tightly affixed to the posts.  We figured that if something did bite, it would hook itself and do the work for us.  Our watermelon break took less than twenty minutes but when we returned to the pier, one line was stretched but empty.  three were right where we left them but the fifth had no bait but no hook either!  Something huge had broken that line!  (For those who do not know, builders' twine is nigh on unbreakable!)  She was so disappointed.  We waited for about another ten minutes.  Darkness was settling in around us so up came the lines one by one.  We carefully removed the bait and coiled the lines.  These would be used again.  Darlene picked up the last line and squealed!  "I got him!!!"  I turned in time to see her battling a monster!

  Since the line was a mere fifteen feet long, it took only a few moments before the fish was on the pier.  Uh, oh.  It was a gigantic stingray!  That thing had a four inch barb on its tail!  This was not the fish that had been biting on the lines earlier but at least she got a good pull!  AND we did catch a crab...one crab...but still a crab.  If the fish would have left the bait alone, I am sure many more fat crabs would have been in our bucket but, hey, who cares?  We were having fun with a bit of "new-fangled OLD technology"!  Who needs fishing poles anyway?  

Pizza....Garden Style!

  Once again, my friend sought out the peace that only the Bayou can bring.  "Can I come to the Bayou?  I need a little Bayou Therapy." she said when she called.  Sure, come on over.  All afternoon, we fished and she spilled her feelings.  The Bayou seems to be the ideal place to throw things out there, mull them over and then put them back in a decent order.  

  Long about 6 o'clock in the evening, I felt a hunger pang and decided that fishing needed to cease for a while.  I was hungry!  But...I had forgotten to thaw anything from the freezer.  Well, we would just have to make do with what was on hand.  As we wandered back up the board path from the pier, an idea hit me.  Pizza!  We would make pizza!  Darlene looked a tad confused.  "I thought you can't eat meat.  How are we going to make pizza?"  Easy enough!  We would make a garden pizza!  She looked at me a bit dubiously and shrugged her shoulders.  My friend is not one that experiments in the kitchen much....I do.   So, I grabbed tomatoes, onions, fresh basil and fresh oregano from the garden and set her to work chopping.  After the pizza dough was spread on the pan and lightly baked, I started layering on the veggies and herbs.  "No sauce?" she queried.  Nope.  No sauce.  Once again, I caught her with a puzzled look on her face.  After assuring her that it would be tasty, we added seasoning and loaded on mozzerella cheese!  The pizza was popped back into the oven for about 15 minutes.  Oh, my goodness!  The kitchen started smelling delightful and Darlene's expression started to change from doubtful to eager.

  Once our supper was on the table and we gave thanks, the sampling began.  Yep, that was one tasty pizza!  In fact, we almost did not get a picture of creation!  It was disappearing fast!  Fresh garden style pizza....that is supper!  Yum!  Good friends, good food....doesn't get much better!

A Little "Bayou Peace"

  Recently, a friend came to the Bayou wanting a bit of "peace".  She proclaimed that the Little Bayou House is her "happy place"...a place where life can be lived without stress.  While a few find the place not to their liking, most find it as a refuge.  To my way of thinking, if you cannot find serenity here, then the problem lies within you not with your surroundings.  

  Of course, after being here for a few hours, we wound up on the pier.  Fishing is always a good stress reliever!   Even though the weather was trying its best to throw a kink in our plans with high winds, we managed to get bait and even catch a few fish. Just as we were about to call it a day, she hooked into a regular "fighting fish".  This delighted her to no end.  The fish pulled on that drag and darted this way and that.  It hit the water's surface then dove down deep.  First, a major rush out to deeper water then a sharp turn to shore.  As a last resort, the fish headed under the pier.  Knowing that the line would most likely be cut on the barnacles that coat the pier posts, I told her to steer it out again.  She did and after a good fight, Darlene pulled the tired fish to the surface.  A loud "Whoop!  Look what I caught!!" burst forth.  Yep, she had a doozy!  The fighter turned out to be a small gar.  I grabbed the line and flipped the fish onto the pier.  

  After a few photographs documenting her catch, I set the camera down, grabbed the knife and turned to cut the line.  At that moment, the gar gave one last thrash and did its own cutting.  It laid loose on the pier.  Well, that made it easier!  I picked up the gar and tossed him back into the water.  Like a torpedo, the gar shot southward to deeper water.  I guess he was glad to be away from these two crazy ladies!

  With the fishing trip successful, my friend and I headed back to the Little Bayou House.  "I like it here.  It is so calming.  When I am here, my troubles all disappear." she murmured as she wandered from room to room.  Yep...my thoughts exactly.  If you cannot find peace and happiness at the Little Bayou House, then you do indeed have deep-seated problems.