Hardhead Catfish are the bane to most fishermen down here. They are not deemed fit to eat, have sharp, jagged spines and can grab a bait before any other fish gets a chance. Local folks are just not overly fond of the fish. So? Why did I rescue one? Well, why not? The poor fish deserves a chance at life just as much any other critter.
The tale actually started yesterday when Son noticed a rather large catfish swimming in (what we call) the cut. This is a small inlet that fills with high tide and empties with low. When the tide in the Bay falls, the inlet becomes nothing more than mudflats. It was high tide when the fish was noticed. It had followed a school of little mullet down the long chute from the main bayou but then seemed to get lost in the tide pool. Somehow, the fish survived low tide...probably by burying itself in the soft mud. If it wallowed out a large enough space, perhaps the water seeped in. It is amazing that a coon, fox or otter did not find the hapless fish and make supper of it. This fish did survive. Today round noon, I emptied some crab shells into the cut for the bull minnows and noticed our catfish becoming stuck again as the tide was falling. It had not found its way back through the chute to the main bayou. Ok..so I felt really sorry for the fish. It looked forlorn as it slowly pushed its way to an even shallower place. I think it had just given up hope and was preparing to die.
Nope! Not going to happen as long as I had a scoop net! I called Son and he came to help me rescue a catfish! Between the two of us, we managed to shove the fish from the opposite side of the tide pool to be within reach of my scoop net. Son pushed with a long pole and I stretched as far as I dared over the marsh. I did not wish to topple into that mud! Finally, the fish was in my net!! Success!! Almost. Ugh! I tried releasing the fish but could not. Being a catfish with those serrated horns, it became stuck in the net! It took another couple of minutes of me holding the large catfish and telling it that we were trying to help and Son carefully trying to undo the net. Finally! The fish was released into the water at the end of the pier! Away it swam giving us hope that it was going to survive after all it had experienced! It sure gave Son and me a grand feeling.
Have you ever noticed how critters seem to fully appreciate even the tiniest act of kindness? Without words, they can let you know that your actions mean the world to them. Today was the sort of day that all things went well and it was topped off with a show of gratitude that brought smiles to the face.
Mark and I had a busy day so late in the afternoon, we called it quits and headed to the pier. The fishing poles had sat idle long enough and we needed to put them back into action. The Bay was teeming with menhaden which is our favorite bait fish. Those shiners really can lure the fish to bite. We settled in with our baited lines to await the first nibble but it was not long before I was feeding our bait to a different critter! A Great Blue Heron came to visit us and the poor thing looked so hungry! This was a young bird that obviously had not mastered the art of fishing as well as it should have so it had taken to begging for a handout now and again. I was ready to oblige the bird and tossed it a nice sized menhaden.
At first the bird was hesitant to accept the fish. It was a bit skittish of the two humans sitting on the pier even though one was willing to supply its supper. After a bit of coaxing on my part the bird eased up closer to snag its fish. Another fish was tossed and the bird was quicker on the take. After six more fish, the heron would dart in to grab its fish with no qualms whatsoever. After a couple more fish, the bird did a happy dance to show its gratitude for the handout. Mark made the comment that I had made a new friend and I thought "Yep, and it will be back for more of our bait!" I guess we had better catch twice as much as we need if I plan on feeding this fine, feathered friend each day!
