The Weirdness Continues!

   With the drought still upon us (16wks with no rain), the salinity in the Bay and Bayou has vastly changed.  With that change, there has been a huge change in the critters, as well.  All of our brackish water creatures have gone farther up into the rivers leaving the saltiness behind.  Now, fish and sea creatures from the Gulf of Mexico are converging into our area.  This makes for some interesting fishing.  The Bay and Bayou are still filled with life...just of a different ilk.

  This morning, Mark and I headed back to the pier in hopes of catching enough fish for lunch.  Today, that was easy.  As I was throwing the net, I caught some nice mullet and a few shrimp.  Seafood is always welcome as a meal!  Then, I had to turn the net over to him simply because I caught something "interesting".  (Son always says that I have a short attention span and get easily distracted.  I say things are interesting.)  Anyway, it was time to do a quick photo shoot of the latest "weird critter caught from the pier"!

  This time, I caught a squid!  Squid are normally NEVER up this far.  These are strictly...very strictly "sea" creatures. They need that saltwater to live.  Well, that just shows how salty our Bay is right now.  This is actually a White Squid or Brief Squid or Loligunclia brevis...according to my expert in the field of sea creatures.  (Yes, Andre is truly an expert so I trust his identifications.)  It really did not matter what the critter was called, it was cute.  I knew it was a squid and did not belong near the pier so that was a good enough reason for me to drop the net and pick up the camera.  I took a few pictures and let my friend go back into the water.  Several folks had to reprimand me for letting it go as it could have been used as bait but I figured I had plenty of menhaden so the wayward critter got a reprieve.  So...the weirdness continues and I shall keep photographing! 

"Bayou" Mackerel?

   Yesterday's catch from the pier was a gigantic stingray.  I am still a bit sore from battling that monster but it was about as fun as it gets for anyone who loves to fish.  The challenge of landing a huge creature is thrilling.  Thankfully, the stingray will live to see another day.  That catch had me a bit pumped about heading back to the pier this morning.  After catching more menhaden for bait, Mark and I settled in for the morning of fishing.  It was not long before we had a few bites from catfish and trout. The morning looked promising!

  Then...leave it to me...an odd thing happened.  While watching a pod of dolphins making their way toward the pier, my line started zinging out.  Setting the hook, the battle began.  This was not nearly as tough as the stingray but, boy, did that fish jump about the place.  Thinking perhaps I had a ladyfish that are known to do a lot of jumping when hooked, I kept reeling.  Once I pulled the 18in fish onto the pier, I realized that this was definitely not one that I should be catching in our brackish water.  How in the world??  This was a Spanish Mackerel!  This fish should be out in the salty Gulf...not here by the pier!

  Actually, the drought has caused the salinity of the Bay and Bayou to go haywire.  What is normally considered brackish water has become quite salty do to the lack of rain.  This saltiness allows Gulf fish to venture up into the Bay.  With the overload of menhaden around the pier, it only makes sense that the fish will follow.  Without much promise of rain in the forecast, my daily fishing may continue to bring a few surprises.  As with the stingray (which we do occasionally catch here...salty or not), the mackerel went free.  I really did not want to clean that fish with all the "pin" bones.  Call me lazy but I prefer something a bit easier to fillet.  Go free, fishy!  I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
 

Another Great Day of Fishing....Not!

  My friend, Darlene, returned to the Bayou for yet another day of fishing.  Being a teacher, she was on Spring Break this past week and wanted as much "Fishing Therapy" as she could get. We have been doing relatively well and have caught a good many red drums, trout and croakers.  Of course, we caught our fair share of gafftopsails, catfish and other "trash" fish.  We never complain, though, since we both love to fish and it sure beats staining flooring boards.  She and I can sit for hours with a rod and reel in hand.

  Today, our fishing experience was just that...an experience.  First, the weather did not cooperate.  It was heavily overcast and COLD!!  The north wind proved to be quite icy over the water.  Then, we had a bird steal our bait.  The juvenile Great Blue Heron that has been begging handouts has taken to stealing as of late.  While we were not watching, that rascal emptied our bait bucket of all the little, live mullet except for one tiny one.  There is not much fishing going to happen without bait! I had to throw the net to catch more bait which was quite scarce due to the inclement weather.  I did, however, replenish our stash but nary a fish bit.  We did, however, make a couple of catches.

  About mid afternoon, Darlene said she had a "bite".  Sure enough, her line was being pulled out from the reel.  She jerked back only to say that it was weird.  Yep, a great description.  Instead of a bite, she had something rather different.  A snapping turtle had become tangled in her line.  It took a bit of doing but we finally got the critter untangled without losing a finger in the process.  My catch was just as bad, if not worse.  I really did catch a snapping turtle. That goofy critter ate my mullet...hook and all!  Reeling in a huge snapping turtle is not the easiest thing to do.  Those things weigh a ton!  It felt like I was hauling in a log.  

  The hook was actually embedded in the turtle's tongue but there was no way that I was going to stick my hands in that mouth to unhook it.  Knowing that we use a style of hook that is fast-rusting, I cut the line.  The large turtle slid back into the water.  I am sure that he will have a sore mouth for a few days but, after that, he should be fine.  He just needs to learn to stay away from my fishing line!  Oh, the things that we catch here on the Bayou!