Early Morning Antics

There really isn't any way to sugar coat this so let me just cut to the chase. We got up at 5:00am to avoid the heat, put the boat in the water and the motor wouldn't start. Whew. It seems that our motor, which is a senior citizen (1965), is a tad temperamental. Andrea is too, but don't tell her I told you!! ; ) We went out and bought a new light to put on the bow of the boat in case it was still dark when we put the boat in. Andrea was so cute, it was broad daylight and she insisted on firing up the new light.

Looking back on all the supplies that we have purchased for the boat over the past couple of months nothing has proven to be more valuable than those oars. We did a lot of paddling on Saturday, but it was ok, we were determined to fish. We started off walking the dog. That's fishing lingo for pulling a lure across the top of the water in a zig zag motion. It obviously doesn't include walking or a dog. It was probably named by a bunch of drunks who were just dragging their lines across the water and accidentally caught a fish, maybe a dog fish. Whatever. We didn't catch anything and we probably looked like idiots. It's probably the fisherman's version of going on a snipe hunt.

Andrea tried several times to get the motor started but no luck. Both of us were surprisingly calm about the whole thing. Of course, things might have been different if we were in the middle of nowhere with no land in sight. But since we were only about 6 feet from shore, it was all good.

There were lots of Mangroves around, those are bushes that grow in the water and fish love to hide in their roots. So we paddled over and dropped our new anchor, the one that replaced the brick-on-a-rope. Not to be confused with soap-on-a-rope, commonly found in prisons. I know, I know, but what's a fish story without a good prison joke.

Anyway, the fishing was fair. We tried using some Pin Fish as bait, we had been using only shrimp. But now that I have my gloves I was ready to kick it up a notch. Hence, the Pin Fish. Now, I am here to tell you that Pin Fish are feisty little fish. I felt like I was like trying to catch a greased pig. Every time I got one out of the bucket it would wiggle out of my hand and "hit the deck." One even jumped back in the water. Smart, those Pin Fish. Fishing with Pin Fish was especially fun for Andrea who hasn't caught a fish yet. She finally got to see what it feels like to actually have a fish on her hook!!!

I caught two Mangrove Snapper and the side of Andrea's head. Well I actually hooked the Mangrove Snapper, thank God I didn't actually hook Andrea's head. She was just sitting in the back of the boat rigging her line and WHAP!!!! I smacked her right in the side of the head with the shrimp that was on the end of my line. She said something like, "Kim, would you please watch your line." Ok, that's not what she said. You guys know her, I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions.

Overall it was a fun day. We were in by 11:00am and the boat was clean before it got too hot!! I hope you all enjoy the pictures.