Usually I prefer my shrimp unfrozen, but ocean fish aren’t impressed by delicately sauteed prawns. They want bite-sized chunks, fresh or frozen, off the menu and without too much of a wait. And so I found myself jamming frozen shrimp onto a fishhook at the end of a long boat pier in Key Largo a couple of weeks ago.
In the past few years I’ve done more watching than actual fishing, but it all came back to me. Kind of. My son’s interest in catching some of the legions of fish with which we’d been swimming persuaded me to overcome my slight squeamishness regarding the bait. The sky and the ocean waters were glazed by two of my favorite shades of blue. And if I didn’t breathe too deeply of the fishy odor, I found the frozen shrimp a bit easier to manage than my old standby: wriggling night-crawlers.
The best I can say regarding our catch that afternoon is that we were in the vicinity of many fish. We did see one leave the ocean on another boy’s line, but a nearby pelican had the most success of us all in plucking fish from the water.
But it was time well spent. Although my fishing skill ended abruptly at baiting the hook, my son appreciated the effort (meaning he didn’t have to bait my hook). And my daughter’s photos of my bait-hooking face (which is best described as a hopeful grimace) were slightly horrifying which translates to funny (i.e. memorable) in my family. Best of all however was our lack of success -which meant I didn’t have to unhook anything to toss back into the water!
More album photos: Heather Dugan Creative on Facebook
In with nature there.
Nothing better, Graham!