Gone Fishin'

I have spent the past few weeks doing a lot of fishing. This is a new habit I picked up in Texas as I quickly learned that saltwater fishing has nothing in common with the freshwater fishing I grew up with. Saltwater fishing is actually a sport; the fish often win.

Three weeks ago we lost a fisherman who waded too far into the Gulf. The next week we lost another one to flesh eating bacteria (this stuff scares the crap out of me!). If this year stays true to past ones we will lose three to four more before the end of the year.

We have been catching sand trout, redfish, piggy perch, black drum, pompano, mangrove snapper, hardhead catfish, skipjacks and speck trout. Out of the hundred or so caught only one trout was a keeper. Using dead shrimp for bait; I'm fishing on the bottom and the boy is fishing on top.

I'm struggling to figure out how to throw a cast net. That seems like a pretty elemental skill that I need to learn. A feller ought to be able to catch his own bait.