GoodToGo

The warmest winter ever recorded and maybe the windiest. It has been a problem to find a day with seas less than 3-5. Yesterday (Wed 8 Feb) there was a lull so Mike and I took a trip out to sample the fish population. As expected the inshore waters looked pretty murky. The dredge is working a little to the west of the pass and 6-8' seas have stirred the bottom. My plan was to fish some of the wrecks and reefs at the 10-12mi range. I didn't hold much hope for diving due to low vis.

We crossed a tide line about 5mi out and another a couple of miles further. There were lots of birds working the second tide line. The Gannets were making their spectacular vertical dives, folding into a spear just as they rocket into the water who knows how deep? There were also a few pelicans making their slashing dives. I wonder how the pelicans know there is bait that far offshore. It seems beyond visual range of the other birds, I guess it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that they can smell the fish. Mike says they see the other birds, but I think they would have to have a telescope to see that far. We never actually saw the bait on the surface but did mark one large baitball deep on the bottom machine.

Our first stop was on the army tanks. They were showing a few fish but none wanted to bite. I did catch one pogy, so we had a grouper bait. From there we went to several other wrecks, the twin tugs, Ackokeek, and T-13. Mike was able to jig up several AJs, even one legal size, but the grouper just wouldn't bite. Time to dive.

The water looked a little green so I wan't expecting to find the nice 30+ vis I had on the bottom. There were plenty of fish. Some nice red snapper were very bold and inspected me closely, knowing their season is closed. The AJs were abundant but needed to grow a couple of inches to make 28. I guess the grouper left town.

After my good report Mike dove on the next bridge with the same results as me. Nice dive, no fish. We agreed the new wet suits are the ticket, no problems with getting cold, even though the water temp was showing 56-59.

We dove together on the next bridge. Things looked about the same, though I did take a nice Sheeps-head. Returning to the boat I was hanging out at 15' when I noticed what looked like a shark under the boat. I felt like Tweedy, "It is a Shark!" It didn't take long to realize that Mike was fishing again and had made a catch. He was waiting on my return to show it off to me. It looked like a nice size for eating, and we were a little short on meat for the day. I made up a loop and Mike guided the shark thorough my lasso. It took a couple of tries but I got the noose on it and swung it into the box.




The trip home was uneventful. The wind had shifted about 180 deg so we had about the same quatering tail surf coming in as we had going out. The days getting a little longer help my attitude. Coming home and cleaning fish and equipment in the dark just wears me out.

We had a sad supprise when the fish cleaning got underway. Our smooth dogfish was just about to be a proud mama. The ten pups were fully formed and looked ready for birth. They were still alive but they didn't seem to know how to swim when I tossed them in the drink.



There is a happy ending. The shark tasted really good. Nice firm texture but not coarse, and a very mild flavor. Actually the happy part is that maybe some of the little ones lived. When we were taking the boat out Mike noticed one of the pups was at the boat ramp. I went back after washing the boat and it was still there and alive. I worked it around in the water a little bit and gave it a shove off to deeper water and it did swim away.

If the weather takes a break maybe I'll have another story soon. bob

Judy and I took a mini winter vacation. Highlights of the trip were visiting the Atlanta family, the Georgia Aquarium, Wythe exibit at the High, and some day hiking in FDR State park. This view is from FDR's favorite picnic spot. The bronze plaque noted that he picnicked with linnen table cloth, silver, and multicourse hot meals. We took the more rustic approach to our adventure.... gorp.






FDR park is suprisingly the largest sate park in GA. It has nice rolling hills, great overlooks, well-maintained trails, and (at least at this season) very few visitors. We only saw 3 other hikers in 3 days, and they were close to the campgrounds. Most of our previous hiking has been in spring and summer when the flora is green and visibility is limited. Being able to see great distance through the mixed hardwood forest kept us constantly on the lookout for a fleeting glimpse of game. Apparently the view works both ways. The only deer we saw were 2 white flags. I did however, when topping a steep ridge, startle a very large flock of wild turkey. They briefly covered the hillside with their black and copper hasty retreat.






The trails frequently followed mountain streams adding audio to the visual treat. The first day of hiking was particularly bright with a high blue sky and calm air. Only snow could have made the woods more quiet.













In fact the next day rain made the woods more wet. Not really a problem for the well-equipped hiker. It was just a steady cool rain. Not the kind of summer deluge that makes rushing, knee deep rapids out of hiking trails.










Our accomodations were the most grand yet of any of our adventures in the woods. We both long to get back to the "live out of a pack" for a week or more, but this was a nice change of pace.
I had settled down with a good book on this evening only to be mesmerized by the fire.

Late that night, after bedtime, Judy reported that some Assholes with a boombox arrived at a nearby cabin to entertain her with their loud music til the wee hours.




And we did have some other horribly noisy neighbors. They would set up a racous racket if they thought there was any chance you might feed them. The light is not so good in this picure. It was taken very early in the morning in front of the Assholes cabin. Shortly after this, one of us inadvertently hit the panic button while trying to open the rear gate of the van.

Back to the grind, but filled with fond memories.
bob




The trip was actually ended with a terrible crash. I have tried to steele myself to the inevitible cycles of nature., but I don't always just accept them. Sometimes they can be modified and manipulated to vary the timing, but the outcome is always the same. Fine china is an example. It was once just an ugly glob of mud, even part of a burning star before that, but then changed to its present state to be viewed, admired, used, appreciated and then returned to its elemental state. But, as is often the case with human interference, trying to prevent the inevitable often hastens it. I carefully wrapped my fine china between two hanging bags for a smooth ride home. The ride was fine. Remembering what I had done was the short circuit. Maybe in another Universe.