Texas - Fishing for Black Drum

While I lazed the day away, Sally, Mark, Patrick and Clark went off at 7 in the a.m. for a fishing adventure.  They met up with their guide, Doug (originally from Louisiana, transplanted to Texas) and fished in one of the channels by Aransas Pass.

the three musketeers

Apparently it was a real hard day for the fisher people.  Doug took the heads and tails off the sea lice or mantis shrimp, baited the hooks, tossed the lines out and the rest of the group just sat there until there was a strain on the line.  When they set the hook or as Doug said 'tear the lips off 'er', then the battle was to get this behemoth to the boat.

sea lice or mantis shrimp - quite a vicious little devil

the oldest caught the first fish



that's a 35 pound Black Drum



the next to catch a fish was Mark, second oldest



Mark's 35 pound Black Drum



and next in age to catch a Black Drum - Sally



that's a 55 pound fish that gal is holding one handed - don't mess with Sally!

playboy Patrick waiting his turn at a catch



and youngest and last to catch his Black Drum - a 45 pounder!

  While waiting for fish to be enticed by the lure Doug entertained the troops with stories of his days in Louisiana about working on shrimp boats and barges. 

Once the Black Drum is landed and because they put up such a fight, the fish takes in a lot of oxygen which inflates the air bladder in the fish and if it isn't punctured when the fish is released the fish will stay on top of the water and sometimes die.  So what they do is puncture the air bladder with a filleting knife under a scale to let the air out.  Then when the fish is released he can sink into the water and start swimming. 

puncturing the air bladder with a filet knife

Doug gave each fisher person a scale from his fish.

the fish scale once dry is as hard as a guitar pick -
I have put a quarter beside the scale for size comparison

 There were shrimpers going up the channel netting bait shrimp.  Clark said he saw 6 shrimpers.  Once an hour they haul in the nets, dump the shrimp and reset for another pass up or down the channel.  They saw several barges and tugboats.  At least there was something to look at besides each other.

The day was perfect, sunny without being hot and nary a ripple on the water.  I was rested by the time the crew came back, some of them a tad sunburned.  We Skyped with Beth in Germany for awhile and then went to the Boiling Pot for a hearty meal of Cajun spiced seafood. 

At the Boiling Pot our table was covered with white paper and  our meal was brought out in a large stainless steel bowl, dumped on the table and you dig in.  Our meal consisted of shrimp (head and tail attached), crayfish (head and tail attached), potatoes, corn on the cob, blue stone crab (whole), regular crab's legs, King crab's legs, chorizo sausage (very hot) and lots of butter and sauces for dipping.

no need for bowls or utensils - just dig in!

We came back to Sally and Mark's cottage, played cards and just for a little snack had coconut cream pie and ice cream.  It was a great day.