Catching Up - Part 2

Monday was another fine day. With the newly repaired tire, Ellen and I rode the bicycles down to the Fort again. This time we went over to the fishing pier where our friends Tom, Harry and Sally (all well experienced fishermen) were trying their hands at pier fishing. In Florida, piers can be licensed as fishing piers and anglers can fish from them without a Florida fishing license. The National Seashore has such a pier on the bay side near Fort Pickens.

Free fishing seems to be quite a draw and the pier was crowded. Many of the fishermen seemed to be knowledgeable locals and were hauling them in non-stop. The Sheepsheads were schooling around the pier, feeding on the oysters and barnacles on the pilings. They also seemed to like live shrimp and live fiddler crabs, as they were the bait of choice. There must be a bit of art to it as Tom, Harry and Sally weren't having much luck and they are all pretty good New England saltwater fishermen. Tom managed to catch one, but the fish were crafty enough to nibble the crab baits off the hooks of these Yankees.

After watching for a while, Ellen and I turned our gaze to the nearby birds. There was a Pelican hanging about who was quite "friendly". It would practically walk up to people fishing on the beach looking for a handout. Ellen's new bird sighting was the Ruddy Turnstone, as there was a small group right on the beach next to the pier.

We finally abandoned our friends and went off to the Fort's museum to look at a photo exhibit and the film about the history of Fort Pickens. It was back to camp for lunch.

For Ellen, it was another afternoon of birdwatching. For me it was lazing about.

Our friends hadn't given up fishing. They went off for more bait and went back to to pier in the late afternoon and Sally caught four more Sheepshead. Harry filleted the fish in near total darkness with only a kitchen knife, an impressive demonstration indeed. The fish are quite large, but don't yield a lot of meat, but it was fresh grilled fish for all for dinner. Sheepshead were mild, but tasty. Then again, it certainly was fresh!