A Trip To The Deep Blue Sea

Jonny and Jenny invited us to go grouper fishing with them yesterday, along with longtime Shrimp Landing fisherman Ray Boulay. We left at 5:30, dropped Izzy and Willie at Nanny's in Crystal River, and drove down to Shrimp Landing, just as dawn was breaking. It was a beautiful morning, clear, cool, and breezy. Well, maybe a bit too breezy. The seas were two to three feet, moderate chop, just as predicted. It was quite a bit "rolly" on the hour trip to the first "honey hole". Unfortunately, Jenny, who has never been seasick in her life, felt very queasy. This came and went throughout the day, but despite numerous "el sickie" off the back of the boat, she never complained or asked to go home. And she knew it wasn't going to get any better, because the next spot was an additional hour drive. She was amazing! Let's just say, she was never so happy to see Shrimp Landing in all her life. And she doesn't eat fish. Go figure how she got hooked up (no pun intended) with this family!

Proud Papa teaching his girl to fish. Thankfully, she's as "hooked" as he is! She didn't want to come in. Again. She hooked grouper, grunts, and the catch of the day, a huge lemon shark that lifted her right out of her boots! As it got near the boat, even Shawn was struggling trying to keep it coming up. It finally cut the line and swam away, but Shawn thought it was between 50 and 75 pounds, maybe 7 feet long. Glad we didn't have to land that one, but wish she could've seen it closer. One of the things I loved most was the color of the water out there. We were in twenty feet, then 55 feet and the water was INCREDIBLE! It was the purest blue and clear as a bell. You could see your fish coming up long before it was near the boat. Every time I looked down at the water beside the boat, I was surprised again at the amazing color. A sight to behold, for sure.

The big haul! A huge white cooler, slam full. Shawn is happy. We can go home.

Jonny, Sarah, and Emma show off the catch. I think Jonny must've picked out the smallest grunt for the photo, the rest were huge, up to two pounds, which for a grunt is big. Sarah is holding a gag grouper, a primo priced fish.

Momma's favorite catch of the day, an adorable blowfish. He even puffed up for the girls when we put him in with the other fish. He was a big guy, too. Not like some the fishermen used to try to bring in and have me clean. I was proud to be the sole provider of one cute blowfish. The other provider didn't count, it was a crab trap. Sarah's adoration for the fish almost reached mine. De Grande (Laura) and I have special affinities for these funny fellows. And one other cool note, the girls got to see flying fish on our way in, they were catching our waves like true surfers. Very cool, indeed.