Fisheyes

Hot Spot

Back about mid December, Caleb and Rob spent some time fishing and they hit a "hot spot".  They caught 56 fish is about an hour's time.  He had texted me earlier that they had one...then a lot later, two...then I got a text that they had "enough for dinner"...a little later he said they "had trouble closing the cooler."

Most of the fish were Mayan Cichlids, which are invasive and have no limits or restrictions.  Most of the rest were Oscars - also invasive.  I think two were native fish.  Caleb's favorite fish to catch are large mouth bass and he only got one of those, but of course if he'd caught 56 large mouth bass, he'd have to throw most of them back.

Once they got home and once Irene was in bed, Rob and I set to cleaning the fish - and it took hours! Fortunately they were all good to eat and we ate many meals off this one fishing trip!

Catch of the Day

Behold! THE BUTTERFLY PEACOCK BASS!

The bottom one is a peacock bass too.  The middle one is a regular bass.  Just the behemoth fed us for dinner.

The daily limit for Peacock Bass is 2 per day, and of the two only one may exceed 17 inches in length.  They are not native to Florida, but were deliberately introduced to South Florida.  Rob has been wanting to catch one for a very long time!

3 Fish

Catfish

Bass

Bluegill

And we didn't keep any of them...either as food or pets.

Fishing in Lake Okeechobee

Caleb went on a "guys" trip on the Lake.

Back at the pier, he caught a little one :)

Natalie's first time fishing...

Natalie's first fish!  She asked, "Can I touch the eye?"

Annalise and the worm.

Not the best centered picture, but look at the pole bend!

Everyone was impressed.

A real Lake O catfish!

Mangrove Snappers

The catch

No wonder they call them snappers!

A cute little girl in a princess nightgown...joyfully examining a fish carcass.





First Fish

We were looking at this picture last night and Rob said, "Annalise you are a real fisherman now!"

She corrected him, "No! I a GIRL!"

Fishing Trip

On Thursday Rob took Caleb fishing, Annalise got to spend the afternoon playing with friends and swimming, and my mom and I watched a mostly sleeping baby and relaxed with some books. I imagine it was the quietest day I will have for a while! Here are some pictures from their trip:
This is a cichlid, they didn't keep it (it is smaller than it appears). Rob said they are the same as tilapia.

He's getting so big :)

The big catch - one of the best lately - 2 catfish, 5 keeper bluegill and several smaller fish they threw back. They said they knew they had found a good fishing spot - because there were a lot of alligators!

And here is Natalie doing what she does...in the daytime!

Fishing - The Complete Process

On Fridays, I have made it my habit to clean out the van and gas it up. The gas station I usually go to caters to boaters (we live near a marina) and gives free bags of ice along with any $20 purchase. I don't always get it, but this Friday I envisioned a full weekend of no ice cracking and got my free bag!

Caleb saw the bag and had one thought - FISHING. Rob had the same idea when he saw it and was going to Clewiston for a meeting and asked if we wanted to tag along and then go fishing on Lake Okeechobee. All I had going on was laundry, so we very spontaneously left for our fishing trip.

On our way up, Rob got some night-crawlers at the bait shop. Annalise adopted this one as her pet. She was very enamored with it for a while, then she lovingly tore it in half and eventually buried it...well half of it.

The big catch of the day - Rob's catfish. A certain other member of our group caught two bluegill, but that member does not have a fishing license and was technically helping two very small fisher people (with short attention spans) hold the pole.

Annalise gets a turn at the pole. I think this was her first fishing trip.

Equally exciting was cleaning the fish at home. I wish I could express how many tears were shed over who would get to be closest when Daddy cut them up.

And cleaning fish is just not the same when the head cleaner is also a marine biologist. Here they are "finding the brain". He also determined the catfish was a boy and the two bluegill were both girls. Caleb really wanted to put the eggs in water and let them hatch, but I talked him out of it.

And the much anticipated moment - eating fish you caught yourself!