11/29/09 BOTTOM FISHING
by Robin

Jack was able to head offshore to fish with friends. I stayed home to take care of sick kids. However, by evening, I was wanting to make the drive all the way to the port to see what everybody caught. When I pulled up to the docks, I saw my man. I could recognize him (& his back) anywhere.



I don't have the complete breakdown, but in short, from what little I heard, they went through dozens & dozens of short red snapper to be vented & returned to the bottom. They caught & kept many large black sea bass, some trigger, lots of lane snapper and two keeper Red Snapper. I was too late to photograph those.



I think I also heard something about a lot of sharks down there.

The guys cleaning fish next to Jack came back with a couple snappers and a cart full of amberjack. I think he said the big one was 40 lbs. WOW. I'm thinking they were off of a big offshore boat.



So, it is short but sweet. Got a few filets for the frig. Many boats were coming back in the dark. It's strange to have such short days when making long runs offshore. All your evening chores are done in the dark, or under lights.



Happy Fishing. Tomorrow is suppose to be a great day on the water, but we'll probably just stay home to get ready for the work week.

GOD HATES SHRIMP - NOT!!

brought to you by Robin

Jack actually made it offshore today, fishing with Mike & Helen on their boat. I stayed behind to sing up at church and then run home to be with my sick boys. I will update you on whatever they catch tomorrow (or Monday).

Meanwhile, I amuse myself with my free time by glancing over various fishing forums to see the fishing reports. I found this little gem that I wanted to link you to.

http://www.godhatesshrimp.com/

BUT.... before you go there, know this... I don't believe this. I just thought it was humorous that somebody had gone through such lengths to condemn shrimp. What's not humorous to me is the twisting of God's Word.

The Old Testament is a beautiful story book of those who had great faith, without seeing. Sometimes it is of those who lost their faith too. It is where the law is given to the Jews. However, (John 1:17) "the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Jesus came to fulfill the law, so that we may be able to live under His grace.

Paul writes in 1 Tim 4:4 “For every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving.” I think that if your heart is thankful for the food that you've caught or purchased, that is more important. Secondly, shrimp probably wasn't something that could be preserved well in the OT times, so disease or dissentary may have been a cause of concern. With refrigeration now, that is not a problem for us in contemporary times.

More importantly, dietary laws were made to set apart the Jews from the gentiles. After Christ, the two people groups had to come together since they would become believers in Christ and partners in ministry work for further God's kingdom. In Acts 10, you will see a change from the dietary laws (v12) to (v13) "a voice [came] to him, 'Rise, Peter, kill and eat!'" The dietary laws are gone. He was freed to eat pork, beef and even shellfish. But, he was to do it with a thankful heart. This is also why we say grace before each meal. It slows us down to remember who gave us the food to eat, each day, each meal.

So, does God hate shrimp? I think not. He created them on day 5!! Does God hate us eating shrimp? Not if you're thankful to be eating some of those most delicious, scrumptious, dripping with butter, salt and lemon juice, heavenly shrimp like we do.

Whew!! My mouth is officially watering now onto the keyboard. You see, there's another reason to love Jesus besides saving my soul from hell. LOL

As for this "religious" group of radicals, 1 Tim 4:1 says, "Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the last times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having consciences seared with a hot iron."

I wish people like this would go spend their time more wisely - - like eating shrimp for dinner.

ACK!!
by Robin

It just occurred to me that I haven't been fishing in 2 months. No wonder I have "the itch" so badly to head offshore, fish and feel the sun on my joints.




It has been far & few between trips this year.




This is the mahi we ate yesterday. It's nice to reconnect with your lunch. LOL

11.27.09 - SITTING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY
by Robin



Yesterday looked like it was going to be another quiet day after the holidays. The boys both are fighting small colds. Shopping was last on my to-do list, right after emergency surgery. ;o)


Jack and I made a beautiful mahi mahi lunch to go with our holiday leftover side dishes. We did bills. I had just started a grocery list when the phone rang. Our friends were heading to their marina to fish for bait. Saturday, they would head offshore for some nice bottom fishing.


We made the decision to leave our eldest in charge for a couple hours of babysittng and keep the germs contained to our household. Jack and I met our friends at the dock. Most of us had poles w/ little hooks and the fun began.

We brought up little jacks, pinfish, sailor's choice.... and then, the mangrove snapper started biting. Granted, they weren't huge and a few were released, but they were nice panfish overall. A couple hours later, the sun was about to set and the temperature dropped significantly.

We hugged good-bye and parted ways. It was so good to get out, share some laughs and catch bait & dinner. We drove home toward a beautiful sunset. It's little moments like these that make us to glad we live in Florida and are so accessible to great fishing waters. It also reminds me that it won't be long before the beach fishing gets on fire with pompano. I love eating pompano.

Happy Fishing. It should be a beautiful weekend to fish. I'm grocery shopping today and then heading to church tomorrow. Maybe Monday will be nice too.

Robin

THANKFUL FISHING
by Robin

We're closely watching the weather for Thurs or Fri to go out fishing. It has been a LONG time since we fished and we're hoping to load up on some holiday Snapper.

I know to many it may seem crazy to forego the usual holiday traditions; however, we're already traveled to see our families this fall. We're also not much for turkey nor ham. If the weather fails us, we'll roast some chickens, but otherwise, we want to fish. These are the next available days.

(Oh and I'm not much for Black Friday craziness. BUT, I have noticed that many husbands are out there on Friday while their wives shop.)

Psalm 114

The Power of God in His Deliverance of Israel


When Israel went out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became His sanctuary, And Israel His dominion.
The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back.

The mountains skipped like rams, The little hills like lambs.
What ails you, O sea, that you fled?
O Jordan, that you turned back?
O mountains, that you skipped like rams?
O little hills, like lambs?

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob,
Who turned the rock into a pool of water,
The flint into a fountain of waters.

(Highlighting mine to point out how the water even obeys God.)

SNAPPER 'TOWN HALL' MEETING
by Robin

On Wednesday night, Jack attended the SAFMC public hearing to discuss the closure for Red Snapper. It was much different than the one I attended earlier in the year, which was much more civil.



Jack says they used the huge hall which sat a couple/few hundred people. He heard some of our friends speak-out against the proposed closure. Many scientists have become aware of the issue and joined the fight against the full-closure. They brought their knowledge and analysis to the debate. We have a lawyer friend from Orlando who has made this is pet project and he walloped the council with a great speech. There was a State Representative who was in attendance and spoke on the economical impact to Florida. Three news stations covered the event, plus the Florida Today newspaper. Prior to the public hearing, FL Today made this proposed Snapper Amendment their front page story and then announced the time/place of the hearing. Every local angler's club was represented as well. Commercial boat captains came with concern & questions. The average Joe had a voice.

People were mad. Every angle was covered. Bad science was questioned. Fake "green" movements were challenged. It was heated.



Snapper stocks are coming back and people aren't going to take a large closure like this one go down without a fight.

Let me bunny trail here for a moment..... I live in a county where my friends & neighbors are already in a holding pattern about whether or not their jobs at Kennedy Space Center are going to be lost. We're talking several thousand jobs, potentially. Obama/Congress could potentially kill our entire community by discontinuing the space program. Businesses would leave or shut down. Our area exists primarily because of the space program.

So, to tie all this together, people feel like they need to fight for their rights & livelihood. Pressure is building in our community. It's going to escape in some form or manner. I believe in the American people to go with their gut instincts and fight for the truth. This public hearing is simply another outlet for that because we're sick & tired of our rights being taken away from us.

Will Brevard County survive? Will fishermen survive? Will we be able to pursue happiness? Will we keep our freedoms to speak, write, assemble, worship and fish? And while I'm on a rant and it is still my blog, will we be able to call a terrorist a terrorist? Ok, maybe that isn't where I want to go today.

Doesn't the government have something better to pursue than shutting down the majority of bottom fishing in one swift move? They have proposed amendments against kingfishing and upcoming regs on mahi too. Pretty soon, the only thing we'll be able to catch are puffer fish & sting rays. Fishermen are natural conservationist, I believe. We love wildlife or else we couldn't risk our lives and spend our paychecks being in the water or in the woods each week. We have seen redfish and billfish come back to high numbers. It is "poo-poo'd" in the fishing community if you were to come back with a billfish to eat (Swords seem to be the exception to this). Don't even post up your undersized fish on the Florida Sportsman Fishing Forum. You will be called out for not being responsible. We police ourselves because we are a prideful group of scruffy, windblown, salty fishermen. (And I say that with love...) We want to teach our kids to fish and our grandkids too.

Strict Snapper regulations are already in place. Give them a chance to work. Stop mass, indescriminate netting and longlining. But please shut up about recreational fishermen being the major cause for snapper stocks being depleted. That is such a joke since most of us are still trying to figure out how to pay for gas before the banks come and reposess our boats. (not us, just making a point)

I'm just really tired of the lies, and honestly, the fight simply to have freedom. I feel like we've regulated ourselves into a chair with ties on it and the next wrong move we make is going to result in electrocution. I mean, honestly, I'm afraid to exhale or fart because my carbon emission may be measured & taxed.

I'm sick, sick, sick of it. I just want to be able to head offshore on a nice day and pick up a couple fish for dinner. I'm sure many of us want that. I wish those councilmen with hidden socialistic agendas could see that too.

Fight for your right to fish!
Robin

PUBLIC HEARING
by Robin

The SAFMC is having a public hearing today from 3-7 pm in Cape Canaveral. I am unable to go this time. The kids and I were able to do it earlier this year. So, Jack is going down there to give his testimony and let the council know that he disapproves of the Draconian measures to shut down all of red snapper fishing for the entire southeast coastline.

We are seeing scientists come out in helping the recreational & commercial fishermen with their fish against the closure. We concur that previously placed limits are working and the snapper stocks are coming back in the past couple decades.

There are hearings being held all month long. I'm so glad that we are able to actively voice our concerns.

APOLOGIES
by Robin

I haven't forgotten about this blog. I'm sorry it has been rather silent. We've had a variety of things come up from me being in the hospital w/ back pain to Jack getting his entire digestive track scoped, end to end. Not very fun month of illnesses for us. Also, we had hoped to fish last Monday but the weather didn't cooperate and this Monday, aside from my own recovery, Hurricane Ida is passing by us and causing quite the stir. Jack was called into work, so that suited us.

I'm sure we'll return to fishing ASAP. We have some red snapper to pull in once I get stronger. For now, I'm taking life one day at a time. I will be having a MRI soon to see what's going on with my disks.

For now, I'd like to leave you with a photo, posted w/ permission, from friends. They were fishing out of Sebastian Inlet last month and caught a baby Tiger shark!!! He's beautiful right now since he's small, but later, he'll be a terror! He was released unharmed.



I just love his pattern.
Have a blessed week.