Corpus Christi Fishing Expedition - What Saved SBAF

First of all, a big thank you to all who contributed to this. Your contributions saved SBAF.

Captain Larry took us on his boat around the reef island a secret fishing spot somewhere on this map. I can't tell you the location of this secret fishing spot because then it would not be secret. But let's just say it's somewhere on this map.


We woke up super early in the morning around 5am to get to the docks. Many of the locals know of the good spots, so it's a matter of getting up before anyone else. I helped Larry navigate on the map with the GPS because it was super dark and going off course could mean that we could hit something. Larry had to keep his eyes on the water because of other boats in the area, especially the smaller ones with less illumination.

In the family, my son had the most experience fishing. He would fish on his own at summer camp and with his grandfathers on his mother's side (he gets two on that side because my wife's parents are divorced and remarried). I don't really fish that much, but I don't have a problem playing with guts. I actually enjoyed feeding the birds the guts. The birds could smell the guts a mile away. A ton of gull and pelicans gathered around the gutting station at the dock. I don't have any pictures of me having fun feeding the birds, but I do have this one of a bird by the dock.




The family got so into fishing that we didn't take any pictures of us actually fishing. But we did get these after our catch! We could have gone on a bit longer, but stopped after our 125qt cooler could fit no more. I threw out my shoulder slightly lifting the cooler into the back of the truck when my wife lost a handle on the other side.

Because of the secret spot, getting bites on the hook required no effort. One thing I did learn is how different fish tug the line differently. We would cast and in about or minute or two, we'd get a bite on the line.




Yes, that's Black Drum, the fish around these parts. Just a bit firmer than cod, sweeter with more flavor. They eat shrimp, shellfish, small fash, so they've got a bit of shellfish flavor to them. Most Black Drum caught by the docks or near shore are about 13". These were twice that. One thing I didn't realize is that ocean fish fight you like mad! It's not like freshwater or river fish that don't put up a fight. We learned to keep the rod always bent to make the fish keep working, and then reel them during those intervals when the fish take a brief break. I lost a big one when it beelined toward one of the pylons under the causeway / bridge - the barnacles growing on the pylons cut the line. My son said he wanted to quit after he caught his first one because it was so tiring, but we made him work. He caught the most out of all of us. My daughter caught the second most, but she almost got pulled into the water a few times - I had to help her reel her last two in. My wife caught all sorts of weird stuff, x2 stingrays, weird looking alien fish, which all returned back to the ocean. She did catch the first Black Drum though.

Not shown above are the smaller croakers. Dang, they fight hard too. I thought they were smaller Black Drums. It was sort of WTF moment when you pull them up and see how small they are because they fight so hard.

 

Upon arriving home, the first thing I did was to put one on the smoker. This was an easy way to get started without having to filet. And there was no way I was going to scale this sucker since those scales are like armor. A local that I gave a fish to said she actually descaled the fish with a fork one by one! That's determination (and worth it because the skin is fatty and so good).


Here's the end result of the smoking. The armor just lifts off.


We gave half of the fish we caught away to neighbors and friends. I knew the family would get sick of fish after a few days. Here I think we've given away or already put on the smoker two or three.

 

Then we made fish and chips. I had my daughter look up a recipe on TikTok for a beer batter recipe with a technique to apply it. (FWIW, TikTok has really food recipes in general, far better than any of the housewife website recipes found on the Internet). I put a risky spin on it by using a coffee porter beer. It worked. We made this twice and I think it was our favorite out of all the ways we cooked it. It was also the most labor intensive because it required filleting the fish.



This was good too. Blackened on the grill.

 

Here I've got jars of fish stock. The darker jar is the stock made strictly from the head. It has a darker meatier fishier flavor that may be too gross for certain applications. I use this fish head stock for a salmon stew with napa cabbage. The lighter stock is from the bone of the rest of the fish. I like it alone with maybe a few julienned slices of ginger (a basic home style Taiwanese / Hakka fish bone soup). The stock is super nutrient rich. It turns gelatinous in the fridge.


I also made a seafood chowder using varying portions of the head and non-head bone stock.


Lastly, here's the tiny croaker. The small guys who gave us more of a fight than expected while we reeled them in. A light batter with tempura dip.

 

We couldn't time it right with the chef. Bad weather, Captain Larry's anniversary with his wife, kids getting sick. Maybe will call her down to cater for a headphone meet.

I would not call myself an expert fisherman. Would have been so happy had we gotten one or the kids each got one.

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This experience was enlightening in how far removed we are from nature. Even with boats with motors, it takes significant effort (calories) to catch and prepare food. We made sure to not waste of any of the fish because we were responsible for killing them. There was a satisfaction to this process.

Modernity (filets available from supermarkets) is weird - foreign to how we evolved. Dealing with corporate politics, layoffs, budgets - doesn't seem right.