Wednesday June 16th was an oddly interesting fishing day in the lagoon. I got down there around 5pm and Peter was already there with 2 hand lines in the water and was throwing his new 12 ft net. No one else was there, which was unusual. Maybe that should have told me something. I was fishing with fresh bait and cast my line out and let it drift. Pretty soon 3 manatees swam into the area we were fishing. They were waiting for the tide to turn so they could leave the lagoon. Well anyway I got a huge hit and my line started going back and forth slowly but very strongly. The fish never broke water so we knew it wasn’t a snook or tarpon, both of which make huge leaping runs. This fish had my pole literally bent in half and never made a fast run. Just slow and steady. I couldn’t horse it in either but did start making some headway. After 10 minutes of fighting it the fish bent my hook almost straight and got off. Peter thought it was about a 25 pound plus Jew fish (like a grouper) from what he saw of the fight and the way the line was moving. I actually thought I might have snagged one of the manatees. That’s how strong the fish was pulling. But Peter said it would have gone straight away and taken all of my line. He said that if I could get it close enough to shore he would throw his net and pull it in. He never got the chance and I guess we’ll never know what kind of fish it was. I’m sure I’ll dream of that fight. I managed to hook a 2nd fish that I also lost. It was nowhere near as big as the 1st though. Meanwhile the 3 manatees are tooling along in the mouth of the lagoon, snorkeling every few minutes. One or twice we saw their bodies and tails when they rolled. Peter kept throwing and was catching a single stone bass every 4th throw or so. He threw his net and just 3 feet to the left 2 of the manatees surfaced. He’s “son-of-a-bit#@ing” because he just missed them when he gets pulled into the lagoon! He netted the 3rd one. I’m laughing because he’s being pulled out of the lagoon toward the Caribbean because he couldn’t get the net line off his wrist and he’s “son-of-a-bit#@ing “ away. Luckily he got his wrist free and started pulling the net toward the shore. The manatee managed to break the net at the top and escape. Peter spent the next 45 minutes repairing it because it was still light out and he could get in another hour of fishing. We’re almost rolling on the ground laughing though as we talked about his accidental trip toward the Cayes. By the time he got his net fixed the tide had turned and tons of sea grass was filling his net with every throw. We were back to Kismet by 7pm so it was an early night for both of us. Tricia had a good laugh too when Peter told her about his mishap. There’s always something going on here to make life interesting!
On the way to the lagoon Thursday night I managed to scrape a couple of layers of skin off my left knee and shin right outside my trailer when I did a header off my bike onto the driveway. Tricia saw it happen and was convulsing with laughter and asking where her camera was when she needed it. All Peter saw was me laying flat on my back. He ran over asking if I was ok because I wasn’t moving. I started laughing and he knew I was. It was just the shock of jumping up onto my bike and the next second being finding myself on the ground! I have absolutely no idea what happened! I got back on my trusty steed, blood oozing out of the scrapes and trickling down my leg, and headed fishing. I figured we might be able to draw fish if I leaked into the lagoon. Obviously it worked because Peter managed to catch ½ a bag full of barassee (we call it mullet) and stone bass. That hadn’t happened in quite a while. I sure he made quite a few bucks this morning when he sold them. The nights fishing wasn’t near as interesting as Wednesday though. I also managed to catch a 4 foot long, 30 pound submerged tree trunk too, and land it I also caught a 28 inch remora. The remora is fish you see on NatGeo riding on sharks. They have a huge sucker on top of their head which makes them stick on no matter how fast and/or frantic the shark is swimming. They are in the lagoon too because they hitch rides on the manatees too. It’s the 1st one I ever caught. It looked like a nice white meat so I asked Elvis if they were good to eat and he said yes.
I saved the remora for bait though because I planned to go crabbing early this morning (thanks Zeppi for leaving me your crab traps!). I caught 2 dozen and they will be tonight’s dinner. Maybe a steamer pot with corn on the cob and red potatoes, maybe in a tomato sauce over linguini, who knows
I drove into Dangriga today to see about getting Tricia’s electric saw fixed. It sounds like the bushings are shot. I know a guy there who works on electric motors so I’ll take it to him. I also need to see if my money has been wire transferred to my bank here. I’ll be making 2 trips next week too to renew my visa on Friday and pick up my brother Dave on Saturday. It will be really nice to see Dave again. It’s been about 9 months since my son Matt and I visited my family members in Chicago. It’s too bad that I can’t do it all on Saturday but the government offices here work the same as they do in the states, Monday-Friday. Monday 6/28 Dave and I will head to Chetumal Mexico to pick up my $700 temporary car visa fee that will default to that government on 6/29. You have 6 months to claim the money or they keep it. So we’ll do that, shop Sam’s Club and WalMart, and see the sights that Kevin and I missed when we blew across the border into Belize on the trip down here. Because of Kev’s time constraints we were not able to sightsee in Chetumal or Corozol Belize. I was interested in looking at Corozol as a possible place to live because of its large American ex-pat population and close proximity to WalMart & Sam’s.
It’s lobster season now and I’m waiting for someone to show up at Kismet with a bag full! Another of the things I have planned for Dave is a visit to Placencia on Sunday 6/27 for the last day of their Lobster Fest. They have a 3 day celebration for the spiney lobster, which is a staple in coastal Belize until the season ends. In San Pedro on ambergris Caye I was able to buy 1 pound blocks of tail meat for US$3.50. Maybe I’ll find it in Dangriga too. I have plenty of room in my freezer…
As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!
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