A new view point

I got a new camera for my birthday and I’m really excited about bringing a new light to some of the things I’ve done by expressing them through photography.  I’m sure it will take tons of trial and error but I’m going to try my best. Just like with everything else.

For now, here are some wildlife pictures I've taken in the last month or so.

Heading out for a long day of fishing on the Atlantic.

Coon

Lunch time!

Waiting for lunch time!

Two Florida Mottled Ducks.

Cora taking inventory.

Big toothed critter...

Epic fail...

I was given a pair of new offshore  fishing rods for my Christmas present this year.  Since then, I’ve been scouring discount fishing merchandise websites to try to find the best match for my new babies. Well, I eventually found a match…or rather, I thought I had found a match... until a massive box showed up in the mail, which I immediately discredited as not possibly being my little reels,  the little reels I ordered. “No... it couldn’t be… this box is way too big to be my new reels.”  Yup, they were my new, massive reeIs. I now have two big “tuna” type reels for sale…just in case any of you have been in the market.

Skulls

Along with tanning the gator hides, I whitened and cured the skulls. I’ve now finally finished them and they’re ready for distribution. I think they turned out great.  You guys up in MN start checking your mailboxes!!!

first ever Doc's bait house tourney

The bar/ bait shop I frequent has been hosting a monthly fishing tourney since January.  I’ve really enjoyed doing those; they're a ton of fun.  I think there’s one this weekend I might try and win. Just a note: Adam and I fished the first-ever organized fishing tournament hosted by Doc's and we didn't do too badly, coming in (I think) 5^th and 6^th place in the trout division. The tourneys are a $20 buy in and only a first place in redfish, trout and sheepshead pay out (about 200 bucks in each division).  It's a good way to make some gas money at the end of the month...except that i haven't won yet...so I'm losing my gas money every month...oh well.

http://www.docsbaithouse.com/

The owner (left) and the winner of the first place trout (right).

NMZ banana river

I should change my fly out...



The eyelets are tyed on, at least...with what, I'm not too sure...twine, maybe?

I’ve hit the No Motor Zone several times lately in the canoe with the old fly rod with not much success.  The winds have been relentless so hugging in tight to the east shoreline has been just about the only option for a river rat like me to get on the water. Adam and I have seen lots of fish, but moving at mach 7 with the wind pushing at our back makes it tough to get a fly in front of a fish.  Every time I get out there I’m filled with envy and jealousy thinking of the anglers that have mastered the art of fly fishing. I ponder whether or not to challenge myself by grabbing the fly rod more often and making it a staple to tell people, “yeah, I caught it on fly.” But my confidence seems a bit freighted for some reason.  I know for one thing my rod is a hand-me-down from my brother-in-law that he got at a church garage sale for ten bucks ten years ago…and my reel…well, let’s just say I’ve had it since I was 13 years old. I, on the other hand, kinda like the fact that the rod and reel are only a step up from what the monks use in the medieval times and yet I can still catch occasionally fish...

If you ever wondered what a fishing reel made of piss and vinegar looked like...well...here it is. I can't tell you how many fish this has caught... 35 maybe in the last 15 years? That's a lot for me.  Most have been in the St. John's River.

A Super Late Winter Update, kinda.

I had a wonderful winter on the water this year having a heavy hand with pigs and ducks more than deer or anything else for some reason. Here are a few pictures from trips I didn’t write about for some reason.  One side note- this was one of the hottest winters I’ve ever hunted…really HOT.

Cora was a big help with the gator hides!!!

Sold the John Boat.  bummer.

As you know, everthing we do out in the mighty St. Johns is via the use of a canoe or kayak. This pic is me sweating my way back to the main boat with two sows in tow. On a nice HOT January day.



Rufus died the other day. The day before Easter. It was a bummer for our family.

...and it shall be named... "The Brown Recluse"

  I hit the water with a new addition to the quiver today. A completely unexpected favor. Ross, the beast of a brother-in-law, MADE ME A ROD!!!!! I know, couldn't believe it either! How amazing is that?! Crazy! The reel he paired it with is absolutely perfect. I've already caught a big 22 inch trout and a bunch of smaller ones on it.
 

Opening day 2012

April is here, which means for a matter of hours the Cubs aren’t in last place…yet.  It’s April 10, 2012 and they are once again allowing other teams to feel what it’s like to win. That’s so nice of them.  Nonetheless, I’ve maintained my one year old tradition by eating the one Chicago dog this far south of the Mason Dixon Line. Yes, the mustache is real.

Cobia-thon 2012



The two clubs waiting to have some BBQ after a long day on the water.

 The clubs had their annual cobia-thon tourney about a month ago. This year the opposing club took home the traveling trophy along with the prize of having the bragging rights for the year as well as some free garb from a local fishing tackle shop. John and I fished the tourney and were only able to get one short cobia and a few tripletail. We had a good time, though. John has not released the photos of his epic battle with our one quarter-inch-short-from-being-a-keeper cobia. We were able to slip away from the daily grind and get some fishing in, but this year it seemed like the cobwebs were too thick to shake off to get a good chance to put some fish in the box.

Two 15 inch triple tail.

John fighting the epic battle.

Here we GO!!!

Although the blog has been idle, the clack of the keys on the key board haven’t been idle and neither have I!

Some outdoorsmen lie dormant during inclement weather and wind- driven sea choppy days, but weather has no enemy with me and rain, wind, sleet, or shine, an island cracker’s work is never done! It’s been windy for the last month or so and the proverbial fishermen have morphed into renovators, honeydo’ers, grocery shoppers and some have just become couch potatoes; however, the solid few have prevailed and strengthened into stronger, faster beings able to withstand greater adversities, and have greater tolerance to the wife’s stink eye, better selective hearing; all around better and stronger men.

I’ve had a bit of a windblown January and February but somehow I’ve kept myself busy doing anything that I can get my grubby little hands on in an effort keep the evil beverages out of them. Between finishing out a tougher than usual hunting season, building more prototype shrimp lights, tanning alligator hides, completing some much needed boat repairs and starting in on the Austin Healey we are currently rebuilding, (not to mention the 14 month old kraken we are raising...), I've had my hands full. On another note, let me first say I’m no Catholic, nor have I ever been, but for some reason Blythe and I have always observed Lent. I see it as a short period of time where we give something up in our lives that will make us a little better for ourselves and the family and friends around us. This year I have, once again, decided to attempt to give up the “fire water," the "killdevil,” the “devil's punch”… I could go on… in an effort to enjoy the outdoors and the fresh springtime air sober. So, “Here’s to sober Saturdays, bitter N.A.’s throughout the work week and thanks goodness for Sundays…”

The Mighty Florida Alligator

I mentioned that I've been tanning gator hides. Let me explain how this came about: I've been lucky enough to have met Dale Cebellos, a great guy who, with his wife's patient help, owns and operates Creative Aztec Taxidermy. Dale tanned my first few hides and has now beeen nice enough to explain in detail the steps of taning alligator hides and talk em through all the roadblocks I've run into. This is definitely an art combining patience, experience, some "exact" and some "not so exact" recipes and a lot of elbow grease. It's one of the strangest and yet most interesting things I’ve done-- a new skill, none the less. Being an amateur taxidermist is one of the toughest things I’ve ever jumped into feet first. Not to mention trying to learn it on the toughest animals on the water, the mighty Florida Alligator. By far the hardest hide south of the Mississippi to tan. I just finished tonight and dropped off one of the hides I tanned at my dad's house as a thank you for letting me use his land to practice my new skill. Yup, that musty scent emitting from my lazyboy is me; hmm, I might still have some in my hair. It's the scent of adventure…the scent ...of...adventure.

"THE" Flip Pallot

I just left the February FSFA meeting where one of my heroes of the outdoors spoke: "The" Capt. Flip Pallot. Most widely know for his 13 seasons as host of "Walkers Kay Chronicles" and current host of the "Ford's Fishing Frontiers" TV show on the Outdoor Network. He is not only a world renowned charter captain as well as a top flyfisherman, but he's a a stand up local guy too. He spoke to our club about how he relocated to the Mims area after the devastating hurricane Andrew destroyed his home in Homestead. He also stressed his concerns about the efforts being made to reduce the “non-native” plans and “aquatic vegetation.” These attempts are being made by simply spraying 1000’s and 1000’s of gallons of chemicals into the Mighty St. Johns River so that the water will move faster and essentially drain the encroaching developments better, so the retirees from New York won’t have to deal with mosquitoes. It was heartbreaking to hear him so passionately distressed about this issue. Nonetheless, it was a good meeting and it was a real treat to finally get to listen to him tell stories in person.

AAHHHH!!! the ethanol got me!!!!

I had to rebuild my carbs on the Yamaha again. That was awesome.  A month after I rebuilt them, something started acting funny so I troubleshot and troubleshot and troubleshot…and eventually called Johnny, a friend of mine who helps me when I can’t figure out what’s wrong and have exhausted all my resources.  He determined that a float was sticking and it was flooding one of my cylinders. So off everything came again to try to fix the float.  Float fixed; everything is running great. For now. Fingers crossed.

Notice how the black thing isn't level with the silver part = not good.

we've made it... a whole year...

Well, here it is, we’ve approached a full year in the life of a self-proclaimed “Island Cracker.”  You’ve survived the ramblings, the good times and the bad; the flounders and the floundering.  I’ve enjoyed the hell out of writing the blog and hopefully you’ve enjoyed reading about my exploits as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing the stories.  I really did this as a type of therapy so when I was too sore or in too much pain to move forward I just think back to the energy that I mustered up each morning to push forward to provide yet another adventure from the great yonder.  It’s seemed to work for the most part.  As Cora gets older, I’m sure my stories will turn from stalking prey to arguing with referees, and I will refrain from telling everyone about Saturdays spent on soccer fields and at dance recitals.  Ultimately, as any dad would hope, the adventures will turn to descriptions of the first time Cara did ____ or got a ______ (you fill in the blank with something really action-packed and crazy), but if weekend-long tea parties are in store for us, so be it: tea parties it is.

Here's to tight lines and full freezers!

Cheers,

Capt. Nate