The Fellowship of the Red Snapper

So what did we actually catch on this trip?

I’ll admit that my expectations were sky high. I spent the week leading up to a fishing trip to coastal Alabama watching YouTube videos of people fishing oil rigs and reefs in the Gulf of Mexico; pulling up +25in red snapper, 40in amberjack, giant trigger fish, and all types mackerel. I. Was. Hyped!

And that’s simply not what happened. We did well, but the experience wasn’t all of what I hoped, and that’s okay…sort of.

Our Haul

Most of our fishing success was had in Mobile Bay. Of the nine species of fish we caught — which is a high number compared to my regular fishing outings — eight were caught in the bay rather than the deeper waters of the Gulf proper. The city of Mobile, AL sits northwest of Mobile Bay in southern Alabama.

We stayed primarily to the west side of the bay and only ventured south towards the gulf about five miles. The deepest water we fished on that first day was 30ft. I had context for this type of fishing, as many of my previous fishing adventures with my dad have taken place in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. These estuarine habitats are incredibly productive fishing hotspots where dozens of species converge at the intersection of inland freshwater and open saltwater. Younger and smaller fish love these kinds of waters because they offer protection from the larger fish and the strong currents of open water, and larger fish love these habitats for breeding and the abundance smaller fish.

We did work here.

The day started fast at our fist spot in about 15ft of water. It was choppy, but the wind helped keep the 85 degree and climbing heat at bay. We set the anchor, baited out hooks with shrimp, and dropped our lines close to the boat. The bite came almost immediately. My dad was the first to pull up a fish. As he reeled up, visions of the YouTube videos I watched danced in my head. This was just the beginning!

“Aawwwww-uh! ‘Lil thing!”

My dad’s all too common expression when fishing and the result of his efforts are fish too small to keep. A 6in croaker.

“Hold on now Clarence. That’s good cut bait. Hand me that fish.”

Our boat captain, host, and my dad’s brother-in-law instructed us. In a flash our lines now had two different baits, one on each hook. We dropped our lines again and things eventually began to pick up.

This time my dad started pulling in catfish, a fish he’d catch many more times during the day. We didn’t keep any, even though the biggest measured about 18in. None of the four of us on the boat had any desire to eat catfish with the prize of this trip, the red snapper, still yet to be caught. We could catch and eat catfish six ways plus four in just about any waters back home, so why waste time on them?

Our captain began catching brown mullet and silver sea trout with regularity. He was using a special fish attractant spray on his bait that he later shared with us on the second day when the action was slow.

I was bringing up croaker, some catfish, and trout — all too small to keep — but I was having fun guessing which species was on the end of my line before lifting them out of the water.

Then I got a big bite!

This bite was different and the fish pulled like they meant it. As I reeled up, I saw a flash of color. Was that red?! Yes! It was! I had finally hooked the fish I had come to harvest! It wasn’t a giant, but I was geeked nonetheless.

Except, it wasn’t a red snapper.

It was indeed a snapper, but a mangrove snapper. An absolutely gorgeous fish that I was happy to keep. I followed that up with a keeper sized sea trout, and by then it was time to move to our next spot.

Shit got exciting then.

We had been at this new spot for about 5min when I got a bite that nearly pulled the rod out of my hands. I had hooked something big and strong. My drag was singing and the fish took out line from my reel. Hell yeah! This is what I came for!

It took about 5min to haul this fish close to the surface — a fair amount of time and an indication that I had something worthwhile on the line — but when I saw what it was, I pretty disappointed.

Sting rays are some of the strongest fighting fish you can catch. Their flat bodies are hard to dislodge from the bottom and they are incredibly strong. You can eat them as well, but I didn’t have any desire to, so after we got the ray in our net, we let them go after removing the hook. Still, that had been exciting and I remained optimistic that things were trending upward in these new deeper waters.

Our captain was next and pulled in two gorgeous red snapper. They were here! On his third snapper I got another strong bite and was overjoyed to see our fish looked the same. I had done it! I had caught a red snapper!

My second was even larger, and, like my first, bit right after the captain hooked into his 4th.

From there things slowed down with the exception of my dad catching an eel that, for a good 5min, wrapped itself around some structure in the water and could not be moved. My dad thought he was hung up on an oyster bed until he pulled the 20in danger noodle out of the water. It was wild.

We ended the day in shallow water chasing red fish — another species I was eager to catch — that proved fruitless. By now the temp was in the 90s and the heat index north of 100. We called it a day with over two dozen fish, mostly white trout and brown mullet and returned home to process.

All in all, a good day on the water.

Fishing the Gulf

The next day was…well…pretty terrible by comparison. The drive down to Daulphin Island — the southern most barrier island of Alabama — was a pleasant one. The ocean breeze and views were spectacular. The folks at the bait shop were friendly and so were the other fisher people gearing up for a day on the water. The parking lot was packed with other trucks and trailers. Clearly many other people had similar plans.

The drive out to our first fishing spot was much longer, about 30min, and included a bit of a surprise wave that took our boat completely out of the water. All of a sudden, the surface just dropped away, only to come right back up on the next wave crest. We saw it just a fraction early, which was enough time to slow the boat down and not end our adventure before it got started. Imagine suddenly falling out of an 8ft tree and having the ground come up and meet you. Then repeat that 2 more times. I think one of my fillings was knocked loose.

We eventually made it to one of the dozen oil rigs in the area and dropped our squid and shrimp baited hooks into the +50ft of water. This was exactly what I imagined this trip would be!

I didn’t expect the bite to happen right away, but after 20 min of none of us getting even a nibble, I began to get a little discouraged. I reeled in my line to check if the bait was still there and I felt a tug and actually saw the fish on my line! They let go before I could pull them out of the water, but at least it was something.

Then, the other side of the boat exploded in action. The youngest member on the boat had hooked into something big. And then my dad hooked into something big as well. I began to worry that the fish the young man had had tangled into my dad’s line. I turned out to be wrong on both accounts. All three lines on that side of boat were tangled and it was my dad who had hooked a fish!

It took several minutes to get the lines untangled and no one expected the fish to still be on the line. But then it jumped out of the water.

“Was that a shark?! I think you’ve got a shark on your line Pop!”

And that’s exactly what he had hooked into; a 30in sand shark that nearly circled the boat fighting to stay in the water. We eventually got the shark in the boat and that’s when the cops showed up.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Alabama fish and game showed up to inspect our catch and check our licenses. This is a common practice and they were friendly and helpful with IDing the species my dad caught. We were told we had to through the shark back as all shark species with the exception of Atlantic Sharpnosed Sharks must be at least 54in to keep. Bummer.

The only other fish we caught that day was another sand shark — by your’s truly — about 5min after letting the first shark go. We fished some other spots, but ultimately spent more time driving the boat around than fishing. Utterly defeated by the lack of bites and the 105 degree heat, we made it back to the hotel just after lunchtime.

My fantasy of landing big snapper and amberjack under the shadow of an oil rig will have to remain just that, a fantasy, for the foreseeable future.

What I learned

Despite only one day of productive fishing I had fun and learned a lot.

My goal of spending quality time with my dad was a complete success. We chatted about being fathers, life, love, fishing stories, and how much moments like the one we were experiencing mean to both of us.

As far as the fishing, I learned that I still have work to do in tempering my expectations. I’ve never been fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, but I think we were much better equipped to take advantage of the bounty of the bay than deeper waters. There were many larger and faster boats on the water that would make a 30mi journey into the ocean a lot less physically challenging. I really felt beat up at the end of the second day.

Lastly, I learned that being able to implement the ikejime method on a boat you don’t own really takes prior knowledge of the situation. First and foremost, trying to explain this method to seasoned fisherfolk is hella awkward. I didn’t really talk to our hosts about what I was doing, in part because it would have required me to bring another cooler on our 19ft boat that wasn’t exactly roomy to begin with. I also didn’t want to insist on a 5 gallon bucket to bleed the fish and also take up more room.

The ikejime method is becoming more popular and well known in the U.S., but I’m not about to insist on performing said method with a 65 year old Black man who’s been fishing longer than I’ve been alive and who’s generous enough to take us out on his boat in his home town. Maybe next time we can have a conversation about my unorthodox fish processing methods.

Like I mentioned in the last post though, the two ikejime steps I was able to perform were clearly evident in the skeletons of these two fish.

And processing fish that you’re going to keep and transport via plane in this way, only pays dividends down the road. We were able to get the fish frozen solid thanks to the multiple freezers our host let us use and the purchase of dry ice right before arriving at the airport. After the 5hr journey home, both my dad’s and my fish were still frozen solid.

I would fish out of Mobile, AL again for sure. The journey from Michigan is relatively easy and the people of Mobile are friendly and hospitable. The fishing down there is incredibly productive and I still have to catch some big snapper and amberjack. I refuse to let that fantasy go unrealized!

The fellowship of the red snapper is far from over. This was only the beginning!

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Me and My Pop

My original fishing homie. He taught me everything I know about fishing and I’m so thankful that, at the age of 82, he and I can still have a great time out on the water catching fish. Love that guy!

Wild Food Update

Snapper Throats!

You see those pieces of fish on the bottom right of my plate? Those are the collars and throats of the red snapper we caught and they are the best part of the fish by far. Mind blowing texture, moisture, and taste. I had heard Reed the Fishmonger talk about this part of the snapper and was so glad when our host paid special attention to cutting these parts out and cooking them.

In a lot of my content I talk about the wasted parts of wild harvested foods in hopes that people pay more attention to said parts. Part of how we show respect for the lives we take to nourish our own is by not wasting the body of those relatives. So add snapper collars and throats to your list of foods that can put you in better relations with these delicious and beautiful fish.

Also, look at these fired grilled oysters we got at the Original Oyster House!! Soooooo gooooooood!

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There are a lot of different tools you can use to scale a fish, but this one is the best I’ve ever used in part because taking the scales off a fish using this tool requires much less force than a knife or other scalers.

Scaling a fish can negatively impact the texture of the flesh because of the force and pressure it requires to remove a fish’s protective layer can end up bruising the flesh underneath. The Japanese realized this fact centuries ago and developed a special technique called sukibiki where they sliced the scales off of fish whose flesh they wish to remain minimally effected.

This fish scaler was developed in Japan and removed the scales of 5 different species more efficiently than anything I’ve ever seen. And the best part is, this thing is less than $30. If you process your own fish, I think this is one of the best investments you can make.

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I’ve been struggling with consistency on my YouTube channel this month, which, I’m trying to be gentle with myself about. I’ve got a full time job, two young kids, and a household to co-manage with my wife. Shit is busy.

But I’m finding that the thing that is keeping me from spiraling into a feedback loop of guilt and inaction is the creative process infrastructure I’ve built over the first 6 months of my business.

Notion has changed my productivity and process for the better in so many ways, but one of the hidden ways is lowering the activation energy it requires to reengage with content creation after disruptions to my routine. I’m also much better equipped to pivot away from things that aren’t working and implement new tactics that keep me going.

The thing that seems to differentiate successful content creators from those that fail to accomplish what they set out to do isn’t talent, but consistency. And not that those who succeed never miss a week of post something, but that, over the long haul, they keep posting despite disruptions.

So, I know you may have been wondering when my next video will drop and when you can expect this Gulf fishing trip video — I am too to be honest — but just know that I’m working to better integrate this content creation process while meeting the responsibilities of other important aspects of my life.

Thanks as always for your attention, feedback, and patience!

Thanks for reading!

-Jonathan