With clouds in the sky and rain in the forecast my decision was made. Stay home and do very little. The problem was I had been home and off the water for a couple months now due to a nearly life ending bout with covid-19. The day before I had forced myself to go out into the garage and organize my gear which would uncover the kayak. This was intended to motivate me to get back on the water but seemed to have failed. Finally after arguing with myself for some time I decided to simply go for a drive. Just in case the motivation hit me I also loaded up my fishing and foraging gear as well.
After driving by the landing where I could put the kayak in and driving through the state park boat landing where the bait store was I had almost convinced myself to head back home. However I decided to make one more stop before the drive back. As I stood there on the shore looking out across the bay a school of fish swam into the shallows near me and began to taunt me by splashing around and lumping out of the water. Fine I said to myself, as long as I am here I might as well go paddle around for a little while and at least gather some sea purslane for dinner. As I headed back to the truck the thought, or l the reality that if I put the kayak in without getting at least a little bait I would almost certainly want to fish. So with that in mind I drove back to the store, picked up a couple shrimp, and launched the kayak.
As if to say welcome back one of the resident dolphins came to great me shortly after the launch. As I paddled toward the bridge where I intended to at least attempt to catch my fish dinner I could feel the stress draining from my body into that moving water. Things were beginning to feel right again. Although I could not do any filming under the bridge due to the strong incoming tide current I did manage to catch one beautiful sheepshead which was the goal. As I searched for that one the mangrove snapper kept me entertained and I even managed to pull one keeper out of the group of small ones.
With my fish dinner secured it was time to head across the bay to the Island to forage for some greens to serve with my fish. Today’s target was sea purslane a wonderful green that grows in the sandy soil around the coastal waters and reminds me of salty French cut green beans. At the island I was greeted by a small hermit crab, jumping fish, and a bounty of local winged wildlife that graciously moved over a couple feet to allow me room to land my kayak. As I had hoped the area of the island that I landed on offered a bounty of the lush delicious green that I was searching for. After taking a few minutes to simply take in the beauty that surrounded me I proceeded to gather enough purslane for a dinner.
With fresh caught fish and a bounty of wild foraged greens in the cooler it was time to call it a day. After a short paddle back to the beach where I put in and a drive back to my house my gear was stowed away and it was time to enjoy the bounty of my harvest. The fish was cooked with a bath of egg and milked before being rolled in a coating made of ground corn flakes and almond. The only seasoning was a little salt and pepper added to the corn flake mix. Sea purslane is salty by itself so I simply boiled it for about eight minutes and it was ready.
Foraging your own meal is something that brings a feeling of great satisfaction. You do not have to be a great chef if you are working with great ingredients. So a dinner of fresh caught fish, freshly foraged wild edible plants, cooked simply makes all of the effort worthwhile. And of course the time immersed in nature hanging out with the crabs, birds, and dolphins certainly helps to recharge the batteries for whatever the week ahead throws at us. With that said it is time to get back to work so thanks for checking in and remember, make sure you take the time this week to get outside and do something wild!
