Chapter Four: Catch of the Day

The tides were right, the weather was right, there was no excuse! We had to go fishing!

The Mayor of Coconut Point, G.B. Heron, patrols his beach.

You can fish anywhere but people tend to have their favorite spots. Back in the day we used to park at an unmarked beach access that we called the Radar Station, between Spessard Holland Beach North and S.H.B South. The missile tracking equipment is gone, but the access is still there. It's locally known as the Shark Pit. We also liked what we called Wang It Beach, another unmarked access down in the southern reaches of the island. (We called it Wang It Beach because, since there were no restrooms, our three little boys would have to pee in the sand dunes when they had to go).

In my advanced old age I require a park with facilities, so yesterday, after stopping by Black Dog for bait, we drove a couple of miles south to Coconut Point Park.

Black Dog Bait and Tackle      © USA TODAY

I brought my knitting this time. I've never knitted on the beach before, but I'm doing the Hitchhiker shawl in all the colors of the ocean, so it seemed fitting, and I imagined I was working on a mermaid's tail.

Knitting by the sea.

Ormond caught many whiting, but only kept two. He used clams and "fish bites," and both worked fine. Other fishermen were catching whiting as well. The guy north of us caught a whopper! I was jealous of his achievement and wanted to run up and ask him what bait he was using, but I've learned that's a no-no among fishermen.

Sheepshead for dinner!

I took a break from my knitting to rake the shore for sand fleas. I actually found enough of them to fill a cup for Ormond, and he caught his first sheepshead using sand fleas as bait. The raking's hard on my back though. I need to learn a better method.

The sheepshead is a serious looking fish. He's got teeth that look like a human's! I wasn't sure we could eat it, so I googled "sheepshead" and found pictures and recipes.

FULL INFO AT FLORIDA WILDLIFE

After four hours nothing was biting, so we packed up and went home. Ormond put the fish in the fridge and just before dinner time he cleaned them for our meal.

Spicy Fish Curry: sheepshead (l.) and whiting.

Our favorite fish recipe lately is from the Hairy Bikers Great Curries recipe book: Spicy Fish Curry. The fish is dredged in garam masala, then sauteed. The curry sauce is a masterpiece. It's made with diced tomato, pureed onion and garlic, and lots of fragrant seeds that fill the house with an amazing aroma when you saute them in ghee.

The sheepshead was surprisingly mild! I don't know what I expected really, but the fish looks so fierce I probably thought it would taste unpleasant. We always love whiting (it works great in fish tacos too) but next to the whiting the sheepshead tasted so sweet, almost like a pompano. My only complaint is that there wasn't more!

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Our favorite cookbook.

When Ormond lived in England (Southampton) he became a fan of the Hairy Bikers TV show, and this cookbook was bought out of admiration for Si King and Dave Myers, and their love of curry. Every recipe we've made so far (and we've made tons) is an absolute winner.

If you want to check it out, and if you follow my link, it'll take you to Amazon.com. If you buy the book I'll receive a small commission. Thanks for that!

GO TO THE HAIRY BIKERS' GREAT CURRIES ON AMAZON