Anyway, having had zero luck in the shallow waters off the interstate, Captain Michael heads over to the Skyway bridge. I like his possible name for the boat, O Sea D, a take off of OCD disorder (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder).
Before I go further, I must relate a story about Brendan's irrational fear of sharks. I am not sure if this fear emanates from the recent schlock movie Sharknado, or from an incident where he and his mother were at the beach one time and she cut herself on a sharp shell fragment. He went in to rescue her but became consumed with the thought of sharks scenting the blood, putting them both at risk. Again, he is a kid from the Midwest whose only contact with sharks came from Nat Geo on TV, but I did preface this by referring to it as "irrational".
No fish here, let's move on.
These foul cormorants are sitting on the ribs of a sunken ship. According to Captain Michael, the boat sank there and the authorities decided it would be too expensive to salvage so they just left it there.
I certainly wasn't expecting this Osprey to be out here in the middle of the Gulf/Bay. I guess I expected them to be land birds. I did like the juxtaposition of the bird of prey and the "danger" sign. I have been looking for a way to use the word juxtaposition for ages!
Ah, the Skyway. That building and roadway in center-left is the fishing pier from the old bridge before they built the new one.
Captain Michael relating a fish story to shirtless and soon to be sunburned Brendan.
If nothing else, we have the ability to view the iconic bridge from an angle we've never enjoyed before.
By this time, both Brendan and I were quite content to simply lay back and enjoy the scenery. Actually casting seemed far too energetic an exercise. Michael cast off and soon saw a tugging at his line. Sure enough he had caught something. The following video captures the catch.
This was a collaborative catch: Michael cast, Brendan reeled in, and I witnessed. This is a sand shark that won't set any records for size, or be the subject of a latter-day Jaws sequel, we had accomplished at least one catch today, and it proved to be quite fun for all of us.
Even in the sure clutches of Captain Michael, Brendan is wary and not going to get too close. These things may be small but they still have razor-like teeth and can chew you up if you let them. When Michael was getting it off the hook he dropped it on the floor of the boat and it started to wiggle around. I began to imagine it taking all of us, one-by-one as it zippered around the wheelhouse.
Admiring the sand shark before tossing it back into the bay.
So ends our day in the sun, surf and capable hands of Captain Michael Johnson. We might not have caught more than two fish all day, but then, anyone can catch a fish. It takes real fishermen to spend all day in a boat casting out, catching nothing, and still have a great time doing it. Thanks Michael, it was a real treat.
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