The Yuk

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

First day on the job and nothing happened. The job runs until about July 9 and by then it is certain that the experience will remind me why it is nice to not be working. The day was decent rain nearly all day. One of the campground occupants left his shade shelter up to catch water.

Now the shelter is in the garbage bin awaiting transport to the dump. The shelter lasted a few days and definitely longer than the OFM thought it would.  The wind gusts usually send them on a trip.

Now for the fun stuff. TheOFM has about decided that he has no business in the salt water ever again. You will see why shortly.  A trip to the pier before lunch was made to spend a little time enjoying life.  Actually several folks were happy to visit so it was a great time as well as very educational.

The first fish to hit the deck was a large ugly toad fish. No picture was taken because the camera might not have been able to stand the sight.  Man they are ugly.

Another couple of fellows were fishing nearby and we visited as I fished along the rail of the pier. We actually visited for quite a bit of time. This is where it gets odd.  Will hooked a fish that did not fight in the usual manner.  When he got it in, it was identified as a puffer fish.  At the moment we both knew the fish was poisonous but not how poisonous.

The best that the internet would yield is that it is a stripped burr fish. The internet also mentioned that puffer fish are the second most poisonous critter on the earth. It actually had a cute face. When it was released it swam away like nothing had happened.

Some background is needed now. There are rocks in this area and the OFM has located all of them at one time or another. In the area of this next event, the OFM has never hooked anything on the bottom in four years plus. Many lures have been dragged across the bottom in this spot trying for flounder with never a hint of trouble. Shortly after telling Will the bottom was clear he hung up solidly on something.

The something seemed to move but did not act like a fish. Hmmmm. Will worked on it for a few minutes and something gave on the bottom. He was then able with effort to reel in the something.  But at the last minute it caught in the rocks at the base of the pier.  With a mighty heave the line and hook was torn loose.  Then to our surprise something came up still attached to the hook. It was not identifiable by any of the several folks on the pier.

The piece was about two inches long and ¾” in diameter.  It had a feeling like stiff liver. Then Will cut it open and there was some sort of living organism inside.  No blood came out but the innards were definitely moving. The picture came out a bit fuzzy but you will see the innards that we are talking about.

What in the world is this is still the main question??? Man, there are too many things in this water that can hurt you to no end.

This job babysitting the campground will restrict my movements for a few days so do not be surprised if the OFM does not report in about trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.