Fishing

My Father-in-law in the boat across the way turned around and spoke. "The Bible says to cast on the other side of the boat." That's the kind of thing that happens when a group of people from church go fishing together. It was hot and muggy and we didn't catch many fish, but we had fun anyway. We tried shrimp, squid,and mullets. We tried artificial lures. There was endless speculation about why we weren't catching many fish and even some stories about places around Edisto.

"That was where they filmed the beach scene in The Patriot," someone said pointing over to my right. I heard someone say, "I don't care if we catch any fish or not. It's really nice out here."

We didn't get to go out to 4KI, like we had planned. For those who may not know, 4KI is an artificial reef off of Kiawah Island. The forecast was for high winds and rough seas. The experienced boaters in the group said that we wouldn't have any fun out there under those conditions. I'll take their word for it. We had a great time fishing in the creeks and rivers.

At the end of the day we had five small croakers and memories of a day on the water in the sunshine with some good folks. We were sweaty and thirsty but I can't wait to try again. Maybe next time we'll make it out to 4KI.

Painted Buntings

My wife went to visit Botany Bay yesterday. While she was there they were catching and banding Painted Buntings. She texted me and told me where they were. I drove over. I've never seen anything like this before. There were several people working on tagging the birds. They had set up special feeders. When a bird would stop at the feeder the cages around the feeders were built so that they could carefully capture the birds. They would then put them in a tiny cloth sack and carry them to a table where the guy in charge would weigh and measure the birds. Then he would tag them or record information on the birds that were already tagged.

They are beautiful little birds. Here is a video of one.



I'm still gettting used to having so many wonderful things so close by. A fishing trip off the coast is in the works. That should be an experience. Edisto is flooded with visitors at the moment. It's easy to see how carefully the residents of Edisto are working to balance being hospitable with not giving away everything that makes this place special. Botany Bay is a treasure that everybody can enjoy. It's a good Idea to do what we can to keep it that way.