03-25-04

Just Angling for March 25, 2004

By Donald Millus

First Fishing Trip of Spring

Don’t get me wrong: I love those flounder sandwiches from the Conway fish houses. But I want to catch my own, at least the makings of one. This weekend may be the time to go, just after of the first new moon of spring. Professional guide Wallace Lee, Jr., is just making his first flounder trip, too, so I don’t feel like such a laggard.

As faithful readers of this column know, I have been working on my boat and trailer—I leave my 15-horse outboard to the professionals. (A 15 is just right for inlet and around the jetty fishing, especially with a 14-foot boat. Slow trolling is essential for flounder, trout, and spottail bass, whether using artificials or live bait.)

I feel like one of those Oscar winners when I thank those who helped with my rusted lug nuts on the trailer tires. Pete DeChamplain of Wild Wing golf course fame was my first helper, plus Larry Burris and William Barker at Barker’s Service Center, my most professional helpers. I then enlisted Lloyd Burroughs and my son, Don, plus neighbor Dr. Joey Sanders, all for some heavy lifting getting my boat on and off the trailer.

After Burris and Barker finally blowtorched the lug nuts on the trailer wheels, I still had to go to Wal-Mart where I found a good deal on new rims and tires, about $25 each for very serviceable wheels. Change your tires and rims every five years when you use your trailer in salt water—whether you need to or not.

Now after William replaces a few pop rivets on my Duroboat, I’ll be ready to roll. (I still plan to have my spring tune-up on the motor.)

Alice, of course, will be my first mate on the first trip of the year. She keeps asking me why it has taken so long to get back in the water. I explain to her, patiently, of course, since she’s a female, that these things take time and skilled labor. Her response sounds like “snufffff” as she tries to stifle a dog laugh.

Of course, I like to use artificial lures, MirrOlure plugs or Cotee jigs, but early-season flounder most consistently respond to live mud minnows, the fatter the better.

I note that flounder and salt water trout were not included in the recent warning list of fish with high mercury levels. I still have not found out how we went for years with not a hint of mercury in king mackerel to the recent warning that pregnant women and children avoid kings, shark, and tilefish like the plague. Even canned tuna got bad reviews.

Jim Godfrey refers to these warnings as “conservation by terrorism,” but since it is not very likely that I get with child, I will continue to enjoy kings and sharks when I catch them. The larger, more terrible issue, is what are we doing to lessen mercury in the food chain so that our descendants won’t have to worry about contaminated fresh fish.

One of my other fishing buddies, 13-year-old Alicia, is also high on my guest list, since she can hand me a sandwich without taking a bite out of it and handles a landing net better than Alice.

Do I hear another “snuffff” from the dog pen?