"Everything is Edible" By Alexi

     My friend Bernard is working on a tall ship that is passing through New Jersey from New Orleans.   It's called the Amara Zee, and right now it's docked in Bivalve, New Jersey.  It's a Thames River style sailing barge.  It doubles as a backdrop for theater performances.  You can read more about it here: Caravan Stage Theater Company.  Bernard's the cook.  He also holds a deep-seated Louisiana based belief that everything is edible.

Steve admires the Amara Zee

     When I was on tour with my band he took me fishing in the Atchafalaya Basin.  The alligators were big.  His kids caught fish, we didn't.  Now I had the opportunity to take him fishing.
   
Take one:  Steve and I were planning on fishing monday regardless, so without much convincing we had a late start out to meet Bernard in Bivalve, NJ.  I had been there the night before to see the show: It's a politically charged musical about the collection of monetary and political power in the hands of a few and their suppression and oppression of the people in order to maintain their power and authority:  Rife with puppets, aerial dancers, projections, and the apocalypse horse, this play was right up my alley.
    When we arrived at the dock Bernard was there, looking just ever so slightly despondant.  He was going to try to get out of his duties for the day.  He said to come back at three.  We went and picked up some gas and supplies from Wawa.  In the Wawa someone was having an exorcism.   That's a hint as to what kind of town Bivalve, NJ is.
     We were back to the dock to get Bernard, and he hadn't left yet for his shopping, and as it turned out, he would NOT be able to join us fishing that day.
     We launched at a new spot.  The backside of Jenkin's Sound.  We've fished the area plenty of times.  We simply hadn't known about this launch before the old salt ghost told us about it from our last trip out there.  It starts out in a flat, but isn't far from some deeper cuts and creeks.  And so upon getting to the deeper channel I had a short bass on a dapper-dan bass assassin.  I had a bluefish that came unhooked, and another bass; 19" 3lbs.  I saw a large bass by the bank casually feeding on small baitfish, barely minding my presence.

19" summer striper

   Steve was skunked.  The sun was setting.  We made our way back to the flat we had come from.  The water was calm.  The wind had died down as it usually does when the sun sets.  The birds were quiet.  And now I could start to hear the fish around me.  Some bigger sounds were rays.  But other sounds were of fish feeding.  A cast in the right direction and I get a strike on a Zara Spook.  Then Steve hooks up with a bluefish.  Ceviche. We stay a little while longer, but there are no more hook-ups.  Satisfied with our trip we leave the fish for another day.

   


Take two:  I was back out on wednesday to pick up Bernard and try again.  This time I had a good plan: fish the sunset bite on the flat.  I arrived at Bivalve around three.  Just as we were about to head out we got caught up trying to get a friend of a friend of a friend's truck out of a ditch.  Sometimes that happens.

    At the launch we could feel the wind in our faces.  Because someone ALWAYS has to say something:  A ghost speaks aloud  "You guys are going out in this wind,....brave."
     Bernard threw me a sideways glance.  I assured him we'd be fine.  He'd been on the ship a while and he guessed the wind was about 10-15 knots.  I set him up with Steve's Ocean Kayak Drifter and pushed him off into the wind (He's never kayaked before).  We start off dragging some topwater lures through the water.  This had proven to be effective for me before at IBSP when I know that there are bluefish around.  Now I'm the guide.  I unsnagged his lure from a stake.  I gave him  some tips.  But Bernard will do what Bernard does.  He finds some seaweed and starts eating it.  Then he asked me about eating the mussels.  "They're not the kind people normally eat"  I say.   (He'd already eaten a bunch, I think that this will come to haunt him later in the trip.)  On the lee side of the land the wind isn't so bad and we make our way towards deeper water casting around.  I switch his lure to a Storm Shad.  He was in a foot of water, and I wanted to fish deeper water so I make my way up the channell.  Next thing I know I'm hearing splashes.  I warned Bernard that if it didn't have stripes it was a bluefish and that he should not put his finger in it's mouth.  He had hooked up with a nice school bass.  He wanted to eat it right there and then, but I had to lie to him and tell him it was poisonous so that he didn't.

Bernard and his first Striped Bass

I recall, years ago,  driving around Lafayette, La with Bernard.  He slams on the breaks of the car.  He jumps out and digs around in a ditch by the side of the road.  He gets back in the car and says "Did you see that?"
"No, what?"
"There was a turtle over there.  Delicious!"

Back in New Jersey.  Back in reality.  The sun was setting.  I had radios for us, but they were the shitty ones that barely work.  I heard Bernard saying something, then he disappeared from sight.  I was a little worried about it.  There was a headlamp for him, but it was in my dry-bag.  Fish were feeding along the banks as a I paddled back towards the car.  I was satisfied with the trip, even if I was missing some prime time fishing.  Once within radio range I make contact with Bernard.   The wind was still blowing hard, and so I wasn't so confident about the topwater scene.

Lucky for Bernard there was a port-a-john at the launch.  The free-range seafood caught up to him.  We packed up the car and headed back.
I asked "where's the seaweed?"
"I don't know about that stuff."


On another note, I recently received my first return on a tagged fish from the American Littoral Society.

it appears to have grown 4 to 5 inches in a year

So, the best part is that I also got this great patch to go with it!  Who knew I'd ever become part of a secret society?

secret society fish tagging patch