strider26554
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Southwestern fla was my homebase for a long time, but estero island and that area is now very devastated from recent events, i hope when they rebuild that they use the height limits and such that were in place but i fear,, big money will win out , and the rebuild will transform the area into just another mega build and develop. Sanibel island was a true hideaway back in the early eighties and i remember swimming from estero island to Sanibel where we would stay the night with friends and swim naked, dining on local fare such as the mammoth shrimp you could net easily with just a cast net and a bucket. My friends all grew good smoke and never had to worry about LE or encroachment as the island was a wildlife sanctuary and the only residents were grandfathered in.Isn’t Florida considered the national old folks home?
My family visited Sanibel and Captiva Islands in the late 60’s when I was a kid. I loved seeing that much of Sanibel was a wildlife sanctuary. I don’t think I want to see the place now. I’ll wallow in the good memories instead.Southwestern fla was my homebase for a long time, but estero island and that area is now very devastated from recent events, i hope when they rebuild that they use the height limits and such that were in place but i fear,, big money will win out , and the rebuild will transform the area into just another mega build and develop. Sanibel island was a true hideaway back in the early eighties and i remember swimming from estero island to Sanibel where we would stay the night with friends and swim naked, dining on local fare such as the mammoth shrimp you could net easily with just a cast net and a bucket. My friends all grew good smoke and never had to worry about LE or encroachment as the island was a wildlife sanctuary and the only residents were grandfathered in.
Awesome setup, beautiful views, I wish I had acres of land… I only have…an acre lol but I’m content… for now lolThat’s 18 years of planting. I’m a tightwad that waits until the perennials looks like crap and they basically give them away. I bring them home by the truck loads. I’ve five acres of flowers and herbs. Most of it in natural settings, the English garden is in honor of a great grandmother. I love life and colors![]()
We’re headed up for a week long camping trip to lake George mid July I believe, all our sites are right on the water! Can’t wait!!!Up in Lake George NY with the wife for the day. 75 degrees, no kids, and no specific time to be home, its ginna be a good day lol.
Fantastic memories! A life lesson, a great meal and cold beer!About 35 years ago, I had the pleasure of fishing with a soon to retire gentleman that lived on Oneida Lake. He taught me something that I will never forget, while destroying all the myths and bullshit I had been led to believe about fishing and eating your catch.
Allow me to preface this with the fact that I only fished for sport fish. And, I was a catch and release fisherman and never kept any fish. The only fish I focused on were Trout and Large Mouth Bass.
Okay, so Oneida Lake is famous for Walleye, but I had never fished the Lake or fished for Walleye.
I was excited about catching a Walleye for the first time, and they didn't dissapoint me with regard to putting up a good fight.
As we searched for our quarry, we caught many Crappie and Perch. I was inclined to release them, as I thought he only wanted me to keep the Walleye for him and his wife to eat. I, of course, had no intention on keeping any fish, but knew going into it, that he ate Walleye, and assumed he would want me to keep them for him.
But no, I was mistaken. He asked me to keep all three fish species, and invited me to stay for dinner to eat all three fish. I accepted his generosity and exclaimed that I had never eaten any of the three fish we were keeping. And, to boot...he instructed me to release the Small and Large Mouth Bass I was catching. My head was spinning.
Once we docked the boat and cleaned all the fish, it was time for the fish fry. By the way, if you don't keep any fish, you don't need to clean fish. Suffice to say, I was very impressed as he made easy work of cleaning our bounty, and we caught our limit. That's alot of fish.
His wife did all the cooking and she was a joy. She made a Dill sauce for the fish. Much like Tarter Sauce, but different. This too was a first for me. Her fried fish were light and crispy to perfection and her infectious smile reminded me of my Grandmother. Always filled with joy and singing or humming a tune.
As we sat down to eat fried fish, fresh salad and some fried potatoes, they both grinned at me. The lesson was this...don't judge a book by its cover. Hmmm, thats familiar enough, but I had no idea how it applied here.
I was asked the following question. "If you had to guess which one of the three fishes is better than the other, in which order would you rate them?"
I was confused. Firstly, I would never have guessed Crappies were even edible and to boot, they produced the least amount of meat, for the effort put in to catch and clean...so Crappies are definitely dead last on my list!
Secondly, Perch were not much higher on that list, and only just barely were above a Crappie, so they are second to last on my list.
Lastly...well that leaves the Walleye in first place. And, hell...no one even considered Small or Large Mouth Bass. I was instructed to release them, so WTF right?
By now I imagine you know where I am going with this story...
The Crappie was sublime, and nothing could touch it. Combined with just a pinch of the Dill Sauce, and I was ready to go back out on the lake and catch buckets of them. The breading mix that his wife made was complimentary to the the ever so delicate flavor of this wonderful fish. It stood on its own and didn't even require anything to enjoy it.
The Perch was next on the list and goes without saying, it too was delicious and paired perfectly with the Dill Sauce. I swear his wife seasoned it differently than the Crappie, when she breaded it. It could have easily stood on its own as well. A little sip from his tapped keg of beer and a mouthful of Perch, and I was in Heaven.
Oh yea, that was a first for me as well. He had a dedicated refrigerator that he modified to allow a keg of beer and tap to occupy. It was glorious!!!
And that brings us to the Walleye. Yes, it too was perfection on a plate. And, damn it, if his wife didn't customize the seasoning on that cook as well! I really should have paid closer attention to what she was doing. But, she was so seamless and went about her business, smiling and humming a tune, not calling attention to her efforts, which clearly deserved an audience. Additionally, my attention was distracted by the keg refrigerator and fishing tales, and well you understand. But the Walleye was fabulous and really paired perfectly with the Dill Sauce. And I was encouraged to use as much of it as I liked.
Lesson learned. As a young man, there are so many lessons to learn. I am truly grateful to both of them for inviting me into their home and taking stock in me. They truly embraced the passion of passing on knowledge and sharing wisdom. I spent most of the day with them and as you can tell, never forgot them or that day. Their generosity and love for community was not lost on me. I am sorry that they were only a fleeting moment in my life. But, the impact they made was ever lasting.
As a side note, there were many things we did and discussed that day, some welding/fabrication and a tour of his shop, and on and on, but the fish story was the focus for the post, and I didn't want to add to the already too long post.
My apologies for the glory day rant...again.
I got a little scoop type thing they sell to clean out the pitthen i go around to my grow spots and dump the ashesI got the same pit last season, what's best way to clean out the ashes ?
Only lit a couple fires and made some grilled cheese and lamb chops on sear plate
I do the same, just mixed in like 20 pounds of ash with around 60 gallons of used soil for my garden. All the ash was saved from my pellet stove.I got a little scoop type thing they sell to clean out the pitthen i go around to my grow spots and dump the ashes
Any issue with the old green wood ash? Kids used old fence boards last fall. I was going to put in garden garbage.I got a little scoop type thing they sell to clean out the pitthen i go around to my grow spots and dump the ashes
I would not recommend using pressure treated wood ashes in the garden. Pressure treated lumber is loaded with chemicals.Any issue with the old green wood ash? Kids used old fence boards last fall. I was going to put in garden garbage.
We just got back from a short trip in South Carolina and a house we rented in Georgia.About 35 years ago, I had the pleasure of fishing with a soon to retire gentleman that lived on Oneida Lake. He taught me something that I will never forget, while destroying all the myths and bullshit I had been led to believe about fishing and eating your catch.
Allow me to preface this with the fact that I only fished for sport fish. And, I was a catch and release fisherman and never kept any fish. The only fish I focused on were Trout and Large Mouth Bass.
Okay, so Oneida Lake is famous for Walleye, but I had never fished the Lake or fished for Walleye.
I was excited about catching a Walleye for the first time, and they didn't dissapoint me with regard to putting up a good fight.
As we searched for our quarry, we caught many Crappie and Perch. I was inclined to release them, as I thought he only wanted me to keep the Walleye for him and his wife to eat. I, of course, had no intention on keeping any fish, but knew going into it, that he ate Walleye, and assumed he would want me to keep them for him.
But no, I was mistaken. He asked me to keep all three fish species, and invited me to stay for dinner to eat all three fish. I accepted his generosity and exclaimed that I had never eaten any of the three fish we were keeping. And, to boot...he instructed me to release the Small and Large Mouth Bass I was catching. My head was spinning.
Once we docked the boat and cleaned all the fish, it was time for the fish fry. By the way, if you don't keep any fish, you don't need to clean fish. Suffice to say, I was very impressed as he made easy work of cleaning our bounty, and we caught our limit. That's alot of fish.
His wife did all the cooking and she was a joy. She made a Dill sauce for the fish. Much like Tarter Sauce, but different. This too was a first for me. Her fried fish were light and crispy to perfection and her infectious smile reminded me of my Grandmother. Always filled with joy and singing or humming a tune.
As we sat down to eat fried fish, fresh salad and some fried potatoes, they both grinned at me. The lesson was this...don't judge a book by its cover. Hmmm, thats familiar enough, but I had no idea how it applied here.
I was asked the following question. "If you had to guess which one of the three fishes is better than the other, in which order would you rate them?"
I was confused. Firstly, I would never have guessed Crappies were even edible and to boot, they produced the least amount of meat, for the effort put in to catch and clean...so Crappies are definitely dead last on my list!
Secondly, Perch were not much higher on that list, and only just barely were above a Crappie, so they are second to last on my list.
Lastly...well that leaves the Walleye in first place. And, hell...no one even considered Small or Large Mouth Bass. I was instructed to release them, so WTF right?
By now I imagine you know where I am going with this story...
The Crappie was sublime, and nothing could touch it. Combined with just a pinch of the Dill Sauce, and I was ready to go back out on the lake and catch buckets of them. The breading mix that his wife made was complimentary to the the ever so delicate flavor of this wonderful fish. It stood on its own and didn't even require anything to enjoy it.
The Perch was next on the list and goes without saying, it too was delicious and paired perfectly with the Dill Sauce. I swear his wife seasoned it differently than the Crappie, when she breaded it. It could have easily stood on its own as well. A little sip from his tapped keg of beer and a mouthful of Perch, and I was in Heaven.
Oh yea, that was a first for me as well. He had a dedicated refrigerator that he modified to allow a keg of beer and tap to occupy. It was glorious!!!
And that brings us to the Walleye. Yes, it too was perfection on a plate. And, damn it, if his wife didn't customize the seasoning on that cook as well! I really should have paid closer attention to what she was doing. But, she was so seamless and went about her business, smiling and humming a tune, not calling attention to her efforts, which clearly deserved an audience. Additionally, my attention was distracted by the keg refrigerator and fishing tales, and well you understand. But the Walleye was fabulous and really paired perfectly with the Dill Sauce. And I was encouraged to use as much of it as I liked.
Lesson learned. As a young man, there are so many lessons to learn. I am truly grateful to both of them for inviting me into their home and taking stock in me. They truly embraced the passion of passing on knowledge and sharing wisdom. I spent most of the day with them and as you can tell, never forgot them or that day. Their generosity and love for community was not lost on me. I am sorry that they were only a fleeting moment in my life. But, the impact they made was ever lasting.
As a side note, there were many things we did and discussed that day, some welding/fabrication and a tour of his shop, and on and on, but the fish story was the focus for the post, and I didn't want to add to the already too long post.
My apologies for the glory day rant...again.
Damn lol, Lake George, I haven’t been there in about 25 years hahaWe’re headed up for a week long camping trip to lake George mid July I believe, all our sites are right on the water! Can’t wait!!!
We hit up the shore line today hoping to catch the end of the perch run, between myself, father, brother and son we ended up with 23 perch, 6 white perch and a bullhead in 4hrs….fish fry tomorrow night!
I cut it into 2 or 3 foot lengths to tie for garbage or dump. But no one asked me where to get our fire wood. Just wait. Yours will be older, soon enough.I would not recommend using pressure treated wood ashes in the garden. Pressure treated lumber is loaded with chemicals.
Its actually supposed to be burned in a permitted waste incinerator, shits nasty stuff, especially the smoke.
Yes and no.It seems to me when people say something is “Gamey” what they really are saying is “this taste differ from pork beef or chicken so I don’t like it” but dosent a tomato fresh out of the garden taste different