Note: ALL THE FORAGING WE DO IS PERFECTLY LEGAL. ALL OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES DISCUSSED ARE COLLECTED ON OUR OWN PROPERTY OR HAVE BEEN OFFERED UP BY OTHERS. Finally, it is important that we be aware of the impact of fishing and foraging on the environment. While it may be economically friendly, it is only sustainable to a point; the sharks, dolphins and other predators around us don't have a grocery store to fall back on! We must be mindful of the fact that we are often in direct competition with them. For this reason, we do not necessarily support this lifestyle as a long-term substitute for going to a grocery store!

Since the tropical storm Sandy the weather has gotten cooler, and the fishing has cooled down.  One fun thing about this season is the "Mullet Blow".  When the weather starts to get cooler the mullet start to migrate south and appear in greater numbers.  Mullet used to be a staple due to the fact that it is an oily fish which allows it to be preserved well.  When better refrigeration was developed, mullet became less popular.  Now, a lot of people only recognize them as a great kinda of bait.

Fishing for mullet, is a little bit different than the other fish we have mentioned, due to the fact that they are herbivores, so you have to use a cast net to catch them.  A cast net works really well, once you learn how to throw.  I think my record so far is 3 bait fish!  Likely, I have Mike.  We catch mullet for for bait and also to eat them depending on their size!  Either way we know where they are usually by their distinctive flip out of the water and they accompanying sound (at least for the larger ones). 

Since there is no size limit on the mullet, you can keep the smaller ones but filleting them is a bit difficult, so we grilled them whole which was amazing!  They are definitely one of my new favorite fish! 

On land we have gotten to see up close a great predator... of rats and anoles here, the black racer.  This guy was on a bush at eye level.  While they get to be a little under 5 feet they can be a bit aggressive, so I have not managed to catch one yet.  When they are little they are brown with a horizontal stripe on the side. In the evenings the snakes like to sun on the hot side walks, so bikers beware!


Going back a bit just because this picture is too much fun, I'd like to introduce Dax, our crested gecko.  As he is nocturnal, we try take him out for around an hour every night and let him crawl around on us, plants, betta bowls.... or beer bottles!  For Halloween we enjoyed pumpkin beers such as Pumpking, by Southern Teir brewery and Southhampton's pumpkin beer.  The Pumking, is an imperial, so a little bit higher ABV.  It has pumpkin seasoning, and is a bit sweeter.  The Southhampton pumpkin, again had pumpkin seasoning, but was missing something.  Dax seemed to approve of having new things to crawl on. 

This is our newest addition, a bearded dragon Toki Wartooth.  So far he loves swimming, crickets and sunning. 

We're back!

Note: ALL THE FORAGING WE DO IS PERFECTLY LEGAL. ALL OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES DISCUSSED ARE COLLECTED ON OUR OWN PROPERTY OR HAVE BEEN OFFERED UP BY OTHERS. Finally, it is important that we be aware of the impact of fishing and foraging on the environment. While it may be economically friendly, it is only sustainable to a point; the sharks, dolphins and other predators around us don't have a grocery store to fall back on! We must be mindful of the fact that we are often in direct competition with them. For this reason, we do not necessarily support this lifestyle as a long-term substitute for going to a grocery store!

Hey everyone. Mike here.

I apologize for not posting for so long when I was hoping this would be an almost weekly thing... I guess a lot has happened and quite frankly, I was intimidated (and lazy) about trying to catch up.

NOW I'M GOING TO MAKE IT UP TO ALL OF YOU WITH BACK TO BACK POSTS THIS WEEK!

For now, there is plenty to talk about in the way of fish, beer and well...other cool nature-related stuff.

OCTOBER:

We had a lot of fish in late October which allowed us to try alot of different preparations. As we talked about before, Redfish and Spotted sea trout become abundant in our waters this time of year.

16-inch spotted sea trout caught at night (sorry for the quality)

 This beautiful fish is Dita's favorite to eat. It has a mild-sweetness to it and has a natural almond-like flavor. Sounds great, right? Well it IS...

So instead of covering it up with seasoning, we pan-fried it with Panko breading and coconut shavings, a common way to prepare fish here in Florida. Personally, I think preparing this fish any other way would be an injustice to it's fantastic flavor.

I mentioned coconut shavings. Where did I get those you ask? Well from a Coconut I found outside of course!

Dita and I can stretch a coconut over a few meals because we make coconut milk with it, and use the leftover coconut meat for seasoning.

Coconut milk and a glass of Victory's Storm King Imperial Stout

First we husk the coconut using the back of a hammer and alot of patience. Then from the coconut (as you see it in a grocery store) we drain the "water" from the coconut, crack it open, take out the meat and put it in a blender with hot water. It's a long process, but after squeezing the coconut meat into a pot you end up with the coconut's "milk".


  Then you can make...





CURRY!!!!

 MMMMMMMM............


 




We also ate a ton of Red Drum last month. While grilling Red Drum is my favorite way to prepare this fish, we are often left with small pieces that fall off when filleting this notoriously difficult (to fillet) fish. Therefore, we tried a few preparations

Meal: Red Drum Fish cakes with Asian slaw. Beer Paring: Abita's Restoration Pale Ale.

 Abita's Restoration Pale Ale is a wonderful, mild pale-style ale which was crafted and sold to raise money for hurricane relief funds after hurricane Katrina. This New Orleans brewery has a great variety of beers and this is among my favorites.

Appearance: It's golden and highly carbonated.
Aroma: Hoppy.
Taste: Crisp with even-tempered citrus and hops flavor lingers after each sip.

Meal: Red Drum fish tacos with coconut rice, caramelized onions with a bit of salsa. Beer Pairing: Capital's Wisconsin Amber Lager.

 Holy crap this was amazing... As for the beer, Dita and I had been drinking a lot of amber lagers that month for some reason; amber really only refers to the color of the lager by the way, not the taste. When we went to the store and I saw this on sale I immediately threw in the towel.

 

Capital Brewing Company is one of my favorite breweries for some reason it's brewed in Washington D.C and Wisconsin...
Take note of the "beer for badgers" writing on the top of the label.
Most amber lagers (which actually only refers to the color, not the taste) are extremely tame compared to todays more
outgoing beer styles. Back in the day however this was style was considered very unique compare to the pilsners-style products of like Budweiser.

This amber is an exception to the generally tame amber-style....it's AMAZING.


 Appearance: Golden amber
Aroma: Hints of toasted and caramel malts
Taste: Toasty malt with mild citrus notes from the hops.

 Stay tuned for Dita's post about a Florida passtime: Mullet on the grill!

-Mike

Note: ALL THE FORAGING WE DO IS PERFECTLY LEGAL. ALL OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES DISCUSSED ARE COLLECTED ON OUR OWN PROPERTY OR HAVE BEEN OFFERED UP BY OTHERS. Finally, it is important that we be aware of the impact of fishing and foraging on the environment. While it may be economically friendly, it is only sustainable to a point; the sharks, dolphins and other predators around us don't have a grocery store to fall back on! We must be mindful of the fact that we are often in direct competition with them. For this reason, we do not necessarily support this lifestyle as a long-term substitute for going to a grocery store!

Sorry it has been awhile, but we have been busy visiting Miami, looking at graduate programs and neighborhoods. 

Let’s see…..  So first off I thought I’d introduce some of the reptiles we see everywhere, none of them native.  The Cuban brown anole is probably the most common we see around here.  There is also a Puerto Rican crested anole, which looks very similar.  Both are usually on the ground and we are pretty sure they eat ants.  A clear difference is in the dewlap coloration and the fact that the crested, often have a crest along their back and a bumpy tail.  Also both can raise of lower their crests as well as coming in a variety of coloration and patterns, so it’s sometimes hard to tell them apart. 

The native green anole (the anole often sold in pet stores) has been out competed in our area, so I haven’t seen one yet.  

Brown anole that is hiding in my plants in the apartment

Puerto Rican crested anole

We also see knight anoles, which are shyer and MUCH larger.  They are always up in the trees and seem prefer hardwoods to palms. From working at a pet store I also know they are also prone to biting. 

Knight anole

At night we see Mediterranean geckos (we think, there are 3 invasive species, all very similar) around the apartment. and inside.  Geckos usually lay 2 eggs at once, and we have been finding some hatchlings!  When caught, they drop they tail and it wiggles around to distract the predator so the whole animal can escape.

 

Mediterranean gecko, caught in the parking lot

As Mike mentioned before, while I love fishing at night, I get really distracted by the plankton and larval fish that come up to the snook lights.  Every few days the assemblage changes, and I am fascinated by trying to figure out what they are!  If only I had a microscope…   So far we have seen pipefish, crab, and shrimp larva along with unknown plankton and arthropod ectoparasites.       

 

 You can see the long skinny guy is a pipefish, larval fish and an ectoparasite 

During the day I have found interesting juvenile fish as well! I use a small strainer to catch them.

Juvenile balloonfish

Juvenile trunkfish

 Sadly we currently are seeing the effects of a red tide.  A red tide is "population explosion of certain species of dinoflagellates, a kind of protozoan found in plankton. The dinoflagellates color the water reddish-brown and secrete a toxin that kills fish. Red tide usually occurs in warm coastal waters."  Currently there has been an abundance of Karenia brevis.  The water is an unpleasant shade of brown and there are dead fish.  Last night I counted over 200 dead mollusks.  We hope this bloom ends soon! 

The adventure of the Red Drum

Note: ALL THE FORAGING WE DO IS PERFECTLY LEGAL. ALL OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES DISCUSSED ARE COLLECTED ON OUR OWN PROPERTY OR HAVE BEEN OFFERED UP BY OTHERS. Finally, it is important that we be aware of the impact of fishing and foraging on the environment. While it may be economically friendly, it is only sustainable to a point; the sharks, dolphins and other predators around us don't have a grocery store to fall back on! We must be mindful of the fact that we are often in direct competition with them. For this reason, we do not necessarily support this lifestyle as a long-term substitute for going to a grocery store!


Hey everybody. Mike here. This is my first blog and first ever post so we'll see how this goes...
While I'd like to tell you a little bit about where we are geographically in Florida, how the seasons work, and what that means in terms of changes in fish abundance, I figured I'd spare you some of the biology geekyness and talk about some fun stuff!


Dita and I often feel like we've identified just about every species of bird, mammal, lizard and fish within our property. Time and time again however, during our regular excursions along the sea wall or within the brush, we find something we never would have thought we'd see. Dita is especially gifted at identifying and photographing larval fish and invertebrates that are drawn to the lights off the docks at night. Constantly adding to our catalog, she identifies a new species (to us anyway) almost every week. Two nights ago however, Dita and I decided to take our night-fishing/larval identification one step further. Using flashlights, headlamps (and fishing equipment, naturally) we crept along the wall looking down into the water when the tide was low, scanning the bottom for, well anything. I won't give away everything, but here's a taste of what we saw:

Gulf Toadfish (Opsanus beta)

This fish was laying laying on the bottom right next to the sea wall. As soon as I saw it I was convinced that it was some kind of scorpion fish (for you biologists, I was pretty sure it was at least in the order Scorpaeniformes), a typically benthic (or bottom-dwelling) fish that is often highly venomous. However, I sent this photo to one of my colleagues, a fish biologist at Boston University, just to be sure. It turned out I was absolutely wrong! I've seen scorpion fish before, but it seems that Dita and I were looking at our first Gulf Toadfish.

FOOD!!!!
Red Drum's on the Menu!

Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) approx. 18 in., caught under a lighted area of a dock on light tackle

It's now Fall in Southwest Florida, and while bronze shades of red, yellow and orange can't be seen on any leaves in this tropical climate, they soon become visible on one of Florida's favorite fish.

Around this time (late August to November) in Gulf of Mexico, sexually mature red drum move shallow inlets, estuaries and bays to spawn and feed.

The fins of a Red Drum. Dita helped me net this guy as well as fillet it; it was pretty tiresome.

Dita had to help me out a lot with this one, both in catching it (lots of pilings and boats for fish to swim around, often breaking my line!) and filleting it. Red drum are notoriously hard to fillet due to their thick scales, large spinal column and enormous rib cage. Once you get past that though....you're in for one of the most delicious fish you've ever tasted.

Since this blog is supposed to touch on resourcefulness and foraging when talking about food (and because this fish is delicious without needing to add much of anything) we decided to keep our recipe simple.

I don't know about Dita (the REAL cook) but I'm not planning on posting recipes unless someone asks. I WILL post pictures of our meals though so you can drool and wish you had some! Really though, Dita's the chef. I just play with things that we find and take pictures. Here's what we had for dinner.

Redfish on the grill with lemons fresh from our lemon tree, some salt, pepper, and lemon pepper

Spinach salad with asian dressing and delicious popovers!

Tomorrow night we're using the leftover pieces from the raw fillets to make fish cakes, an extremely useful way to get as much out of your meal as possible.

Well I'm tired of typing/talking so....that's it I guess. Um, thanks? Bye?

Mike

.

Living here has been absolutely amazing!  We have been  in awe of the wildlife we see right out front of our door! Both of us have a love/curiosity about nature and animals.  Just today we saw anhinga on the sea wall drying off, we didn't see her right away but she let us watch her for a while without flying off.  We knew it was a girl due to her brown head (males have a black head and neck).  On a side note, anhingas are a diving birds.  Their feet are placed so far back that it is hard for them to move on land, but this allows them to move very quickly under the water.

As well as amazing birds we also have fun with a variety of reptiles on top of our own gecko.  On that note this is our crested gecko! 

 He is less than a year old and hopefully won't meet the other geckos in our apt.  We are working on a project of IDing the dolphins that come into the cove.  Here is a picture of a juvenile playing with bait fish.  Mike is leading this front pulling on his experience from working at Dolphin Research Center. We are focusing on noticing distinctions on their dorsal fins and scaring.  

 

Lastly we love being able to catch our own dinner!  Here is gulf founder that Mike caught the other night.  I haven't figured out how to catch them but Mike is turning into a pro.  He lets his bait (shiners we catch) sink to the bottom near the sea wall and he catches them!  Here is a before and after picture.