August 30, 2014 Hole-y Mackerel, the Browns of Green Gables

 Saturday August 30, 2014            

 It's cold.  I crawled under the covers and snuggled up to my maternal human.  And I stayed a loooong time.

We checked the weather forecast.  It is calling for 20KPH winds and slightly warmer temperatures.  We check the marine forecast and it is calling 1-2 meter seas (3-6 ft) and increasing winds.  Sounds doubtful for fishing but the wind is coming from the south, and we are on the north, so we could be in the lee.  We call our captain and he says it's a go.  So Jake and Lynn and Spouse and me head off to Rustico Harbor.  It is a fisherman's harbor.   The sun is out, it is pretty breezy but we put our trust in Captain Wade.  (Don't think the theme song from Gilligan's Island didn't run through my head!).

 

 

 

 

 

The coast is beautiful from the sea.  A little village, modest homes on large properties.  There is one round house that Capn Wade says rotates with the sun.  It is a B&B.  The seas are a wee bit choppy.  There are whitecaps.  It is pretty chilly but refreshing.

 

Our first stop is for mackerel.  This is a good gig.  Capn Wade or his helper Sean have the poles ready, we catch the fish, they take it off the hook and we are good to go again!  They are fun to catch and I can't believe I am into this!  I guess it is fun because I only catch the fish, I don't kill it.  After we fish here for a while, we move further out for some cod. 

 

Cod is more difficult to catch and takes more patience.  Spouse caught 4, 3 of which were keepers.  I caught one and when Capn Wade fileted it, he found a partially digested lobster tail inside!  I almost wanted to keep that too as it looked pretty darned good!  But, think about it... eeewwww!   Capn Wade says the reason why the lobster is so good these days is that the cod is smaller.  You don't see the 20 pounders anymore, and they are the ones that usually eat the lobster.  So, more lobster are able to grow bigger.  He doesn't think the cod is being overfished, but shifting with the currents and such. 

 

As the morning went on, the wind actually subsided a little and it warmed up just a tad.  The whitecaps were much fewer and now we are heading back to port.  We bid adieu to Capn Wade and Sean as well as Jake and Lynn as they are off to continue their adventures.  And then Spouse made us a cod lunch!  MMMMM!

 

It is just past noon, so we decide to do some cleaning up and then go play golf at Green Gables.  It is busy, after all, it is a holiday weekend.  But they are able to get us off at 3:40.  They say we should get the full 18 holes in before dark.  And we did... barely.  It is a pretty course with a few killer views, mainly on the back nine.  The wind is vicious, but the trees that line the fairways do a good job of blocking the wind... at least on the fairways that have the trees.  On the few that don't, well, let's just say it cost me a couple of strokes.  As did my beloved Spouse.

Spouse, take the cart and tell me if that stream goes all the way across the front of the green.

It doesn't.  (It does).

Spouse, take the cart and tell me if there is a hazard over that hill and if I should lay up.

You don't want to go down there.  (It was grass and a hill, I should not have laid up, argh!).

 

In any event, it is a challenging course and we were happy we got it in before dark.  As we were finishing on 18, a red fox went across the fairway.  Beautiful critter, that will eat Rudy if given the chance...