About twice a year I make a trip out to collect a variety of local fishes to use in my General Zoology labs, and I always need a student or two to go with me. I like to use fresh fish in the zoology labs, because my students can see not only actual local species, but see parts in their proper colors- no dyes or preservatives- a more realistic look at a fish.Katie has been my student since her first semester in the fall of 2006, and she has been at my right hand ever since- working as my teaching assistant, helping me to take data for my own research, helping with various projects and "gruntwork" around the lab..... she's been a huge help and a great friend, and she's about to be a senior. (My li'l gal, all growed up!!!! 
LOL) This semester, she and her boyfriend Richie are both my students yet again- and perfect candidates for my collection trip this time around! They were chomping at the bit to go out and help me catch fish for the lab, especially since Katie is brand new to saltwater fishing (she'd been once with me before).
We got our day started a little later than what we'd planned, but we were on the road by 9, and Dizzy Lizzy's hooked us up with a heaping bucket of live shrimp. Last second, I had grabbed some small jig heads from my house and, realizing I was out of things to attach to the jig heads, bought some Gulps at Dizzy Lizzy's as well. Katie learned from her last trip with me that we don't bring bananas on the boat, and it was obvious to me that the lesson had stuck- our first stroke of luck was getting a parking spot at Bayou Texar that late in the morning!!!! (there was only one left!!) She and I headed out under flocks of birds working, and an osprey keeping a sharp watch over the lower reaches of Bayou Texar. The bay was slick and we were able to open up our little boat and let 'er run..... and with that sweet crispness of salt air in my face, and one hand on the helm, I felt again-finally- the freedom of being OFF terra firma. I found us a spot under the Threemile Bridge, and once Katie had tossed the anchor we set out to bring in some specimens. Live shrimp was the first bait of choice- I was hoping I could get into a mess of white trout since their anatomy is so easy for my zoology students to see during dissection. Katie was first on.....
She'd caught Mongo, King of the Pinfish! Mongo became our first specimen- pinfish are great for studying basic fish anatomy.
I had us anchored just over the edge of the fishing bridge rubble- Katie would cast towards the bow, I cast behind the rubble towards the bridge. There had to be some Spanish back there- a good example of fish without swim bladders- and I knew there were because I had several shrimp stolen, and I saw the culprits as they made off with the baits. Katie, meanwhile, had added more big pinfish to the bag. I am now pimping her out to anyone needing large pinfish for grouper bait. 
I decided it was time to switch things up a little bit. Perhaps there was a flounder on the bottom that we could use to show that really neat anatomical change they undergo as they develop? I got out another ultralight setup, spooled with 6# mono, attached about 18" of 20# flourocarbon leader, and added a jig. The jig heads were 1/4 oz, and I threw on one of the Gulps I had bought just this morning (new penny shrimp, the smallest size). So light was the jig that I was able to set it soaring all the way under the bridge itself. A brief fall and a quick tug just to get a feel for the weight of the jig, and WHAM! Next thing I know my line is singing out from under the bridge and towards Garcon Point..... it's shaking its head a bit..... could it be a large redfish? Hmmm.... the line makes a swift sharp turn towards Bayou Texar, then cuts back towards the bridge- I gain a little, lose a lot..... let this fish wear itself out! After several head-shaking runs, I see color, and Katie gets really excited. Flash of iridescent silver- it's a nice king mackerel! Holy cow, I do a quick re-inventory of my terminal tackle........ no way could I horse this fish if I had any hope of getting it into the boat. The fish sees the boat, aaaaaaannnnnnd- he's off again. Only this time "off" entails him swimming under the anchor line. 
Katie's cheering me on and watching this beauty dance me around the boat and back under the anchor line. At least 3 or 4 times he made the anchor line pass and I sweated through each one.... finally after about 20 minutes I got him swimming himself down in circles and coached Katie through trying to net the fish. The king, on the other hand, had other ideas and darted every time he saw the net. I didn't realize it at first, but a cyclist going over the bridge had stopped to watch the action.... we decided not to net the fish and I got the fish close enough to where I could reach- handed Katie the rod and I reached down and grabbed the tail. In one motion, I pulled the fish up tail-first, the fish bit through the 20# flouro, I had a flash of "oh noooooo....", and with a rush of adrenaline I swung the fish into the boat.
I'm still amazed at what this fish ate:
High fives, cheers, and darnit, I still want to get Katie hooked into something like that! We had a couple more hits by Spanish, but they were picky/sly/thieving today. Katie added to our diversity factor:
Part of what I adore about Katie is that she's tickled to death with whatever she catches. I will never hear her curse at "another pinfish". She looks at each fish with great enthusiasm and just has fun catching whatever comes her way.
We caught a few more large pinfish/pigfish/croakers and then Katie's boyfriend Richie called us- we were to pick him up at 17th Ave, and fortunately he'd brought us more ice. A quick trip back, and we decided to make a run a little farther south in the bay, not only to get the wind in our faces but to try to pick up some Spanish. I still wanted specimens to show the lack of swim bladder. The run out cooled us off a bit, and boy do I enjoy captaining that boat!
Just past Bayou Grande close to NAS we found birds flocking and water boiling with schools of Spanish.
We pulled a mack tree through them a couple of times, but no takers so we decided to head back to the bridge. Richie bows into something.....
It was Mongo's angry little brother!
Katie's is bigger (sorry, Richie....
)
We caught more pins and croakers for the lab, and Katie and I pause for a pose:
Here is my unusual catch for the day- it took a small piece of squid, and we ooooohed and aaahed over it when it came aboard. It's a Rock Seabass:
Close up of its head:
Fish like this make me wish I had an aquarium again! As the sun started to dip, we decided to make just a couple more casts then head in, but not before Katie and I took a moment to enjoy our catches (people joke that she's my protege- I have no idea what they're talking about....):
Of course, we had to show Richie what he'd missed earlier in the day !!!
We hauled the boat out and took it back to our storage facility, cleaned it up and filled out paperwork- I have to give Katie and Richie major kudos for their help- these two are on the ball and cut the boat check-in time in half, and we were finished by 7. Couple more tasks for the evening- one was to get a weight on the fish, just to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks to Rusty at Outcast- he was willing to put it up on the scale for me. At 17.24#, it was not a monster but it was the largest king I can remember ever catching, and certainly on the type of tackle I used!!!
One more task for the day- they'd worked so hard, I told Katie and Richie to come on over and eat!! We checked the truck in, headed to my house, and fired up the kitchen- I cleaned half the mackerel, Katie and Richie helped make cheese grits, and I did a mock-blackening on the king. We ate ourselves stupid......lol....
Sunburnt, tired, and full as ticks, we were happy campers. A fine end to an awesome day!!!
We ended up with a nice handful of large pinfish, pigfish, and croakers to use in the labs, but best of all I got to spend the day with not only some good students, but really great friends. I really appreciate their help and hope to get back out on the water with them again!!