Seadoo commercial

This week we had a little excitement when cast and crew for a new Seadoo commercial was to be filmed in waters between Sunshine Key and Bahia Honda State Park. The crew arrived bright and early with a motor home full of coffee and treats, cameras were being prepared and a few young ladies (models) wandering around while all the fishermen waiting for the bait truck watched.


Below were two boats rigged for filming that were unique. The first one below was a specially built catamaran that had detachable wing walkways for directors and tech's with a gimbal mount for the special cameras they were using.
I found it interesting that they used a Seadoo for one of the cameras. Note..... it has a special gyroscopic attachment to keep the camera steady.
And of course there were the models although they kept a low profile when on shore.

At Bahia Honda State Park, they had more crew as well as a helicopter for shooting scenes although we were not able to get close for pictures. All in all it was fascinating to see all that goes into what I assume will be a 60 second blip on TV someday.

Manatee

From time to time a manatee wanders into the harbor and marina area at Sunshine Key and there is usually a lot of people that come down and look at them. They are beautiful gentle creatures in their own way and big! We have been told they weigh as much as 1,000#.
Were not sure what exactly would draw them into the marina but they do love fresh water and will drink from a hose as this one above is doing. It is however illegal to feed them or water them.

These kids were just in awe as we all were and were thrilled to be able to "pet" it.You can see where this one has been hit or scraped on the head from I assume a boat that hit itThis picture shows its tail that has been sliced off presumably from a speeding boat.

During the winter each year there are "Manatee areas" that are protected that are essentially a no wake area for boats. Hopefully, that will prevent things like this tail slice from happening.
After spending the afternoon in the harbor the Manatee left and hasn't been back. Hard to figure where it would go although the waters around here are nice and warm which it probably likes.

Fish Stories

Weather has finally turned and the wind has died down sufficiently to be able to go fishing. One of our favorite spots is to fish the bridge piers. Most all of them hold sizeable fish although we did have a surprise when reeling in a mutton snapper....... a huge Bull Shark came up and tried to take the fish I had caught. I jerked the line so hard I pulled the fish right out of the sharks mouth and it ended on top of the bimini top. Exciting and scary!!!!
On another day, we took Matt and Alice out with us with Marge and Alice catching all the fish! They started with two nice (although not legal) Grouper.....I did catch a puffer fish!Our friend Jim was out with two friends from home and came back with a huge Bull Shark that they caught. It weighed over two hundred pounds and it took them 1-1/2 hours to land it with 50# line.
Incidentally that fish was just a little bigger than the shark that followed my catch up to the transom of our boat.

Stone Crab Traps

Last year our friends Marvin and Joann introduced everyone to the catching of Stone Crabs and the placing of traps for that purpose. Once you have your fishing license in Florida you are legally allowed to put five (per license)traps out for the recreational catching of stone crab. Your marker has to be marked with a R and you need to mark it distinctively so as to harvest only your own traps.. One of the fisheries here offers a complete kit set of traps with ropes , buoys , and everything else you would need for $80.00 ....you just have to put everything together yourself. One complete crab trap ready to go.

The complete set put together and ready to go.

At any rate, once you put the traps together with a cement bottom for weight you then place them with bait out and about in about 5 to 8 feet of water. The bait used can be anything from chicken pcs to hogs feet....yes hogs feet! Actually you can buy hogs feet cheap for this purpose at the fishery supply house. Once the traps are baited and set you wait about a week and hopefully you catch some crabs. Marvin and Joann this year have just collected their first round of crabs claws to the tune of about 5 Lbs worth which more than pays for traps at todays prices. Market price for Crab in the market is $18 to $22 a pound.

We haven't tried it yet (Marge is not too fond of crab) but some of the group is just about to put their traps out. I will keep you posted on the results.