Taking a walk on the Rod and Reel Pier on Christmas Day.
After having lunch with Mom and Dad, the wife and I decided to drive out to Anna Maria and go for a walk on one of the piers. The restaurant on the Rod & Reel Pier was closed, so very few people were stopping and the parking lot was nearly empty (that’s a first!). So we stopped and enjoyed the pier.
These benches were waiting for us.
There were quite a few dolphins fishing near the pier. They can be really hard to photograph.
A very thick school of mullet swam next to the pier and I managed to get a few seconds of video before a guy with a large cast net pushed in front of me and threw over the fish. He got so many fish in the net that it took three of us to pull the net up onto the pier. There must have been 100 pounds of fish in that net. I’m not sure what anyone would do with 100 pounds of fish, so I hope he’s got a sharp knife and a big empty freezer at home.
This is what the net looked like after we pulled it onto the pier.
I was glad to help the guy bring the fish up onto the pier, but of course I got covered with fish slime and scales and had to hose myself off. Smelled like fish all the way home. The dude didn’t even offer me a fish.
Normally a rather busy place, the Rod & Reel Pier was quiet on Christmas Day because the restaurant was closed. We thought it was great.
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Sometimes my grandpa would rather buy 100lbs of mullet than catch them. Either way 100lbs of any fish is a lot of dang fish.