Today we weren't sure what the weather was going to do. The weather station on TV kept saying we were suppose to have 70% chance of rain today. After a beautiful sunrise as seen in our Vacation 2007 photo album it did start to rain lightly but we opted to go ahead and head out to the pier and go fishing. Dave was optimistic we would not get rained on for long and I am very happy we decided to go!!
It did rain on us for about 30 minutes but it wasn't heavy and the fishing was well worth the temporary inconveniences! After Aravis made her fantastic catch we didn't think it could get any better until.... as you can see from this photo King Peter caught something very very big!! Daddy had to run over and help him pull it up so that his rod and or line would not break.
After all the excitement of getting this fella out of the water with no broken lines or rods we used our handy identification chart that Dave picked up at the tackle/bait store to figure out what it was we caught. They have a lot of regulations here on the size and number of fish one can keep so the chart came in very handy. On the chart they have a scale to measure sporting value and eating value of each fish. The scale ranks from 1 to 5 with one being the lowest/worst and five being the best/finest. Would anyone like to guess what this beauty is that King Peter caught? A couple hints... it has a sporting value of 4.5. It has an eating value of 5. OK last hint it is one of the most expensive fish you can order on the menu at the finest restaurants.... King Peter caught a 16 inch POMPANO!! It was absolutely beautiful and the boy was in heaven!! I really can't think of any other time that I have seen him so excited. He is still talking about it today. Can you guess what we had for dinner?
After we got home Dave looked up on-line how to prepare and cook both the Red Drum fish and the Pompano fish. Then we took advantage of this learning opportunity and the kids had a brief lesson on dissecting and preparing.
... here Dave is preparing to dissect the Red Drum fish.
... our first Redfish fillets. Well done daddy!!
.. now time to prepare the Pompano which was different than how we had to prepare the Redfish. After filleting the Redfish we dissected it's stomach contents in search for the lost hook. Things got pretty stinky ;-)
... with the Pompano you have to clean out the stomach and guts first before removing heads, tails and fins etc. Then you leave it intack for baking. The only mystery was we were unable to find the hooks in either fish?? Hmmm...
... now it was time to season and bake our fish!
... here was the final product. After baking the Pompano its skin just peeled off effortlessly. Can I just say that the Redfish was fantastic and the Pompano was unbelievable!! Both quite different in texture and flavor.
... here is a very proud King Peter!! It sure was yummy sweet heart -- Thank you God for such a fabulous day!!!
