Hooked on Redneck Aquaculture

FRED GARTH

For the past 25 years, Fred D. Garth’s articles have appeared in numerous books, magazines and newspapers around the world. Read his blog at: GuyHarveyMagazine.com. I don’t live in Alabama. But I can see it from here. Literally. Just a half mile across the water is Ono Island, Alabama. My home is on Perdido Key, Florida. I can (and do) actually swim to Ono, right across the border between the two states. Usually I take the boat.

Around here, people fsh a lot. The Gulf of Mexico is in our backyard, with everything from mullet to mackerel inshore, snapper to grouper midshore and tuna to blue marlin ofshore. The back bays are full of trout, redfsh, more mullet, tripletail, founder and the occasional run of tarpon. We can even take the boat far enough upstream to catch bass in freshwater. Basically, it’s a cornucopia of fshing.

One of our most popular fshing quests came about by accident. Some years ago, waterfront homeowners started putting high-powered streetlights on their docks to ward of rascals who liked to steal small outboard engines while they were founder gigging late at night. Even if the foundering wasn’t too good, the motor gettin’ was always pretty steady.

Then, folks noticed that fsh liked to gather around the lights and a few inventive dudes began mounting streetlights about three feet of the water. Now, as I sit on my porch swing—no kidding, I actually have a porch swing—I can count a couple dozen lights on docks at Ono Island. Most are either yellow or blue. My quick estimation is that the yellow light to blue light ratio is about 50/50— probably something to do with Auburn and Alabama fans. I’ve tossed many a DOA shrimp and Clouser minnow into the yellow glow and blue glow and caught fsh. There is no color bias in my fshing.

Bottom line: lights work. Case in point: years back, a wealthy doctor from Montgomery bought a sprawling beach house on Ono and decided to hire a guide for some night fshing. He fgured $400 was a good investment to buy a little local knowledge. Unfortunately, the fsh weren’t biting that night, so the guide, who wanted a happy client, got drastic. “I usually don’t do this,” he told the doctor, “but I feel bad about getting skunked, so I’m going to take you to my favorite honey hole. I always catch fsh there.” Sure enough, as they pulled up to a long dock with a bright blue light shining on the water, the fsh were hitting the surface and the doctor was getting excited. “This is it? This is your honey hole?” he asked. “Sure is,” the smiling guide replied. “I told you. It’s guaranteed.” The doc looked at the guide and said, “I hate to tell you this, but this is my new house. I just paid you $400 to bring me fshing to my own dock.” True story.

We night-fshing goblins knew that inevitably someone would come up with waterproof lights that you can sink to the bottom and entice game fsh to come investigate. I’m open to trying anything that will make a fsh eat.

Above-water lights shine down on top of the fsh so you can see their color—the silver and black spots of a speckled trout or the copper fash of a redfsh chasing bait. Fish illuminated from below become watery shadows gliding in and out of darkness. Sometimes they seem gigantic when they swim a few feet away from the light, kind of like a hand puppet casting shadows on a distant wall. When a monster, two-foot-long shape chasing your lure turns out to be 10-in. juvenile trout, that’s just wrong.

Regardless of the nuances of blue, yellow, underwater, above-water, etc., the end result is that coastal residents have created what is essentially a bunch of personal aquaculture ponds. In a state known for agriculture, we now have our own version of redneck aquaculture. I’ve seen

Arti cial reefs aren’t just for open water. New column-style reefs designed for shallow water are being put under docks to improve their sh holding power. Photo: Walter Marine.

as many as 100 trout under some lights. That’ll supply a lot of fsh fries. In the because I know how lucky I am to be “working” (as in writing this column) and be 20-mile radius of Ono Island, Perdido Bay, Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, there are able to put my laptop aside, grab my fy rod and slip stealthily into my kayak for an probably several thousand docks with lights making up one long, continuous fsh instant fshing experience. farm. My buddy and neighbor, Skipper, who is unmistakably from Alabama when In this case, as I eased toward the light, trout were slapping the water every you hear him speak, calls his “the aquarium.” two or three seconds as they scarfed down glass minnows. My frst cast, slam! The

Of course, just because we “farm” trout and redfsh at the end of our docks trick is to move away from the light as you retrieve the fsh because trout under doesn’t mean we always catch them. Some argue that this is hardly “sport” fshing lights are easily spooked. Fishing from a kayak helps. The second fsh took two and more like shooting casts. Ho hum. On this night, I decided to catch and release, primarily because I “...I just paid you $400 ducks in a barrel. didn’t feel like cleaning fsh and there’s no reason to freeze the fllets when I can to bring me fshing to However, sometimes, dozens of trout will be pretty much catch it fresh anytime. Plus, those four fsh will grow and prosper so someone can catch them again. Now are you jealous? my own dock.” mingling under a light There’s a lot of talk these days about aquaculture in this country because our in plain sight but won’t appetite for fsh is increasing, yet we still import more than 80% of the seafood bite. I’ve seen trout so fnicky that even dropping a live shrimp on their noses we eat. Inland and coastal ponds have been raising catfsh and tilapia successfully won’t interest them. Yet, on most nights, when the tide is running, they will bite. for decades. Now, fsh farmers are having luck with pompano, cobia and even

Urgent update: I just heard a trout splash under Skipper’s light. I’m going in. sturgeon (with the side beneft of caviar). In Gulf Shores, Alabama, multimillion Stand by. dollar hatchery has recently been completed, which will release millions of fsh

One hour and four trout later: into the gulf. So, the land of Roll Tide and War Eagle, is doing their part to create

Okay, so Skipper’s aquarium is fully functional. Please don’t be jealous, sustainability one dock and one streetlight at a time.