Smartie's Bar & Grill #75

Despite the presence of red tide the mullet are very thick out here. Like Mullet have a tendency to do they often jump clear of the water no one knows why they really do it perhaps just because they can but anyhow if you had a nice medium-sized boat out here and you were adept at throwing a 12 ft cast net you could catch commercial quantities in a hurry.

Standing in the water in my bare feet when I took this picture I better not drop my phone like I did the last one that's a good way to say bye-bye to your phone forever in saltwater.

 

Join me as we roam along vicariously on the "Adventures of FatBack."

I'd really like to catch one of these baby iguanas thinking about rigglng up a small noose on the end of my fishing pole.

I have been able to approach larger specimens and touch their head with the tip of a fishing rod before so perhaps if I form a tiny noose with a bit of split shot is a weight at the bottom so it does not blow in the wind, with some fishing line I may be able to capture one.

It is now siesta time I understand why Latin Americans take siesta in the hot hours of the day.

Currently there is a dolphin frolicking in front of my shady siesta spot.

Well I tell you if I could find a wilderness place where I could be left alone I could die a happy man living off the land in such a place but beer will be kind of hard to get it always make it of course kind of like to smoke cigarettes they're kind of hard to get out here yeah on second thought it's nice to visit for a day trip.

And the winter time when red tide is completely absent fishing here will be pretty damn awesome hell it's not bad now it's just better in the winter.

Now that's to a degree if we have seriously cold weather and the water gets very cold yeah the fish kind of tend to get locked jaw then but the water warms up it doesn't have to be terribly warm

 

Well the iguana hunting is not going very well these little babies are very skittish and shy I haven't been able to get the noose within two foot of one much less maneuver it in for the catch.

Their presence here year round is a surefire indicator that if it does freeze here in the winter, if it does it does not do it very hard or very long or very often or they could not survive here, this is why the iguana population is about the northern extent of it as far as I know.

I wonder what was the deal with those two Black hawk helicopters? They were flying from north to south along the gulf coastline. Oh my God my conspiracy theory mind wants to spin in circles.... Or maybe it's just as simple that they were doing a routine training exercise.

Or the Illuminati sent them to come and get me they're coming to get me haha they're coming to take me away to the funny farm haha haha

 

OMG, Dr Demento!!!

 

I got nothing else to do I don't have to be to work till Wednesday night I might as well not be in a hurry to leave here huh? 50 mile drive to get here

My house and dog will be there when I return. Just sucks in a few areas because there's some major freaking red lights and you don't want to get caught at them in the wrong time of day you'll be sitting there at 8 to 12 minutes

 

I don't smoke weed often but when I do I'm in Paradise and the Illuminati jump out of the Blackhawk helicopters coming to get me to take me away haha.

But I tell you what for Paradise it's sure hot as hell

 

I ain't going to lie. Sleeping out here in a tent this time of year will be uncomfortable as hell. Even if you keep the rain and bugs off you which is what the tents for, you're going to sweat your ass off

If you're going to sleep in those kind of conditions you got to be one or two things you got to be pretty drunk or you got to be tough as nails Florida cracker or maybe a little of both...

Anyhow I ain't feeling that tough today and I ain't that drunk got a good sandwich to eat for lunch. So I shall brave the traffic to return to my humble abode.

But not before checking out the rest of this park and then going across the street to swim in the Gulf of Mexico. I would guess this park is a good 20 acres at least.
Should you ever find yourself in the Sarasota Mannasota key area and you kind of like quiet back areas I recommend finding and visiting this place.


Damn it I should have bought a hammock find me a nice cool spot under some trees with a breeze to take my siesta with ease. .

 

Which is the main reason I can enjoy your photos .....no bugs, sweat and heat!

 

Have you tried a cane pole with a light Line and a fly or hook on the end? Just dangle the fly in front of the creature and maybe it will hit that thinking it's a fly. We used to catch bulldogs up north that way.

 

There are manatees in the water at this one particular place where I found this shady spot to park and take my siesta.

I have also seen dolphins not an unusual occurrence in a coastal area.

No iguanas have I managed to capture... Very crafty they are, very much, very much so....

 

That does sound altogether feasible, no you don't want to put a hook in them per se if you want to capture it for a pet perhaps, it's already going through enough stress without adding trauma

But certainly there is a way to get one. A hook with no Barb ?

 

We always used the barb. My daughter at four years old used to catch them all summer. She just used a little worm on the hook. We used to throw them back but we did have frog legs once.

 

Not too bad at the moment, I found a nice shady place to park and open all the doors.

It's just when you go out in the sun especially without a shirt on.

The key is to stay hydrated keep your shirt on to some degree after you're settled with your sun exposure for that day and seek shade and hydration pretty much how you got to do it.

 

The barb keeps them on the line. But with a pair of nippers you could cut the hook in the animal and remove it without much damage.

 

No amount of avoidable damage is a good idea especially as you're trying to transition them from the wild to captivity that experience alone is stressful enough that some won't survive it

 

I bet these babies are three or four months old at most certainly born this spring.

Such a brilliant green they are, kind of sort of somewhat blue emerald.

Actually catching older larger ones is probably less of a challenge and you could use a barb.

As far as a pet goes the juveniles are much desirable, not so much on the older larger lizards.

They will bite and scratch and whip with the tail one would be well advised to wear long cuffed leather gloves at the very least to wrestle a mature specimen.

Or perhaps treat it like a feral kitten or young cat handle it with a towel?

Anyways I don't want an adult I really don't think I even want to juvenile I just wanted to see if I can catch one, I guess.

The pets I have now are responsibility enough.

 

You want something like a butterfly net to catch one.

 

.....

 

I would probably look for a trap. I have a few crayfish traps. Know nuttin bout trapping iguanas

 

I had considered that in fact, maybe next time I come out this way I'll give that a whirl?


Current view from my front dash....

 

I Had every pet known as a kid.Except a Guinea Pig.
I even bought a Rhesus Monkey { it cost $210 } and I needed a large
cage.This was after flunking out of college and had a steady job.
I just had to have the monkey.
I also had a a boa constictor in college.Plus an Iguana.
Iguana are pesky.They reguire being in a warm environment.
They are not good pets.I never had a Tarantula but met a guy
years ago { 30 years + } who was a pot head.He had 2 trantula.
Both rather huge.He kinda forced people to watch as he let the
Tarantula out and prove how harmless they are.
I also met a pot head around the same time who owned a
Ferrett.That basically ran around and hid behind furniture.
Ferret are known to poop/pee all over stuff.
I think there may be a few Ferret poster at PF.
But don't hold me to it.

 

Wait!!! What's that??? The Martians?

 

It was left of the SunPass expressway day pass...... Kind of looks like some sort of tree from Mars don't it?

 

There used to be a show in the mid 50's titled - Jungle Jim -
It starred Tarzan { Johnny Weissmuller } who was an Olympic
Champion swimmer { 5 Times undefeated winner of 5 gold medals }.
Understood to be the Iconic Jungleman of all Tarzan Movies.
My Father met and had a photograph with Johnny Weissmuller
at a Florida Aquacaid.My Dad was also a swimmer and Lifeguard.
He told us about a guy he witnessed on a super high diving board
doing a belly flop into a swimming pool.He died.He did it to impress
his girl.

 

I,m from Ocala. Silver Springs fame, where many Tarzan movies were filmed.