During shrimping season, having fun is a lot of work!

Today I woke up tired. Very tired. It got me thinking about the weekend. What did I do that wore me out so much? As it turns out, I am just having too much fun! 

On Friday afternoon, Elliott (my son), Brody (the amazing fish-finding and stock-trading dog), and I took the skiff to Bulls Bay to do a little fishing and deep hole shrimping.  

Upon arrival, the trolling motor was inoperable. It seems we have a problem with our trolling motor batteries or charger. So, we went straight to Plan B: deep hole shrimping. After a short run into the bay, we idled around a depth transition looking for signs of shrimp on the depth finder. It only took a few minutes to locate them. 

Elliott cast the net and pulled up a net full of large shrimp and small croakers. He dumped shrimp and fish into a sorting basket. While Elliott prepared the net for the next cast, I separated the fish from the shrimp. Brody watched this process intently. To my surprise, the next time Elliott dumped fish and shrimp into the sorting basket, Brody began to remove the fish from the basket. I may have to add “fish-sorting dog” to his title. 

We had so much fun on Friday that we went shrimping again on Saturday. Once again, Brody did a great job separating the fish from the shrimp. When we got home, Maddie (my daughter) met us on the dock with the ingredients for a Lowcountry shrimp boil. While Elliott and I headed for the shrimp, Maddie prepared the corn, potatoes, and sausage. That is when I noticed the engagement ring on her finger! After a few quick phone calls, our low-key dock dinner turned into a full-on family celebration.   

Sunday was dedicated to cleaning up the skiff and the dock. Deep-hole shrimping and full-on family celebrations are a messy business. Thankfully, Elliott dropped byand did most of the work. As he washed the skiff, Elliott laughed and said, “Having fun is a lot of work.”