Day 20 – Sheepshead

Shrimp in Homosassa and Crystal River are leprechauns this time of year. Something everyone would like to see but are non-existent. My hope was that one of the bait shops would have some shrimp this morning, but as all the previous morning the answer was no. Since the shops didn’t have any I decided to go biking.

Citrus County has a bike trail that goes from the Homosassa area all the way to Tampa. It is a trail that basically shoulders the 598 Florida turnpike. It is a beautiful paved path the size of a two lane street. Pretty cool that Florida and put in the money for its residents to be able to enjoy a path like the Suncoast Trail. The trail is a 56 mile path from Homosassa to Tampa. I however only did a 22 mile out and back trip on it this morning. I managed to make it back home from the trail a little before 9am.

When I got home I called around the tackle stores for a Hawaiian sling or pole spear. None of the stores had one, but one of the shops recommended I call American Pro Dive Center. LT and I headed to the dive center right away. We did not want to have this day get away from us. They of course did have a wide selection of spears and points. I bought both LT and I one each with a different barbed point. I thought we would try a couple of different styles. Headed back to the house and we were excited to see if we could change our luck on the sheepshead.

As I pulled in the driveway, Anna, Olivia and Hayli had her truck filled with kayaks and the SUP. The women were going snorkeling at Crystal River’s Three Sister Springs. Shortly after I arrived home they headed out the door. When they left, I got in the kayak and headed to the other side of the river where I had spotted sheepshead the other day. I cruised in the kayak for a while before I eventually caught the sight of one. Flippers and mask on, I hopped out of the kayak, grabbed the spear and went on the hunt.

Within fives I spotted one and followed it in the water a few yards before unleashing the spear. BAMM! One down. Took it back to the kayak and dove down again. The next few I missed or should I say hit but they manage to work off the spear. The next three did not and I made sure to properly secure the fish after the hit.

LT and I went back to the dock and he started cleaning the fish. Afterwards he and I headed back out and let me just say LT spear a HOG! This sheepshead was a big boy and made its filets look like ribeye steaks. Having five of the sheepsheads we called it a day and decided to try for more in the morning.

The girls got back and enjoyed the springs. They had stopped by Grannies on the way there for a bite to eat. You know – you have to power up!! We all just relaxed for the remainder of the day. I headed back up to American Pro Dive Center for some additional spikes for the spears and picked up a new snorkel and mask. Anna cooked the sheepshead and it was frickin’ amazing! I forget how delicious that fish tastes. It was a big hit and everyone enjoyed the meal. Anna made it with rice and hoppin johns beans.

Hayli left to go back to Brandon at 7pm and it wasn’t long before we all took some showers and headed to bed.