Courting Crabs at Courageous

Cutting up Bait can be fun

Hey guys! Hope everyone is well!
Question of the day: why do all my sites begin with 'C'?
Answer: Because who doesn't want a really cool alliteration in their titles?!
Today instead of the usual beach scene, I spent my day at piers and docks, courting crabs, fresh water fish and a very fat and snappy crayfish. Since all Wednesdays begin with Courageous and crabs, I decided to enjoy it. We caught 16 crabs, 2 sea stars and a myriad of mussels and sea squirts. The sea stars we found were both in the middle of eating. If you didn't know, sea stars are notorious at being very messy eaters. They spit out their stomachs (usually into mussels, it's their favorite food) and let the acids dissolve the food and then drink it (stomach and all).The kids were excited to see them and then we, as tradition dictates, had a crab race. It was VERY energetic with a lot of screaming at the crabs and what one little explorer called "motivation." Fishing at Courageous was exciting. We caught a crab and the kids had a lot of questions about fish anatomy and where the brain, heart and veins were in our bait. And also, why fish were such cannibals? I answered that question by singing the Lion King's the Circle of Life very off key. There was no encore.

Rock Crab + Explorer = Happiness

After my musical performance we packed up and headed to Community Boating where we found quite a surprise. Our eel trap wasn't catching eels. It was however, catching fish and a very fat crayfish. We caught to red eared perch and a bluegill. Then while fishing on the public dock we caught a white perch. Who knew corn was so appealing to fish??!! I also tried paddle boarding for the first time which was interesting to say the least. My balance is terrible and I was thoroughly soaked. A paddle board is not the easiest thing to operate, whatever the the kids at Community Boating tell you. All in all today was a very interactive experience, although I do not think I will be using anything other than a kayak tomorrow.
Excited as always but a little wet,
Ruth Scott

This was SO HARD to balance!