SNOOK

 Snook

I had never heard of snook, They are one of Florida's prized game fish.

I was living on a 40 ft Trimaran at Dinner Key Marina in Miami. Dinner Key is also the City hall and municipal offices for Miami.

I had sold my motorcycle in Toronto and bought a one-way bus ticket to Miami. A half-hour after I got off the bus I was at the helm of a 40 ft trimaran 

tooling out of Biscayne Bay. I had hooked up with Don MacGregor a friend of my good friend Gary Hodgkins just as he was leaving for a sail and he invited me aboard. We anchored out for the night and caught a few fish for supper and somehow I caught a nice size Langousta (lobster) with my bass rod.

Don let me stay aboard for a few weeks until I found my way around. I spent a lot of days snorkeling and getting us fish and lobster etc. I even bought a 3 band arbelette spear-gun.

So I am walking along the dock when I see this huge fish like 5 feet swimming up and down under the bottom of the boats. I run back to the boat and get my spear gun and creep along the dock trying to find the fish again. A couple of teenage girls come over and walk along with me and ask what I am doing. 

Trying to get some supper I mutter. I finally see the fish and get myself in a position to shoot it in the head in the water. I get him and even speared it takes a bit to subdue a big fish like that I pull him outwith him flipping and jumping and the girls start screaming, "Oh he is killing that fish! Help He killed it! Etc. 

Some man looks at it and tells me it is a $2000.00 dollar fine. I am right in front of the municipal offices so I hug the fish and run finally shake off the girls and sort of shoving under my T-shirt and get back to the boat and show it to Don. What is it I ask? "Snook" he replies. Good to eat? I ask."Finest kind." he says. So he climbed up the mast while I skinned and filleted it and we had a mighty fine supper and more.

A few months later I ended up on the Pilgrim a square-rigged brig on the Miami River. One day I notice about a dozen snook resting in the shadows under the dock. We had a bad situation for a while and never got paid or money for food. So I cut a trapdoor in the dock and whenever I needed one I would just duck under and shoot one with my speargun.