December 14-21, 2004, we were at a campsite that overlooks the Sebastian Inlets emerald green waters. This was an unusual campground in that 80% of the folks staying there were there for the outstanding fishing. Many sites were comprised of men only with their fishing gear and many had boats. It reminded me that people can get really addictive and obsessive about a hobby or interest.
Many of the fishermen were using tents for camping, and it happened that the time we were there, Florida was having historically low temperatures. Mornings were in the low 40s and daytime temps were in the 50s. All this with 15-20 mph winds which made it feel much colder. However, by 8 a.m in the morning, we would see dozens of small fishing boats out in the inlet. They seemed to be out most of the day. When they returned to the campsite, they would have to get a fire going for warmth and many did not seem to have any electricity going to their tent. They had to have been cold at night!
There were some fishing for shrimp near shore, but this had to be done at night. We could see streams of light pouring into the water to find the shrimp, and when we turned out our lights to go to sleep, they were still out on the waters. Amazing!
It seems like fishing is a sport where you sit or stand around for hours with nothing happening, and then, a fish bits and everyone is scrambling. Often it looked like the pelicans and ospreys were catching more fish than the fishermen, and they would fly right by the fishermen carrying their catch!!
tg
