My eyes have seen some unusual things
Talk about unpredictable — nature is tops in that category.
As much time as I have spent out on the ocean, in the woods or in some remote area — one thing is almost certain, and that is I will almost always witness some natural phenomena that I have never seen before. But that statement comes with conditions, and the most important condition is being aware of your surroundings.
When I say that, a prime example that comes to mind is when I walk around in a big city like New York. Being a country bumpkin, my head is on a swivel. I look left, I look right, up, down and all around while residents there look straight ahead and never, ever make eye contact. That has always perplexed me. Lord knows what they do when they visit an area like ours when this trait seems so engrained in their everyday life.
Even when I am driving, I find myself keenly aware of my surroundings. Many times, I catch something out of the corner of eye and it might be a bald eagle or an osprey clutching a large fish. Totally entranced, I glance at the person in a car next to me to see if they, too, have taken notice of such a majestic sight. Most times they are focused straight ahead, completely oblivious to this natural wonder just above them. To each his own, I guess, but what a shame to miss something so grand — especially when it is a sight others spend a lifetime hoping to witness.
So what brought this observation on? It stemmed from a fishing trip I took this past week with George Norton, a longtime friend of mine from Kentucky. George, who has a house on Daufuskie Island, often hooks up with me to spend a day on the water whenever he comes down to visit.
Extremely laid back with a Southern drawl and perpetual smile, George is quite simply fun to be with. His idea of a great day on the water is more about the experience than the number of fish he might or might not catch. Now that’s my kind of fishing companion.
Heading out at first light, we loaded up the boat’s live well with small menhaden, with Spanish mackerel being our target species. Using light spinning tackle, our first stop was at the Whitewater Reef not that far off of Hilton Head.
After an hour or so, it became evident that there were more small sharks than mackerel so we picked up and ran out to the Hilton Head Tire Reef located around 10 miles off the beach. Anchoring up, I put out four lines, two on top with Cajun Thunder floats that make a rattling sound and two with nothing but a leader and hook so the live baits could free swim naturally. To entice mackerel even more, I began chumming with small bits of fish hoping the scent would bring the fish to us.
I won’t say the bite was fantastic, but it was consistent as speedy Spanish mackerel slashed at our baits, giving George some fun. It wasn’t all that long before I saw this huge shape rise from the depths about 30 yards behind the boat.
Folks, I have seen many a tiger shark in my day, but this one was massive, easily 15-16 feet long with a head so wide two people hand to hand couldn’t touch if they wrapped their hands around that head.
As it neared the stern, I saw it had 20 to 30 cobia of all sizes with it. For some reason, cobia love to hang next to big sharks and manta rays but, even with cobia season closed, I decided to let George have some fun with one. Quickly reeling in a bait with a circle hook in it, a nice-sized cobia inhaled it right on top of the tiger shark. Needless to say, that cobia gave George all he could handle until I finally netted it, took a picture or two and released it. What a sight it was with that massive tiger and all those cobia!
Just when George thought he had seen it all, a great hammerhead around 400-500 pounds goes crazy trying to eat one of the top baits. Its fin stood at least a 24 inches out of the water and, yes, it got the bait along with the leader and float. With that, we headed in.
Halfway back, I saw a yellow patch in the water and slowed down to see what it was. I have seen stingrays school before, but never like this. There were thousands and thousands of them in a school that stretched for a good mile.
Cutting off the engine, we drifted with them. I think they were cownose rays, but whatever species they were — it was a sight neither of us will ever forget. Right below the surface, they were all so graceful and not one was out of tune with the rest.
If you go to my Facebook page, you can see a short video of the scene. So you see if you keep your eyes open nature has to be the best show on earth. If you don’t believe me, then simply ask George Norton.
This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 12:38 PM with the headline "My eyes have seen some unusual things."