Thanks for the welcome back, Janie. I thought of you, as we drove past your place going and coming. If I had thought of it you could have made up a shopping list, and we'd have shopped in Lexington for you, then dropped the stuff off. Ah, well. Next time.

Mullet on the Gulf Coast has a long, honorable history, Cathy. During the War of Northern Aggression, while the blockade was on, the main source of protein was smoked mullet. It came to be called "Biloxi Bacon," and still can be found under that name nowadays.

I don't know the price of an inland license. Salt water has a short-term license: Ten bucks for ten days, non-resident. A bargain, if you ask me. If you do a search under North Carolina Fishing the state fish & game site will come up. All the prices and configurations are listed. And you can, if you want, buy your license on line.

Although that's getting to be common, I never buy licenses on-line because I prefer going into a tackle shop and talking with the employees. I buy my license and whatver tackle they recommend at the time. It's the best way to learn what and where in a place unfamiliar to you.

Oddly enough, while I've hunted all over North Carolina, the only inland fishing I've done there is in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Either a TN or NC license is good in the whole park, and I fish on a Tennessee license while there.

KYH,
Thanks for the info on fishing license, our best bet of-course is to get a TN as we are only 45 min's to the border and frequent TN much more than even Atlanta, we love the area!

That is interesting about Smoked Mullet & the war, I unfortunatley do not care for smoked anything so I never ate it smoked except to taste a bit (just in case it turned out to be ok) I had no idea it had such a long history.

We used to use gill nets and catch boat loads of not only mullet but also flounder, you should've seen some of the size of those flounder, OMG they were huge, and soooo delicious! There was also great surf fishing right off the beach at Gulf Shores. There really was an abundance of seafood in the area, we only lived minutes away from Daphne, AL and the annual Jubilee was quite exciting for all the locals to stock up, if they were lucky enough not to miss it! But sadly these days I refuse to eat anything out of the Mobile Bay, it is simply way too polluted. EPA laws are often ignored in AL.

Do you remember a while back when you posted a thread on our favorite seafood? When you really start to think that one thru it is a very complicated question (smile)!

Cathy

Although perhaps less true today than in the past, it's still a truism that if you reach out your hand the sea will feed you.

In addition to the finned fishes, and depending where you are, the array of seafood you can harvest yourself is nothing short of incredible. Among them, just looking at the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, are two types of crabs (stone crab doesn't count, as it it only caught commercially); lobster; oysters, clams, welks, mussels; several types of shrimp and I'm probably leaving something out. On the West Coast you can add in abalone and two other species of crabs---Dungeness and Red (perhaps the most underutilized seafood in the country).

If somebody wanted to fill a freezer full of fish, it's no big deal. Go out on a head boat that bottom fishes the reefs and you'll easily fill any sized cooler you care to bring along. Given the price of fish, nowadays, you more than make up the head-boat fee.

Even shore fishing can, if you time it right, produce more than enough fish for anybody's needs. Last week the following species were being caught with regularity: Spanish makeral; bluefish; triggerfish; spots; and speckled trout. Add in the occasional flounder, king mackeral and cobia, and that's quite a mixed bag. Skate, for those who bother to eat them, are almost always available.

This isn't even the best time to fish the Outer Banks, either. That comes in October.

Much as I love Kentucky, it does lack a seashore. But maybe that's not all bad. If Kentucky had an ocean there would never be any reason to go to heaven.

BTW, Friend Wife's largest fish ever, a 92 1/2" white marlin, was taken out of Gulf Shores. So you could say we have found memories of the area.

The large flounder you caught were more likely fluke, aka summer flounder. They are around more in the summer, and grow larger. In ascending order it would be something like flounder, fluke, and sole among the Atlantic flatfishes.

One of the most popular methods for flounder, incidentally, is to wade the backwaters and gig them.

I'm in a distinct minority in that I don't much care for flounder.

Hey - Welcome Back and it sounds like you had a great time!

It's nice to go - but it's nice to be home.

Thanks, Mama,

All you say is true. But it would be really nice if home was there.

Soon as we hit the Lotto that's where I'm opening a country inn.