Newsflash: I caught a fish!

Intrepid angler snags first fish -- what is it?

UPDATE: My friend Willie Howard, reporter with the The Coastal Star and outdoor expert, informs me this fish is actually a Lane Snapper. Thanks Willie! By the way, Wikipedia has this to say about them: "They are easily caught on a variety of live and frozen baits, such as shrimp." Well now, don't I feel special!


A while back, I wrote about my mission to catch some Florida fish.  Guess what? I finally did!

Now, I just have to figure out what I caught.

With the beautiful orange, yellow and red coloring, it looks like it belongs in an aquarium. Size-wise, it wasn't what Texans would call a "whopper." Not even a mini-whopper. In fact, it was just slightly larger than the shrimp I was using as bait. But it still qualifies as a catch.

So far the best I have come up with is a "Spot Tail Pinfish," described by one source this way: "Usually they are a pest fish when trying to catch a larger fish." That's harsh.

No matter. I caught a fish! After snapping this photo, I released it back into the salty waters of the IntraCoastal, where moments later I think I snagged its cousin, also about the same size.

Watch out, you Florida fish -- there's a new sheriff in  town.