Page 143 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2016

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OPPOSITE PAGE, LEFT: WALTER BLESSEY with a modern LED light used for oundering. MIDDLE, TOP: A shing string made by Blessey for oundering. MIDDLE, BOTTOM: A propane lantern and gig used for oundering. RIGHT: BLESSEY with a an old kerosene light used for oundering THIS PAGE, ABOVE: A FLOUNDER laying on the sand at low tide. BELOW: BAKED ounder makes for a delicious dish.
hand under the flounder and get the shaft between his index and middle fingers and then lift the flounder
out of the water. A large two-to-three-pound flounder would flap its tail and it took some finesse to get a string through the gills and mouth.
I was very proud when I got old enough to be allowed to pull the string of caught flounder and very excited when I was allowed to gig my first flounder. While walking through the water looking for flounder we also kept an eye out for blue crabs that had just shed and were soft and bedded in the sand until their new soft shells hardened; nature’s way of protecting the soft shells from being eaten by birds or fish.
Gigging flounder was not just a sport, it was a source of providing one of the most delicious fish in the Gulf for families to cook and enjoy.
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
August 2016 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 143