Ode to Cabbage Palms Report and photo essay
Thank you for reading this Ode to Cabbage Palms Report. There may be a couple fishy mentions in here too!
Monday and Tuesday must have been pretty dull, for I don’t remember what was done. I did repair our clothes dryer in there. My brain must have blotted out that terrible memory! On the other hand, the dryer does get hot and dries our clothes now.
Wednesday afternoon found me in the Bang-O-Craft, launching at CS Lee Park. Target, shad! Went to the mouth of the Econ, where casting commenced. The weather was fantastic. There were some signs of life in the water, and before long I had a fat crappie. A while later I got another. Shortly after I got a little one. And finally, the first shad (for me) of 2021, a little buck, which took a pink crappie jig, right next to the boat. All fish were released.
The noble sabal palm photographs beautifully.
I had been wanting to photograph some palm trees against the setting sun. The sky was spectacular, the light was golden, and I had my cameras.
They’re so Florida!
I went to a stand of sabal palm (Sabal palmetto) trees. Out came the camera. I may have gotten carried away, even trying imitate a palm tree myself.
Silly John, you can’t photosynthesize!
Would life be easier for us if we could photosynthesize? Imagine if we were green and could stand in the sun and make sugar!
Palms at sunset.
You can eat the heart of the sabal palm tree. Only once, though, as removing it kills the tree. Sabal palms are also called cabbage palm because of this edible heart.
Reflections of palms. It’s an ode to cabbage palms!
The Bang-O-Craft lacks lights, so I left before I wanted to, but got some more shots of the sky as I made my way back to the boat ramp.
St. Johns sunset, fantastic.
SR 46
Thursday played out in similar fashion, except I went to Mosquito Lagoon, and the photos happened at Black Point Wildlife Drive.
Note the brown slider. Eyes are bead chain.
Two black drum ignored my flies, and a redfish did not. I’m still using the brown slider. The water was quite low, and dare I say it looked a little cleaner? Some green stuff, that exotic algae from the Pacific Ocean (I can’t find the name right now), is starting to grow on the bottom of the lagoon. When that gets established we can be sure we’ll never see manatee grass there again.
The Release!
Friday began the process of installing the solar electrical system in the Sienna, which is probably how much of next week will be spent. At the moment I’m trying to figure out where all the components will go, and how to best mount the solar panel on top of the van.
The spoonbills are still at the wildlife drive.
Telephoto sunset.
Wide angle sunset.
Thank you for reading this Ode to Cabbage Palms Report blog!
Life is great and I love life!
Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or walk on a trail!
John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/
All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.
Great pictures as usual Capt. John. I love the Metallic
Gold on the Red Fish. Thank for the report.
thanks for reading it, TC!
Hi Capt. John, While on a late winter trip to Florida (pre Covid when such things were possible) with family we ate at a panhandle small-town cafe. While there we overheard a patron ask the waitress if there were any “swamp cabbage” available. To our decidedly midwestern ears this sounded totally bizarre and produced much hilarity. Only later and after a Google search did we realize “swamp cabbage” was the local term for Heart of Palm – a well regarded delicacy sourced from the native Sabal palm. Yet another reminder that haute cuisine derives fundamentally from poverty food. – Chris
thank you for the great comment, chris!