Day 15 - Saturday Stripers with Rob

Saturday May 10th.

Last night I got in touch with my lifelong friend, Rob Mackie.  It's been a long time since we fished together so after looking at a weather and tide report we decided to make a go of it in the early morning.  He met me at 5:30 am and after a quick launch we were on the water before 6.  It was a really nice morning despite the rain for the past couple days.  However, the fog was thick and navigation all the way to Sandy Hook was difficult.  Luckily I had made this same trip a few days ago and had a nice trail to follow on my GPS map.  We just had to be careful not to run into any other floating objects in the water - or other boats.

The fog stayed with us for most of the early morning.  When we arrived at the "spot" we started trolling the bunker spoons - as this was a proven method for landing big stripers this time of year.  It didn't take long before we got a hit and landed our first of the day.   It's really nice to catch a fish early.  It takes the pressure off for the rest of the day.  Rob and I just cruised around the same location for a few hours having a good time talking about the past, present and future.  Before we knew it we had our limit of 4 keepers in the boat and it was time to head home. 

We were back by 11 am after a full and productive day of fishing.  When the sun finally came out we took a few photos with our catch.  I'll wake up early for this kind of success any day.

 

I packed my 2 fish in ice with the intention of cleaning them tomorrow.  My supply of fish is growing and it's almost at maximum capacity.  I don't like to freeze fish if I don't have to because I don't like what it does to the meat.  Instead, I am going to smoke a lot more than I usually do.  It keeps very well in this cured state and is very portable and snackable.

Later today I took the kids out for lunch to one of their favorite spots - The Kitchen Witch.  It was challenging to sit there and watch them eat delicious looking food right in front of me while I had my water.  The waitress gave me lemon with my water.  I took advantage of the situation and enjoyed a little lemon.  Ty ordered french toast with a side of bacon.  This bacon was so thick and perfectly cooked.  It smelled out of this world.  There was so much that Ty couldn't even finish it all and instead of taking it to go - to have the next morning re-heated - he refused it and left it on his plate to be thrown away.  Oh - this drives me batty.  The waste!  I had to take a picture.  This kid wastes more food than a small country.

 

 

After lunch we took a trip to the mall to look for some Mother's Day gifts (which is tomorrow by the way).  The mall had a host of it's own culinary temptations for me around every corner.  And then it was Costco later in the day - free samples of food abound.  This day really challenged my will power.  I survived it though.  Tomorrow - well that will be a different story. . .

Day 14 - Here Comes the Rain Again

Curse you Annie Lennox!  I know it's good for the flowers and plants and trees and veggies - but enough is enough.  We should have some sun for the upcoming weekend though.  Something to look forward to.

Today completes the first 2 weeks and I weighed 184.4 lbs on the scale this morning.  That's a 13.6 lb loss - right on target.  Feeling pretty good.  I have a nice reserve of fish for the next several days and my rice supply is still substantial.  However, the asparagus forest is starting to thin out.  It has been such a productive crop but that only goes so far before over harvesting takes its toll.  I'm going to have to start branching out in the veg department and nothing else seems to be cropping up right now in the garden.  I didn't pre-plant a bunch of lettuce, collards and chard like I had done in years past and right about now that kind of plant would be ready to pick.  Poor planning on my part.  Stupid.  I should be smarter than that.



A thinned out asparagus crop

Last night I spent a lot of time butchering that nice big striped bass that had been on ice for a day.  With the exception of the head and tail, I think I made pretty good use of just about every part of that fish.  My first meal from it came in the form of the carcass and spine - which oddly enough reminded me of making bbq ribs on the grill.  I grilled the bones and brushed on some honey and salt and when it was finished it was quite delicious.  There is a lot of meat left on the bones after the fillet process. Most of this is usually discarded by fishermen (myself included).  But not this time.  I ate it like a slab of ribs and picked every bone clean.  It had a nice hint of sweetness thanks to the honey glaze once again.


fish carcass under broiler

I have been anxiously waiting for an opportunity to break out the smoker grill and I finally had enough fish to get it going.  Yesterday I filled a zip top bag with a honey, salt and water solution and into it I added several strips of fish.  After brining overnight I removed the fish and set it on the dehydrator to dry for a hour or so while I got the wood chips smoking on the grill.  Ideally I would have dried the fish longer in order to form a nice sticky pellicle for the smoke to adhere to.  I was a little hasty due to hunger so I shortened the drying time from 3 hours down to 1.  I got the chips smoking nicely when the fish arrived.  I really feel as if I am getting better at this process every time I do it.  The fish smoked for a few hours and then I went to bed with it on the dehydrator for it's final drying cycle.  I set a timer to automatically shut off and when I woke up in the morning there was an odor of smoky deliciousness coming from downstairs.  In hindsight I probably should have done the final step in the garage to avoid disturbing the rest of the family.

I should have a nice supply of fish jerky for several days.  And I can reuse the brine solution a few times before it gets old.  I'm looking forward to some smoked bass.  Yum.

Day 13 - Bee-ing Grateful

Thursday.  Back to work today and it's just as well because it has been raining constantly this morning.  I'm happy to have it rain when I am working.  It's supposed to be like this for a few days too.  It makes me feel much better about the fish that I caught yesterday.

I want to dedicate this post to my bees - past and present.  Even though I was stung in the head the other day, I'm willing to overlook that and show some significant appreciation for those little buggers.  Looking back, over three years ago in the beginning weeks of my Survivor Diet, I was desperately craving something sweet.  I just couldn't shake that feeling after so many days of bland, unseasoned food.  I think Debbie may have had the idea to get a bee hive first after going somewhere or reading something about the decline of the bee population over the last several years.  A backyard beekeeper.  That sounded like a possibility.  The goal - lots of honey.

I did a lot of reading and investigation and I educated myself on the subject.  Such fascinating creatures these little bees.  Eventually I got my first hive box and set it up in the back yard with my first package of bees.  It was a cool experience right from the start.  I remember sitting out by the hive for long periods of time just watching them work.

I like to think they were working for me but I could tell that there was some deep instinctual process at work within this organism of the hive.  You really can't think of it as 'individual' bees doing their part.  When you watch it for a while it looks like unorganized chaos.  But when you see the end result and the honeycomb construction process it is just mind blowing.  There is so much organization  amongst the chaos - and without using any type of communication that humans can comprehend.

The bees first make their geometrical perfect honeycomb cells and then use them to raise their young and store their food - honey.  The one and only Queen Bee within every hive is also quite remarkable.  I could fill pages on that subject alone.  Suffice it to say that without the Queen, the hive would not survive.  One special little bee, unique among tens of thousands of Workers and Drones.

My first hive didn't survive very long.  I suspect that the Queen died.  With the help of a friend I added a new colony of bees which had a new queen.  These bees did great.  Very busy, very active.  It inspired me in fact, to built a brand new hive out of wood - copying the design of the original hive.  Jamie and I painted it to be more "bee friendly" and it would be ready for the following season to house another colony of bees.

When winter came the bees went into hibernation mode. They all huddle together in the hive presumably surrounding and protecting the queen.  Unfortunately this was the winter of Superstorm Sandy and my entire neighborhood was severely flooded.  The hive did not survive.

I was beginning to think myself a failure but the next season I started again from scratch.  After getting a couple of new bee colonies (from the Bee Hive Barn in Cranberry, NJ) the new hives were populated.  And boy did they take off!  These bees were highly active and were thriving throughout the entire summer.  In fact, these bees made a lot of honey and I was able to collect some mid-summer.  I got 5 nice sized jars of honey from only a few bars of honeycomb from both hives.  There was still plenty of honey left and plenty of time for them to make enough to hold them over during the winter.

Well, this past winter was a harsh one.  There were no floods but there was a lot of snowfall and a lot of cold days and nights.  At the end of the winter, one weekend it got really nice out - so nice in fact that the bees all awakened from their slumber.  In one day there were thousands of bees buzzing about the hives like it was springtime already.  However, there were no flowers yet.  Nothing for them to do.  The very next day a cold front came back in and it snowed and snowed and snowed.  It was more than the bees could handle and almost overnight the entire population of both hives died.

I attributed this tragedy to the drastic swings in temperature but the truth is that I really don't know what happened.  I thought it was possible that the bees ran out of honey but after cleaning out the hives I noticed that there was plenty of honey still remaining within the hives.  It will remain a mystery but the fact still remains that I have managed to kill 4 colonies of bees already.  Not a good feeling.

Instead of quitting, I decided that I would continue to try to be a good bee guardian (that's what we call ourselves) and get back on the horse by going back to the Bee Hive Barn in April and getting a new colony.  This time I would just get one and see if I could make it through at least one winter.  If successful, I will populate the other hive the following season.  Besides, I need to do a little construction work on the roof of the empty hive.  I'd rather do that when there are no bees in it.

Currently I have a thriving colony of bees in my homemade hive and I have a little over 1 large jar of honey remaining from last summer's collection.  If I can get through this Survivor Diet with this supply of honey then I will probably not collect any honey from these bees until next season.  They need to store a lot for themselves for the winter and the first season of any new hive should be a building year.

Busy Bee Hive

I am very grateful for the bees (past and present) that have supplied me with the honey that I have been using in this year's Survivor Diet.  Without it I would really be struggling.  And with it I have constructed some amazingly delicious dishes.  I do not have a sweet craving this year and I have a feeling that eating a little bit of honey on a regular basis has given me more health benefits that I even know.  Honey is a truly amazing food - all natural, never goes bad, helps resist seasonal allergies, and delicious in so many preparations.  Beats white sugar in many categories and I am very happy to have it.

Thanks Bees!

Day 12 - Big Bass

It's my day off today so I have to use my time wisely and hopefully catch some fish to replenish my supply which has been diminishing.  I made the kids a couple of breakfast sandwiches and off they went to school.  I decided to go a little further than my local fishing hole today so it was time to refuel the boat.  After getting gas I was ready to go by about 8:30am.

Debbie told me that she ran into a guy who was already out fishing this morning and he said not to bother because of the cold and wind.  I knew that the forecast was better for later in the day so I that's why I skipped the sunrise today.

I made about a 40 minute run out to Raritan Bay at the very end of low tide.  Despite the earlier warnings, it was a really calm day and I'm glad I made the choice to go.  My plan for today was to troll big bunker spoons and although I despise trolling, it is a proven method to catch big striped bass this time of year.  I only had one spoon so I put it out there and began cruising around looking for signs of life. 

There were other boats out there doing similar things but I didn't see anyone hooking up.  Well, my line had only been in the water about 5 minutes when all of a sudden it gets hit!  The drag started pulling line off the reel and I was very excited to be hooked up already.  Alas, as quickly as this fish hit, he popped off.  Still, it was an excellent sign to know that I was in the right spot doing the right thing. 

After a few more minutes went by, Bam - hit again.  And off again!  What was going on?  Usually when a fish hits one of these bunker spoons he is on for good.  But that was already two misses.  Some time went by but eventually I got bit again and I thought for sure this was going to be a catch.  I reeled it in thinking I had a fish the whole time but when it got close to the boat all that was there was my spoon.  Something had to be wrong here.  I reeled he spoon all the way up for inspection.  Wouldn't you know it - but the big treble hook that usually hangs off the back of the spoon had been broken off.  That explains a lot!

At least I didn't lose my spoon all together.  I scrambled around looking for another suitable treble hook.  Yes!  I found one and I was able to modify it a bit to fit onto the back of my spoon.  Before I was ready to start trolling again I decided to try a new location that has been productive in the past.  It took about 10 minutes to motor to this area.  I set out my line and I was ready for a big one.

Well, after about an hour of trolling around for miles, not a single bite.  Very frustrating.  I was so sure there would be fish here.  I felt stupid for leaving the spot that I had three bites earlier so I brought in my line and motored back to where I started.  By now there were many other boats in this area. 

I put the line out and started trolling again.  It took some time but after about 20 minutes - Bam, my spoon got hit.  This time it was on!  I continued to feel the fish fighting as I was reeling in this time - no doubt about it, this fish was hooked well.  It's a little chaotic trying to troll, fight a fish, get the net and take photos and video all at the same time.  I got it done though.  I landed my biggest fish of the season - a 36 inch, 20 pound striped bass.  Fantastic!

After this catch, the wind started to pick up and I didn't get another bite after trying for another half hour.  Content with my one fish, I headed back home before the water got too rough.  It was a great trip overall and this fish will help me to restock my supply for at least a week.

I got home around 2pm and with the help of one William Buckman, we got the fish into an ice bath where it will sit for a day until I am ready to clean it. 

Lunch was a delightful honey glazed fish with asparagus and rice and for dinner, you guessed it, the same thing.  Hey - at least I'm enjoying it right?

Day 11 - Best Meal Yet

I was inspired to wake up early today - mainly because it was Tuesday and I didn't have to go to work until 10am.  I crept out before the sun came up and launched the boat to see if I could locate some fish in the river close to home.  I don't see the sunrise too often so when it came up over the mirror calm water of the Shrewsbury River I had to try to take some photos.  The only thing that would have made this a more perfect morning is if there was a fish to bite my line.

I tried several spots, different baits and lures - nothing.  I did see some signs of bunker in the river.  This means that the predator fish are not too far away I'm sure.  It just wasn't my day but I'm glad I gave it a shot.  Sometimes you just have to appreciate the outdoors for it's beauty and enjoy a few hours of solitude.

When I got home I decided to take a peek at the bee hive to see how they have been progressing.  I felt confident enough to open the cover of the hive without getting all garbed up in my protective bee suit.  Unfortunately for me, the first honeycomb was stuck to the cover and when I lifted off the cover the honeycomb came out with it - along with like 100 angry little bees!  I was immediately attacked and before I could even put down the cover I was stung right in the forehead.  Wow - that's smarts!  I was trying not to destroy the honeycomb but when I started getting chased by bees from multiple directions my only choice was to drop the lid and run for cover.  I ran, crazily swatting at the air like a wild man.  I made it into my garage and closed the door - managing only to get that one sting in the head.

After fumbling around in some plastic bins I finally found my bee suit and gloves.  Now protected, I was able to go back to the hive to try to salvage what I could of the detached honeycomb.  I think I did a good job replacing it in one piece and I'm sure the bees will figure out how to repair the rest.  Well, I'm pretty sure.  They'll either fix it or work around it.  I just hope that the queen bee was not on that particular comb when it came out.  Only time will tell.

While suited I cleaned up the hive a bit and now it should be fully functional.   I took out their feeder and moved the dividing board to the very back of the hive.  Now they have room to expand and hopefully start making some honey.  These bees have build quite a bit of comb already for the relatively short time they have been here.  I'm expecting big things from them. 

I can remember back a few years when I had the idea to get bees.  That idea in my head is now paying off because the honey that I harvested last season has been such a big boost the this year's Survivor Diet.  I don't think there exists a more healthy sweet than the honey produced by local bees.  I have been able to use it in a variety of dishes as well as a quick snack and pick me up.  I am being careful to ration it appropriately because I don't exactly have an endless supply. 

My favorite dish that I have created so far has been honey glazed striped bass cubes and asparagus over rice.  It is really amazing and I would have no problem making this same dish in non-survivor mode or to serve to guests.  It's got a hint of Chinese flare to it and the addition of a tiny bit of soy sauce would put it over the top.  Although I use striped bass, this could be made with any firm fleshed white fish such as snapper, grouper, tilapia and others.

Ingredients: white or brown rice, fish fillet - cut into small cubes, 4 asparagus - cut into 1 inch sections, sea salt, honey - about 2 tablespoons.  Increase quantities for more than one serving.

Cook your rice in advance.  Set it aside and before serving put a scoop down in the middle of the plate.  Generously salt your fish fillet and cut into small cubes.  Pour 1 tablespoon of honey over the fish cubes and mix it all together by hand or with a spoon.  With heat on high, in a hot, nonstick skillet add your fish cubes and sauté until the fish is cooked through and starts to caramelize on the outside.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking or burning. 

Move the fish to a holding plate and add the cut asparagus pieces to the same hot pan.  Sprinkle with sea salt and swirl around pan as the asparagus start to cook.  The pan will have browned honey starting to coat the bottom at this point.  Before this burns, deglaze the pan with about 2-3 tablespoons of water and continue to swirl the asparagus.  This will release the honey fond and steam the asparagus - coating them in a sweet sauce.

After about 3 minutes the asparagus should be tender and the sauce should start to slightly thicken and reduce.  Add the fish cubes back into the pan and stir all together.  Add remaining tablespoon of honey and continue to stir, coating all of the fish and vegetables. 

Pour the contents of the pan over the top of your plated rice and enjoy this fantastic Survivor Diet meal.  I hope someone out there tries making this dish because it is really delicious.  I had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner today - Ha!  So I'm getting the hang of it.  I tried once to just put all of the ingredients into the pan and cook it together in one shot but it didn't quite come out the same.

Suitable vegetable substitutions could be snow peas, green beans or perhaps broccoli.  Onions maybe a good addition as well as a smashed clove of garlic.  There ya have it.

Finally, no luck in the traps again today.  Once again I am being laughed at by the squirrels, bunnies and birds in my backyard.  They are outsmarting me but I feel like it is just a matter of time and patience.

Day 10 - Feeling Pretty Good

Back to work today.  It's Monday and the beginning of another Survivor Diet work week.  These are the times that I have to prepare the most.  I made a meal to take to the office and put it into the toaster oven at lunch time.  It was very good and held me over for the day.

 

prep work at home

 

cooked at work

 

For dinner tonight I made up a fried rice dish with the same food items.  It's getting a little monotonous but it is good for me and tastes perfectly acceptable.

 

My energy levels are up and I'm feeling really good lately.  I have a couple health observations to share as well.  Debbie has noticed that my snoring has completely subsided.  Not that I was a heavy, all night snorer - but when I pack on extra weight it is very obvious that I occasionally snore.  The past several days - nothing.  Headaches - non existent since that first day banger.  Another interesting thing about sleeping - I seem to be breathing better and therefore sleeping better.  I feel like there is a lot less phlegm and mucous and crusty boogers in my nose.  It may be all related.  Another think that may or may not be true is the observation that I have few grey hairs than I'm used to seeing in the mirror in the morning.  This could just be wishful thinking on my part but it does seem that way.  Perhaps I am getting younger as I progress through the Survivor Diet.  Ha!

Day 9 - The Salt of the Sea

Having that fish to eat is a huge boost.  Now, instead of clams and rice and asparagus, I eat fish and rice and asparagus - Ha!  Seriously though - it's so much better than clams, clams, clams. 

 

 

I worked on my traps a lot today.  Now I have two active varmint traps in my yard.  Still no animals - but this morning I was SO close.  I was on my way to play softball - riding my bike down the street.  I looked over to my trap and there was a squirrel standing right in it!  I thought for sure this was going to be the one.  I quickly ran back inside to get my camera to video the capture.  When I got back outside, the squirrel was not in the trap any longer.  Then in a flash it was gone.  I inspected the trap and sure enough he had taken the bait.  However, the trigger mechanism did not fire.  Damn!  I'm not exactly sure why but while I was visually inspecting it, wouldn't you know - it sprung and the door slammed shut.  It felt like I was on one of those old Road Runner cartoons and I was the coyote who's contraptions never worked - and then blew up in his face.

 

 

Hopefully one of these traps will work soon because I am really ready for that first reward.  I am going to have to think of some other primitive survival skills to accomplish.  When I get enough energy and time I am going to work on making a fire.

 

I almost forgot.  This morning I took a ride to the beach and the ocean was nice and calm.  I scooped up a bucket of sea water so that I can have some salt on my food.  It only took me until Day 9!  Sheesh.  That's because the weather had churned up the sea so badly all last week.  I filled a pot at home and boiled it down for 5 hours until the only thing left was the sea salt.  I filtered it a couple of times during the process to try to get rid of any obvious impurities.  When it was finished boiling down I laid it out on some parchment paper and put it into the toaster oven for about an hour on 200 degrees.  This just helped to dry it out completely.  I should be set for salt for the rest of the challenge.  That is, unless I make up a brine for curing and smoking fish.  I may have to get another bucket for that.

 

 

After 5 hours of boiling sea water

 

 

For dinner tonight I had striped bass carcase.  After cleaning my fish, the only thing left (besides the head) was the carcase - bones and ribs.  However, they were still covered with a substantial amount of meat.  I just put a little salt on it and threw it under the broiler for about 15 minutes.  The bones and fins crisped up nicely.  I sat outside enjoying a nice fire in my new fire pit while eating the remaining meat off the bones.  Nothing to waste here.  It was quite tasty and what I noticed was that the belly area of the fish yielded a significant amount of fat.  I mean it's not like bacon fat but this observation might be useful in the future when I need some oils and fats for other types of cooking.

 

Roasted Fish Carcase

 

Day 8 - Fish for Dinner Tonight!

It was a special day today.  The weather finally broke and Dad came up to do a little river fishing with me this afternoon.  The sun was out and the wind was low.  We got a solid two hours of fishing in mid afternoon.  High tide was around 2:30 pm so we tried to find some moving water from around 11:30 to 2.  There were no visible signs of fish but the water had just started to clear up a bit after the storms earlier in the week. 

 

We casted jigs, plugs and plastic for quite some time.  Finally I got a hit as I was reeling in my new Alabama rig right up to the boat.  Fish on!  Because he grabbed it right at the boat, he was very lively and very close.  I grabbed the net and with a huge sign of relief and a smile on my face I pulled this nice striped bass into the boat.

 

 

This fish was exactly what I needed both mentally and physically.  It will provide meals for several days and I can finally free myself from my dependence on clams for protein.

 

Later in the day I completed my stone fire pit in the back yard.  Not so much a "survival tool" but it's nice to have a big fire pit in the yard. 

 

Day 7 - One Weak Survivor

It rained again last night after I set my trap out.  As a result, my bait (a piece of pretzle stick) got soggy and collaped - triggering the door to close.  It wouldn't have mattered much in the night becuase it was all wet and rainy out - but this morning the sun came out and the birds were chirping.  I got up out of bed before it was time for work and made sure that I had a properly set trap.  Perhaps I could capture a squirrel or bird while I am at work.

 

My goal is to capture something today, release it and get the 'trade in value' at the local market.  By doing this I will also complete a proficiency in a survival skill for week 1 wich will unlock my first weekly reward.  Now that would be something to celebrate.

 

 

Outsmarting the critters in the wild is no small task.  Although we live closely to natures critters, they certainly know how to keep their distance from us.  I found out how hard this was last year while trying to trap.  Either my traps were inadequate or the triggers were faulty or the squirrels chewed their way out before I could get to them. 

Day 6 - The Trap is Set

The sun came out today.  It is Thursday so I have to spend the majority of the day at work.  I packed a nice lunch of clams, asparagus and rice and off I went.  On Thursday's I usually take Jamie out to lunch so as not to break that tradition we went to Fuji.  Jamie ordered a nice sushi lunch with a salad and soup.  It smelled so good.  I sat there and got a water.  But after a few minutes I realized that I have a certain allotment of rice fro myself so I order a bowl of rice that I could enjoy while she ate her delicious meal.  This was followed by a visit to Let's Yo which, surprisingly did not temp me at all.  Junk foods are just not interesting to me right now.  When you're so focused on just getting regular food, you don't really have a craving for junk food.

 

my lunch.  Supplies are getting low

 

Lunch supplement

When I got home from work I spent some time thinking about how I can start changing things up a bit.  I feel like I've been locked into a lull this whole week and it has been stifling my creativity.  I think I came up with a solution - The Small Animal Clause.  If you are unfamiliar with the Small Animal Clause then I suggest you read about it in the sections under Weekly Rewards and Official Guidelines of the SDC.  It was time to build a trap.

 

I searched around the house and garage a bit - looking for an appropriate container to trap a small animal.  Because the animal needs to be kept alive (for a proper release), I needed to build a trap rather than a snare or dead fall capturing device.  In the rafters of my garage I noticed a small cage that was once used to hold my daughter's pet mice.  This looked like a perfect start.  I made a few modifications and then found a good spot in the yard to set it up.  With the use of a old fishing rod and some fishing line, I created a "trigger" mechanism that would close the door of the trap when sprung. 

 

Learning from my experiences last year (hopefully), I did not use a plastic trap.  The squirrels chewed through that and escaped.  I was also able to quickly develop a good triggering mechanism which was a big problem for many of my traps last season.  I was only able to capture a couple small blackbirds in the past.  This year I plan to get much more involved with the trapping.  And I could really use some protein right about now.  We'll see.