The conchs in the keys lived on
grits and grunts in the depression.
The grunt is a saltwater panfish.
About the size of your hand.
Good to eat and fun to catch.
Triggerfish is a trash fish
people didn’t used to eat.
We ate it. We speared them, mostly.
On the first reef. In shallow water.
Once we caught houndfish. We didn’t eat them.
But they were fun to catch. They’d walk on their tail.
The ladyfish is called the poor man’s tarpon.
Fightingest fish, pound for pound, in salt water.
They’re bony. Sell them for catfood. Potter says
about them, “Skipjack, caught in the pocket, rally.”
They will storm the net, and jump over the bobbers.
There’s a sports bar in Parker called Skipjack’s.
Used to be toe-jam’s.
