Georgia Magazine - May 2010 - (Page 30)

Trawl for shrimp on St. Simons Sound Lady Jane tour celebrates coastal heritage STORY AND PHOTOS BY CAROLE HAWKINS A curly-haired girl who looks about 5 years old bursts in on Capt. Larry Credle, stationed at the helm of the 45-foot shrimp trawler. “I touched a puffer fish, and I holded it!” she says, jumping in place. “You touched a puffer fish?” Credle asks, matching her excitement. “Did you kiss it?” “No, but I touched it,” she says, and then runs back to the stern of the vessel. Credle, a thirdgeneration commercial fisherman, understands her excitement. “Shrimping is a lot like Christmas,” he explains. “You never know what’s going to be in the bag.” Credle commands the Lady Jane shrimp trawler, a boat at the heart of a tour in Southeastern Georgia. Its port of call is Brunswick. Once declared the Shrimp Capital of the World, the city Brunswick’s Lady Jane is the first commercial shrimp trawler has been home to licensed for tour-goers, says Capt. Larry Credle. shrimp trawlers since 1938 when Portuguese fisher- boots, show off each non-edible specimen before casting it back. men first settled the region. This tour is not a bus ride on They may not be naturalists, but one water, it’s the real thing, Credle thing these fishermen know is how promises. Polished up for visitors to to handle fish. Guests avoid the stingray for its “yacht” quality, Lady Jane has been barb, sharp enough to slice open a used for fishing since 1987. As the vessel leaves the dock hand. But first mate John Tyre lifts along a sleepy tidal creek, its the creature harmlessly out of the engines push forward with the might tray and holds it up for all to see. Cliff Credle, the captain’s 15of a locomotive. Once in open water, a power winch clacks as it year-old son, displays another pinchslowly lowers and stretches a shrimp ing critter. “This is a horseshoe crab,” net beyond the stern. Passengers Cliff says. “Something you don’t read and seagulls wait patiently above for too much is that they’re ticklish.” His fingers brush its legs lightly, and the the spoils. After a few minutes, the nets are crab squirms in reply. Boys compete to hold juvenile lifted, brought aboard and split open, pouring a bathtub’s bonnet sharks—a common type of worth of fish onto a by-catch in Georgia marshes, where stainless-steel sorting shallow waters provide a nursery for table. That’s when several species. Then the attention turns to the everyone sees there’s a lot more to shrimp- shrimp. Working together, passengers ing than just shrimp. and crew pinch and pop off hunStingrays, sharks, jel- dreds of shrimp heads. “This is exactly the same as how lyfish, crabs and a silvery fish called a it’s done on a working shrimp boat. “poagie” are also part You would put the catch on the steel table and be sorting and heading reof the catch. Crew members, petitively,” Credle says. “We’ve scaled clad in white rubber it down a bit. On a commercial boat, How to get in touch The Lady Jane may be found at Credle’s Adventures dock, next to Spanky’s Marshside restaurant in Brunswick. Call (912) 265-5711 for a public tour schedule or to book a private excursion.Visit www.shrimpcruise.com for more information. GEORGIA MAGAZINE Cliff Credle, left, shows his passengers how to head a shrimp. You pinch it! 30 www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.shrimpcruise.com http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - May 2010

Georgia Magazine - May 2010
Table of Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
Special Energy Report
A Glass Act
Go Green from Top to Bottom
Around Georgia
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Recipes from Mom
Georgia Cooks Contest
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - May 2010