A Floridian Invasive Safari

Looking to knock out a few more species as my deadline for completing 'Eating Aliens' approaches, I made a trip back down to Gasparilla Island, Florida, to hunt with my friend George Cera. George specializes in hunting invasive reptiles but this time our quarry was three species of fish, plus muscovy ducks. We ended up running out of time before we could bag any ducks but we went three for three in the fish department. Plecos, armored catfish and tilapia.

This was a little different from most fishing I've done before because we used cast nets almost exclusively. By the end of the trip I felt like I'd gotten to be a fair hand at throwing a four-footer, although I'm awful at using George's eight-foot net.

I stayed in a fantastic cottage at the Gasparilla Innlet. Off-season in the summer the crowds are thin and rooms are easy to get, but the fishing and scenery are still great. If you get down there right now you'll find that the mangoes are still ripe.

On my last day George and I cruised around in his golf cart hunting black spiny-tailed iguanas. I'd already bagged these for the book last year but I really wanted some meat to bring home. Last year George was exclusively using a .177 pellet rifle to shoot iguanas but now he has started using a Henry .22 rifle loaded with CCI birdshot capsules in some situations. The bird shot is less likely to cause property damage to any structures immediately behind the iguana.

[All photos copyright 2011 by Jackson Landers. All rights reserved.]