January 26, 2006 Issue

The promise of spring means many different things to people in our area.

In Destin, 12-year-old boys (and a few girls) ready themselves for their last year of little league. What was once a lighthearted activity becomes more competitive and serves as an entry into a different level of competition that only increases as they work their way through the teenage years.

High school seniors begin to celebrate a successful transition through a complicated time of life. They reminisce about their young lives and at the same time prepare for whatever is next as their life begins to shift gears.

Hunting season in Alabama ends, the season in Florida winds its way through February, and as deer hunters put away their gear, other sportsmen, perhaps the most fanatical hunters of all, prepare for turkey season.

In the northern parts of the Panhandle river fishermen ready themselves for bream and shellcracker, as they bed along the coastal rivers that work their way to the Gulf. Largemouth bass bed in the shallow waters of the sand ponds that dot northern Florida, and for those who have dreamed of 10-pound lunkers, this will be their best chance.

Local golf enthusiasts forgo yard work and resume their weekend golf games, resplendent in the goofy outfits that golfers have always been known for.

Businesses along the coast prepare for spring break. The college student species of spring breakers don’t invade our beaches the way they once did. It is just as well, because it was never a good fit anyway. There are days in March in our area when snow skiing at 11,000 feet in Crested Butte, Colo. would seem balmy by comparison.

Watching young girls get sun burned, wind burned and frost bitten all at once on our white sand beaches is disturbing. It is even more troubling to see them in their little light sundresses partying at night in 40-degree weather, and then passing out and collapsing while suffering the effects of hypothermia, sun poisoning, and too much alcohol.

Male spring breakers find the inclement weather a mere inconvenience in the quest to anesthetize them with beer.

Some businesses, such as construction and property development, continue through the winter months unabated. Other operations, particularly those related to tourism, try to prepare for the annual onslaught of visitors with money. Restaurant and retail operations struggle to find employees in an increasingly tough labor market. They spruce up their businesses and hope for a mild hurricane season this summer.

I don’t know much about global warming. I do know that the theory is an accepted one amongst the scientific community. I also know that we have made it through the last few winters without major freezes. We almost never have frost anymore. I can remember brutal cold fronts in winters past where we had to prioritize which broken water lines to fix first. The last few years, we have had many days in January and February that were much milder than what we endure during March and April.

For me, and many others between Panama City and Orange Beach, Ala. the late stages of winter mean only one thing: Cobia season is getting closer. The days of glancing at the Gulf, checking the wind direction and waiting for the water temperature to warm are becoming more frequent. The time to ready boats and tackle and put crews together is growing shorter. The days when the boys from the Full Pull began begin searching the Gulf for that first cobia are now just around the corner.

Local bait shops begin importing live eels; the premier bait for cobia. They order ding-a-ling jigs from Frank Helton and they stock up on Costa del Mar sunglasses. Anglers struggle to find parts for old Mitchell 302s, hoping to piece them together so that they will last for one more season.

It won’t be long before a March morning dawns clear, with southeast winds and a hint of warm sunshine. That will be the day that Goose and I will crank up the Hey Baby, and begin another season chasing a remarkable fish that for us, anyway, heralds the coming of a new year.

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