Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/116174
A pair of quail rested on one hearth. Wood-smoke, leather, resin and 80 years of story passed through my system. I pulled the door latch with a rope and stepped out onto the waterway bluff under a tall canopy of live oaks throwing spangled sunlight and loblolly pines so big they're fit with lightning rods. On the dock, my first impulse was to grab a rod with a plastic jig and start casting into the quiet current, which I promptly did. I was quickly rewarded with the electric tick of an aggressive speckled trout. Then another, and plenty more after that until I pried myself away to study the rest of my options: A cooler full of ice under a whiteboard and pen that asked me how I wanted my fish cooked and for what meal. A simple, clean station labeled "LIVE BAIT" and "TACKLE" that held a circulating soup of fat live shrimp, drawers of jigs, terminal gear and plugs. Towels, drink coolers, trash bins – all neatly labeled. The result is a sense of understated overkill, some hybrid form of necessity and excess; of usefulness and practicality in a format you'd never yourself think to rig. For instance, a man grabs a crisp rod and smooth reel spooled with good line, the correct color grub and accurately weighted head, makes a cast into productive water, catches a trout, wipes his hands on the towel clipped to the dock, measures the fish on the nearby DNR measuring board, chooses to keep the trout, places it in the iced fish box, wipes hands on another well-placed cloth, appropriately labels the board, grabs a bottled water, continues casting and deciding the fate of various specks, C lockwise from above: A great egret patiently waits to gorge on fish scraps at Cabin Bluff's big fishing dock. • The Pro Shop carries a wide variety of outdoor gear and apparel. • Speckled trout are commonly caught right from the dock. • A bucket of single select oysters awaits a steam bath at the evening's seafood dinner. • Opposite: Jeni Cutting holds a two-pound speck fresh from the sea. S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 104