Prawnapalooza

Work obligations have kept me off the river since my last post and a mudslide on the boat launch has kept Chris off the ocean. In a last ditch effort to fill our freezer with prawns for the next 8 months we declared this past weekend Prawnapalooza 2012. I drove up to Port Alice and we spent our days pulling and dropping our traps to try and catch our limit.


This was my first time participating in pawning and Chris was excited to teach me all about this passion of his. I am generally not a boat lover because I get seasick in even the smallest waves, but I really enjoyed myself.

It was like our own little 'Deadliest Catch' episode as we watched each pot being pulled up, anticipating how many prawns it would hold.


We bought an Ace Line Hauler last year, it was a hotly contested purchase in our house as it was not cheap and I thought my manly husband should just keep pulling the 300feet of rope by hand. Now that I have been out there I can see how much easier the hauler makes things, money well spent! I don't admit to being wrong often so I hope he appreciates my public admission.



Chris has his system down pat but I tried to help a little. I tossed and gaffed the buoys, I emptied a couple of traps, I headed some prawns and I kept him entertained with my witty charm and prawn jokes.


The Prawn And The Cod

One day, in the shark-infested waters of the Caribbean, two prawns called Justin and Christian are discussing the pressures of being a preyed upon prawn.

"I hate being a prawn," says Justin. "I wish I were a shark."

Suddenly, a mysterious cod appears. "Your wish is granted," he says.

Instantly, Justin becomes a shark. Horrified, Christian swims away, afraid his former friend might eat him. As time passes, Christian continues to avoid Justin, leaving the shrimp-turned-maneater lonely and frustrated. So when he bumps into the cod again, he begs the mysterious fish to change him back. Lo and behold, Justin is turned back into a prawn.

With tears of joy in his tiny little eyes, he swims back to the reef to seek out Christian.

As he approaches, he shouts out: "It's me, Justin, your old friend. I've changed & I've found Cod. I'm a prawn again, Christian."




Along with a decent number of prawns we also pulled up a few other sea creatures including crabs, squat lobsters and quill back fish.




The weekend was successful for filling our freezer but also for the two of us to take a break from our busy lives and spend some time together in the beauty and calm that can only be found on northern Vancouver Island.





I have been inspired by our fantastic weekend and am anxious to get into the kitchen and start creating some new recipes with my favourite seafood.  New recipes coming soon!