This is a watercolor painting of a blue crab. I have a little fishing story for this crab. It was just a little surprising how I encountered it.

I decided a few months back I was going to learn how to fish. So I got my gear, my license, and my deliciously smelly bait and head to the water. I frequently go to a little dock on the bank of an estuary, and it's great for catching both saltwater and freshwater fish. It's a good chance you'll catch SOMETHING while you're there.

So one day I'm out on this dock and I'm having an admittedly disappointing fishing day (until sundown when the mullet arrived) and I was just leaving the lines underwater while I cast my net. It had been at least 45 minutes before I checked the line again, and decided to reel it in just in case my bait was stolen. I noticed the line was kind of heavy, and thought I hooked a branch, but as the lines emerged I see a sizable blue crab relentlessly clinging to my bait. Turns out he's been chewing my bait and didn't want to let it go. He was very unhappy with me, and tried very hard to pinch me as I cautiously tried to work out how to grab it safely (I'm a beginner fisher but I once recalled someone telling me to grab crabs from behind) which I managed to do without hazard. I sat him on a bench nearby to take a few pictures before throwing it back.

Later that evening the mullet came out and the following day I had more smoked fish than I knew what to do with.