Can you squeeze in fishing, shrimping, and hunting in one day?

In late September, options abound for outdoor-oriented people. Shrimping is in full swing. Falling water temperatures have the trout, flounder, and redfish feeding aggressively.

Early teal season heralds the arrival of duck hunting.

What is the avid outdoors person to do? For me, the answer is all of the above!

On Friday, I did all three. It takes a lot of organization and equipment to fit shrimping, fishing, and duck hunting into a single day.

Deep-hole shrimp net and ice. Check.

Fishing rods rigged and ready. Check.

Shotgun and teal decoys. That took a bit of looking, as I have not used them since last winter. But eventually, check.

My old friend Tom Nawrocki helped me with the fishing part of the agenda. We launched the skiff in the late morning. Our plan was to catch an inshore slam. So, we needed to catch and release a trout, flounder, and redfish on the falling tide. Thankfully, we completed the inshore slam at our first stop. The trout, flounder, and redfish are feeding aggressively.

Part two of the agenda was deep-hole shrimping. Elliott and I launched into the start of the incoming tide. We ran to the harbor and quickly found the shrimp in 35 feet of water. Elliott cast the deep-hole net a few times, and we had enough shrimp for dinner.

We ran back to the dock, unloaded the shrimping gear, and loaded our duck hunting stuff. Then we were off to the national forest. The weather was perfect. A nice breeze kept the bugs at bay. Sunset was beautiful. However, I did not see a single duck. Most probably because I fell asleep. Did I mention the national forest is quiet and peaceful? The perfect place for a nap!

Late September has a bit of everything for outdoor-oriented people. Whether you fish, shrimp, or hunt, the best catch is time spent with your friends and family.