Ronald Goodman Art

"Had'em" - Spade Fish - Acrylic on canvas - 11" x 14" -  $1700.00

At least twice a year, I make a trip to Jekyll Island and spend 3 or 4 days fishing off the pier hoping to catch spade fish. Spade fish are edible (not as tasty as a red breasted sunfish), but when you hook into one, you feel like you've hooked into a Shell Cracker on steroids. Spade fish are similar to freshwater sunfish, which when snagged put up a pole-bending fight by turning their wide flat bodies sideways and swimming in circles. Spades live amongst the barnacle covered pilings and rocks, feeding on crabs and other crustaceans that they find near the pier. About 3 years ago, my mother Vivian was using one of my brand new fishing rigs, which I had bought myself for my birthday. She snagged a large spade fish that pulled so hard and ferociously, that it ripped the fishing pole from her hands! All I could do was say goodbye to my new pole.