One Nibbler and You're Hooked

As our newest national shark week obsession wraps up and August heats up, Gumpers like us head out of town to the beach, the mountains or "up" to the lake.  When we say "beach" we mean Orange Beach or So-Wal.  When we say mountains we mean Jackson Hole, WY or Highlands, N.C.  But when we say "lake" we only mean one lake and that would be Lake Martin, the man-made lake with 750 miles of shoreline "up" in Coosa, Tallapoosa and Elmore Counties just 30-40 miles north of the boundaries of the Gump.

Don't know about you but I am about tired of seeing "Shark Week" programs that loop videos of baited great whites with battle scars hitting tuna on hooks near a chum boat. Why, after seeing the Louisiana fatties chasing sharks in the Mississippi River, I thought that we should film a shark hunt in Lake Martin. After all, they have shrimp and jellyfish in the lake--no carp--so I am sure that we could fashion a story line about searching for the deadly and mysterious fresh-water prehistoric mega striped shark.  Aren't carps related to the mega sharks? That can't be a coincidence can it?  I mean, shark attacks on the same beach almost 2 years to the day apart is sufficient evidence to support one hour of riveting programming about a serial killer shark such that the carp/shark link is sure to have a few million low-information voters on the edge of their Lazy Boys?

Seriously, there is a tie-in to our search for the perfect lunch and the search for new species of fish: Recently, a new creature has been spotted on Lake Martin that is worth finding and devouring: Nibblers Float Thru Grill lunch pontoon now roams Lake Martin on the weekends offering a welcome change of pace from the familiar Chuck's Pizza or Kowaliga squealers.

Like shark teeth in Utah, Nibblers is not easy to find. You need to "like" them on Facebook so you can receive notices of where this food-truck on pontoons will be anchored during the day.  Today, we found them in a quiet cove between the Ridge Marina and Acapulco Rock around 12:30 p.m. The special of the day was appropriately for Shark Week fish tacos made with Swai - a distant relative of the deadly Mahi-Mahi shark. My crew of beer drinking shark and deserted beach hunters raved about the very fresh-tasting Swai-fish tacos covered with a delicious lime and caper sauce.  Two of the crew had smoked buffalo chicken wraps with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and ranch dressing which they recommended.  A crew of five racked up a tab of only $36 with chips and a giant pickle.

Tasty Fish Taco

Look out little seal pup, it's not the shark's fault!

As I enjoyed my last fish taco at the wheel of the "PoodleCruzer" and the gentle swells rocked the pontoons I imagined seeing a large 20-foot underwater shadow moving ominously to starboard with a camera array being towed behind.  There, I imagined, on thousands of flat screens across the nation was the shark's-eye view bearing towards a frisky Havanese pup barking his head off to warn the unsuspecting crew enjoying their Nibblers lunches.  Stay tuned while we break for another commercial......