♪♪ >> MILLS: [ Chuckles ] You can see -- So this is a little American alligator.

It's not a crocodile.

Okay, here we go.

Here's a couple more.

In fact, one of them just flew.

♪♪ ♪♪ Because our water is so turbid this time of year, it's hard to tell what's swimming below us.

But the water is not cloudy because it's dirty.

It's cloudy with life.

It's full of nutrients and plankton and all sorts of cool things.

But if we could see down there, we would see an amazing diversity of species.

So let's get out and look at some of the life in our creeks and rivers.

So you can catch some pretty neat stuff just right in the creeks, right inshore.

And there's a diversity of species that live under docks and areas like this.

So I thought we'd just see what we can catch.

So we're using a shrimp because pretty much every predacious fish species that's going to live around here is going to take shrimp.

♪♪ Okay, it looks like we got one already.

This is small, it's not very big.

I think I can lift this guy right up.

Yeah, that's one of the most common species we have around here.

It's called a pinfish, and pinfish get the name pinfish because they have these razor sharp spines on their back, so you have to be kind of careful when you're handling them.

But they're kind of pesky 'cause they have a tendency to take your bait even if you use a fairly small hook.

Now, this fish is in the porgy family, and it's -- There are other relatives like sheepshead and other species.

But you notice it's kind of a tall fish, very maneuverable and typically is going to live around structure.

♪♪ I feel something else messing with this.

I don't know if it's on there.

Boy, these -- Some of these smaller fish, even though we're using smaller hooks, are really kind of bait stealers.

♪♪ Looks like there might be something on this one.

Let's see.

Yeah, it's -- Yep, it's little.

Let's see what this is.

Oh, cool.

So this is a different -- different species.

This is a black drum, a really cute little black drum.

And very different-looking fish.

This -- Boy, look where the mouth is.

So black drum are in the drum family, and they get that name because they can use sonic muscles to make kind of a drumming noise.

And that helps them to find mates underwater.

They use it for communication.

And you kind of hear this one.

See if we can get them to grunt some more.

[ Fish grunts ] And when black drum are small, they're heavily banded like this.

But when they get big, they lose a lot of that banding.

But, boy, they get big.

I mean, black drum get, you know, 40, 50 pound sometimes.

They get absolutely enormous.

Now, notice where that mouth is.

These guys feed on the bottom.

They eat shrimp and crabs and things like that, that they kind of get down in the mud and pull out.

This one could not resist the shrimp.

♪♪ ♪♪ Okay, feels like I got something.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, it's little, he is really small, but it's a really neat one.

This is a pigfish.

And pigfish are in the grunt family.

They're beautiful.

And they make kind of a grunting noise, and that's where that comes from.

But they're particularly pretty.

And you can see this one has blues and oranges.

Looks a little bit like the pinfish, and it's got those same, you know, sharp spines on the back.

But it's more elongate and, of course, has a really cute little snout, too.

Anyway, really common around docks and piers.

And he's kind of -- I can hear him making a little bit of that grunting noise.

So I get this guy back in.

That's another one of those notorious baits stealers, too.

And these get quite a bit bigger than this, this is a little guy.

You hear him grunting?

I love that noise.

See if he'll do it again.

[ Fish grunts ] [ Chuckles ] Definitely grunt family.

So, a pigfish.

Okay, I've got to get this guy back in the water.

There he goes.

♪♪ ♪♪ A new species.

Looks like.

It is a croaker.

So this is a different species, another drum family.

[ Fish croaking ] This one's really croakin'.

So not only does a grunt make a noise, the grunt family, but especially these drum.

And this particular one's called a croaker.

And it has the swim bladders, kind of like the red drum and the black drum and some of the others.

So, neat fish.

And these get quite big, and they're actually very good to eat.

So this is one that a lot of people eat when they get a little bit bigger than this.

Now, there's another fish that hangs around these docks that I'd really like to catch and show you, but we're going to have to do things just a little bit differently.

So, this is a lure that I put together, and it's designed to catch gar, longnose gar.

Now, longnose gar are primitive fish, they have long snouts and tiny little teeth.

So I'm hoping it's going to be attracted by this little piece of mullet right here.

There is a hook here, but I think what's going to happen, or at least what I hope is going to happen, is that gar is going to get its tiny teeth tangled in this rope long enough that we can scoop it up with a net.

At least, that's the plan.

Let's see what we can do.

I don't see anybody yet.

These glasses really help to kind of cut the glare.

And a lot of times you can see them sittin' just below the surface.

Just for the heck of it, I'm going to flip one just right in here.

So what I've noticed is these gar have a tendency to hang around the dock here, and they get behind the boats on the incoming tide, and I think it's because it creates a little eddy behind the boat, and they can wait and stay out of the current and then dash out and catch a small fish if it swims by.

Pretty good predation strategy.

Okay, I think we have one kind of interested.

He -- Oh, he bit it, but just... [ Chuckles ] I'm going to try this one more time with a slightly bigger one.

Okay, this guy looks like he's interested.

Okay, looks like he now has it a little bit, so maybe this is going to be a little better.

Okay, I think we have one on.

Oh, no.

Boy, they are wily.

He's too big.

He's too big for the net.

Boy, this -- this is an impressive-sized gar.

Okay, let me see if I can get him.

Boy, they go backwards as well as they go forwards.

There we go.

All right.

So I'm going to get this guy back in just as quick as we can.

I'm, of course, staying away from the teeth because the teeth are absolutely amazing.

Man, look at the teeth.

Wow!

Their scales, they have osteoderms, or bony plates.

And those bony plates really protect them.

Looks like he got some of that... Yeah, he's got a lot of this -- this stuff caught here.

So we're going to have to get that out and make sure that -- I think, once he opens his mouth, that'll come right out.

Wow, what an animal.

And this is not an enormous one, but, you know, a pretty big fish for sure.

But notice form and function.

Long nose, sharp teeth for catching fish.

These are fish eaters.

The ability to live in real anoxic situations.

They can actually come up and gulp air.

And, so, they can stay in areas where a lot of fish just can't handle.

A powerful tail, powerful body.

And as you can see, they fi-- they fight really -- really, really well.

Wow.

Okay, I'm going to get this guy back in.

Longnose gar.

They live around docks.

One other thing, these guys do real well in saltwater, which is pretty neat.

They can handle saltwater, but they have to spawn in freshwater.

So here's a fish that's going to go to freshwater to spawn, but it can spend its time in 30 parts per thousand or even higher salinity environments.

There we go.

So our lure worked pretty well.

Now I'm going to lie right off here.

I don't know exactly how to do this.

I've caught a few gar in my life, but there's probably no real great protocol for doing this.

But I, of course, want to make sure the fish is fine.

Looks like he's doing really, really well.

Boy, look at that beautiful pattern.

Of course, that helps him to blend in really, really well.

Look at the tail, too.

Powerful tail.

And there he goes.

Well, yep, looks like this guy got me with one of his teeth.

Oh, actually, I've got a couple gar -- Boy, they have sharp teeth.

And you know, you can't blame him, he's just trying to protect himself.

Oh, wow.

I love doing stuff like this.

♪♪ ♪♪ Fish are not the only animals that live around these docks.

I mean, this is structure out in the marsh, and structure like this -- dock pilings and things -- are immediately colonized by a variety of marine organisms.

Let me show you some cool stuff that lives right underneath these docks.

One of the things that we do to attract these colonizing organisms is we put up ropes like this, and I've got a little piece of tile on it.

So let me get a little bit of water in my bin.

And let's see what's on this rope.

And, look, even the rope is covered with sea squirts and all kinds of things.

This was actually really smooth tile that I put out, drilled a hole in it.

I'll tell you what.

This doesn't look like much, but there is a ton of cool stuff that's living right on this piece of tile.

Gonna put it in here so we can get a better look at it.

I can see a little crab in here.

Lots of crabs will -- you know, any time there's structure, it's going to attract small animals as well as algae.

I think I see a really neat crab underneath this.

Yep, there he is right here.

And this is a cool one.

This is one of the porcelain crabs.

And porcelain crabs are really flattened.

They have great big claws, but the claws are very flattened laterally, so they look a lot bigger than they are from the top.

From the side, they're very, very skinny, and that's because they hide under structure.

And so they'll go into oyster rakes, into narrow crevices, and things like that, and they're able to squeeze into really tight spots.

I'm going to hang down here and see what I can see.

There's all kinds of cool stuff under this dock.

Got to be a little careful because the oysters.

Lots of sea squirts, looks like rough seas squirts.

And, oh, there's some garlic sponge here.

Smells a little bit like garlic.

That's where it gets its name.

Lots of sea squirts here.

But lots of little sea squirts.

And then some hydroids, which, really, they look like plants, but they're actually animals.

And of course, there's a whole world of small animals that are living inside this forest of other animals.

It's absolutely amazing.

Okay, one of the real problems with this is a lot of people call these dock fouling organisms, and if you have a boat and you leave it in the water, it's going to be colonized by all this stuff.

And of course, it sticks to the bottom of your boat.

And then, when you go to ride around in your boat, it slows it down considerably and can actually do a lot of damage to the hull.

So not everybody likes this stuff the way I do.

So I set a crab trap on one of these docks.

And let's see what's in it.

Oh, so we got some stuff in here.

I'm gonna put this on edge and see what we have.

I think the best bet's going to be to kind of shake a couple of these out.

And then, of course, we'll let all these guys go.

There we go.

Let me get this one out first.

That one can just walk.

You got to be a little careful with blue crabs.

Wasn't the best way to pick him up.

Now, this is actually a female.

And I can tell by looking at the apron right here.

And you notice it's kind of rounded.

One of those crabs just fell in, walked between my legs and fell in.

But see how the right apron is really broad right there?

Males are going to have a much narrower apron in comparison.

And, also, notice the beautiful claw tips.

The females have a tendency to have kind of reddish or orangish claw tips.

You know, blue crabs are absolutely amazing animals.

Hard shell, of course, very strong carapace, or the exoskeleton, is very, very heavy duty.

And look at the spines right here.

That's good protection against a variety of predators that want to eat them.

Of course, they're good swimmers, too.

And these swimming legs allow them to come up in the water column even in 30, 40, 50 feet of water.

Anyway, let's take a look at another one.

Now, this is a big blue crab.

Wow, man, that is gorgeous.

So, in order to keep a blue crab, they have to be five inches from tip to tip.

And this one's definitely big enough.

You know, blue crabs are just -- I just I'm amazed at how well protected they are.

They have all these spines all over them.

And I'll tell you what, you've got to think twice before you take on a blue crab.

You know, when they molt, they're pretty vulnerable.

But when they have hard shells like this, they are tough customers.

A lot of things eat them, like sea turtles and things that can handle these hard shells.

But this is obviously a male, you can tell by how much blue there is on it, how big it is.

But also look at the apron here.

Much narrower apron, much more pointed.

And no bright red claw tips.

I'm going to let this guy walk in on his own, see if he'll -- I think -- Notice he's kind of facing me so that his claw's ready.

It looks like he's kind of going in on his own terms.

Oh, there he goes.

Okay, well, let's go check some more traps, this time in a brackish ecosystem.

♪♪ ♪♪ Some wetlands like this one right here are neither freshwater nor saltwater.

They're brackish, somewhere in between.

Now, full strength ocean water is about 35.

I'll bet it's not over about 20 right here.

But certain animals do great in brackish water habitats just like this.

Now, salinity varies a great deal, you know, related to rainfall or drought.

But we've had some rain fairly recently, so I imagine the salinity is not too high.

Now, I've got a couple minnow traps that I put in, and I thought we'd pull these.

There's a whole bunch of stuff in here.

Now, some of them are just the usual suspects, but I see some kind of interesting things in here.

I'm gonna get a couple of these out and put them in a container and see what we have.

I baited this with squid.

Squid's a great bait.

It's a little bit disgusting when it's been in the trap for a while, but it's really good bait for various fish species.

Okay, so there's some kind of cool stuff in here.

I see three species, it looks like.

One is this one right here, and this is one of the topminnows.

And that's actually one called a striped killifish.

Now, I can tell this is a male because it has vertical bands.

Females have stripes that go down the side.

It's kind of neat when you have males and females look completely differently like that.

And then, we also have what are called sheepshead minnows.

That's a different family.

That's one of the pupfishes, and they're beautiful.

Some of them develop all kinds of pretty colors, especially during breeding.

One other thing that happened in here is the little snail.

This is one of the mud snails.

So that's kind of interesting, too.

And I guess he went in after the squid, just -- much slower than the fish went in there.

Okay, I see one more really cool thing in here.

I didn't pick it up at first.

It's almost transparent, so it was a little hard to see.

But this is a little grass shrimp, little tiny guy.

And this is as big as grass shrimp get.

I mean, these are not like the white shrimp and the brown shrimp that we get so commonly here, in that it stays very small.

This is a really common little species, but this is as big as they get.

This is an adult.

Of course, lots of things eat these, lots of fish species, things like wading birds of all kinds, snowy egrets, for instance, and other species.

I'm gonna let these guys go.

But I do have one more trap to check.

So we'll put a little bit of water in here.

See if there's something in the other trap.

Oh, one big -- Boy, this is a pretty one, too.

This is a neat fish.

Get this squid out of here first.

And, boy, this is a good-looking fish.

This is one called a fat sleeper.

So this is -- There's a little shrimp in there, too.

I'll bet he doesn't like being in there with the -- with the fat sleeper.

But this is a fish that they're called sleepers.

This family's called sleepers because they spend a lot of their time just sitting on the bottom, motionless.

And, so, they almost look like they're asleep, and that's where the name comes from.

This guy's nose down.

He's kind of sloshing water out of the top of this.

I'm getting kind of wet.

There's a lot of really cool stuff in this brackish water habitat, but let's let this little guy go.

♪♪ If you spend any time fishing in saltwater, you're bound to catch a shark or a stingray, so you better think about how to deal with it.

Now, I've enlisted the help of two of my good friends, Mike Gibbons and Parker Gibbons.

And we're going to get out and see what we can catch and show you how to get it off the hook.

So the first thing we're going to do is kind of crimp the barbs down, and that makes it much easier to get get the hook out, for sure.

You want to do yours, Parker?

>> PARKER: The cut mullet on.

>> MILLS: Yeah, mullet's great, great bait, for sure.

And since we're trying to catch sharks and stingrays, any kind of cut bait works really, really well.

And then, we're just going to kind of cast this out and see what we catch.

It's maybe a little tough to keep this in the bottom.

We're going to have to see.

♪♪ ♪♪ >> PARKER: Can't see what it's clinging to.

It's fighting.

Oh, that's a huge stone crab.

Huge.

I-I -- It's a giant stone crab.

>> MILLS: [ Laughs ] I -- How did you manage to do this?

Is it actually hooked, or is it -- >> PARKER: I think it's just kind of pinned on it.

>> MILLS: Oh, oh.

Boy, that is a good balancing act.

Oh, man, this is awesome.

So this is -- Look at a claw on that.

So this is the one you can take.

We could, we're not going to.

But we could take one of these claws and take it home with us and eat it.

But it has to be an inch and three quarters from here to here in order to keep it.

God, that's a muscular crab, isn't it?

And, Parker, have you ever been pinched by one of these?

>> PARKER: I have not.

>> MILLS: You've been pinched by a blue crab, though, haven't you?

These are absolutely -- I've not been pinched by a big one like this.

No, no, I'm good.

But, God, you can see the sort of crushing -- First of all, a lot of muscle there, and these are really good for crushing bivalves and stuff like that.

They can even take a live whelk and break off pieces and kill it.

Anyway, so we'll get him back in, but, man, what a neat little animal.

♪♪ What do you got, Parker?

>> PARKER: Big toadfish.

>> MILLS: Wow.

All right, good deal, probably.

Boy, they are really interesting looking, aren't they?

You can tell that's not a fish that swims in the water column very much, is it?

You ever seen the spines on these?

They are impressive.

You want to hold him, Parker?

Just be really, really careful with those spines.

Boy, look at that teeth on this guy, too.

Good thing we didn't -- Oh, look at how easily that hook came out.

Just popped right out.

Boy, they are awesome.

Have you caught these before, Parker?

>> PARKER: I have.

>> MILLS: Yeah.

That's one you catch on the piers and stuff, isn't it?

>> PARKER: Mm-hmm.

This is one of the bigger ones I've caught, though.

>> MILLS: Yeah.

You know, they don't get a whole lot bigger than that, maybe a little bit.

But that's a keeper, I guess, for a toadfish.

And I guess, technically, you can eat toadfish, although I never have.

I'm not sure I really want to.

All right.

Well, let's get this guy back in.

♪♪ What do you got, Mike?

>> MIKE: I got something small, I think.

>> MILLS: Yeah, that's kind of -- It looks like that's maybe -- Oh, this is really cool.

So this is a catfish, and it looks like a gafftopsail cat.

>> PARKER: Wow.

>> MILLS: Boy, that is a good-looking fish.

Look at that.

Look how that dorsal fin sticks up.

So it's a really huge fishing rod to -- You want to hold your catch?

And we'll get that one back in.

But, boy, that's -- you know, that's kind of an unusual catch.

You see these occasionally, but not not very often.

♪♪ ♪♪ You got something, Parker?

>> PARKER: I do.

Feels pretty good.

>> MILLS: Good.

Stingray.

Okay, I'm going to grab -- Hold on just a minute.

I'm going to grab some pliers.

Just put my foot right on that and so that the spine is down.

Just very carefully remove the... Good job.

And, so, you could see the spine right here, and that spine is covered with a sheath of mucus which has a venom on it.

And, so, if you're stabbed by that spine, of course, it does -- it hurts like crazy and causes, you know, a mild amount of swelling and stuff like that.

But it's really dangerous and really painful.

So you've got to be real careful around stingrays.

Okay, so this is an Atlantic stingray, and it's an adult, believe it or not.

You know, southerns get great big.

Parker, you've seen the big southern stingrays, haven't you?

And, you know, some people will actually cut the whole tail off the stingray, which is really, really unfair.

You know, obviously, this is just protection and we're just trying to -- You know, stingray's just trying to protect itself against all kinds of predators like sharks and things like that.

Parker, let me grab him.

Let's see if we can... ♪♪ ♪♪ Parker, what do you have?

>> PARKER: I'm not even sure.

Something small.

>> MILLS: Oh, it looks like a whiting, doesn't it?

Cool.

Boy, they are pretty, aren't they?

You can see that kind of iridescent color to them.

That's a nice fish.

Parker what do you got?

>> PARKER: I don't know.

Feels pretty good.

>> MILLS: It's kind of -- The line's spinning.

I'll bet it's a stingray.

See how the line's doing kind of a circle?

>> PARKER: Yep.

>> MILLS: Yep, that's what it is.

I think you can probably, with that rod, just lift it over the top.

>> PARKER: Watch out.

>> MILLS: Here, come right.

Okay, just be real careful.

Looks like there's another line hooked on that.

I'm going to hold down this.

Parker, you want to do the honors?

So we've got the spine down low where it can't get us, so it can't stick Parker.

That hook should pop right out.

Oh, good job.

Okay, can I use those pliers again a minute?

I'm going to pick it up just right here, I'm gonna avoid that spine.

Let's flip it over.

So, Parker, which kind do you think this is?

>> PARKER: This is an Atlantic stingray.

>> MILLS: Yeah, it is.

You can tell by that pointed nose, can't you?

So we got to get this guy back in, but we've handled this real safely, so we want to do everything we can to not get stuck ourselves, but, also, not to hurt the stingray.

So I'm going to hold on the tail, Parker, if you want to get it right like that.

Well, guys, we caught some stingrays, didn't we?

Along with lots of fish species.

But, you know, this is how you do it.

You obviously want to protect the stingray, and you want to protect yourself at the same time.

Parker, you want to help me put this one back in?

Let's just put it in.

One, two, three.

And in he goes.

Guys, thank you so much for helping us out today.

This was really fun.

Parker, thanks a bunch.

We all know that we live in a very special part of the world.

When Rob and I first started making "Coastal Kingdom," we wanted to make people aware of the incredible animals that live here.

It is critical to pass on a love and appreciation of our lands and waters to our children and yours.

We want the next generation to understand and value our local habitats so we can do the best possible job protecting them.

Thanks for joining us on "Coastal Kingdom."

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