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Date: MonkeyCraft
Title: Dec 20, 2004
Date: 20 Dec 2004
Time: 20:07:08 -0500
“MonkeyCraft” The grouper bite has moved closer in; all the way to the cleaning tables considering the schools of fish I’ve seen laying around there. Before the cold front, grouper were being caught from 25 foot on out to 65 foot on live and frozen baits with a few taken on trolling plugs. It’s the holiday season and everything is fattening up. If we could get grouper to eat fruitcake we could solve a national crisis. Having the grouper bite happening at various depths is nice on these brisk mornings when the ride out is nippy. It’s good to hop out from one piece of hard bottom to the next without having to take a long chilly ride. My boat is open, which is fantastic for 300 days out of the year, but during the two cold months we bundle up and pretend we’re ski bums. The custom curtains and wind dodger help a bunch, so we’re not roughing it like it would appear. The trout bite has been best around the mouths of the larger creeks. It may take some time to find the school but once you do, the action will be worth it. Start fishing the creeks around the river first. Shrimp is a great bait since the pinfish aren’t pecking it off as soon as it hits the water. Slow working twitch baits are a good tactic, also. Give an Ivy League engineer a multi-million dollar budget to develop a ‘widget’ and sponsor’s will still cross their fingers and hope the thing might work once the money runs out. Give a couple of rednecks, who want to fish, a little time and a couple beers and they’ll “git r done”. Larry Frow and Little Ray Parker acquired a 12 foot fiberglass boat from the bottom of a local pond. Apparently, the boat had a tendency to float down. They also acquired an early 70’s Montgomery Ward 5hp kicker with a blown power head. One of them found a Craftsman lawn mower at the dump one day. In a moment of genius, the powerhead from the mower was set atop the lower unit of the ‘Monkeyward’ outboard. The mounting bolts didn’t match up. I can’t imagine why. No problem a jigsaw and scrap plywood couldn’t resolve. You know, the ‘ol’ plywood gasket. Yes, the ‘ol’ plywood gasket allowed the boat/lower-unit/lawn mower trinity to come together for the world’s first MonkeyCraft. This one of a kind, hand-painted, custom fishing machine will move 3 men and 300 pounds of mullet with a top speed of 4 knots (give or take depending on sea, boat and/or crew condition) at an economical fuel consumption of 1 US quart of gas per day. With the savings in fuel, the guys can splurge on the beverages; they’ll have plenty of time to enjoy them. Oh, in the event of an emergency, the boat is equipped with custom oars and each crew member is issued a personal bilge sponge if the boat starts taking on water or if someone spills their drink. Now, if the US military could spare $1,000, the cost of an Army hammer, I’m positive the guys could develop a well armored, anti-Iraqi, all terrain, FrowParker’s ‘trank’ (combo truck/tank). Shotguns and deer rifles mounted all around for 360 degree fire power and a flame thrower dual exhaust with headers, the vehicle would be fantastic for urban warfare, deer hunting and land clearing. For an extra $500, they could make it amphibious. Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas. Capt. B.