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Date: Should have been here tomorrow
Title: Jan 6, 2005
Date: 11 Jan 2005
Time: 12:32:50 -0500
“What a Difference a Day Makes” Thursday I awoke hesitant about fishing. Weather and sea conditions were ideal but I couldn’t shake off the day before. Wednesday was the first time I had fished in 2005. My expectations were high the morning before. Raring to start the new year off with a bang, I couldn’t wait to start fishing. The boat ride out seemed to take an eternity. It turned out to be a lack luster day as what few fish we managed to catch, each took effort and much time between them. The boat ride in was an eternity. The start of 2005 was a humbling experience for me. Now, Thursday morning, my confidence down, the only thing I really knew was where not to go. Not the best way to start the day. Lamar and Anne, from Naples, were our guest Thursday. They are a nice couple that share a love of being on the water. Foolish honesty took me over that morning; I told them of yesterdays results. Ironically, they didn’t seem depressed about it like most would be; instead they offered words of encouragement. That was great. We’re going to enjoy a day on the water together. The first two stops produced eight or so grouper. The third was a blank. I guess Lamar noticed the Stretch 30’s hanging on the back of the helm bench because he told me of how he and friends troll for grouper down south. “Do you want to try some trolling” I asked. “Let’s give it a shot” was the response. The next spot I was going to try was less than two miles from where we were at. Once we got things together and under troll, our ETA was 23 minutes to the next spot. Thirteen minutes into it, both poles snapped down. I punched mark on the GPS. The two grouper were of good size. We trolled in a clover leaf pattern around the mark and I noticed two patches of hard bottom near where the first two fish hit. We picked up four more doubles and lost a monster that walked off with my plug. We finished our limit bottom fishing one of the hard spots. Actually, Ann caught the twentieth grouper but before we had a minute to tidy up, she dropped down and picked up another grouper larger than the last. So we live released the previous grouper and kept the bigger one and had a laugh. She dropped down again and instantly got whacked by a ‘big ol’ good’n’. After a lively struggle a fifteen pound gag came to the surface. We live released the previous grouper and put the new one in the fish box. Thankfully, she had lost her bait and we got to quit. But I wondered, if a grouper could think, what went through the minds of the two grouper that went in the fish box only to be live released a minute later. It would be like an after death experience, or better yet, a UFO kidnapping. Whatever the case, I’m sure those two fish are going to have mental issues. “There I was lying in a cold dark box with a bunch of my dead relatives when the light shone in and I was in the water again. I’ll never eat octopus again.” That was a great day on the water. I got to know two new friends, found a new fishing hole “Lamar1” and caught grouper trolling, as well as, bottom fishing. I needed it like a hug after a bad ball game. Saturday was another victorious day, producing a gaggle of grouper for two couples who had waited out hurricanes and cold fronts for a perfect day on the water. Trout fishermen might want to toss jigs around the edges of the sloughs that cut through the grass flats. Capt. ‘Little John’ Bow and ‘Little Ray’ Parker limited on trout, slow bouncing jigs outside of Dallas creek this past Sunday. That sounds like a nice way to spend the day. I’d recommend using ‘Little’ jigs of some sort. Take good care and thanks for reading. Capt. B