Dolphin Slam Keys June 2, 2009

Well, the day started out slow. Bone thinks it was the old superstition about having a bannana on the boat! Weather was gorgeous, seas outside the reef were 2-3ft. Got our first hit about 9am in 350 ft. Leslie reeled it a lifter dolphin. Unfortunately, when she was holding it for a picture it slid right out of her hands and back into the deep blue sea. Well, I guess that made the fish gods happy!! Few minutes later, hit a big school of phins. Got a total of 12. High speed trolled on the way back in and got a nice black fin tuna. Yummy! Sushi for dinner and it was great!

Snorkeling Sombrero Reef June 1, 2009

Had an easy day. Decided to take the kids snorkeling at Sombrero Reef. This is definately one of the most beautiful reefs I have seen. Also, went diving at Thunderstruck, an old sukken ship.

Keys May 31, 2009

Headed out Vaca Cut around 8:30am. Had 3 kids with us including a 4 year old. Wasn't sure how it would go and if we would have to head home early or not. Got out to about 300 feet and started putting poles out. What a fiasco! Was having problems with an outrigger and while trying to fix it, lost the whole setup. OUCH! Luckily carried a spare. After about 45 minutes, finally had a nice spread going. After about 2 or 3 phins in the boat, came upon another school. Kept one in the water and tried to catch the others. This was hysterical! Dereck and Tristan kept tangling the lines all while the fish were all over the place. After watching this for about 30 minutes, Bone finally came down from the tuna tower and saved the day. Got 2 more hooked and in the boat. Decided to call it a day and got back to the dock by 1pm with 8 phins and a Wahoo.

Crystal River Offshore April 11

Decided to try the Gulf Coast for some grouper. Couldn't decide whether to go to St. Pete, where we know some good holes, or try Crystal River. At the last minute, a buddy came thru with some numbers so we tried Crystal River. Once again, the weather was snotty! 2-3 ft seas, 15 knot wind and very, very choppy. Cruised out the river and stopped to catch bait. After catching 3 dozen or so pins, we cruised on out. Very bumpy ride. Got to hole #1, NADA! Hole #2, NADA again! Hole #3, ZILCH! Hole #4 Someone else was right on. Bummer. Decided to slow troll to the next hole. ZING. Nasty kingfish. Hole #5 GOLD BABY!!! Caught 4 keeper GAG in about 15 minutes. Must have caught at least 45-50 shorts and 4 more keepers. To bad we already had our limit. Ride back in was much smoother with the wind at our back. Until next time......... wishing you all tight lines!

Fishing Jupiter April 4th

Well, we had so much fun last time, we decided to try it again. This time we took our good friend JB. NOAA called for 2-4ft. I have since learned from my fellow Florida Sportsman Forum users that NOAA stand for Not Often Associated with Accuracy. This is so true! We drove out the inlet around 8am or so. It didn't look all that bad. Definately better than last time. Once out the inlet it was more like 4-5 ft with bigger swells. Not as bad as last time but still got beat up. Once we started trolling, put on my lucky music. Tristan said "ain't no fish going to bite with that on". All of a sudden, BOOM! WAHOO!!!!! Trolled a little more, change to lucky music cs#2 and Bam, Bam... 2 phins on! After that, the weather started getting nastier and we headed back in. Wanted to make sure we got thru the inlet.

Fishing in Jupiter March 14, 2009

Hey! Fishing was interesting on Saturday! To say the least.We checked weather report.... Light scattered showers early am high 80's wind 10-20.Marine forcast- seas 2-4ft.WRONG!!!We got to the boat ramp around 6:30am. 2nd boat there (that should have been a sign!) Cruise out the inlet. Passing thru the inlet, I said, "Hey Bone, look at that white cap on that wave!" BOOM! 8ft swell came over the bow, water up to my calves in the boat, all of us soaked from head to toe!.( Note to self.... Bilge pump works great. Do not test it's limits again!)I thought, OK, it's just one of those things that as soon as we pass, it will be ok. WRONG AGAIN! Seas were at least 4-6 with 8-10 ft swells. Kept driving, even though my life had passed before my eyes (esp. with the NFL Tampa thing only 2 weeks ago). Grabbed my life jacket (first time ever!) and hung on! After about 30 minutes of getting torn up and at least 6 or 7 more swells coming over the bow, finally turn to Bone and said"Turn this thing around and go in!!!!" Now, you all know how much I love to fish,,, but this was insane!On the way in, passed about 25-30 boats going out. They looked as us like we were crazy! Coming in at 7:30 am, wearing life jackets and totally soaked! Got to the boat ramp, got into some dry clothes and contemplated what to do next.Finally, after seeing so many boats going out and the final rain band seeming to pass, decided to give it one more try. On the way out, saw several of the boats that passed us coming back in and they were soaked! As we approached the inlet, saw a warning sign that we had missed earlier (considering that it was dark)Warning... Dangerous Inlet. Local knowledge is required for safe passage.Oh... that could have been usefule to know!!! Finally get thru the inlet. Waves still 4-6 but not so many swells. Thank Goodness.Saw a 27 ft contender being pulled out by a 40 something foot boat, so that they could get passed the reef. Definately, not a good sign!About one or so it finally calmed down to a true 2-4 but the wind picked up. Caught our fish between 3 and 4 and headed back in.What an adventure!!!