Friday, March 20, 2009

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!!!