The week was to begin with a fun trip with Capt. Norm Weston, but Norm let me off the hook at the last minute so I could try to make arrangements to have an estimate done on Barhopp'R I, and begin putting out feelers for a possible replacement. I got a lot done, but was not able to make contact with Will Borden, the best glass man in this area, to see if he would even look at my boat.

Tuesday, I had my first trip with Bruce Reid and his 7 year-old son, Bruce Jr, of West Newbury, Mass. Bruce Jr. was just as cute as a kid can be. Bruce is just kinda getting back into fishing after a long absence from the sport. We left the dock at first light, and were off to catch bait at Tarpon Bay. We had the Jacuzzi sized well in BarHopp'R II full in three or four throws and were off to the first stop of the day. The wind was from the south at 15 to 20 knots, and I knew that would have the tide higher than predicted. So, I headed straight to a shallow flat to see if we could chum up some redfish. The reds were there, and came to the chum, but I had to move several times to stay in them. We didn't have a spectacular bite, but it was good. Dad and son missed quite a few very good hits, which pulled our count down, but still managed to boat 10 to 12 nice reds once they got the hang of it, and had a lot of fun doing it. Once the tide was over, we headed to the Waterfront Restaurant to enjoy a fantastic lunch.

Wednesday was my first trip with Dr. Stephen Nedd, his good friend Dr. Paul Finucan, and their mutual friend Ed Maroti, of Naples. Stephen was interested in learning as well as catching. The wind had moved around more to the west at about 15. WE headed back to Tarpon Bay, and had a well full of great bait in pretty short order. I headed right back to the flat where we had found the reds the day before, knowing they would almost surely be right back there on the same stage of the tide. The tides hadn't been good at all, and I felt fortunate to have been catching the reds on such slow tides.

I chummed the flat for quite a while without the first hit. I told the boys we had to be patient and have faith. I was pretty sure that once the water was right, we'd get a bite. I moved a couple of times, repeating the chumming. Finally, the bite came. Just like that, the fish began eating. I teased the guys quite a bit as they missed good solid strikes. I'm pretty sure they each missed 3 or 4 hits before they got into the groove, but once they did, they managed to boat about 10 beautiful redfish. Our count should have been twice that, but they had a good time, and Stephen said he learned a lot. Once the tide quit moving, the bite stopped just like that. We pointed the boat toward the Waterfront Restaurant once again, and finished the day with a great lunch. At the ramp, I cleaned four nice reds.

Friday was a beautiful day full of action for my good friend John Hitt, who was on his third and last trip of his vacation. We had decided the night before we'd do something different, so we were going snook fishing. John also wanted me to give him a course on throwing the castnet.

We headed to Tarpon Bay, and in two throws we had the BarHopp'R loaded with beautiful bait. We then switched roles, and I gave John a refresher course in folding and throwing the net, using his new 8 ft. Caloosa net. By John's fourth and fifth throw, he was opening the net pretty nicely. It was time to go fishing!

Snook fishing often, if not usually, means mangrove fishing. We headed to a beautiful mangrove shoreline, and from the first bait that went into the water after tossing some chum, we had great action. We broke off and outright missed quite a few nice fish, and I had one snook jump out of the water into the mangroves and hang there. I couldn't get her out, and didn't want to ruin the hole, so I broke her off. Once the bite slowed at that hole, we moved a short distance to another hole, and then another hole, finding some action at each. By the time we left the area, we had boated a good 8 snook, 4 nice jack crevalle to 7 pounds, 2 snappers to 14 inches, and 2 19 inch gag grouper.

From there we headed across the Sound to one of my favorite places, and boated a couple more snook, including the first keeper, and a speckled trout of just under 5 pounds. It was a beautiful fish. Once we were sure the bite was over on the slowing tide, we headed to the Waterfront Restaurant for a great lunch.

Saturday! Can you believe I worked Saturday? A couple of night earlier, I received one of the funniest emails I've ever gotten from my old friend Bob Woodward. The subject line read: EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY! In the body he was begging, and trying to shame me into taking he and his lovely daughter Maura fishing on Saturday. Well, Bob and Maura are right at the top of my favorite friends list, and I just couldn't resist, so I sent him back an email I hoped would be equally entertaining to Bob, agreeing to fish Saturday. I knew the weekend fishing would be tough, but man, I wasn't prepared for how tough.

Sadly, the first thing Bob and Maura told me when the arrived at the dock was that Bob's Dad had died the night before. If memory serves me correctly, I think Bob said he was 92!! He said that his Dad would have wanted him to stay and fish, so stay they did. We headed straight to Tarpon Bay for bait, and with Maura chumming, we were loaded up in no time.

The ramp was a zoo, even early, and I figured our best shot at fishing water that hadn't been run over already, and staying away from other boats was back in Ding Darling. The tide was running well, but the breeze was all over the place, and was for the whole morning. It wouldn't lay down in one direction. It made our style of fishing very tough. Beautiful holes that normally would have been full of snook, and no doubt were, wouldn't produce. The fish wouldn't eat. We caught two small snook and one gag grouper during the course of hitting several spots. Since the deep backcountry wasn't working, I elected to head way north in the Sound, again hoping to avoid traffic, and fish a snook hole that had been just full of fish. Well, guess what. We didn't catch the first fish out of that hole, or the next two, for that matter. Damn! Frustration was setting in!

Nothing seemed to be working, and there was just about enough of the tide left to catch a redfish or two if I hurried, so we were off to one of my favorite flats. As I approached the flat I could see boats all over it, so I elected to try a great redfish hole in the mangroves not too far away. The wind was driving me nuts, constantly changing, but after getting the boat in position and chumming with some cut threadfins, we had hits on the first several baits that went into the mangroves. Unfortunately, the were missed, and Bob let a really good fish cut him off in the mangrove hangdowns. I thought he knew the drill on the trees, but was mistaken. No one had taught him that in past trips with other guides, and it was the first time Bob and I had fished the trees! After half dozen good take downs, I couldn't get the fish to eat any more, so I headed out. The boats were gone from the flat now, and I knew the fish were there. The question would be could I get some to eat on the top of the tide after being pressured and run over all morning.

The answer was "yes". I did manage to get a few fish to eat, but we only caught two reds and a big stingray. Bob caught the first red, which was about 20 inches. Maura caught the second one which was a beautiful fish of around 8 pounds. And, that was pretty much it for the action. Bob suggested that we head in, instead of doing the customary Waterfront lunch, so that he could be with his wife.

At the ramp I apologized for the slow day as Bob, Maura, and I exchanged hugs. It was our first slow day out of half dozen trips together. I think I heard Bob say as he walked away that he would never call my cellphone again. And, that's what makes Bob so much fun. He loves to rag me and keep me guessing. And, I love it.

We've got a week of great tides, and probably great weather ahead of us next week, so stay tuned. I'm expecting some pretty good fishing ahead.

If you want to be able to continue to fish Florida waters please follow this link, "Manatee Zones: How You Can Help" and please take the time to become involved, even if you don't live in Florida. Let the politicians know WHY you come to Florida on vacation!

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