There's not a lot to report this week for a couple of reasons. First, I took a long holiday over the Fourth, and only worked Thursday and Friday. Second, the fishing just plain sucked. We had miserable tides and the bluebird skies that come with very high pressure; a really tough combination for catching fish. Since I've been publishing my fishing reports on the web, I've only had two people challenge my catch numbers. This report should just thrill those nattering nabobs of negativism!

First up was my old friend Bill Chaney, my main supplier of good jokes in my email every day. With Bill were his good friend Jack, and Jody Chaney. Interestingly, Jack and Jody had not previously met, but were both ex-law enforcement officers. We got plenty of perfect pinfish at Keesel's, and were off. I knew it would be tough given the conditions, but damn, I didn't dream it would be as tough as it turned out to be! I don't think all the law enforcement occifers in Lee Country could have made those snook eat. Someone had handcuffed all their jaws and thrown away the key. The boys had ten hits, of which seven were missed, and two snook to five pounds, and one trout were landed. Hey, slow or not, we still had fun! But, the highlight of our day was definitely lunch at the Waterfront!!

Bill, an experienced angler, and great tarpon fisherman, was very understanding of the situation, and booked a redfish trip in the fall. Now I'm under some serious pressure to produce.

I was scheduled to fish with a Scott Widler on Friday. Scott had booked the trip way back in January, and guaranteed me at least one angler, perhaps more. I filed it away in my schedule and forgot about it. Well, Scott never sent me a deposit, and didn't have the common courtesy to let me know he'd either had a change of plans or a change of heart. If any of you other guides are reading this report, put Mr. Widler's name on your black list. For the life of me, I don't understand people who are so thoughtless. Anyway, I realized Thursday night when I checked my schedule that I'd never received a deposit, and surely wouldn't be fishing on Friday.

I had referred my old friend Bob Brockway, of Pompano Beach, to fish with my second cousin Sean Middleton on Thursday in BarHopp'R II, which he was using while his Hewes was back at the factory for a badly cracked hull. While fueling the boat that morning, Sean noticed that the bearings had fallen out of the right side wheel, and was afraid to chance getting to the ramp with it. He called Bob and canceled. The real aggravating thing about that wheel bearing is that the folks at Boatmaster had replaced those bearing and seals a while back, and because that's my backup boat, it has barely been moved. Yet, I have another major bearing failure to deal with.

So, I called Bob Thursday night as soon as I realized I had a no show on my hands and asked him if he wanted to fish. I knew his twelve year-old son Justin was really disappointed about not fishing Thursday. Bob was happy to go Friday.

I knew it would be another tough day, with a nearly identical tide, but prayed to God it wouldn't be as slow as Thursday. Bait was no problem, but the snook on the outside refused to eat. We didn't catch the first snook outside, but did catch two trout. Disgusted with the situation, I headed inside to the flats. I had to find some kind of action. Bob and Justin boated six snook, and missed another six or more, but they were mostly small-fries.

On the way home, my Yamaha started dropping a cylinder in and out. I could tell it was always the same cylinder, and figured I had some trash in one of the carbs, or something. Once we got in and I had a chance to take a close look, I quickly discovered that the right thermostat cover was leaking, presumably from a bad gasket. I stopped at Smith Marine on the way out of town for some gaskets thinking that was all I needed. I found out differently Sunday afternoon, when I went to make the repairs.

Speaking of Smith Marine, a week with a short report seems like an opportune time to discuss the latest development there. All of you regular readers know that I have sung nothing but praises for Craig Smith and his crew ever since I've been going there, even though there were times when they screwed things up. Those things are bound to happen, and Smith always stood behind their work. They always made me feel like part of the family, always gott me in and out as quickly as possible, and for the most part, always did a good job. However, I was absolutely shocked when my cousin Sean came back from Smith with a repair bill of $194 to replace a 20 ft. section of fuel line on BarHopp'R II. I was already alarmed that my last several bills seemed to be getting higher and higher, but this one took the cake. Although the fuel line seemed extraordinarily expensive at around $3 per foot, the real culprit on that bill was an hour and a half of labor at $72 and hour!! Yes, you read it right; $72 an hour.

Well, for me this has become a case of love 'em, but leave 'em. Craig has simply priced me right out of his market. Oh, I wouldn't go anywhere else for trolling motor repairs and such, but for anything involving labor on my boats, I'm history. As a professional guide trying to make a living on the water, I simply can no longer afford Smith Marine. So are many others that I've talked to, already. I discussed the situation with Craig recently, and he said the rate was cranked to $72 an hour on the advice of his accountant. Well, in my humble opinion his accountant doesn't seem to understand the concept of market forces, i.e. supply and demand, and Craig should find a replacement. Smith Marine will not increase their earnings with a seriously jacked labor rate if they blow out all their faithful customers who helped them get where they are. That's from a former E.A. I mention this because I know a lot of you local readers are also Smith Marine faithfuls, and you need to know about the increased rate before you drop your boat off without any questions.

To reinforce my point, my good friend Craig Wildasin, owner of Outboard Motor Connection in Venice, Florida, and builder of all my engines in the last ten years, has also grown by leaps and bounds over the last several years, has a number of employees, now, a large shop and compound to support, but has never cranked his rates. Craig is very successful in a very tough business that is full of scoundrels. Unfortunately, I have a pretty good drive to get to O.M.C., but I'll be making it now. I can buy a lot of gas for the difference in labor rates.

Oh well, I guess I'm just hoping that Craig Smith will see the light, and at least offer reasonable rates to his old and loyal customers. Smith is the ONLY business I've ever dealt with that didn't offer a guide discount. I've made it a practice of simply not supporting businesses that do not offer that. Smith has always offered other benefits that outweighed a guide discount, but with their rapid growth, some of those have evaporated, too.

I guess I rambled enough. The folks at Smith are a great bunch, and I wish them all the best.

Note: Those of you who have trips booked in the future, or who may want to book, should note my new phone numbers. Home/office is 239-628-3522, and the new cell phone number is 239-633-5851.