I've had many great trips with many, many wonderful people, most of whom I fish with every year, or more frequently. But, this week will go down as one of the most fun weeks of my career, bar none.

Monday and Tuesday I had two-boat trips scheduled with Alan and Carmen Hodgson, of New Jersey, their friends Tom and Nancy Callinan, of Melbourne, Florida, and Tim and Lynn Brose, of Clearwater, Florida. I had arranged for Capt. Sean Middleton and his Lake and Bay to be the second boat. Sean, like myself, is a native Floridian, and grew up fishing these waters.

At the dock Monday morning, the gang announced that they would split up into male/female groups, and I quickly volunteered to fish with the ladies. I love to fish with the gals for a number of reasons. They're always fun. They always listen to what you tell them and execute, and therefore catch more fish than the guys. And, I just like fishing with the fairer sex.

So, we were off to catch bait, and have a little friendly competition between the guys, Alan, Tom, and Tim, and the gals, Carmen, Nancy, and Lynn. Bait didn't take long, and we were off to the first fishing spot. The Hodgson gang wanted to try to stay together, or close, if possible. It's not easy to fish two boats and six anglers in most of our fishing holes because they're pretty small areas for the most part, and it's shallow water fishing. We chose an area where I'd been doing well with snook, but it didn't produce for us that morning. I decided to turn my attention to redfish at a nearby flat, and Sean and the guys moved to another flat nearby.

We found out later that Sean and the boys were almost immediately on a school of several hundred redfish, and chased them on the flat for some time. But, the fish were spooky and nearly impossible to catch. I opted for slightly deeper water where I knew the redfish should be from experience, and chumming them to us. It didn't take too long to get the action going.

I believe it was Lynn who struck paydirt first with a big, beautiful redfish. I don't remember how many redfish we caught there, because we were having so much fun, but there were several. The girls were just thrilled with the fish, and were convinced they were outfishing their husbands. They wouldn't let me call Sean and the boys in on the action. They were going for the jugular!

Finally, the action slowed there and we took off for a spot that had been producing well for me since the week before. The tide was right. The fish were there. The girls couldn't stand it anymore, and Nancy called Tom to brag about their fish. I think at that point they had boated one redfish; perhaps two. She told the boys that we were again on fish, and Sean and the boys soon showed up to join us about 50 yards away. There was lots of hollering, bragging, and bantering going on after they arrived, and Carmen quickly added insult to injury when she hooked what turned out to be a beautiful 30 inch snook, which she landed. The girls caught several redfish in rapid order, and the boys took off for parts unknown. They didn't want to stay and watch their wives have so much fun.

The heat was intense, the bite was over, the girls were happy and confident they had stolen the day from their hubbies with lots of nice redfish and one big snook, and we headed to the ramp a little early. We figured we could get our fish cleaned and be out of the way by the time Sean and the boys arrived to clean their fish. Of course, once the guys arrived, the girls were relentless in their rubbing it in. Alan told me the next morning they heard about all the fish the girls caught well into the evening! They were just too funny.

Day two. The girls made it clear at the ramp Tuesday morning that they were keeping "their Captain". Of course, I was happy and thrilled they felt that way. I wanted to stay with them, as well. They were too fun. Sean and I had decided we would go back to the same areas because there were plenty of fish there. So, after catching bait at Kiesel's, we were back at the scene of the previous crimes.

As it turned out, Sean didn't do any better with that big school of reds, and our fish wouldn't eat. We had one big redfish strike, which was missed. Lynn did catch one nice snook! But, during the time we were on the flat chumming the redfish I kept seeing tarpon rolling and finning on bait off in the distance. It hadn't occurred to me that the girls would be interested in chasing tarpon, but as we trolling motored off the flats toward the deeper water, I asked them it they'd like to jump a tarpon or two.

My God! They were so excited at the prospects of catching tarpon, I couldn't believe it. So, instead of going for a much needed cool-down ride, we stayed to fish the tarpon. They were literally everywhere; rolling and finning all around the boat, and as far as the eye could see. We only had our snook/redfish gear, but it didn't matter. The first jump or two is the thrill of tarpon fishing.

Nancy struck first gold! From out of the six foot depths rose a beautiful 100+ pound tarpon a good 10 feet into the air. I knew we were going to hook up, and had my new HP 720 camera on the console at the ready. As soon as Nancy got the take I grabbed the camera and hit the video record button. It was too slow, and by the time the green video on light appeared, the fish had already hit the water. I forgot the camera was on, as the big fish took off and eventually broke Nancy's line.

Nancy was on an adrenaline high the likes of which I'd never seen. She was wild. The best part is that the camera still in my hand but forgotten in all the mayhem, caught some great adrenaline action. It was just way cool. Nancy had never in her life experienced anything like that, and she was just overwhelmed. And, I accidentally got it on chip!

Click here to see the 30 second video clip of Nancy after jumping her first tarpon!

That first fish set the tone for the rest of the morning, and there was electricity in the air. As with the reds the morning before, we had many takes and misses, but the girls jumped 6 tarpon that morning. Again, Nancy came closest to actually landing one of the silver kings when a small tarpon of around 25 pounds ate her pinfish and took off for parts unknown. She did a great job of following my coaching as the tarpon ran all around the boat, but the fish decided to jump once again as she got it close to the boat. She managed to throw the hook and earn her freedom. Nancy was bummed, but totally thrilled.

I think each of the girls managed to hook a couple of fish before they just couldn't stand it any more, and Nancy called Tom and tell the boys about the tarpon they were jumping. By the time the boys arrived to join us, the bite was about over, and the fish had quit showing. The guys had managed to put one nice red into the boat, and the girls just had to best that, so we were off to catch a couple of redfish, we hoped. We went back to the spot that had been so kind to us the day before, and quickly had two nice redfish in the well!

Then, all hell broke loose! Nancy hooked a monster of a fish. She was wild with anticipation of what it could be, and thought for sure she had the fish of a lifetime. For sure, it was a hell of a fight. It just took off for parts unknown like she'd hooked an F-16 Talon passing by. But, in her excitement, Nancy didn't see what I quickly recognized as a large stingray. And, wanting the girls to have the chance to catch some more reds, I reached down and grabbed the spool of her Sustain 4000, and broke the ray off.

I couldn't have possibly anticipated Nancy's reaction. She turned and looked at me in absolute shock, dismay, and hatred. I know if she'd had a gun in her hand at that instant, she'd have executed me on the spot!! Whew! Hell hath no furry....... I quickly explained why I had broken the "fish" off, and after a few minutes of absorbing the facts, she calmed down and decided I didn't need to die, after all. It was funnier that all hell.

We fished for a while longer, and decided to call the guys and have them meet us at the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch and bragging rights. It was fun. The girls just wouldn't let up. Poor Sean! It wasn't his fault. The girls were just hot! They were double hot. And, I had proven my case for why I love to fish with the gals! They get it done! It had been a great two days with great folks, on both boats. I knew we had made lasting new friendships.

Thursday, I fished with my old friends Kevin Haag and Jim Dougall. They were going to fish a redfish tournament on the weekend, and Kevin was interested in getting ideas about where to go for redfish. He had just returned from a month in Wisconsin, and said that everyone he'd talked to had told him the same thing; there were no redfish around.

So, the goal of our trip was not to catch, but to instruct. I met Kev and Jim at the Waterfront that morning at 7:30, and he first thing I learned was that Jim had been battling colon cancer since March. He had just returned from Johns Hopkins and several months of chemo and radiation therapy, and I couldn't believe he was about to go out and spend the day in the sun with Kevin. But, Jim has more spirit that the average Navy Seal, and was not only going, but according to Kevin, was out in his own boat almost every day. Big deal, you say! Well, Jim is in his mid 70's, as I recall.

We were immediately diverted by an early morning thunderstorm trying to push it's way onshore, and went to Tarpon Bay for bait. There were so many shiners there I couldn't believe it. Most were small, but there were some nice ones mixed in, as well. But, pinfish were conspicuously absent, and we eventually made our way to Kiesel's in search of them.

We had a do-nothing tide for most of the time we were out, and although we were all over redfish at our first stop, they weren't about to eat. I asked Jim and Kevin if they'd like to play with the tarpon we'd had so much fun with the day before, and they were quick to agree. We moved off to the area, and found the tarpon still there, but not and playing as they were the day before.

We did get our shots, though, and Jim managed to jump three tarpon. Kevin didn't raise a tarpon, but was quick to remind Jim and I that he had not missed a single catfish! He also got a nice trout. Once we were pretty sure the tarpon had laid down, we went on our redfish tour, and eventually landed back at the Waterfront. It had been a fun day, even though the emphasis had not been on catching. It was also great to see Kevin and Jim again after quite some time, and see how courageously Jim is facing and fighting his cancer. I'd like to ask all of you who believe in the power of prayer to remember Jim Dougall in your prayers, even though you don't know him.

We went straight to Tarpon Bay flats for bait, and had plenty of pinfish and shiners in short order. From bait, we went straight to the tarpon. We had just enough breeze early on to make the rolling, finning fish hard to see. The fish were there, but they weren't showing well, and we never really got a shot at a fish. I told Alan and Carmen there were many tarpon just a short distance away, but that they were always hard to catch. They were agreeable to taking a shot at them.

Less than two miles away, we were on fish. They were happy fish, rolling and finning and busting bait all around us. We put out two baits, one on my Taurus 5000, and another on my Stella 4000. It didn't take long before Carmen had the first fish in the air. It was a beauty of about 60 pounds that catapulted skyward like a Polaris missile, but Carmein didn't hit the fish hard enough and she threw the hook. It was a beautiful sight, and the excitement is almost too much for the angler to bear.

We fished the tarpon hard in that spot, and they rolled and taunted and teased us. We had another hit that was missed, and I had one swirl and roll all over my bait without eating it! We caught quite a few large gafftop sailcatfish on our pinfish, which served to break the monotony of waiting on the tarpon to eat. The fish were there in good numbers, but basically weren't interested.

Later in the morning, as the breeze faded away to the smothering still of summer, we headed back to our original spot to see if we might be able to see the fish more easily. There were fish there, but they drove us crazy running us all over the place rolling first here, then there, then yonder. They weren't about to eat in the heat, and we noticed a number of small pinfish on the surface doing the dance of death in the red tide infected waters.

Finally, near one o'clock, we tossed in the towel, overwhelmed with summer, and overheated. It had been a fun day, with one tarpon in the air, but a brutally hot day. I didn't realize until we returned to the dock that Carmen was overheated. I was nearly there, myself.

That night, Alan, Carmen, my sweetie, and myself met at a wonderful Japanese/Korean restaurant called Origami, and ate sashimi and sushi until we could hardly wiggle. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful week. I left them knowing that I had made new lifetime friends, and that the husband/wife challenge was on again for next year. I can't wait.

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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