Between my bum knee and the threat of hurricane Debbie, it was a very abbreviated workweek! I took Monday and Tuesday off to nurse my knee, which was ultimately a good decision. Joe DeRado, who was scheduled to fish Thursday, was forced to change his plans because of the hurricane threat.

Wednesday, BarHopp'R regular and friend, David Bernot and his son Chris were back for their second trip, rescheduled from last Friday. I was not thrilled with the tide, as it was high first thing in the morning, and falling for the rest of our trip. I was in a big hurry to get on some ladyfish, then get to the flats before we lost our water. Luck was with us and we had four nice ladyfish in the boat in short order and were heading to the flats as the sun rose.

It wasn't long before we had some action going. Although the boys missed quite a few hits, they only lost a couple after they made the strike. The circle hooks are good in that regard, but the reds are still taking them deep instead of being lip-hooked as they should be. Anyway, they boated at least 8 nice reds to 10 pounds, 1 snook and missed 2, 1 trout, and a good sized blacktip shark. We had a great time! The most unusual fish of the day was that one snook. It was the same fish that we have caught twice in the last two weeks. He's a pretty slow learner! He's easy to identify because his upper right lip is separated from his body, but it doesn't seem to slow him down. I noticed that the circle hook we left way back in his throat last week was gone without a trace. We topped off a perfect day with a great Waterfront lunch and some good chat. It was great to see David and Chris again, and get in a couple of days with them.

Friday was reserved for the first trip with Kim Bigham, of Benton, Illinois, his son Chris, who lives in Bradenton, Florida, and his grandson, Eric. These boys had been looking forward to this get-away for a long time, and were real excited about the fishing. I hoped the fish would cooperate. We headed to ladyfish land to get bait, and managed to catch 2 nice trout, a snapper, and put 4 ladyfish in the well. That was plenty for a morning of fishing.

We headed to the flats as the sun rose behind us, but once there and staged, couldn't get the reds to eat. I tried several places that almost always have reds willing to eat, but it was nothing doing. So, a move to a different part of the Sound was in order. From the first baits that went into the water, we had a good bite! Thank God! The Bighams had the usual problems with trying to get the hookset accomplished through a long, light line, but of the 16 or so reds they had on, they boated 8 to 9 pounds. Batting 500 in this type of fishing your first time out isn't too shabby. We had a great time. Of course, we finished at the Waterfront.

Although it's tough on the pocketbook, it was probably a blessing that I had to reschedule Joe DeRado. My knee was still giving me a pretty bad time at the end of the week. I can tell it's coming around, though.

Finally, I'd like to ask any and all of you who are so inclined, and who were kind enough to pray for my wife's recovery, to offer prayers for my customer turned good friend Mike Howard, who is battling lung cancer. I talked with him via email recently, and it looks like he's whipping it, but he's going to need all the help he can recruit. Even through his battle, he and his wife had always taken time to remember and pray for Jean. This is a good man, folks. We gotta get behind him!