This week marked the maiden voyage of the BarHopp'R as the kayak mother-ship. After spending Monday in the office, I was ready for a great day on the water. My bud Capt. Mark Bess, my customer Tom Davanaugh, and I had planned to take three kayaks up in the sound to fish. This would be the trip to test the feasibility of carrying the kayaks on the BarHopp'R. It would also be Mark's first time in a kayak.

We strapped the two kayak fleet to the gunwale cleats of the BarHopp'R and were off to the ramp. There we would meet Tom. Of course, Tom was in the water with his catamaran kayak when we arrived. We rigged a tow-rope to Tom's kayak and left the ramp. I throttled up easily, as we weren't sure how Tom's cat hull would tow. Well, much to our surprise, the connector body between the two hulls acted like a wing, and at around 20 knots, Toms kayak was trying to go airborne like a glider. I'm sure that if I'd kept going she would have lifted completely out of the water. So, we drug her alongside, laid her across the bow in front of my kayaks, and had Tom sit on it for good measure, and we were off to the races. Carrying three kayaks and three anglers on the BarHopp'R was a piece of cake.

I anchored the boat in shallow water and drifted her back on the rope into deeper water. The tide was going out, and the water would soon disappear. I didn't want the boat to be left high and dry. We loaded our rods and parafinalia, and were off. Mark busted a 20 plus inch trout on a gold spoon right out of the gate. We paddled and casted around McKeever Keys for a couple of hours. I caught several fish and was having a ball.

Mark wondered all the way down to Regla, and stayed a long time. I figured he was on tailing reds. I worked along "the Hump", which is the long bar that connects Regla and McKeever Keys. Although I didn't stumble across any reds tailing in the classic sense, with tails out of the water, I did see one of the coolest things I ever saw. I paddled right across two redfish that were standing straight on their heads feeding on the bottom in about three feet of water. I mean, they were standing up like fence posts. They didn't spook until the shadow of the kayak crossed them. I could have reached into the water and grabbed one by the tail. Way cool!

We all met back at the boat early in the afternoon and compared notes. Tom had caught one trout. I had caught a trout, a jack, a beautiful snook, and several redfish. Mark had caught the balance of 13 redfish tailing off Regla, as I had suspected. He'd had the time of his life, and was just amazed that he could practically get on top of the fish in the kayak in just inches of water. Mark IS ready to go again. The trip was a great success. I only wish Tom had caught more fish.

Wednesday, I took my friend of several years, David Arcemant, and his new partner Mark Bostwick, along with a camera crew of two, Joe Espin, of Joe Espin's Fishing and Outdoor Report TV Show aired in the Homossasa area, and one other fella named Joe, out to get some fish for the upcoming Ft. Myers Boat Show, and some footage for the new website. David is the owner and president of Gulf Coast Anglers Association (www.gcaa.com)), and Mark is the founder of FishTheWeb.com. Mark and David have recently formed a partnership, and their innovative web coalition is going to revolutionize fishing websites.

We had a p*!s poor tide that morning, and I was sweating finding any fish that would be ready to eat. The plan was to get bait ASAP, and try to catch the last of the high tide early in the morning. Bait had other ideas, however, and by the time we were loaded up, the tide was already retreating.

We went for the reds first, and fortunately put three nice fish in the boat. We also missed as many. We also managed to catch a small snook, three nice trout, and a snapper. The day was cut short because David and Mark had to get downtown to set up for the four day show. We had a hell of a good time, with a lot of laughs, even though the fishing was predictably less that stellar. The boys had some nice fish to put on ice for the show.

Thursday, I had the great pleasure of fishing with my friend and customer Lew Joseph aboard Lew's boat the Lady G. It's a beautiful 19 ft. Scout with a Tee-top and a poling platform with a sissy-bar. Lew's fishing partner and friend Bunky Bruce was along for the day. I'd met Bunky on a previous BarHopp'R trip with Lew, and he's a riot to fish with. Lots of fun. I figured this day would be no different, except that Lew was going to be the Captain, and I could just relax and enjoy the day.

We went up the river first, to fish the last of the outgoing tide. I found out that Lew has done pretty well at learning his way around on his own. In fact, one of his favorite spots for jacks, is one of my favorite spots for snook during the winter months when a north wind is blowing.

On the way out to the Sound we stopped at the Waterfront Restaurant for a wonderful lunch. They have a wonderful program where they let the guides eat for free when they bring in parties. I had my first stone crabs of the season, and they were wonderful. It was a gorgeous day, what we call JAPDIP, in fact. We sat out on the deck and ate lunch. What does JAPDIP mean? Just Another Perfect Day In Paradise!!! My thanks to J.D. and Kristen Hollway of the Waterfront for contributing to our perfect day.

We watched the water rise on the seawalls as we relaxed on the Waterfront deck, until it was time to head to the flats for reds. So, we were off. On the flats, we found reds, but it was difficult to get them to eat. We would chum, get a hit or two, chum get a hit or two. By the time we called it quits, we'd caught several reds, a large trout, and 3 jacks. On the way home we stopped at a little hole near Chino Island and caught 3 mangrove snapper, and 3 gag grouper. We broke off a host of nice fish in the rocky bottom of the hole with our light tackle. It's a neat place to go grouper digging without having to run offshore. I know several other places like that, but rarely stop to do that with a party.

We had a great day, and a great time. I was totally relaxed. Thanks much, Lew!

Friday, I had an appointment with my friend and customer Dr. Richard Georgiades to have a tooth crowned. Also had a couple of teeth filled. Had a little fun when a customer of mine came in for an appointment. I put on a mask, grabbed a pair of pliers, and went into the operatory and told her I'd have that tooth out in a jiffy. I don't understand why she wouldn't let me.

I wrapped the week up Saturday at the Ft. Myers Boat Show, working with David Arcemant and Mark Bostwick. I was the brunt of a well orchestrated practical joke that morning, that backfired on the perpetrators. I wish I could tell you about it, as it was funny as hell, but I'll have to wait until the statute of limitations runs out. David and Mark didn't bank of me being so honest, and it blew up in their faces.

Last, my ISP has been having server problems. I've had several folks notify me that emails they sent came back undeliverable. So, if you've tried to contact me in the past couple of weeks and haven't received a reply, please send the email again.