March started on a sour note with motor problems, but after that was resolved there was no looking back. This March was a record month for me. I had almost every day booked. Looking back, it was a great month of fishing.

Starting things off this week were John Prator Sr., from Lake Placid, FL. He brought his son John Jr., and John's son Kirk, and his son Brian. They were here for two days of fishing.

We had an interesting thing happen while we fished a hole near Regla Island. The water was very clear and you could see the fish moving around in the hole. I spotted a large snook of probably 20 to 25 pounds moving slowly around in the hole eating the chum that I had thrown. She came unbelievably close to the boat several times, almost as if we weren't there. The Prators made several casts trying to get shiners in front of the monster snook, but just weren't getting the bait where it needed to be. Finally, she ate one of the baits, but the excitement of seeing the take was too much, and the angler tried to set the hook too soon, taking the bait away. Anxious to hook the fish, I eagerly showed the guys how to do it when the big snook came around again. She ate the bait immediately, I waited on a tight line, and struck her. All hell broke loose as she headed for the nearby mangroves, taxing my 8 pound line to the limit. I turned her and got her away from the roots four times, but she was just too much fish, and broke me off on the fifth run.

We ended that first day with3 snook to 24", 8 trout to 17", and a flounder. It had been an unusually beautiful March day with almost no wind and a high of 86.

The next day, again with a light southeast breeze, the Prators did much better. They bagged 1 redfish, 10 snook up to 8 pounds, and 15 trout. Of that catch, they kept 3 snook and 6 trout.

The following day I had my half-brother Dale Rickey and his father-in-law Bob out for some vacation fishing. This was the first time I had seen Dale in many, many years, and he had grown into quite a good looking man. Bob started the day off on my bad side when he threw my new Shimano Stradic 2000FE overboard for no reason other than carelessness.

Dale and Bob had a great day with 12 snook to 28", 15 trout to 24", and a ladyfish. I convinced them to put back the 24" trout, but they kept 2 snook of 28" and 6 trout.

On Dale's heels was Jim McCann, of Westerville, Ohio. Jim had booked me for two days this week, and one the next week. Our first day we had a northeast wind at 20 knots, but the temperature was 80 with lots of clouds. Jim popped 11 snook, 12 speckled trout, a flounder, a ladyfish, and a 7 pound jack that first day, and was eager to get back on the water again the following morn.

That following morning brought east winds at 15 knots, a high of 82 and some great fishing. We fished a different part of the Sound around some oyster bars, and Jim bagged 8 snook to 14 and 11 pounds, and 20 trout to 20". It was a fitting end to a great week.

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