After a couple of badly needed days off I was ready to battle the Sunday crowds to fish with Harry Jones and his thirteen year old son, Justin, from West Palm Beach, Florida. Harry and his family have been coming to the area for twenty-four years, and usually has his 15 ft. Whaler in tow. This would be his first ever guide trip. Justin was a walking miracle! Harry told me about how Justin had been injured in a boating accident, and almost didn't make it. He was a lucky young man to be with us. Usually, when there is a child in the party, I will tailor the trip to the child. You have to! That usually means trout fishing. In addition, the wind was north at 15, and I knew the glamour species would probably not be in a cooperative mood. After I showed Harry a spot to get bait for the rest of his vacation and loaded the wells, I introduced him to the idea of pothole fishing, which he'd never done. We caught lots of trout, and kept 7 of the several dozen caught. They also caught three catfish in the potholes. Once the water pushed the fish out of the holes, we moved to a different area, where they caught 3 jack crevalle, a couple of founder, and a redfish. We had a great time, and Harry said that he'd learned a lot. Monday, Tom Briggs, of Des Peres, Missouri, was up for a day of fishing with his two young sons, Andrew and Corey, ages ten and seven. These were some seriously cute kids, and very well behaved. This was, of course, another trout trip for the kids, and although they missed lots of strikes, they still caught quite a few trout and a couple of catfish. They kept four trout for dinner that night. Toward the end of the trip, I asked Tom if he'd like to go a catch a snook, and he was quick to agree. It didn't take long at the first stop and Tom had his first snook, but that was the only one. I think Tom and the boys had a real good time. I know I did!

Tuesday I went out to marker #8 to get bait by myself. I had to run all the way up to the airstrip at North Captiva to pick up my party, Doug Moran, his grandpa, Dave, his brother Don, of Chicago, and his brother-in-law Tim, from New York. Many of the guides are talking about either discontinuing the practice of picking up customers on North Captiva or of charging more for it, because it's such a long run from Punta Rassa. Charging a small premium to cover the extra fuel and wear and tear seems more practical to me.

We had a strong easterly wind blowing and a low tide to start the day, so I elected to go back across the Sound to fish some of my favorite low water spots. We didn't find much in the way of action other than trout, though, until later in the morning when the water got up on the bushes. Once the water was up, we had a lot of fun trying to get the boys to wait on that tight line to set the hook. By my count, they missed almost a dozen redfish, but did manage to boat 5 nice reds to 30 inches and 10.5 pounds, as well a dozen or so nice trout, and a catfish. It's a long ride, but I hope to see Doug and his gang again next year.

Wednesday, Chip George, his dad Chuck, and his son Chris were back from Lake Forest, Illinois, for a repeat performance. We had caught some nice snook and redfish last year, but I decided that the best thing for us to do this year was take the boys trout fishing.

It had to be one of the windiest days of the year, and I knew targeting snook and redfish would probably be futile. Chip and the boys agreed that trout would be the thing to do, so trout we did. I had stopped at Danny's Bait Shop on John Morris Rd. on the way to the ramp, and bought 80 hand picked shrimp, in anticipation of bait being impossible, or just not worth the time and trouble. I also brought a tacklebox full of jigs, plugs, etc. I thought I had enough bait to last the whole 6 hour trip. Boy, was I wrong. Before ten o'clock that morning, the boys had burned those 80 shrimp, and we were throwing Bass Assassins on red 1/8 oz. Cotee jig heads. We still caught trout and ladyfish with those. The George team had gone through 80 shrimp, and many jig tails, and every shrimp had been hit by a trout or something, and the jigs weren't doing badly. They missed many, many fish, but they caught many trout, ladys, and jacks, too. All in all, we had a pretty darned good time, considering the conditions. Hopefully, next year, the George family and I will be able to go hunting for those snook and redfish, again.

Thursday, John Marconnit, of Gaylord, Michigan, was ready to try his luck against the reds and snook along with his father Gib, and son Lynn. These guys were a lot of fun! As I recall, we bagged about 5 snook and a couple of 4 pound trout in the morning, then went to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch to break up the day.

After a great break there, we headed to the flats to do some redfishing. The fish were there, and willing to eat, but the boys had a hell of a time trying to get the hook set on those fish. Like everyone new to this kind of fishing, they wanted to strike the fish way early, and even with my constant coaching, they had a hard time remembering. They missed a lot of fish, and we had some good laughs, and of course, when I missed one, I had hell to pay, but the boys finally settled down and put upwards of 10 reds in the boat before the tide was done. The reds were running 8 to 10 pounds.

It's Good Friday; the beginning of a crazy holiday weekend. Bill Start, from Michigan, and his friend Lou Atripaldi, from Maine, who had met on a trout stream somewhere out west, were ready to do battle with the snook and reds. Lou especially, was really wired about catching some of our flats fish, which he'd never done. Lou was in for a surprise.

After gathering bait on the flat north of Chino Island, we were off to try for some snook on the early incoming tide. At the first stop, the boys broke off one big snook, and boated at least half dozen others ranging from 28 inches and 7 pounds on down to about 25 inches. They also caught a big jack and I'm pretty sure they slammed there at that first hole with a redfish and some trout.

After taking a lunch break at the Waterfront Restaurant, we headed for some redfish flats to do some chumming. This was where Lou got the best of his surprise. He had really liked the snook, but I had told him how much more I like catching reds because of their relentless pull. Well, when he finally connected with the first red, and she took off and kept going no matter what he did, he was thrilled and impressed. Lou did a lot of grunting and groaning up there on the deck, which told me he was having a great time! We ended the day with at least a dozen reds running up to 12 pounds, 6 nice snook, 6 or so big trout up to 5 pounds, and the jack. Bill and Lou were lots of fun, and I hope they'll make their trek here to do some fishing with me an annual thing.

I was barely a mile from the ramp Friday night when I realized that every car that passed me was blowing their horn and pointing at my boat. People were looking at me like I was an ax murderer or child rapist as they passed. I decided I'd better pull over and check my boat, although I could see no problem through the mirrors.

As I walked back to the boat, I saw it! Hanging out from under the back of my boat was a poor, unfortunate pelican, who had apparently swam under the boat as I was putting it on the trailer, and gotten trapped between the bunk of the trailer and the boat hull. The bird was hanging by it's neck, which was pinched in the bunk, wings spread wide, and feet dragging the pavement. Bizarre! As many times as I'd wished I could kill one of those suckers when they're diving on our bait, and ruining our fishing, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor bird!

The hell of it is, that for the rest of the 30 mile trip home, EVERY car that passed me was making gestures, blowing the horn, and looking at me like I was an escaped convict. I even had several people jump out of their vehicles and run to my van to tell me about the pelican. What did they think I could possibly do? I had two options, get a crew to lift the boat off the trailer so we could remove the bird, or cut it's head off. I didn't think either was viable. It would have to stay trapped there until I returned to the ramp the next morning.

Friday with the pelican began a run of events that were firsts for me! Saturday morning, I met Kevin Shrimp, and his dad Steve, and Kevin's best bud, Bryan Black, for a day of fishing. These are local boys, who do a lot of snook fishing here, but they do almost exclusively pitching large shiners way back under the mangroves with heavy tackle looking for big snook. I think it turned out to be an educational day for them.

First, of course, we headed for the Chino flats to get bait. Before it was over, everyone on the boat had relieved me and thrown my 10 ft. net. They were intrigued with my different style of throwing, and Bryan his since let me know that he's got it mastered. That was a definite first; to have everyone, or anyone on the boat volunteer to throw that big net!

After we were baited up, we headed up the sound to look for some snook, and to show the boys around. They don't do much fishing in that neck of the woods. As I crossed the skinny flats north of Regla, my engine overheat alarm went off, and I quickly shut down! I couldn't imagine that my engine was actually in overheat. I raised the engine to look at the intakes, and there it was; a plastic bag some slob had thrown overboard was tangled in my lower unit. We had to wait a while, but she finally was ready to go.

We didn't see a lot of action before we broke to take lunch at the Waterfront. I think we had a flounder, a nice jack, and maybe a snook or two. The boys may have been wondering if they'd made the right decision, but I was saving the best for last.

After a great lunch, we headed to a fertile flat that offers it all. It's very shallow water fishing. We had action practically from the get-go. But, you know what? Kevin, Steve, and Bryan had the same problem waiting on the tight line that all you folks from other parts of the country do. They had never done this kind of fishing, and they live here! So, you folks who've fished with me here should feel better about that! What amazed the boys wasn't the snook or the redfish which they both missed and caught a lot of before the day was done, but the beautiful 4 pound trout that were on that flat. They had never caught trout like those, and really did seem impressed with how the net ban has benefited the trout population and size.

We had a lot of fun teasing and coaching each other, and by the end of the trip the boys had boated a dozen or more redfish to 10 pounds, 6 or more snook to 28 inches and 7 pounds, and 6 or more big trout. It had been a great day, and Kevin told me they had learned a whole new way of fishing they hadn't experienced.

And, that raps up what was a long seven day workweek, which is just part of a twelve day run. We're two days into the Easter weekend. I hope I can survive tomorrow! That's another report.