This was a great week to be Captain of the BarHopp'R fleet. It was a week of great weather, great fishing, and great customers, which included some beautiful gals.

I met Scott Gibney, of Hoboken, New Jersey, and his best friend Chris, Monday morning, for what would be the first of two days of fishing. Scott was referred to me by Mora Woodward, who was also down from New York, and scheduled to fish with her dad on Thursday. We also met Grant Reece, of Laramie, Wyoming, who was my customer for a Wednesday trip. We were going to drop Grant off near Regla Island up in the Sound with one of my Perception Swing kayaks and fishing gear, and let him do a six hour unguided kayak fishing trip. This would also be the second week of trips on BarHopp'R II, which I've grown quite fond of.

So, kayak and passengers loaded, we headed to Regla Island and dropped Grant off at a shallow oyster bar. We promised to be back around one o'clock to pick him up. Scott, Chris, and I headed out to the Stickbeach to see if we could bang some early season snook. It was a long ride, but I knew that if the fish would eat, it would be worth it. And, it was worth it! From the time I anchored we had steady action all morning long. In fact, I never had to move. Scott is a hard-core fisherman, and lives to fish. He was loving every minute of it. We caught at least 24 nice speckled trout to 4 pounds, I'd say 12 to 15 snook to 27 inches, a 28 inch redfish, and broke off a monster of a jack crevalle. Scott and Chris were both good fishermen, but they, too, had trouble adapting to the light line fishing in heavy cover. They both lost plenty of snook. We also had constant hits and cutoffs from the mackerel hanging under the boat. If you left your shiner in the water by the boat for more that a few seconds, it would be the victim of a big mac attack! Scott and Chris were looking to feed the gang that night, so we took home a couple of nice snook, and a load of big trout.

At 12:30 we pulled anchor and headed in to pick up Grant. We found he right where we left him, wet and weary. He had spent the morning casting spoons and plugs around the mangroves, and had scored a big redfish, a nice snook, and a ladyfish. He had almost lost the kayak when the anchor rope came loose from the mushroom anchor and it drifted off on the breeze. He was able to chase it down, though. It had been a great day, and Scott couldn't wait to get back out on Tuesday. Chris wasn't sure if he'd be able to change his flight time so that he could fish again, but Scott's wife Colleen was going to join us for sure. The boys had Grant properly fired up about his Wednesday trip.

Tuesday morning I was greeted by Scott and Colleen, but Chris didn't make it. Scott and Colleen were married last July, and Colleen is a gorgeous, petite blond, who's certifiably crazy. She kept me laughing all day long. After baiting up with a tank full of shiners, we headed to the Stickbeach to do snook and trout. Colleen caught on to the fishing pretty quickly, too, and we all had a blast. Once the bite slowed a bit, we pulled anchor and headed back to the flats to try for some redfish. It didn't take long to get the reds going, either, and although they weren't running very large, they had a blast with them. I had a blast with Scott and Colleen. We ended the day with a dozen or more snook, at least 20 speckled trout to 4 pounds, and 15 or more reds averaging about 24 inches. I heard Colleen use the "awesome" word quite a few times that morning!

I hated to see the trip end, but I had business to take care of. I had noticed the last two times I charged the batteries on the boat, that the charger stayed on full charge on one battery all night long. I knew something was screwy. That morning, I felt the batteries out of curiosity, and the right one was hot. When I turned the charger off, I could hear it hissing. The condition meter indicated full charge, but I knew something was wrong. I needed to get to Smith Marine to have it checked.

I was also hopeful that Smith Marine would have BarHopp'R I repairs completed. I was having fuel tank problems again, and she needed a pull handle on the trolling motor, the bow light checked, and a water pressure gage installed. I'm absolutely sold on the benefits of the pressure gauge.

As it turned out, I spent the rest of the day at Smith Marine, and didn't get home until about 8:30 that night, but I had both boats repaired and ready to go. Ron, Smith's top man, had replaced both the Trolling Thunder drycell battery, and the charger, because he was suspicious that the charger was malfunctioning, and not shutting down at full charge. We couldn't really prove it, but he was pretty sure that was the case. Ron Jr. had to remove the console to get to the battery, because it's such a tight fit underneath. He was working at double speed, but managed to get both boats done.

I wanted to use BarHopp'R I for Wednesday's trip with Grant Reece, but it was so late, dark, and buggy out by the time I got both boats home, that I stayed with BarHopp'R II. I met Grant, his fiancee Sherri, an olive skinned, stunning brunette beautify, and his best friend Trent Wednesday morning thinking all my boat problems were behind me for a while. I was wrong.

After catching plenty of shiners north of Chino, we headed for a snook hole on the east side of the Sound. The first three bait into the water were eaten by big, beautiful trout. We had caught five before I realized that my bait was going belly up on me. I pulled anchor, and headed quickly to open water. I hadn't gone far when the alarm buzzer went off. I had been told (incorrectly it turns out) that the yellow flasher was the oil level alarm, and that the red flasher was the overheat alarm. I though I had an overheat alarm, but I had plenty of water pressure, and plenty of water coming out of the piss-tube on the motor. I could also feel that the engine was not hot. I could put my hand on the heads and leave it. After messing around with it for nearly an hour the alarm wouldn't clear, so I decided to disable the alarm so that I could run the motor. I had Grant stand back at the motor with his hand on the head, and slowly took off for the next spot. We didn't run far, and THANK GOD it wasn't necessary for us to go anywhere else that morning to find fish. The motor stayed nice and cool. I figured I had a bad overhead sensor.

I covered the motor, and poled the boat onto the flat that we would fish. It didn't take much chumming before we had the first of what would be many redfish on the line. Grant, Sherri, and Trent had a blast with those fish. They missed I don't know how many, but it didn't matter. The fish were eating well, and we finished the morning with at least 30 redfish to ten pounds, 4 snook to 28 inches (and 4 lost), a jack crevalle, and half dozen trout to 4 pounds. Sherri said it was the most awesome day of her life. She was probably exaggerating, but that's a might nice compliment. Trent, who explained that he had been on quite a few guide trips, told me that it was the best guide trip he had ever been on. Thanks, you guys.

Once we said our good-byes, I headed back to Smith Marine thinking I had a bad temperature sender. Craig came out to check on it, and it didn't take him long to notice that the onboard oil reservoir was very nearly empty. Oil wasn't being pumped up from the main supply tank. Ron Sr., recalling that his son, Ron Jr., had removed the console that night before to get at the batteries, quickly deduced that the harness was probably not reconnected to the tank. He was right! I had narrowly averted disaster. If the tank had run dry, I would have lunched the engine. If I had run anywhere else that day, I probably would have made a boat anchor of my motor. The Gods were smiling on me that day. Ron said he would properly chastise his son for getting in too big a hurry. Hey! There was no harm done.

Thursday, it was time for my friend Bob Woodward, owner of On Paper, Inc., and his lovely daughter Mora. Bob has gotten to be a regular of mine, and he's always a lot of fun. Mora is as pretty and sweet as she can be, and is quite a good angler. I knew it would be a fun day.

By the time we got our bait caught, the wind had shifted around to the southwest. I knew it would not be possible to comfortably fish the Stickbeach. So I headed to a snook spot I hadn't been to in a while. By the time I got the boat poled to the first stop, I noticed that my bait was dying once again. I quickly headed back out to the flats of Chino to try and save the rest, and catch more if necessary. I managed to revive some of the bait, but there was plenty laying dead at the bottom of the well. I figured I still had enough live bait for Bob and Mora, and headed to the flats. Bob had fished the area with me before, and had caught plenty of redfish, but this would be Mora's first redfish encounter.

I didn't take long to figure out what the reds wanted and start catching. The reds were running 8 to 11 pounds each. Good fish on light tackle. I noticed my good friends and customers, Lew Joseph and Bunky Bruce were fishing an area not far from us. I motioned to Lew to come join in the action, which they quickly did, as they could see we were catching. Oddly, even though they were anchored only a few yards off my starboard side, it took a while for them to get their first fish. Even then, they caught some fish, but nothing like we were catching. We all had a blast, though, and Bob and Mora finished the morning with around 30 redfish to 11 pounds, and three snook. A great day!

As I was putting away my tackle back at the ramp, Lew pulled up in his Lexus RX300 to chat about what a great time we'd all had. He commented that he, Bunky, and Don hadn't caught nearly as many reds as we had even though he was using the same bait, fishing them the same way, same line test, same everything! I told Lew that he wasn't fishing the same way, but he didn't believe me. After some discussion, I gave Lew the last part of his lesson when I revealed to him that we caught most of our fish on sliced and diced dead shiners, NOT on live bait. He was shocked, but drove away grinning like the cat that just ate the pet canary, and I knew he would be trying that the next time out.

Friday, Bruce Heintzman and his lovely boss Lisa were down from Tampa. Bruce was going to entertain a client, and it hadn't worked out, so he brought Lisa instead. No offense to the rest of you girls, but Lisa was not only pretty, but man could she fish!! I would have to say that she was the best lady angler I've ever had on my boat. I didn't have to coach her on any part of our light line, long cast fishing. Bruce was also a very good, and experienced angler, but of course, the gals always outfish the guys, and this was no exception. Lisa put it on Bruce. By the end of the morning Bruce and Lisa had caught at least a dozen snook, 30 or more redfish, 3 ladyfish, and 3 jacks.

We'd had a great day, and fortunately we got it done before a late season cold front came roaring through. I was supposed to fish with Bob and Mora Woodward again on Saturday, but the forecast was for strong north winds and rough seas, and I elected to cancel. Turned out to be a good decision, but the week had been one of my most enjoyable in a long time. It was JAPWIP!! Just Another Perfect Week In Paradise!!