Although the catching wasn't as great again this week as it should be for this time of year, everything else about the week certainly was great.

Monday morning I met Dr. Tom Gorman, and his 10 year-old son Nate, and 8 year-old son Conner, from Franklin, Tennessee. Sometimes, when you have kids coming along, you can't help but be a little apprehensive about how they will behave until you get out there and see. Well, I've got to tell you that not only were these boys perfect little very well mannered gentlemen, but they were a blast to be around, and as cute as they could be. They were quite funny for young boys, and we had a lot of laughs. Tom was as down to earth as they come, and very likable. I would never have guessed he worked in ER. But, the best part was that even at their early ages, these boys really liked to fish.

Although everyone missed quite a few fish, we did have some good excitement from time to time. The crew caught 7 or 8 snook, a redfish, and a trout for the slam. There were also several mackeral, and the fish of the day was a great big jack crevalle that nearly spooled Nate when he took off for the western Gulf.

We all had lots of fun, and they all decided they wanted to fish again during the week if I could manage an available day, or have a cancellation. I did manage to rearrange my schedule so that I could fish the Gorman boys again on Tuesday, but my phone was so tied up all night, Tom could never get through to me to let me know they were a go at their end. All things tend to work out in the end, and I used the day to wrap up my license renewal application.

I was really looking forward to Wednesday's trip, as it was with Jim Turek, out of Chicago, who became one of my favorite folks last year when we fished several days. Jim has a passion for fishing that I love to be around. Plus, he's a hell of a nice guy, and a great fisherman. I was disappointed that his lovely wife Neda didn't join him, but with only Jim in the boat, it was like having a day off. Jim won't let me wait on him and likes to bait his own hooks, and land his own fish, as most serious fishermen do. That doesn't leave me a whole lot left to do, so I got to fish a little too. It was great fun, and like fishing with an old fishing buddy. Together, we caught 20 snook to 7 pounds. Jim got most of them, as I only caught 3 or 4. It was a very enjoyable day with Jim, and I was glad I was fishing with him again on Friday.

When I got back to the ranch that night, I had a message from Dr. Santiago Hernandez, my party for Thursday, that his daughter had fallen ill, and they had returned home. I was sorry to hear that, of course, as I was looking forward to meeting Santiago, but remember that I said that things tend to work out for the best. I was able to get hold of Tom, and arrange to give him and the boys that second day of fishing they wanted. In so doing, we were able to conserve Dr. Hernandez's deposit for another trip.

So, Thursday morning it was fishing with the Gorman tribe, again, and I already knew we'd have a great time. It didn't take long to get bait, and we were off to the Stickbeach. We had a better bite than that on Monday, and the boys caught 16 snook to 5 pounds, 2 trout to 16 inches, a mackeral, and several blacktip sharks. The boys thought the sharks were totally cool!

Tom taught me a really cool disciplinary action that he developed in response to the threat of being arrested for child abuse. I won't go into details, but we all had a good laugh each of the three times Nate was disciplined. We finished off the morning with a great lunch at the the Waterfront Restaurant. Back at the ramp I got to meet Tom's lovely wife, Lisa, and we chatted for quite a while before they headed home. The boys had a great time, and I'll be looking forward to seeing them each year when they come down.

I had no idea how tough a day it would be when I met Jim Turek for our second outing Friday morning. Oh, it started off OK! Bait was plentiful and beautiful. I loaded the front well with chum, and the rear well with bigger shiners for bait. We had a tide to fish the flats, and we decided to try to catch some redfish for a change of pace. But, within minutes of arriving at our first stop, all but about 8 baits were dead, and we couldn't save them with the aerator and constant stirring. I was living a guide's worse nightmare!

Jim was totally unshaken by the lose of bait. He told me he loves to fish artificials, as do I, and we were soon casting spoons. I tied a silver on for Jim, and a gold 1/2 oz. Johnson Silver Minnow on my rig. Within minutes a school of reds rose up and crossed our bow port to starboard. We threw at them. The first hit was a miss, as was the second, but the third take was a nice red. Jim thought it was really cool how we sight-casted to those fish, and they just jumped on our spoons.

Right after that first fish, a thunderstorm materialized as if out of nowhere. The first big crack of thunder sent us scurrying for the Waterfront once again. It was barely ten o'clock when we arrived, and they weren't open, but owner J.D. Hollway and crew invited us in for drinks. Within minutes we were both indulging in some of the most sinfully delicious peel and eat jumbo shrimp on the planet. I ate two orders! Jim tried the hot and spicy shrimp for his second round. We headed out again around noon. We'd only fished a little while, but we'd already had a good time. I headed to a hole near Regla Island to see if we could scare up a quick fish or two with our 8 live baits. Not long after arriving Jim's line started to move tight, and he caught the second redfish of the day. After one other hit, we again decided that discretion was the better part of valor and headed toward home, concerned about the weather.

Back at the dock Jim and I decided that next year we would do a live bait trip, and a combo fly/artificial trip. Jim assured me that even though we'd only caught two redfish that morning, he'd had a great time. So had I. Jim once again gave me one of the firmest, most sincere handshakes I've ever known. I hated to see him go, and wished we had another day we could fish together. And there is the best part of the guide business; that you can have a special bond and friendship with someone you may only see once or twice a year. In this week I made a new such bond, and renewed an old one. What a great week!