Robin's Reports

MORE FISH PICS

Sorry, I got a little distracted with hatching out chicks.

We head due east from Port Canaveral and stopped once we got to 120' of water. We were aiming for 140' but our first puking started in 120. What are you going to do, eh?

It took a little while for the water to clean up to the dark blue you see in the below picture. It was nice and we hit a lot of scattered weeds as we trolled east to deeper waters.

Mike and daugher w/ the 1st phin of the day. She was the first to pull in a fish. Don't underestimate the ability of a kid to crank in a big fish.

Next up was my eldest with his dolphin. It spit the hook during a jump. I hated that because he sure does love to catch big fish. It was a good size mahi on the line. It made several jumps.

Mike's fish since Helen and his son didn't want to take their turn. Nothing like seasickness to making you immobile.

My escape dolphin - story below

This one charged the boat, got put on ice very green. Then, jumped for his life.

Jack fighting his Mahi. Mike's son looks on.

Here is his catch. Not a very good angle photography-wise. Nothing we caught was in the "hero" category but it all makes for good eating and a day of constant action.

This was "Family Day" on the water.

I think by this point, we were heading south after hitting 240' of water. Next thing you know, we're catching kings instead of phins. Little man fighting his Kingfish. Can you see the determination in his stance. Mike was very patient with teaching the kids. The kids were very long-suffering with throwing up between turns of reeling in fish.

Here is the only picture we have of the Kingfish before it went under the boat and the line was caught in the props and cut off. What a loss for the little guy. Jack is standing by as gaff man.

Here is Mike's son reeling in his fish. We knew it wasn't a mahi or kingfish the way it was fighting. No jumps or major runs. This fish went down and down. It surely didn't want to come up. We were so hoping it was a wahoo or black fin tuna when we saw a slight silver sheen a dozen or more feet down.

It ended up being a Bonita. It was caught and released. They are in the tuna family but considered more as bait and not dinner fare.

I was up next to fight this kingfish since Helen was still so incapacitated on the couch. It was a fairly easy fish to bring in. Here is my Kingfish. Not the biggest but we kept him for smoking and making into dip.

Mike fighting a kingfish. By this time, we had a lot of kids not wanting to move. My eldest had thrown up for the 5th time. I was in the tower.

The line took off as Mike was putting the ballyhoo and skirted lure out. Poor Mike suffered a blistered thumb in the process.

Here it is in the boat. I think this is the point where Jack cut his finger with the gaff (sharp hook). The gaff has a protective cap and while recapping it, a wave push Jack into the point rather than around the point.

We did go to our snapper hole for a little bottom fishing, but the current was pushing us quickly and with so many seasick folks on board (5 of 8), we only got 1 undersized red snapper before heading home. Plus, a black cloud was coming and waves were building.

Little man slept here for over an hour. After he joined me in my lap, his brother fell asleep here and actually hit the deck. What a rude awakening.

Here are the kids, each holding a fish. We had 6 keepers total. Four Mahi mahi and 2 Kingfish. Lost 3 more. Plus, 2 released non-edible fish.

It was such a good day to be on the water. Lots of fish meat for the 2 families.

In the waters below the cleaning tables, the pelicans have learned to wait patiently for scraps. It's an easy meal for them. Jack gave them plenty of fish skin & guts. The carcasses also go overboard after the eyes and stomachs are pierced. This allows it to drop down to the bottom of the sea for crab food.

Many times, we have seen folks hang around the tables asking for fish heads. I guess Fish Head Soup is pretty popular in certain cultures.

I think Helen got some great shots from the 1st deck. If she sends me those, I'll post them up here.

Happy Fishing. This weekend, we'll be finishing up our Mako 248 project.

Robin