Robin's Reports

3/31/06 The Night Before the Trip

Tomorrow, we wake up at the insane time of 4am to dress, load, hitch the boat and go to buy gas & bait for a 5am launching off the docks. The sun will be rising at 6:15am, so we want to already be heading to the first destination as sun rises. Early morning bite is important, especially when you're talking about an invasion of weekend fishermen coming from everywhere to our port to catch the migrating cobia. There have been days that we have left at 9am and I had to park in the overfill lot across and down the road. Not fun!

The weather is suppose to be beautiful. 86 deg, UV Index 9, 5-10knot winds w/ 2-3 ft waves from then south, then SE. I bet the water will be very clear for us. We will carry jackets for the morning pre-dawn but then have layers down to a bathing suit for me. We have a good chance of catching cobia but also the first Mahi mahi of spring that are trickling in this week. One local fishing friend saw a school of dozens of manta rays together. Then, later he came across what he claimed were 100 cobia together. I cannot fathom seeing these massive schools myself but I'm sure one day I will. Our first year here, we saw a mullet run from out of the river to the ocean. I'm sure there were 1000's because it took minutes for all of them to pass. Also, last weekend, there were a few/several beached whales in our county. We will have to keep a look out for these smaller whales.

So, back to tonight, all the poles, tackle boxes, outriggers, electronics, music, bean bags for the kids to ride in and towels are loaded in the cuddy. Both coolers are filled with ice and the smaller one with canned drinks and water. We have a wonderful 4 ft long cooler to keep the larger fish in because our boat did not have a sunken fish box. It had a not-so-efficient above one that we removed. At least w/ the cooler, we can move it around. It's hard to believe, but at some point, we're going to come across a fish that doesn't fit in that 4 ft. If we are ever blessed with tuna, I'm sure that 3 would be max fitting in there. Oh to have the problem tomorrow! Yeah, right.

Sandwiches & more drinks are bagged in the frig for quick removal. A large bag of snacks are also sitting on the counter. I need to be hitting the hay very soon if I don't want to feel sick when I wake up.

There are a couple things that are paramount to fishing and we have certainly made the mistake of leaving one of them at home at one time or another. The keys to the boat, the plug to keep the water out of the boat (left out to drain when not in use) and polarized sunglasses. I feel like Superman in my polarized glasses. Without them, the glare makes seeing your catch impossible. It also makes seeing what is following your catch up from the bottom of the deep impossible, too. Several times, we've had sharks, cobia or barracuda follow up pinfish caught on the kids poles. One year, we could see a small school of amberjacks swimming below us. I put some dead bait down 15 ft and could see them staring at it. It was almost like fishing in a Sea World tank it was so clear - only they decided they didn't have time to eat.

Well, be sure to check in tomorrow to see what we came home with.