9.28.09 - OFFSHORE FISHING
by Robin

I had to drag Jack out of bed at 6am to check the weather reports. We loaded up slowly and were getting gas by 8am. Not exactly "Crack o'Dawn" stuff. We were clearing the port a little before 9am, greeted by the prettiest high-level clouds. It was going to be a gorgeous, rain-free day. Plus, we were fortunate enough to have some cloud cover for the morning.



Unfortunately, we were also greeted by the occasional 5 ft wave once we stopped on our first site about 17 miles offshore. We caught the usual customers. Black Sea Bass & "short" Red Snappers. We kept a few larger Sea Bass. Then, at one point, we decided to change locations. The 2nd & 3rd locations seem to be the nursery for baby Black Sea Bass which got rather annoying since they tried their best to swallow a lot of hooks or lose an eye w/ hooks. Jack begged me to go further offshore and troll some lines. Since we weren't pulling in those mutton and lane snappers that I so hoped for, I agreed.

He was hit in less than 5 minutes on the first line but we didn't know what hit it. We drove a short distance further to see the waters crashing to the right. (Gee, it doesn't even show up well after all the uploading & downsizing.)



Here it is with some cropping. Very large Blackfin Tuna were in the area and skyrocketing out of the water. We did our best to trolling around for some of them. Nobody wanted to eat OUR ballyhoo.


I think about 45 minutes later, we gave up trolling, but noticed the seas had settled down considerably with the heat of the day. So, we went back to bottom fishing.

Truly, he's happy, but the sun is in his eyes. Poor son. He puked 2x in the morning. I would have too if it hadn't been for the ginger pills.


Jack pulled in a lot of short Red Snappers. This is one of the smaller ones. I just love the color. This color has NOT been enhanced.


Here is our son learning to take the hook out of a fish that swallowed it. We lost so many hooks to save the snapper. I lost a nice circle hook on some monster grouper that rocked up. We're almost certain that it had to be a Goliath grouper (about the size of a VW bug). My Sturdystick rod amazed me by not breaking with that fish. I had my drag on too tight and the fish couldn't pull line off the reel. I had to use my full body weight to keep from losing the rod/reel combo. He was a big'un.



Anyhow, dear son was so careful with this fish. He hated that it was bleeding. I did not because I knew it was good eating size and he was going in the cooler anyhow. The towel is also for our son's protection. I can't tell you how many times Jack and I were punctured by fin spines. The hydrogen peroxide came out a couple of times.


Oh, did I forget to mention that Jack found a nice patch of ground that was holding Triggerfish. I pulled two up back to back. These were really nice eating size.


The kids and I made a deal with Daddy that we would clean up the boat if he cleaned the fish & made dinner. He made some delicious triggerfish sandwiches and deep-fried french fries. YUMMY, especially after a day of being nauseated on the water.

MONDAY!! - I'm so excited
by Robin

We're going fishing on Monday. Everything is timed out together - weather, time, money, fish.



Above is a picture taken last Thanksgiving of the nice haul of Lane Snappers that we picked up while bottom fishing. It's time to fill the deep freeze again with all sorts of species. Our friends picked up some Yellowtail & Mutton snapper last weekend out on Pelican Flats, so that will be on our list of species to harvest. Of course, we'll take any Lanes and Red snapper as well. Or for that matter, Red, Gag or Warsaw groupers are found in the same area, so they can join the others in the cooler.

Gee, I'm catching all my fish before they hatch, but it's the kid in me, with Christmas fast approaching. I'm excited! I haven't been out since JUNE. That's a crime. Plus, we haven't bottom fished, with the exception of the time on Mike & Helen's boat, since last winter. This is a sport that even the kids can help haul in fish. Little man can bring in all the smaller species of snapper & black sea bass he can handle.

Well, I'm off to cook some fish for dinner. We're having company coming over tonight. Be looking for a late Monday or early Tuesday report.

Happy Fishing,
Robin

NAILS
by Robin

I noticed last night how nice & long my nails are getting. It's time to go fishing and have them all break off again.

9.21.09 - INSHORE TRIP
by Robin



Before you get all excited about more fish pictures, let me say, we loaded the boat up for a quick afternoon of tripletail fishing off the beach but the rain clouds had another plan. As we were about to hitch up the boat, a huge downpour came. We waited it out and then cancelled.

I'm just so glad it wasn't quite the downpour that the folks in GA seem to be getting.

So, instead of tripletail pictures today, you'll have to see my artsy picture of a huge needlefish down in the Keys. (Gee, I missed his beak which is the coolest part.)

We'll try again next Monday.

KEY WEST - days 2 & 3
by Robin

I'm not going to show you all 300 pictures that I took in the keys but here are a few more highlights of our trip. There are many photos of Jack's family in the cemetary as well and those are rather private.... and our last name is anonymous on this blog.

Enjoy!


We woke up to a beautiful morning.


We headed back to Jack's home growing up at a kid in KW. We were so blessed that the tenants skipped town the day before and we could take these pictures.


From the house, we went to do touristy drive-bys. We saw the Southernmost house, hotel and then "point". It's rather funny to see a line of people all waiting to do the same thing.


We saw Ernest Hemingway's house, the lighthouse and more chickens. Then, we visited Key West Cemetary and found 4 more of Jack's relatives. One block north is this gem of a deli. Next door was Jack's grandmother's & great-aunt's houses. They'd give birth at home and then take the babies to 5 Brothers to be weighed. My how times have changed. One of the grandsons was not interested at all in the history of his store, but making revenue from us.


After our tummies were filled, we headed 1.5 mi south to White St Pier & saw the AIDS memorial too. These palms were in the parking lot across the way. There was also a white sandy beach but it was so windy, we opted to head back to the hotel pool for cleaner, refreshing water.


Here is our youngest enjoying a creamsicle smoothie poolside. We had such a great 3 hrs of relaxation & the sun stayed out.


By 6pm, we hopped on the bikes and rode 2 miles west to Mallory Square. The "shows" take a rotation. This guy lays on a bed of nails. He later told my boys not to do this at home, do it at school. LOL. I told him we homeschool. Nice.


This guy sita at the entrance and makes robot noises as you tip him. What a tough way to make a living. He was sweating bullets. I hope he didn't give up his day job.


This guy & his assistant were really nice but about as charasmatic as a fly. People left before his show was totally over. The assistant came out of the box and everybody was gone. Ta-daaaa!


We rode the 2 miles back home in the dark, between many cars stuck in traffic. It was actually pretty fun doing down Duval St as a family on bikes. The next morning, we loaded up the car for the drive home. We weren't in any hurry to go home. We stopped by the cemetaries again and laid flowers. We drove past Big Pine Key, over the 7 mi bridge twice and back onto Big Pine. From there, we drove north to No Name Key to find No Name Pub. http://www.nonamepub.com/ They have dollar bills stapled to the walls & ceilings. history of the Pub


Not very long after taking this picture of the endangered Key Deer, we had a torrential downpour. At least we were inside and enjoyed the company of our waitress. Her and our youngest hit it off.

Gee, I'm missing so many good pictures here. I may have to put them up as time allows.

As for fishing........ what's that? ..... (just kidding). I hope that resumes soon.

KEY WEST (day 1)
by Robin

We started with sun, but were soon met with rain once we hit the lower keys.


We did a lot of this and found many of Jack's relatives.


Key West has chickens everywhere like other big cities have their pidgeons.


Sunset our first night. Dinner on Stock Island at Hogfish Bar & Grill. Yummy hogfish & Cuban sandwiches.


Oh it was soooo tempting to take home a living souvenier.


Commercial boats working at night. Oh it was so pretty.


Zooming down Roosevelt Blvd, Key West


A spectacular storm passing by the key before bed.

TWO DAYS & counting ................

The infamous 7 mile bridge.