Captain Billy Nobles of the Reel Animals always says "Do yourself a favor and take a kid fishing". Today it was truly my pleasure to welcome back Barry and his son Nolan for the 3rd year in a row. Nolan brought his 6 year old sister Ash for Saturdays trip.
Wanting to keep things lively, fun and exciting I started the day tossing shrimp under a float on a nearby grass flat. Ash quickly got things rolling with a huge pinfish followed by a spunky 13" spotted sea trout. Just as quick Nolan landed a trout. We stayed with the trout for about 45 minutes before Nolan suggested we target Mackerel.
We made a short run to Tierra Verde and set up in 8' of 72 degree water. I deployed a chum bag, tossed our baits out and started the waiting game. Barry was first to have a bait attacked by a mackerel as Nolan and Ash were busy with the chum bag. A short while later Ash hooked a solid Mackerel that made a big run pulling her to the gunnels! I quickly grabbed Ash who never let go of the rod and landed the Mackerel!
Our next stop near Pinellas Point saw Nolan crank things up. Nolan was either catching a fish or got a bite every minute! Everyone got in on the action with trout and mackerel. If Captain Steven needed a tournament partner I would take Nolan in second! Nolan is a fish catching machine.
Looking for larger trout we moved to a shallow grass flat 2-3'. Nolan again was red hot! He was catching 20" trout with ease and had a whopper 23.5" gator trout! Never under estimate kids, Ash was casting, hooking bait plus taking out hooks! Nolan has fished for 3 years with Captain Steven and always impresses me with his skill!
Captain Steven Markovich
