Thursday morning I had the pleasure of welcoming 4 rookie anglers Russ, Betsy daughter Maddie and her friend Nicole. We ran to the grass flats off Tarpon Key looking to get on the spotted sea trout action. We quickly deployed four rods with floats and live shrimp only have nothing happen. This spot has been a consistent producer so I was surprised we did not score. I bumped us forward 100' re set the lines and bam 4 fish on at one time! Feisty trout were inhaling our shrimp with abandon.
Maddie and Nicole were screaming and laughing with delight. Their wonderful laughter was infectious and now Captain Steven was laughing. One of the most exciting thing as a Captain is getting to watch people catch their first fish. Maddie and Nicole were no exception, check out the smiles on their faces!
We made the short run to Pinellas Point and got right into the action in 4-6' of water. Trout, Mackerel, Ladyfish, Catfish and Pinfish eagerly attacked our shrimp. Maddie's rod bent and it was clear she had something different on. Moments later a Black tip shark was boat side. I was I had audio of the girls screaming as I brought the little guy onboard.
Next I wanted to run to the south Skyway Bridge which is holding large Mackerel but turned around half way there as the wind and waves were picking up. We moved back to Pinellas Point until the Power Pole broke under the pressure of the building waves. Last stop we ran to some protection from the wind near the Marina and finished off our 4 hour trip.
The weather may have gotten ugly but it was bright day having 4 super folks onboard today.
Captain Steven
www.onthemarkcharters.com
