It was another one day workweek, but it was a great day with a wonderful family, David, Jennifer, and son Ted Arthur, over from Ft. Lauderdale.
The day began as always with the catching of bait. Once we were loaded up and organized, we headed right to the B span. It was a little sloppy from the A span over to the B span, and young nine year old Teddy really had fun on the ride.
Once there, Dave helped me with the chumming duties, as Teddy and Jen helped pick up the baits that got into the cockpit. The tide was moving in the same direction as the breeze, and we had to drop the chum close to the boat to get the bait in position to catch it. It took a little longer than usual to get loaded up, but we got plenty of bait.
We had trout popping the bait around the boat and mackerel jumping, so I decided to put out a bait and let Teddy try to catch his first fish while we were finishing up with bait. And, after missing a couple of bites he got his first speckled trout. He was pretty excited about that.
Once we were done with bait I decided to just move out toward the edge to a little deeper water, and start the guys off right there. There were plenty of fish there. And, the bite was on. Everyone was catching speckled trout, with a few big ladyfish mixed in, as well as a small grouper, a snapper, and a mackerel. And we had several hooks bitten off by big macks. That's what I call a Big Mack Attack!
During the bite we put some nice keeper trout in the bait well, and Teddy kept taunting his dad about how many more fish he'd caught, and that his dad owed him a dollar on a bet they made. By the time the bite slowed down we had a load of trout to 19', a snapper, and a big ladyfish for later use as bait, in the well.
Dave told me he'd love to go try to catch a redfish, because at forty-two, he'd never caught one. He's an avid bass fisherman, and I knew that if I could get him on some redfish, he'd be blown away by the way the pull. We took off for redfish country.
By the time we got there we'd had a breeze fire up, and was moving its way from east to south. It kept pulling me off of my chosen spot. Dave and Jen both let the first two or three fish get away. Dave missed a redfish, and Jen a snook or two. Finally, I had to move because of the changing breeze.
We went around the corner of the shoreline we were fishing and were pretty quickly into the redfish. Everyone caught redfish, but Jen and Teddy were about worn out from the heat. It had been an unusually hot, sultry morning for mid-October. They were ready to eat, and had brought no snacks. David was really into the redfish, and wanted to catch one more before taking off. But, I think that one got away before he could land it.
As we had caught reds, we freed some of the trout healthy to fight again, since the reds yield more meat, and to me have more flavor. Trout are extremely mild and I much prefer the redfish. Don't get me wrong. They're both delicious.
We headed to the Waterfront Restaurant where J.D. Had calamari and shrimp and blue crab quesos on the menu. Oh, man! What to choose. What to choose? Teddy got the full sized burger, which I can't even finish, and woofed it down like he'd not eaten in days. I was amazed. Dave and Jen said it was some of the best food they'd eaten.
Back at the ramp we had plenty of fish to clean. My guys let me keep the two snapper and of course my redfish, since the redfish rule is a possession rule. But, they had plenty of fish to freeze and last them a while back at home.
It had been a great day with a wonderful family, and Teddy had been a delight to have in the boat. After we'd said our 'goodbyes' and they had no more than pulled away and they were coming back down the parking lot again. I thought they had forgotten something. Jen came over to my van and gave me a twenty dollar bill, and said she thought Dave hadn't given me enough of a tip! Now, I ask you. How sweet is that? Thank you Jen.