Tom "King" Woodward Reports on 5/23/01:
Per your request, here's what I can remember from our Bokeelia warmup expedition: We met at my treehouse around 9:30 in the a.m. on Thursday 5/18, then loaded up FB's comfy war wagon and split for the land of Bud & Mary's and Worldwide Sportsman.
Although we planned to do some wading that afternoon after checking in, we drank beer instead. Following our 3:00 arrival, we unloaded the truck, drank beer, watched FB's clients clean their day's catch of dolphin-by-the-truckload, drank beer, surveyed the grounds and the adjacent Atlantic flats, shot some videotape, drank beer, called the guide to finalize plans for Friday, watched the Weather Channel and relaxed after the long drive, took the dolphin fishermen out for dinner at Marker 88 (outstanding), drank beer and then switched to rumrunners. No fishing for us, but a full day. When we turned in Thursday night, the weather report called for calm winds in the morning. We slept well.
As Friday dawned breathless, the entire Florida Keys was a mirror. At the horizon, water melted into the sky. We about shat ourselves. As planned, we met Captain Randy Brown at Hawk's Cay Marina on Duck Key at 7:30 a.m. He was just douching his well-used Hughes 18. As FB rolled tape, we headed out on that mirror and went under the bridge to the Gulf side, where we spent the entire day. Our first spot was close by, near the Long Key viaduct. Saw some poons rolling as Randy poled, but I don't remember seeing any up close. Also don't remember if we took any shots there, with our jerk baits rigged on shitty rods (when you hire a guide, boys, bring your own gear).
Before long, we went to spot number two, against the Gulf shore of one of the main islands. Randy said they had moved in a day or two before. Almost immediately, we started seeing fish. Some rollers, one giant free-jumper, and a few cruising by the boat. It was kind of like redfishing. Most of the fish we saw weren't showing themselves, but we could spot them easily in the calm, clear water by poling along. Anyway, we saw tons of fish and actually had a couple do half-hearted inspections, but no takers.
So we were off to an area near Nine Mile Bank, past the Everglades boundary. When Randy killed the motor, it was completely surreal. No sounds whatsoever. No cars, no planes, no breeze, no slap, no nothing. It was like a vacuum, and given the scope of our view, it was hard to fathom the silence. Spot number 3, unlike the second place, was a cruising location and not a gathering place. We saw a couple tarpon come by, which I managed to konk on the head, but not much compared to the last spot. As it was, Randy got to run a long way and stake out, saving him some poling time. And we all had lunch. Pretty much a space-filler, which many guides seem to utilize.
After lunch, a very slight breeze came up, so we headed back to the land o' plenty poons. With the slight ripple, Randy was really excited. He thought they would eat an artificial now. Perhaps, but it was afternoon by then, so FB and I decided to become bait whores (the Captain had brought a few crabs). Didn't take long to start seeing fish again, although they were substantially harder to see near the bottom, and it didn't take long to hook one. FB was a lot better at spotting and hooking them than I was, by the way. He was awesome. We'd sort of take turns, although we were both baited up. I had three fish eat, one of which ate twice after I pulled the crab outta his mouth. Jumped one huge one (maybe 130-140 lbs.) near the boat, which promptly tossed the bare hook back at the guide. One sucked the life, and the guts, out of my crab without me feeling so much as a twitch. In fact, I never felt any take the bait. So much for my day. My man FB had two take the bait, and he had a ball doing battle with both of them, fighting them for long periods. The smaller one was near 100 lbs., and the second one was a true beast. That one jumped six times, with three of the aerials coming immediately after the hookset. One jump must have covered 40 ft. in the air, sideways. Unfortunately, both ended up breaking off to the sound of .22 cal. rifle fire, likely due to the equipment status. Fortunately, I managed to get most of both fights on video, including two of the jumps in the second fight. Walker's Cay ain't got nuthin' on me.
All in all, it was great. Randy was a good guy and we learned a lot. The weather gods did us proud. FB was a terrific partner as usual. And we got in some Bokeelia-style fishing exercise. The camcorder will definitely be packed for our upcoming trip as well, and you guys will love this thing. Can't wait for you to see the Islamorada video. As we left for home on Saturday morning (after some shopping at Worldwide Sportsman, of course), we remarked about the countdown now commencing in earnest. Hot damn.