FLORIDA FISHING CHARTERS

"Wednesday the 3rd, 2002"

It's Wednesday, the 3rd of July 2002 at 8:00 in the morning. The forecast called for partly sunny skies and afternoon thunderstorms likely. We had an incoming tide for the first part of the day. The winds were out of the SW 5-10mph for most of the day.

We had a three boat charter set for the day. My good friend Captain Chris Whitman, and Captain Nelson Diaz were kind enough to take the rest of the group. My guests for the day were Dino, Sylvia, and Diana. Captain Chris had Nickey Frank and his wife Rose and Captain Nelson was accompanied by Anthony and two of his other family members.

We decided to head North to the power lines to get bait. At first our chances didn't look very good. Fortunately a nice pelican tipped us off to a school of threads on one of the power line poles. I made one cast and caught a good 75 to 100 nice threads. Nelson took the next cast and managed about 50 threads and Capt Chris was shut out on several casts. No big deal though I had enough for both boats. We headed on out to redfish pass and fished the inside near the same spot were we caught the small snook on the Addictive Fishing show. We saw about 40 fish all 15 pounds plus. Unfortunately we had already spooked them when we saw them. There went the bite and the snook so we decided to hit the beach on the outside at Redfish.

Once we arrived the bite was on. Diana landed the first snook which was a nice 5lber. I was not sure if she would get it in. The drag on the Megalite did a good job and helped her get the fish in. Dino was next to get a fish on and he did a good job of bringing him to the boat but it flipped off before we had a chance to get a picture. Diana then caught another snook of about 3lbs. We could see the snook stacked on top of each other. There was well over 100 Snook right underneath the boat in plain daylight.

Next I reset the anchor so I could get us even closer to the fish. I think Sylvia was not up to fishing much until she saw Diana get her fish, it then seemed like a little competition was brewing. I baited Sylvia with a fresh bait and she was ready for a big snook. I tossed her bait up near the rocks and Pow!! Snook ON!! She soon got the hang of pumping the fish away from the rocks and eventually got the snook to the boat. He went a healthy 6.5lbs.

Then it was Diana's turn again. She didn't like being out done by Sylvia so she told me to bait her up. I put a nice fresh thread on her line and tossed it over to the beach. After 5 minutes or so she felt a nice bump and began to reel. Drag started to scream off and she put some pressure on that snook and horsed it to the boat. It was another nice 5lber. Meanwhile Dino can't explain what is going on. He was on his second charter and yet to catch even one fish. I told him not to worry about it because the girls always catch more than the fellas.

Finally, it was time to head in and finish the day at the harbor. I gave them the same instructions I give everyone there and they shook their heads ok. Sure enough Dino gets a huge snook on. Dino tried to pull the fish while reeling and it wasn't happening. Within 5 seconds the Snook had already broken him off with 80lb test Fins Braid and 150lb test leader. Diana was jealous again and she hoped up into Dino's spot. Bam!! Monster Snook ON!! That snook nearly jerked her and the rod off of the boat. Luckily it wrapped her Fins braid around the piling and broke her off before she could get pulled in. I then handed Dino another rod I had rigged, put a fat thread on and tossed it into the hole. Sylvia decided she wanted some of the action so she stepped up next to Dino. Not a minute later Fish On!! and again the fish nearly pulled the rod out of a customer's hand. If she didn't get broken off around the piling she may have went for a swim. Dino now has the boat to himself. He get's a hit and let's the fish eat it, which is the wrong thing to do there. Once again another break off. I told them they will have to practice some more. As we cleared the hole Captain Chris moved in behind us. Nickey Frank's wife rose was fishing off of the front of the boat when the fish of the day enhaled her bait. The snook whacked her bait and tried to pull her in. Fortunately for her Capt Chris grabbed the rod and helped her turn the fish. I could not beleive the size of the fish that finally surfaced. It was huge and I mean huge. As it turned out it was her first snook and it was larger than my largest. As a Captain I was happy for her but as an angler I sure was jealous. She hasn't even paid her dues and she pulls in a monster like that. Oh well that is why they call it fishing.

To conclude the snook were a eaten and everyone had a blast. Rose caught a snook on the west coast that was so big I couldn't beleive it. I look forward to seeing the group from Sarasota soon. If you are urning for some rod busting leader fraying excitement then give Captain Chancey a call @ (239)540-7529

Until next time may you have line singing, leader fraying, and drag screaming action!!!!

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