Mike's Florida Report... Part 2

Ok so day One ends on high note as Randy and I head back to the condo for some refreshments. The next morning we hit it again (We're late, it's 6:30) and already it's 85 degrees and seems like noon. Oh no I'm starting to sound like the ladies at Hertz....Why's it so hot in Florida... Wah!

The fishing is much slower this morning. Sure we got a dozen or so between the two of us but its nothing like yesterday. We head in early to do some grocery shopping and get ready for Ying and Yang....also know as Pat and Rich to show up.

It's now early afternoon and Rich is amped... literally shaking he's so excited. Just like we were the day before. Pat on the other hand is groggy and shows up with Walmart bags for suitcases and a empty lure case with 5 baits. 3 Puppy Jr's, and two Yozuri Crystal Minnows with broken hooks.

Then he proceeds to kick our ass. Couple cast here - Snook, couple more casts - trout, yawn... pause... cast.. a snook... lather, rinse & repeat..At this point in the story let me apologize to Pat for the lack of photos. I see now why he doesn't take very many. You can't carry a camera around your neck in salt water. I know that now. Mine is in the trash.. With the fast action you also don't want to stop and go unpack the camera to take a photo. So we didn't. I did get a shot of Pat with a small trout. It's all so boring and easy for Pat. It's not a shark so its dull. Been there, done that. BORRRRINGG! He's still pissed at me for this photo..



Meanwhile Rich was throwing a swim bait, Randy a Pointer Minnow & I was throwing some sort of tantrum... as usual.







The Savagear Rattleshad spanked a snook on it's first cast of the morning.




You'll notice that Randy is not in these photos... He took off up the beach runnin and gunnin... We shark fished later that evening with several takers but no hook ups. Got some great photos though..





The next morning Randy had great success up the beach and headed out at a sprinters pace. Unfortunately I had my camera in the back of his pack when i caught my biggest Snook of my life on a topwater. NOt huge by FL standards but it was mid 30's and was the best fight i've had in a long time. Damn you Randy.

We had a pretty successful morning casting the trough and everyone caught fish though Pat was getting pretty bored as the flatlanders from the north whooped it up. Rich even got a bluefish.




Pat taught us that the gray area close to shore was actually baitfish. He's so dang smart! Too bad he can't find the wire cutters, his hooks, the knife, his car keys, the sunscreen....



Later that morning we stopped for a sandwich break and a cold beverage



I proceeded to catch my token catfish/bullhead that I get on every trip on every body of water everywhere.. always..



Quickly I redeemed myself and basked in my snooky glory.





We took a break around noon, had a fish fry at 3pm and headed back out for the evening to snook it up before Shark Time.



Now that's good eating! Don't freak, we didn't eat snook. Those were sea trout!









Did we mention that Snook fight awesome!







Stay tuned for Rich's Shark story.. or as we call it... the calm before the storm.