We were supposed to leave this morning but since we have had such rainy weather and the fishing forecast looked promising for this weekend, we inquired about availability. While we couldn’t stay in the same apartment, they did have another 1 bedroom apartment available and no one was currently staying in it. As we packed up last night, we called the owner (Ben) and asked if we could put our fridge items into the new apartment. He had already given Eric the door code………………..so he said yes. Actually, we packed up whatever we didn’t need and moved a good deal of our stuff over Friday evening.
So while the photo below doesn’t look promising, the clouds provide a nice cover and keep the temps a bit cooler. Looking at the weather radar, we should be able to fish most of the morning.
After my bagel breakfast, we got everything on the boat and headed to the Gulf. We are taking one of our upstairs neighbors with us, 14-year-old Blayton. Their family boat is not as long as ours and usually their dad only takes one person with them when they go fishing. Blayton was interested in going with us and it was fine by me. Eric told him to be ready to go by 7:30 am. We had to set our alarm to be sure that we were awake and ready since we gave him a timeframe!
We easily got to Sarasota Bay and Blayton caught something his first cast – 18″ trout. My second cast I caught a 20″ trout! His next cast he caught a 18″bluefish. We were on fire. But then the fire died 😦 We didn’t catch any other keepers while we drifted this bay. We headed down to the ‘middle grounds’ for several drifts. We each caught at least 1 trout, but they were all shorts. About this time we checked the radar and needed to head back. Just then we got a text from Blayton’s dad giving us a heads up about the weather. We should have left earlier.
Eric stopped at a marina to see about taking cover and they suggested a restaurant across the channel – we got there as quick as we could to tie up. It’s nice having a young man with us so that he could help Eric. I went inside the restaurant while they were getting the boat tied up before the storm truly hit us.
We barely made it and both of the guys got wet right at the end. We were sitting inside when Eric remembered the GPS wasn’t protected. Blayton ran down to give it some protection from the elements – what a good kid. 🙂
I wasn’t that hungry and got an appetizer that was hunks of chicken accompanied by a sweet chili sauce – delicious! Eric ordered fish & chips.
The weather finally blew past us and we could get back on the boat and head home. Of course, once there, we had to take photos. One minor mishap before we got off the boat at the dock……….a treble hook lure got stuck (really stuck) into my shorts. It took me 1/2 hour before I could get it separated. My shorts aren’t too worse for wear and can still be worn. Eric said he enjoyed having Blayton on board for a multitude of reasons, but one of the first things he mentioned was the fact that Blayton took off all of the fish that I caught that were not keepers – gave him more time to fish. 🙂
Since the storm was over (for the moment) we walked to the beach to check out the surf. Eric had been hunting off and on all week for shark teeth. Blayton found one within the first few minutes.
The surf was fairly quiet this afternoon, even though we could see more storms to the south of us.
Blayton brought some food with him, which was a good thing. However, not he or his dad had ever heard about the ‘banana thing’. Never bring bananas onto a boat if you want to catch fish! We once had a fishing captain lecture us 10+ minutes before leaving the dock about bananas. Eric already knew about that superstition before-hand and we have never brought any with us. Blayton questioned the wisdom of the superstition since we had caught several fish today. Eric’s response “Just think how many fish we could have caught!”. Eric was sure to tell his dad that after the day was done, Blayton thanked him for bringing him on today’s fishing trip – a nice respectful young man.
Darden Travels 