August is over. Thank God. I have never seen so much rain this summer. I think it has rained every day for the last 90 days. And, I really don't like August in Tally, it is too doggone hot.
Fishing this summer has been tough because of the wind, the rain, and the lightning. We have tried numerous times, only to be thwarted by mother nature.
50% chance of rain today. Go figure. We will try again this Monday morning. (Labor Day)
On the boat with me this morning is Caroline Cook and Jared Gilman.
I have had a few girls on the boat in the past. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having women on the boat. However, I haven't had too many of them that really know their way around a boat.
So allow me to introduce Ms. Cook. The girl knows how to fish. She never hesitated for anchor duty, or live bait duty, or even cleaning the boat duty. (or beer duty). Heck, she even bought my beers - you gotta like girls like that.
We got a late start. I really, really wanted to head to Oar Reef to fish for Kings, but with all the large thunder-boomers around me, I just couldn't risk it. So we stayed in-shore (around 8 miles out) and did our best on the little fish.
I say little fish, but we took a chance and trolled over Rotary Reef. I have never caught anything trolling over this reef (it is only 24 ft deep). There are stretch 30's on the line. I think they bump along the bottom. 30 seconds into trolling, Caroline catches this 26 inch Cobia:
A little while later, Jared catches this shark:
You can see how thrilled he is to catch a fish the same size as Caroline's. NOT! Go back to teaching him Caroline. Being a soldier, Jared's favorite part of the day was when I pulled out the .40 caliber and let him shoot towards Costa Rica. I don't think he hit it.
And yes, that is rain right behind him. We DID get to see two water spouts emerge from the storm building behind him.
Dodging thunderstorms (as always), we fished Ochlocknee Shoal for trout and sea bass (only 5 feet deep on the shoal). Thanks Macon for the advice on which Gulps to use on the shoal. Caroline caught another decent spotted sea trout, and I caught a few small sea bass. Nothing to write home about though. We ran out of GULP shrimp, so we decided to head in to the marina for more bait.
We steal some of Robby's bait out of the cooler and start to leave the dock when I look behind me (towards the shore) on the horizon and see a HUGE thunderstorm behind the marina. I don't like it when I get trapped out there and there is a big storm between me and the marina. So we sit at the bar and wait - tough way to spend the day, I know. An hour and a half later, it finally stops raining and lightning, but by that time, we decide to call it a day. We (okay, they) clean the boat and we head home. The entire drive back to Tallahassee - it rains. No surprise there.
Thanks again for fishing with me guys, you both are welcome back on my boat anytime!
Tight lines
Captain Hook
