This is a short blog.
1. Spring Break is upon us.
2. Teenagers are bored.
3. The weather is nice.
4. Capt'n Hook is wicked cool to hang out with.
Add those together and they equal another day "Fishing the Forgotten Coast" on the Century.
Admittedly, offshore fishing is difficult when you have a crew of experienced fishermen. (Well, it is for me at least). It is even more difficult when you have a group of teenagers, some of which, have never been on a boat. But today's adventure is just as much about having fun as it is fishing.
My goal is to get them (and Terri) to K Tower which is almost exactly 20 miles offshore. So off we go on a three-hour tour.
Low tide again. Very, very low tide. And to make matters worse, all of my electronics keep re-booting every 15 seconds. So, I don't have GPS, I don't have radar, and I don't have a fish-finder. If I make it 20 miles offshore, I will need to navigate by manual charts. I tell Terri this. She asks, "How much do you remember about manual navigation from Sea School?"
"Um, uh, lots. Yeah, lots! No worries, I can get us all back safely without electronics and GPS. I have an offshore chart in my backpack. I still have my parallel navigation ruler:"
She doesn't look convinced - a little worried even. Fortunately, halfway to K Tower my electronics stop re-booting themselves and stay on consistently (Ground wire, always a ground wire). One less thing to worry about, I suppose. I could have done it, though!
We arrive.
Great picture of the teenagers. Well, especially of Danielle on the far right.. Everyone else's hair is wind-blown and tossed, her hair and makeup is well - perfect. And we are 20 miles offshore! Did she just manifest on the boat or something? Delaney, my daughter, is in the middle. Hair not perfect, but beautiful nonetheless. :-). Yes, Lexi, you are beautiful also! Okay, guys too.
We fish the tower for most of the day, and we try everything from knife jigs to squid, to LYs, but there is simply nothing biting out here today. I give the kids credit, everyone fished with enthusiasm.
Although a little overwhelming because I have a bad habit of throwing too much information at them, too fast, the boys had a good time crewing. Here is Wesley trolling:
People ask me all the time why I'm not a charter Captain and it is for this reason: I would feel extremely guilty about taking people's money and not catching anything. Well, I take that back, Delaney caught this HUGE rock bass: :-)
Like I said though, today is more about the adventure, and not about the fishing. Although a little chilly, it was a beautiful day. We all had a nice lunch on the bow, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
NOT catching fish is also, apparently, very tiring:
After eating some smores over a bonfire that night on the back deck of the Shak, we finished out the weekend by going to the Panacea Gulf Specimen Marine Lab. They have made a LOT of improvements recently. It really is a "gem" of a place, albeit a little hidden down in Panacea. Your kids can touch all kinds of sea creatures. If you haven't been, I strongly encourage you to do so with, or without, your children.
Look how thrilled the teenagers are to have spent a day with Capt'n Hook!
Thanks for reading everyone (All three of you). Spring and summer are coming, so I will be back soon with, hopefully, more fishing pictures.
Oh yeah, and now, in addition to this blog, Capt'n Hook now has a FaceBook Site, a YouTube Channel, and a new Instagram account. I know, you are thinking, it's about time dude. It is also our intent to get a videographer back on-board the boat this summer so we can start posting action videos again. You can check out the other social media sites by clicking on the icons in the footer of the Capt'n Hook website:
In fact, if you have been fishing with me the last couple of years, Google "Fishing Florida's Forgotten Coast", then click "Images". Depending upon how cool your photo is, you may quickly find yourself on the 1st page! Capt'n Hook pictures are "bubbling up" quickly in the Google search rankings! Go ahead, try it!
See everyone soon.
Captain Marc Paul
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