As of this writing, my company, PCG, has been "social distancing" for the last 46 days. About 2/3 of my staff have been working from home. These are challenging times. I have been going into the office every day (Well, except for the weekends). And it is the weekend!
Time to fish.
AmberJack opened up today (May 1, Saturday) - and the day is absolutely beautiful! 0% chance of rain and mild winds. I can't think of a better reason to head to V Tower to hunt for AmberJack. Cameron has numerous friends who have said that they want to go fishing this weekend. I have known these boys for most of their lives, so I am glad to take them. It has been a while since I have been offshore fishing.
The players this weekend:
- "Tommy Tech"
- Austin (porn stauche) headed up from Gainesville.
- "I always bail on fishing Ronnie"
- "Dirty Dan" (not in this picture because he is still driving over from Jacksonville)
- Hunter "Ladies Man" (Duuuuuuuuulin).
- And of course, Cameron - "Best Son Ever!" :-)
After meeting up with everyone at the boat Friday evening, we walk over to the Shak and have spaghetti and a fire out on the back deck.
Getting late. Time for bed and sleep - except for Tommy, who must sleep under Dan, in the bunk-bed. Dan snores! Poor Tommy.
7:00 a.m.
I'm not sure we could ask for a more perfect morning:
We arrive at V Tower around 8:30 a.m. It is a long way, but we hauled-butt out here. Smooth seas. Interesting that it is called "V Tower" when it has "N26" in huge letters plastered on the side of it.
Old-man body. I hope my 3 readers don't get nauseous.
Ronnie catching his first AmberJack. Free entertainment for the rest of us.
Ronnie: "The reel is broken, the reel is broken!"
Um, Ronnie, pull UP, reel DOWN.
Ronnie: "Hey, the reel is working again!"
Priceless.
Ronnie won though! Great job. We need a new nickname for Ronnie. He didn't bail!
Perhaps, "The Bail Bondsman!"
Fantastic fish Austin. Biggest of the day.
Nice fish Dan. Pretty darn close to Austin's. Hopefully it was worth the trip from Jacksonville.
Come on Hunter. Work those biceps boy.
Also a keeper. Nutcracker. I have no words. He WAS good luck though. So what is the 6 ft Christmas nutcracker doing on the boat? Glad you asked. You see, Terri waited in line for Tallahassee's Goodwill stores to open during the pandemic. When they finally did, she decided that she needed this 6 ft nutcracker for her store - for Christmas in 7 months. But, she needed me to bring my truck to Goodwill cause it wouldn't fit in the Prius. So I picked it up. As I was leaving for the coast that same day, I heard the nutcracker dude say, "Hey Captain, I REALLY want to fish, take me on an adventure." So he came with me to the coast and we bungee-corded him to the stern and took pictures with him throughout the day. When Terri arrived home, she texted me and asked, "Where's my nutcracker?" My simple response, "Offshore Fishing. He is having the time of his life!"
Amber are actually quite silver coming up. Go figure.
Long ride back to the dock boys. Let's head home! Catching AmberJack is tiring.
I think the boys had a great time.
They look even bigger in the bucket.
Group shot!
I think I will frame this one and put it on the Crak Shak "Hall of Fame" wall in the kitchen.
As the Captain, my final job is to watch people clean fish or clean the boat while I drink beer. Cameron has become quite proficient over the years at cleaning fish.
Well, I suppose it is also my job to be the chef for the boys that evening.
Nothing better then fresh AmberJack - and I mean FRESH!
Excellent job Tommy on all the pictures!
I fully intend to make another AmberJack run soon before the species closes May 30, so when I do, I will try to find time to post again with some more pictures.
Stay healthy everyone in this crappy pandemic.
