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Outdoors

Delay doesn't hurt catch of the day

By Ed Walker
Published December 23, 2006

Thursday did not start out the way I had planned. The tide was extremely low, forcing me to take a longer route to the dock to pick up my charter clients for the day.

As I turned the corner far outside the Anclote River channel I cut across an area that was about 2 feet deep. As long as the boat remains skimming along on plane, this depth is not a problem. Suddenly a large boil appeared ahead of the boat and I began to slow down thinking it could be a manatee. Then I saw it - a huge school of 1-pound jack cravelles.

I kept the boat on plane and turned around to look the school over again. As I did, I took my eye off where I was going and ran hard aground on a small high spot on the flat.

After stepping over the side and trying in vain to budge the hull, I knew I was stuck and without assistance I would be here for a while. I watched several boaters pass, but was too embarrassed to flag someone down and admit needed a hand.

I called a few of the other local guides and, when they were done laughing and cracking jokes, they told me they were not on the water so they wouldn't be much help. As I pondered my options Capt. Dave Markett came running along the channel and saw that I was stuck. Of course, he too seized the opportunity to get a few jabs in as he pulled over and caught a tow line I had rigged up. "Man, where is my camera when I need it?" he chucked.

With a rev of his engine my boat slid the 4 feet it needed to clear the hump and I was floating again. I gave him a big thanks and headed up the channel to where my party for the day was wondering about my absence.

Soon Alan Tyson and his party were loaded up and we were on our way, albeit about an hour later than planned. As we passed the spot where I had been aground, I spotted the same school of big jacks. The day's plan was to go grouper fishing but we opted to stop and pitch a few topwater plugs at the huge herd of hungry jacks before heading offshore.

We rigged two ultra-light spinning outfits with surface plugs and lined up in the path of the oncoming school. As soon as the lures hit the water, the fish exploded after them. By keeping the lures moving fast we kept the fish striking until they finally became hooked up. All were in the 10- to 12-pound class, a great challenge on an 8-pound line. Young Marlon Tyson managed to hook two of the big jacks at the same time on the same lure for a few moments. My day was finally beginning to look a little better.

Next a friend called to tell me there was a giant school of scaled sardines just up the coast so we ran there and loaded up the well with outsized sardines with two casts of the net.

The seas were calm and we headed to the first shallow water grouper spot of the day. The fish were hungry; we caught several keepers and many shorts before the bite waned.

The next spot was the highlight of the day. The gags were hammering every bait we cast. Before long we had 13 keepers onboard, enough to make everyone happy, especially me after the way my day had begun.

[Last modified December 23, 2006, 06:41:50]