The alarm sounded much earlier than normal this morning, 0400. We were scheduled to meet our fisherWOMEN between 0530-0545. After arriving at The Fish House (our host for this tourney), Carla, Jennifer, Cindy, and Jackie load their gear on board and prepared for today's adventure.
Once everyone of the 80+ anglers had found their boats and were ready Capt. Wes gave us the go ahead and we began making our way into Pensacola Bay for the 5 hour tourney.
Our first stop was the west side of Gulf Breeze, where Mom and I found fish on Friday. Yesterdays east wind, which had prevailed for the previous week, was replaced this morning with a stiff northerly breeze. None of the spots from yesterday would be the same today. Our first drift yielded no results, and our second saw Carla frantically trying to get the fish following her bait to eat it, without success. Knowing the chances were slim for repeating the bites from the day before we decided to move on in search of more "friendly" fish.
Next stop, Quietwater Beach. Although I didn't scout over here earlier in the week this particular flat is a favorite of mine (and a few other people by the looks of it). It didn't take us long to locate the feeding masses of Bluefish and Ladyfish in the area. Every one of my anglers boated a tournament fish on the first drift!! So we continued to drift the flat repeatedly looking for the elusive Speckled Trout. I asked (very nicely) for 1 ... just 1 legal Trout. The next cast and Jackie bows up on a nice fish, one that's fighting different from the rest, and I smile. "There's the Trout.", I tell them. Minutes later the head and shoulders of a 3+ pound trout break the waters surface feet from the boat, the fish shakes it's head and ...you guessed it...out comes the hook. Disappointed, I turn to Jackie to compliment her on a great job, nothing she could have done, just works out that way sometimes.
Another drift or two (clock ticking non-stop) and we decide to change tactics and hunt for our flounder. Off we go to the spot I got a report on yesterday. Pulled up, set the anchor, and tossed out 4 beautiful, live bull minnows.
Once again it wasn't long until the shrieking giggle erupts to the arch of a bent rod. I'm excited, maybe this won't take long and we can move on. Then, up from the bottom comes what is not a Flounder, but a Sea Robin. Super cool looking fish with little hand-like fins it uses to "walk" over the bottom in search of food to scavenge. None of the girls had seen one before so I took a few minutes to show the fish to them before releasing it.The Flounder that were here yesterday just didn't stick around long enough for our tournament so we moved off to try improving our Bluefish and Ladyfish. I made my way to the place Mom and I really got into them on Friday. Upon arriving I noticed something much different today... no birds, no bait, and no fish. It wasn't 15 min and we were off to try something new.
Towards the pass we went. Once in the lee of NAS Pensacola we slowed and I showed the women one of my "go to " places that I can ALMOST always find fish. We baited up and dropped our offering to the depths. Jackie hooks up immediately and lands the smallest shark I've ever put on this boat!
Moments after resetting we boat a small gag grouper, then we have a few chaotic minutes as everyone starts hooking up with Ladyfish. The chaos subsides and we again reset our drift. This time it's Carla's turn, and she brings up our one and only Flounder of the day! I told her that she was my hero and that we only have a few minutes left to fish, so get back to it!
Those final minutes didn't improve our catch. I managed to clear the deck and have everything stowed by time for lines out and we made a beeline for the scales.
We arrived back at The Fish House way before the 1215 deadline and prepared to weigh our catch. After all was said and done, and all of our fish were knocked from the leader board (missing 3rd place Flounder by .05lb, about 3/4 of an ounce) we settled in for the festivities of the after party.The fish weighing done and the trophies handed out I headed for the ramp, then the house to finish my days work and spend some time with my family.
I had a great day hanging out with these FISHIN' CHIX and I guarantee you if there was a prize for the most fun had on board....we would have won hands down!!!
Big thanks to Carla, Jennifer, Cindy, and Jackie for today. I couldn't have hand picked a better crew. And big thanks to the Fishin' Chix for letting me be a continuing part of this, and other of their events (Thanks Claudia)
Until next time,
Capt Josh
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