IFA Venice, La 6/13/2009

Wednesday 6/10

Captain Dusty left Pensacola at 2300 on Tuesday night headed to Ft Meyers, Fl to pick up our new tournament boat. He arrived around 0900 on Wednesday, took the boat for a test run, loaded it back on the trailer, and headed directly back home. He arrived at my house around 1900 and dropped the boat off so I could take it to Georges Marine Electronics for Jerry to install the new Raymarine A70 on Thursday.

Thursday 6/11

I dropped the boat off at George's at 0700 and headed to continue our prep work. Around 1200 Jerry called to say the boat as ready. Now that's service! Once I got the boat home I finished a few minor details onboard and loaded the equipment I had at the house. I waited for the family to get home, we ate dinner, I hung out with the kids, put them to bed, kissed the wife goodbye and left for Captain DP's house. By 2200 we were west bound on I-10, getting pumped up about the new boat and the pressing tournament.

Friday 6/12 (pre-fishing)

We pulled into Venice an hour or so before daylight, loaded the rods, double checked our equipment, launched the boat, and pulled away from the ramp just after sunrise. We made a bee line to our #1 spot to check on our fish.

This particular place is very shallow, forcing us to stop short and use the trolling motor to take us the remaining 1/8 of a mile. Things were looking up, the dirty water was just beginning to give way to cleaner water and we were starting to see signs of life.

That's about the time the brand new, right out of the box, trolling motor started making a light clicking noise. Dusty tried to turn it off so we could find the noise.....the motor kept right on turning. No matter how you moved the speed control the motor continued to turn at a constant speed, this was not good. We unplugged the trolling motor, opened up the top, and all the wiring looked good. We plugged it back in, same thing.

After our head scratching abated Dusty grabbed the tool bag and commenced opening up the foot of the motor. Upon further inspection we found the source of our problems. The ground wire coming into the foot had somehow been grabbed by the motor itself, destroying the wire and shorting out the control board. Trolling motor officially fried!

This put big damper on our plans. It took us almost an hour to push the boat back into deep enough water to run in. From there we headed for the jetties at one of the passes where we had done well before. There were a few guide boats at the jetty when we showed up, and everyone was catching fish.

We joined right in. Our best two fish added up to 13.5 pounds, probably not enough to place in the tournament, but not bad without a trolling motor, and in just a couple of hours of fishing. But, granted the elite competition, the fact was, that without the trolling motor, our chances of even placing in this tournament were virtually nil.

By 1300 it was time to get back, clean up, rig tackle, eat something, attend the captains meeting, and get some sleep.

Saturday 6/13 Game Day

0400 finds the alarm clock VERY angry, screaming at the top of it's lungs. I couldn't listen to it a second more, and got up. By 0430 we were on our way to the ramp for the 0530 checkout.

We had drawn boat number 14, putting us in the first flight (0530 check-out, 1500 check-in). Once away from the dock we headed straight for the jetties. The new Lake & Bay is FAST! We were the first to arrive at the jetty, beating the guide boats by a half an hour or more.

The bite was way off from yesterday. I broke the ice with a 5 pound Speckled Trout; my biggest Louisiana Trout to date. It was cool and all, but it wasn't a Redfish, and we needed Redfish. Dusty caught a nice Redfish, about 5.5 pounds, and the guides began showing up. Yesterday they stayed at the jetty for hours, today they spent maybe 20 min, caught very few fish, and left. Not a good sign for us, not at all.

We had few choices, pretty much this jetty or the other one, so we continued to plug away with what we had. We caught a few Reds, but upgrading was nearly impossible. By 1130 we had covered every rock at the jetty and decided to move up-river, fishing our way back to the dock.

Diligence is supposed to pay off, right? Maybe, just maybe, if we would have had more time to be diligent, it might have paid off, but there's only so much time in a tournament. We had two fish in the livewell, better than some, but we knew that they weren't going to be big enough to make the board.

Back at the scales, standing in line with teams that had run 40 miles up river and fished in 12" of water, our fish looked even smaller. Our grand total of 11.94 pounds was dwarfed by the leaders 17.7 pound aggregate, but we still felt good doing what we did, under the circumstances. That's tournament fishing. Stuff breaks, boats get stuck in the mud, fuel is mis-managed; you can only push through, try to fix what you can.....and fish real hard.



These things are slippery!

It's been a real busy past couple of weeks...

...and my reports have suffered for it, I must admit.

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for fishing with me. If it wasn't for you, I'd have little to report.

And thanks to all of you for continuing to check in on me.

The fishing (and the weather) has been really good lately. The King Mackerel and big Spanish Mackerel are cruising the Gulf just a few miles off the beach. Large Speckled Trout are still hanging out on the grassflats that dominate our inshore waters. Red Snapper season is officially open and bag limits are filling up fast. The Bull Redfish bite has been slow, as usual this time of year, but a few continue to be caught. Ladyfish, Bluefish, and Blue Runners are covering the beach-front and the kids have been having a great time catching them. Now is a great time to get out there and treat yourself with a day on the water or take your family fishing and share a memorable experience.

June 13 will find Captain Dusty and I in Venice, Louisiana for the IFA event held at Venice Marina. Wish us luck! With limited days to pre-fish we'll need all the luck we can muster.

In other news: My son's soccer team finished their final tournament on May 23rd first in their age group. They were 8-0-1 during regular season play; only giving up 4 goals the entire season! And they owned the post season tournament, finishing 3-0. We're real proud of our Rockets! The best U-8 team in the league!

Thanks for stopping by
Capt. Josh

Another piece of art by Breeze Fabricators

Tim Scallan and his crew at Breeze Fabricators have done it again. This is the casting platform/ladder tower I picked up just before the Outcast Inshore Slam. Some of you got a chance to see it at the captains meeting, for those that didn't, here are a few pics.


The view from the new office









If you can think it up, Tim and his guys can build it... give him a call at
(850) 554-6172

17 May 2009

I met Tom and Chris at Shoreline park at 0730 for a few hours of rod bending action. We were headed for the Pass until the big bad black cloud hanging over us started to leak. I pulled up the radar trying to get an idea where the storm was going. It seemed to be heading east down the beach, leaving just enough room to the north to get around.

We got a little wet on the way, mostly at a sprinkle, but we made it to the Pass none the less. The Catfish immediately began biting. We caught a few of them, Tom relaxing at the easy fight the kitty cats put up, then his rod was nearly ripped out of his half hearted hold! That's what we're looking for!

A few minutes into the fight I knew it was a BIG Redfish. I wondered aloud if Tom had ever caught a fish as long as his leg. Then I asked Tom what his inseam measurement was, his first response was nothing more than a funny look, then he answered, 32". He agreed that a fish over 32" would literally be as long as his leg. This is what he brought to the net.


Toms fish measured 37 1/2", the next time he gets asked if he's ever caught a fish as long as his leg, he can proudly profess, "Yes, I certainly have!"

After releasing Tom's trophy the rain once again began to fall and the skies grew darker. We considered calling it a morning. Chris and Tom said they didn't mind a little rain as long as the lightning stayed away, so we pressed on. Try as we did, we couldn't find a matching Redfish for Chris. The Redfish were abandoned in favor of whatever the birds down the beach were diving on. Once we got close Tom and Chris began firing 1/4 oz. bucktail jigs into the fray. The 10# line on their rods started screaming and Ladyfish erupted into the air. We stayed on the Ladyfish ,mixed with Blue Runners, for the remainder of our time. The guys had a blast!

Dolphins were swimming around the boat, birds diving, fish eating everything thrown their way, if you can't have fun with that, you just can't have fun.

Thanks again Tom and Chris, you guys were great, I look forward to doing it again.

Outcast Inshore Slam; May 16 2009

0400 and the alarm clock is screaming at me! I only hit the snooze button twice before dragging myself out of bed. Capt Dusty, Tim and I were meeting at Day Break Marina at 0500 and I had to get moving. By 0545 we were loaded up and ready for the 0600 shotgun start.Once the go call was made we were off and running, 48 boats fanning out from Bayou Chico, what a sight.

The first order of business was a good Speckled Trout. We made the 10 minute run to our Trout spot, set the anchor, and began tossing out Croakers. The bite was astounding! Within 20 minutes we had upgraded our Trout probably five times and within an hour we had two Trout in the box that tipped the scales at over 6 lbs! As for how many Speckled Trout we caught and released, I wish we would have kept count. I feel confident saying we released 5 fish over 5 lbs, 10 over 4 lbs, and a number of 2 and 3 lb fish. Undoubtedly the best bite of big Speckled Trout that I have ever been blessed to witness and am honored to participate in.

Another tournament boat was fishing within 100 yards of us; when they found out the quality of fish we'd caught they couldn't believe we had not moved on in search of a Redfish or Flounder. We were going to sit right there until the bite was over, not willing to give up that spot until it ended. Big Trout had been caught with fair regularity lately, fish up to 8.5 lbs, that was the wildcard in this situation. We weren't sure that 6 lbs would be enough. They did, however, have a valid point. The Trout alone was not going to win the tournament no matter how big it was; we needed two other fish to go with it. The bite had begun to slow, it was almost time to leave. Tim kept fishing for Trout as Dusty and I got everything ready for Redfish. Once our prep work was complete we let most of our Croakers go on the Trout hole, consider it an offering of thanks to the fish, then pointed the bow at the Redfish hole and punched the throttle.

Ten minutes later we arrive at our Redfish spot. On my second cast I hook up with a brute. This fish put up an enormous fight, putting that Shimano combo through it's paces. Dusty's first look at the fish produces my favorite of his phrases. It goes something like, "Damn! He's over, definitely over, probably 27 1/2, 28. Man! If he makes, he's a winner." Upon completion of his phrase he nets the fish, pulls it in the boat, lays the net down, and goes back to fishing, leaving me to tend to my fish.

I got the hook out and put my fish on the measuring stick, 27 on the nose, I was shocked! This fish looked big, to big to fit in the slot. I flipped him over, measured him again, and called to Dusty. He peeked over the leaning post at my huge smile and said, "You're kidding." Nope, not kidding. On the hand scale he weighed 8lbs 2oz. WOW! At that moment we erupted with excitement! This was surreal. We immediately headed to our Flounder spot.

Five minutes later we arrive. Dusty was posted on the bow with his favorite Shimano Sustain and a Gulp! 4" Shrimp on a 1/4 oz jighead. His only job was to fish, our job was to keep him fishing. His first two casts went untouched, his third cast got eaten by a 16" Flounder. We couldn't believe it! We had a solid weight and the reports we were getting told of only one really big Trout. We felt good but still wanted to improve our Flounder so we kept right on fishing. Less than an hour later I put the net under another of Dusty's fish, one that measured 21" and weighed a little over 3.5 lbs. We unanimously agreed to leave our spot and head for another of the Flounder holes on our list. It's not worth letting someone find our Flounder spot to try to upgrade a fish like that.

Five minutes later we eased into our next stop. We caught 3 more 2+lb fish in 15 minutes or so. At one point we all looked at each other and decided it might be best to regain our composure. We pulled away and took a breather. Again all the fish were measured and weighed. Our calculations came out to 17.5 lbs, WHAT?!?!?! We weighed them all again. Then the scale was questioned. I pulled out 15 oz of leads and hung it from the scale, it read 15 oz. The scale was right on. We really had 17.5 lbs. That's a new tournament record! It was 0845. Unbelievable!

What to do now? No matter what, we wanted to get closer to the dock, just in case we had problems. We began idling toward Day Break Marina. Capt. Corey Maxwell saw us and called. His brother, Ryan, asked what we were doing, "It's 9 o'clock, what ya'll already won the tournament and just messing around?". He didn't believe us when we told him.

We decided to head for a place in north Pensacola Bay that historically holds Trout, Flounder, and Redfish but had not been productive for us during pre-fishing. That held true, we never caught another Flounder or Redfish the rest of the day. We did, however, stumble onto a hot bite of big Speckled Trout a little after noon. We caught around 2 dozen more Trout before we ran out of bait. We released 6 fish over 5 lbs, 8-10 in the 4 lb range, the rest of the Trout were in the 2-4 lb range, our smallest fish was 19 1/2". The only thing that kept this from being the best bite of Big Trout I have ever seen was the bite we were on first thing in the morning! What a day!!!

Our bait supply ran out around 1330. We pointed the bow towards the scales and started idling again. We couldn't stop smiling and reminiscing about the Trout bite we had just left 10 minutes ago. Again we weighed and measured all of our big fish, put our two big Trout on the balance beam, and rechecked our math. Then we began honestly spreading the word.

At 1440 we were tied up at Day Break Marina, waiting for the scales to open at 1500. Once the tournament guys were ready we brought our fish out. The Redfish got weighed first, 7.9 lbs. The Trout came next, 6.15 lbs, bringing our tally to 14.05. Then the Flounder, 3.65. For a grand total and new tournament record of 17.7 lbs. WOW! Now to wait for the next three hours for the scales to close.

We took the opportunity to take pictures with our fish and all of our Shimano equipment, then pulled the boat, flushed the motor and cleaned everything up. Other teams began showing up to weigh in and reports kept coming from the rest of the field. One of those reports was that J.R.'s team had added a nice Redfish to his big Speckled Trout, but he still needed a Flounder to complete the slam. There was time left for him to connect with that much needed Flounder and reports of his progress stopped coming in. As the sun was drifting low on the horizon J.R.'s boat rounded the corner and the tension built. They tied up to the dock, Trout hanging out of the cooler, and told us that no matter what they tried they couldn't come up with the Flounder.

It was official, we had won! A full 4 lbs separating us from the second place team. Our final tally was 1st Place Aggregate, 1st Place Redfish, 1st Place Flounder, and 2 nd Place Speckled Trout, an awesome finish! The tournament committee convened to figure out all of the pay-outs before announcing the winning totals. When they were done awards were handed out and prize moneys were announced. We pocketed $15,375.50 in cash and a brand new 2009 Blazer Bay 1960 rigged with a 115 Yamaha outboard, valued at $27,495, bringing our grand total to just under $43,000. What a day! Unbelievable!


A big thanks to my teammates, you guys kick major a**! Thanks to our sponsors: Georges Marine Electronics, Breeze Fabricators, Johnson Castnets, and JustFishTournaments.com; for helping us chase our dreams. Thanks to Outcast Hunting and Fishing, Day Break Marina, and Blazer Boats for putting on a great event. And of course to you, the readers, for taking the time to read this really long post.

Last years tournament report can be seen here Outcast Inshore Slam 2008

Mothers Day 2009

Sunday marked our annual Mothers Day fishing trip. My parents, my wife, and I met up this morning for a few quality hours of fishing. We started today in the same spot our slot sized Redfish came from yesterday. Boy what a difference a day makes! Yesterday it was a fish every cast, today we couldn't buy a bite. After an hour or so of trying we decided to move on to the Pass in search of Bull Reds. With the family on board the fish didn't stand a chance. Everyone on board boated a Redfish, the largest one pushing 40".

We caught the Redfish, a Sheepshead and a Soapfish before heading into the Gulf for Pompano. The beach was loaded with Cow-nose Rays, we must have seen 100 or more, but the Pompano were proving elusive. We found school after school of Ladyfish chasing baits just inside the second sandbar and we had a field day with them. In the midst of all this a school of Jack Crevalle, 200+ fish, came roaring by. A quick flip into them with a jig produced an immediate hook up. We fought the Jack all he way to the boat before another burst of speed parted our line. The morning was wearing on and our bellies began rumbling. We scheduled a Mothers Day lunch at the Oar House and headed there to meet my sister and my kids.


My parents decided to go for a round of golf after lunch, so my wife and kids rode the boat back to the ramp. As soon as my son was inboard he opened the livewell, found the 4 shrimp remaining, and asked if we could stop and use them on the way home. How could I refuse such a request?

A quick stop in the Pass produced fish for both Cameron and I (his fish was twice the size of mine). We got our picture made, released our fish and continued on to the house for naps and relaxation.


Thanks to my Mom, just for being my Mom, and thanks to my wife for bearing me children and putting up with all of my crap. I love you guys. It was awesome to spend the day fishing together.

Fishin' Chix Orange Beach 2009

Kelly, Katie, Frankie, and Erin met me this morning at 0600. We were sitting on our grass flat when the official tournament start time of 0630 rolled around. The morning started off slow for us. The Trout didn't want to cooperate and after about an hour of diligent effort we decided to move on in search of a Redfish.

It didn't take us long to find success, even if all of our fish were over the slot limit. Frankie and Erin were even able to complete a double; making for a real Mother/Daughter moment.


Another move produced slot sized Redfish for everyone. All together we caught around a dozen Redfish. Once they were caught we moved on in search of Ladyfish, Bluefish, and Spanish Mackerel. We trolled the deep edges of the grass flats for a mile or more with just one bite from a nice Speckled Trout. He went into the box along side our Redfish. The trolling continued for the remainder of our allotted time (all anglers had to be in line at Lulu's by 1400) without success.

The fishing was slow for us today, but the company could not have been better. My ladies went to the scales with three Redfish and a Trout. None of our fish were big enough to stay on the leader board, but if the winners were based on total amount of fun had during the fishing day we would have had a great shot at winning.

Thanks again Kelly, Katie, Frankie and Erin for another great Fishin' Chix event, I had a blast! See you guys in Destin!

The Panama Trip

Day 1: Tuesday April 28

Randy and I pulled away from his house at 0100 en route to Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 0600 bound for Houston, Tx to connect with our flight south to Panama at 0900. Bad weather in Houston held us up in New Orleans, we arrived five minutes after our connection was scheduled to depart. Lucky for us the Panama flight was behind by literally five minutes. We ran off of one plane, out the gate, around to the next gate, into the second plane, sat down, buckled our belts and immediately began taxiing down the runway. A real close call, there are only two flights to Panama per day, one at 0900 and the next one at 2100, thank god we made it!

Touchdown in Panama was around 1300. As we're walking off the plane Randy asks me how we're supposed to find our host, Mitch Jones. I tell Randy that I have no idea, he said he'd be there when we got there and that's all I had to go on. We walk through the door at the terminal and I turn to Randy and ask if he thinks it's going to be a problem finding Mitch. As soon as he looks up he says "I guess not"; staring at the only 6'2" white guy with long blond hair that we saw the whole time we were there. Randy and I break out into laughter; Mitch joins right in.

Within minutes it's like hanging out with someone we've known our whole lives. Mitch is a very easy going guy, he smiles constantly, has a great sense of humor and is fun to fish with. He'd fit right in, here in Pensacola. Randy and I both knew we had found the perfect guy to take us fishing.


Mitch took us to the big marina in Panama City to let us check everything out and to wait for our chef, Jenny. We ended up staying at the marina bar for dinner and drinks then heading to the lodge. The Panama Pursuit Lodge sits on a point jutting out into Lake Gatun at Nuevo Providencia, a small town an hour north of Panama City and 20 miles south of Colon. The place is gorgeous! The house is 3000+ sq.ft. 3 bed/ 3 bath with a 20ft vaulted ceiling in the great room, nice bathrooms w/ whirlpool tubs, tile throughout, leather sofa, fully stocked bar, big screen TV (we never turned it on), and a great front porch to sit on (more our speed).



Day 2: Wednesday April 29

I woke to the smell of omelets and sausage, the fisherman's alarm clock. Served with a bowl of fresh mangoes and hot coffee it was exactly what we needed for the long day ahead. Once our bellies are full we're in the boat and underway. Lake Gatun is the most stump filled waterway I have ever been on. Everywhere you look there's a stump; if you don't see a stump, there's probably one there; if you're sure there are no stumps, hold on...one will come out of nowhere and smack the bottom of the boat.

I started the day throwing a top water chug bug, the bait Mitch says catches most of his big fish. He did not tell me that often the top water bait would turn the Peacocks on and the next thing they saw they'd eat. Randy figured it out soon enough though. We moved a few times, working rocky points, deep water tree stands, and moss flats, and every time we moved it was the same scenario. I cast and cast and Randy catches and catches.

Prime bait or not, today was not my day, Randy showed me up pretty bad. From the back of the boat he boated somewhere around 50 fish, he hooked a Tarpon in the 100+lb class on 20# tackle, caught fish back to back to back, and generally made me look like a complete novice. I did manage to catch 4 fish during the course of the day. And really, if we HAD to survive, 4 fish would be plenty to feed us...right?!? I shook my head and vowed revenge on the fish before the week was out, and secretly hoped I'd get a chance to show Randy up before we had to go home.

Upon returning to the lodge we found Chef Jenny plating up dinner. Etouffee was on the menu and it was delicious! Jenny's particular recipe was an action packed variety of seafoods. Peacock Bass, shrimp, lobster, and squid simmered in a sauce made with the freshest organically grown vegetables. Served with coconut rice and the ever present bowl of fresh sliced mangoes, followed by fresh banana nut bread for dessert. After dinner we relaxed on the porch sharing stories, sipping whiskey, and smoking cigars; no phone service, no email, nothing but the evening breeze and the sounds of the rain forest, heavenly.

Day 3: Thursday April 30

Today dawned early, but still to the smell of eggs and sausage. Game on! Randy and I weren't messing around today. Neither were the fish.

My day started with a bang, literally. The Snook hit the red and white Rapala like a ton of bricks! Ten minutes later I caught another one. Sweet! We also caught a few Peacocks before the wind picked up and we decided to move to some protected coves. In the slick calm water, sheltered from the wind by the jungle, we found loads of feisty fish, readily willing to take a bait. This was similar to conditions that Randy and I are familiar with, and we excelled. Fish of every variety came into the boat by every means we had to catch them; spinning tackle, baitcasters, and fly rods, all of our tackle got a work out today!


Peacock Bass on the left, Jaguar Capote on the right.
Oscar
Our tally for the day was an even 100 fish. This included Peacocks, Snook, Jaguar Capote, Oscars, Viejas (local Bluegill), and Dogfish. What a day! We returned to the lodge just as dark was coming on, as we walked inside Chef Jenny told us to get cleaned up, dinner would be served as soon as we were ready.

Jenny had prepared fillet Mignon with mushroom gravy, something that looked like mashed potatoes (it was a local root vegetable that was even better than regular potatoes), and added a fruit arrangement as our centerpiece. All this followed be a nice cool fresh mango and grape jello made for a grand meal. Again the porch was the focal point of our evening; a scene of fishing tales and roaring laughter.

Day 4: Friday May 1

After breakfast we were off again. Randy was bent on seeing some monkeys. We had heard plenty of them, seemingly right on top of us, but had yet to actually lay an eye on one. Mitch assured us that where we were going today, was absolutely loaded with monkeys, surely we'd see some. We fished for a few hours, well Randy fished...I caught. Today was to be my day, almost the exact opposite of Wednesday. By the end of the day I was some where around 45 fish for the day and Randy had...well...much fewer, I'll leave it there.;)

We saw monkeys around mid morning, high up in the tallest tree around. So high up they looked like ants, but we saw them! I was glad to have a lens on my camera that could zoom in far enough to get a recognizable picture.


Around noon we headed back to the lodge for lunch and siesta time. Chef Jenny had Snook Cor Don Bleu waiting for us. It was sooo good, so good I can't think of words that would do that meal justice. Afterwards we lazed around for a couple of hours; just enjoying the scenery, relaxing.

We fished the afternoon away searching for a big fish. I guess the stars were misaligned for us; we couldn't find a fish better than 3.5 lbs. Not a bad fish, especially given how hard they pull! But boy did we want see how hard a 5+lb fish could pull. Dinner tonight consisted of chicken breasts and shrimp with fresh avocado salad and fruit, finished with chocolate pudding cake. I cannot express enough how good the food was.

Mitch really wanted us to catch a big Peacock and offered us a few more hours of fishing time before we flew out the following day. We jumped at the opportunity and went to bed a little earlier than we had the past few nights. Saturday was going to be a long day.

Day 5: Saturday May 2

Our final morning was beautiful. The Peacocks didn't cooperate like we wanted but the other local fauna was everywhere. We saw monkeys, a Three Towed Sloth, Toucans, Parrots, these gorgeous golden winged birds, all kinds of stuff that I had no idea what it was, but it was cool!

Three Toed Sloth

Our flight out was scheduled for 1400, Mitch suggested we leave the lodge no later than 1030 to make sure we had enough time to go through the checkpoints.

He was right! I got hung up by airport security because of my pliers, they were 1/4" too long for my particular security agent. It seemed to me to be the only lane in which people were having problems, just my luck. I was the very last one on the plane, but I didn't lose my pliers.

In Houston it was Randy's turn for a run in with the dreaded U.S. Customs. The stuff he had purchased in Panama had been put into my bag when I had to check it to keep my pliers. The Customs Agent gave Randy fits for about 30 minutes before letting him leave, nothing but wasted time. We stepped over to grab a cup of coffee, turned to go to our gate and were told we couldn't pass with our drinks. We could see another coffee shop on the other side of the security guard. When we asked, we were told that we could buy another cup of coffee on the other side of the checkpoint, but we could not proceed with the ones still steaming from the shop 20 feet away!

Touchdown in New Orleans was at 2230, only a three hour ride to the house...yay! I dropped Randy off a little after 0200 on Sunday morning and was home myself 20 minutes later. Ten minutes later I was passed out in the bed, exhausted.

What a trip! Randy and I had a fantastic time. For a full gallery of pictures click here. If you'd like to go down, visit with Mitch and check out the great fishing Lake Gatun has to offer, give him a call at (011) 507 6688-5587, or an E-Mail at panamapursuit@hotmail.com. Be patient, although Panama isn't in the dark ages, communication is a little slower there than here in the States, but the solitude is one of the best parts of the trip.

14 Apr 2009

Tennis champion Nick Taylor called me on Monday. He had managed to make time in his tournament schedule for a fishing trip this afternoon. I had the pleasure of fishing with Nick last year, what an inspiring guy. For those of you who haven't heard of him, check out the report for our last trip, and be sure to watch the linked video here.

We immediately headed for the Pass and anchored up along the jetties. Nick struck first, boating a nice Sheepshead. A few casts later his reel starts screaming! This had to be the Redfish Nick was after. Once he initial run was over Nick began to gain line then the fish turned it around on him and dove under the boat. This move forced us to get off of the anchor and drift down-current with the fish steadily headed for the Gulf.

The fight lasted about 20 minutes, Nick working for every inch of line he could get, only to have it torn off the spool on yet another run. It was a close race, but the fish gave up before Nick did. Nicks prized Redfish was 28 3/4" long, his biggest fish to date! Awesome job Nick, congratulations.





While all this was happening, Bill, Nick's dad, hooks up with a nice fish. As it neared the surface in the off colored water my first thought was Flounder. Bill got it closer and closer and my "Flounder" mysteriously transformed into a Stingray, the oddball catch of the afternoon.



We relocated, got settled and hooked four Redfish, back to back. And back to back the all came unhooked. Lousy luck. The fifth fish was evidently less lucky than we were and Bill was on with another Bull Redfish. We got the fish boat-side just as the light was falling. As the fish swam away we headed back to the ramp. Nick had an even bigger day ahead of himself on Wednesday at the tournament.

Thanks again Nick and Bill, it was a pleasure fishing with you guys again. I hope next years schedule works out as well!

11 Apr 2009

Dennis, Julia, Sean, and Daniel were ready to go the moment I got to Shoreline Park this morning. We immediately headed for the Pass with hopes of finding a good spot. There were very few boats around when we arrived and the anchor set right on the first drop. Sweet! Deploy the Shrimp...and wait. Although it felt like forever before someones drag started screaming, not more than 5 minutes had passed.


I cannot explain the feeling when the first fish of the day is in the net, it's smiles and high fives all around, camera shutters are clicking...success!!!

After that, it was all fun and games, and boy did we have fun. The fish bit steadily all morning and we caught a variety of species. Redfish, Black Drum, Sheepsheads, a Porcupine Puffer, and a Pigfish all found themselves flopping around on deck at some time during the morning.


The time between bites was spent laughing, joking, and generally "carrying on", as my Grandmother would say. It was a riot, I felt like I'd been fishing with these guys for years. I commend Dennis and his wife for doing a great job with their kids. We'll get you out next time, Mrs C.


All together we caught 7 Sheepsheads, 3 Black Drum, 2 Redfish, 1 Pigfish, 1 Porcupine Puffer, some lost fishing line, and Sean repeatedly attempted, to no avail, to catch the rock on the bottom of the pass. I give him full credit for his effort.


Thank you guys again for fishing with me today. It was a fantastic morning! I can't wait to do it again!

Thanks very much to the readers for stopping by...but really, get away from the computer and wet a line, if you have a kid, take them along, have a good time, laugh, catch a fish, then call and give me a report!

06 Apr 2009

Met up with Dean, Matthew, and Lauren this morning at 0730. Although the wind was howling at 20+ knots, our particular fishing spot was protected from the strongest of the winds. Upon arrival I deployed the anchor and the catching began. On our very first cast Matthew bowed up with a nice Redfish. Game on!


Matthews Red was just a little over-sized;

so he took the honor of releasing his fish.
Lauren followed him up with a nice Black Drum of her own.(I'd have a pic, but I had to hold her fish for her picture...she was not touching it) Then the Sheepsheads started. The bite was nice and steady all morning and we took advantage of it.


We boated 11 Sheepsheads, 1 Redfish, 1 Mangrove Snapper, 1 Bluefish and 1 Black Drum. An excellent morning, despite the seemingly poor conditions.

Thanks again Dean, Lauren, and Matthew for a great, if chilly, morning. I hope we can do it again sometime.

04 Apr 2009

My friend Howard, and a few of his friends, Joe, James, and Wayne, joined me for a morning of trying to catch dinner. These guys were fired up to, as Wayne says, "dry off" some Sheepsheads, and give them a formal introduction to the frying pan! We went directly to the jetty, anchored just off the rocks, and began pitching baits. We were soon rewarded with bent rods.


James added this nice Black Drum to the well (top);
Joe answered with one of his own

James, not to be outdone, closes the book with this perfect slot sized Redfish. Nice job James! You think he's proud of that one?


Howard was too busy fishing to have a picture taken, nothing was about to slow him down! By the time I would get a fish off of his line, he'd already have it baited and ready to go back down. He and Wayne both added fish to the box, bringing the cooler count to 6 Sheepsheads, 5 Black Drum, 2 Redfish, and 2 Mangrove Snapper...excellent morning!


Thanks again Howard, Joe, James, and Wayne, I can't wait to do it again.

And, as always, thanks to the readers for their time.

03 April 2009

I picked up Pat, Matt, and Dan at their condo this morning at 0700. The bay water has been inundated with freshwater over the past week due the the large amount of rain; turning it a dark coffee color brown. The rain water, coupled with nearly a week of South winds at 20+ knots, had the bay system filled with an extra foot of water. It sure made the Sheepsheads tough to catch. Our first attempts went unrewarded, hooks came back empty, or pulled free from the fish we did fool.

There is somewhat of an art to hooking Sheepsheads, they're able to pilfer bait in seconds, often before you even have a chance to feel them. Using a live shrimp, you may get tap,tap,tap,...a fourth tap if you're lucky (or the shrimp is really big). But, if you miss that window, your fishing rod has gone from "tool" to "accessory".

We "accessorized" quite a bit to start, some guys even seemed to prefer that; instead of using the rod for our intended purpose...didn't they Dan? ;P

Once we anchored over some shallow water rubble, rubble that had an appetite for hooks, we began catching a few fish; and doing battle with lots of rocks! A later move proved even more productive (with fewer snags), bringing our tally to 7 nice Sheepies in the 3-4 pound range, along with a few juvenile Gag Grouper and small Mangrove Snapper and a lone Catfish (yes, I'll admit to catching it), making for a nice mornings catch. The guys wanted to keep a few for lunch so 3 fish went into the live well, en route to the plate.

Thanks again Matt, Dan, and "The Barracuda Man" Pat, I had a great time, hope to see you again in the summer!

Capt Josh

Thanks for stopping by!

22 Mar 2009

Matthew, Dave, Clannan, and Ryan met me at Galvez Landing this morning at 0700. The Sheepshead bite has been getting better every day and these boys wanted their shot.

Today's conditions could have been better, winds east at 10-15 knots, incoming tide, sea state: choppy to rough. But we can't let a little thing like adverse conditions get in our way. With the tide opposing the current, our weights had to be greatly increased to reach the bottom. Three ounces of lead was needed, instead of the normal half to one ounce leads. I kept the boat stern to the wind and stayed in reverse most of the morning to hold position over our aggressive quarry. The catching was slow to start, it took us a while to get everything right, but once we figured it out the catching was non-stop.




In 2 1/2 hours we went through 6 dozen live baits (shrimp and crabs) resulting in boating 18-20 nice Sheepsheads in the 4-8lb range and two 6-8lb Black Drum.



Great morning guys!!! I can't wait to do it again.

21 Mar 2009

Captain Dusty called me around 0730, his charter for the day had come down with the flu and weren't able to go. My day was open as well, so we decided to go look for some Redfish for a couple of hours. The 15 knot East wind left us few options as to where we could fish, but we found a leeward beach and set up shop. We were trying out a new bait this morning, with poor results. Our first 6 fish grabbed our bait, and immediately spit it out! After that I couldn't take it anymore and switched over to a 3" Gulp! Shrimp in New Penny color. Dusty followed my lead and the next three attempts ended successfully, one small Red and two 4.5 lb fish!



After adding two Flounder to our daily catch, we packed it in and headed for home. We both have charters tomorrow we need to get ready for.

Another excellent time with Capt. Dusty.

Thanks for stopping by!

07 March 2009

Terry, Roger and I left out of Navy Point at 0700. This was Roger's first time seeing the salt water and he was all grins from the moment we left the dock. He pointed excitedly at the pod of dolphin coming up for air near the boat with that look of wonder and amazement. I can't get enough of seeing that look on people's faces. The weather could not have been better; sun shining, 72 degrees, winds SE@5-10, nice.

Sheepheads were today's preferred target, and we found them! The first stop yielded a good mark of fish on the bottom machine but few bites. We landed an undersized Scamp and this juvenile Red Snapper.


Our second stop was LOADED with fish. The rapidly depleting number of shrimp in the well was a sure sign they were biting. The empty hooks coming back to the boat was a sure sign that Terry and Roger needed more practice! We still had plenty of baits in the tank when Roger found the touch and boated his first Sheepshead.


Hooks struck home in a dozen Sheepies. We collectively fed another 3 dozen without incident. Our remaining time we spent searching for a big fish, deep dropping in the pass. Roger hooked into a random invincible sea monster that took him into a rock and set up camp. As to what he had, I don't know, but my prime suspect is the 15+ lb Gag Grouper caught and released in the area recently.

The wind was picking up as we made our way back to the ramp, perfect timing.(By 1300 the SSE wind had grown to a steady 20mph) Thanks again for a great day guys. I hope to see you back next time you're in town.

I'm Here, I'm Here

So, it's been quite some time since I've sat down to do this. This has been one long, cold winter. A winter best spent with the most important people... the family; and mine has kept me busy.

My son finally had his reconstructive ear surgery in early December. He had a hole in his eardrum resulting from numerous inner ear infections when he was a toddler. Our surgeon, Dr. Todd, put a skin graft over the hole during the 4 hour long ordeal. I'm thrilled to report that the surgery was succesful and my son is doing really well. The poor guy hasn't been allowed to get in a swimming pool, play in the sprinklers, or even take a bath longer than a few minutes. Any water intrusion in that ear would postpone the surgery... again. Thankfully, now this summer is shaping up to be a normal one! Swimming lessons, sprinklers, hosing him down while we wash mom's car...it's gonna be awesome!!!


If you're having ear, nose, or throat problems call Dr. Donald Todd at Sacred Heart Hospital. The guy is the best around and really takes his time with each patient- rare in today's world!

Then, on January 12, 2009 my niece, Aubrey Margaret Seeman, was born. Aubrey was diagnosed with Trisomy-18, also known as Edwards Syndrome, during my sister's second trimester. Unlike Down syndrome, which also is caused by a chromosomal defect, the developmental issues caused by Trisomy 18 are associated with medical complications that are more potentially life-threatening in the early months and years of life. 50% of babies who are carried to term will be stillborn. 1 of 3000 pregnancies are affected.



We felt blessed to have Aubrey with us for 2 days. She returned to her heavenly home on January 14. We got to sing Happy Birthday to her twice. Here is a link to Aubrey's Legacy page at the Trisomy-18 Foundation.
If you've never heard of Edwards (I hadn't until my sister told me) good for you. If you have first hand experience, I'm sorry. If you'd like more info here's a link to the Trisomy-18 Foundation.

My wife's photography business is doing well and I've been doing all I can to support her. Check out her newest work at www.gypsyisle.com/blog. Not only does spring start the fishing season, it's also wedding season, so we're both starting to get busy.

In fishing related news, I was recently invited on a Peacock Bass fishing trip to Panama (the country- not the city!)... That'll burn up a week in early April... I'm so excited! Three days of non-stop fishing with Randy, one of my high school friends, and a beautiful house right on Lake Gatun... SWEET!!! This has been a dream of mine for a long time. And my wonderful wife is even going to let me borrow some top-notch gear, so hopefully I'll bring back some award-wining pictures (aka eye-candy) to throw up on my blog.

The local Tournament season kicks off March 21 with the Grassflats Classic in Destin and the Outcast Inshore Slam and IFA events to follow. The weather's warming up, gas prices are down, time to get up from in front of your computer and GO FISH!!!

Capt. Josh