Today was Family Day....make that new family day! With Chris tying the knot in less than 7 days, his future wife had her family in town from Illinois. Barb, her Dad Larry, her Brother Steve, Steve's wife Angie, her brother-in-law Jim, and her nephew Drew joined myself(Craig), Chris, and our Dad. We finally made it away from the dock at 11am and quickly made our way to the inlet. Once through the inlet we were greeted by very nice and calm ocean. We quickly made it out to the bait hole some 9 miles offshore. Everyone seemed surprised how quickly land disappeared from the horizon. Once at that bait hole, Chris quickly turned on the sounder to start our hunt for some live bait. I quickly got the bait rods ready and went over a short demonstration on how we would be jigging up bait. Drew was 1st up on the rod and made short work of filling our jigs up w/ 6 very nice size Grunts. Steve worked the other rod and started helping in filling up the livewell. Everyone took a turn on the rod and helped put bait in the boat. We weren't long into the bait jigging process when a family of Dolphins decided to show up and say hello. Everyone was in awe as they came close to the boat. Everyone got to watch and see them play for a few minutes. It was definitely a highlight of the trip!
Once we felt confident that we had enough bait, we quickly stowed the gear and ran another 5-7miles farther offshore in search of some rod-bending action. Once again we pulled up to our spot, Chris got the sounder in search mode while I got everyone rigged and ready. After a short demonstration on how we would be drift fishing, Larry and Steve took up residence in the bow of the boat on each side while Jim & Drew took one corner of the stern of the boat and Barb and I took residence in the other corner. We all waited anxiously for Chris to holler out "Let'em Drop!!" Chris got us on our spot, and we heard those magical words "Let'em Drop!" Everyone put them down and quietly waited. Jim & Drew struck first w/ the first keeper Sea Bass in the boat. Larry and Steve each added some undersized ones that we let go to grow a little bigger. Chris kept us on the spot and everyone worked it catching Sea Bass. Barb hooked up to a very nice fish that everyone thought might be something other than a Sea Bass, but turned out to be a very large one after all. In fact, the Bride caught the largest Sea Bass of the day. Chris kept us in the general area and everyone seem to be enjoying the fishing, the warm weather, and everyone's company. When everyone least expected it Larry hooked up something big! It had the rod doubled-over, and he was grunting in pain! He stayed on top of it and winched the fish to the top. Everyone gathered around him to see what he had caught. Shark!!!!!! It was about a 4' long Sand Shark. Took some quick pic's with it then sent it on its way. A few more sharks were landed along w/ the Sea Bass.
We were starting to run short on time and everyone seemed to be getting hungry so we decided to deploy our trolling spread and see if we could scratch up some Kingfish. I quickly set the spread while everyone made their lunch. We weren't halfway into lunch when one of the rods go off. He started slow, but he quickly fired up and the reel started smoking! "Kingfish On", I yelled. I quickly grabbed the rod out of the holder and Barb made her way to the back of the boat. She got the rod and started putting some pressure to it, but his fish wouldn't quit running. I quickly cleared the other lines. Barb kept the pressure on and she started the tug of war with the fish with everyone looking on. All of a sudden the the line went slack, I immediately thought we had lost the fish, but then I saw the dreaded image we always hate to see....the fish skiing across the surface. Once it was next to the boat, everyone got to see what I already knew.....Mr. Barracuda decided he wanted half of our fish! I quickly reset our spread and hoped for more action, but time was against us. We had to pack up and head to the house. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and the weather was great! I think the next time Barb's family makes it down this way, they will be ready to venture out a little farther offshore and tangle with some of the other fish in the ocean!
The wedding went great that Saturday and Chris and Barb are now happily married. Barb got a Smooth C's Fishing shirt and is officially part of the team. However she will have to earn her way up the ranks by washing the boat first! HAHA....just kidding! Welcome to the family Barb!!!!
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