Mike's Florida Report... Part 2

Ok so day One ends on high note as Randy and I head back to the condo for some refreshments. The next morning we hit it again (We're late, it's 6:30) and already it's 85 degrees and seems like noon. Oh no I'm starting to sound like the ladies at Hertz....Why's it so hot in Florida... Wah!

The fishing is much slower this morning. Sure we got a dozen or so between the two of us but its nothing like yesterday. We head in early to do some grocery shopping and get ready for Ying and Yang....also know as Pat and Rich to show up.

It's now early afternoon and Rich is amped... literally shaking he's so excited. Just like we were the day before. Pat on the other hand is groggy and shows up with Walmart bags for suitcases and a empty lure case with 5 baits. 3 Puppy Jr's, and two Yozuri Crystal Minnows with broken hooks.

Then he proceeds to kick our ass. Couple cast here - Snook, couple more casts - trout, yawn... pause... cast.. a snook... lather, rinse & repeat..At this point in the story let me apologize to Pat for the lack of photos. I see now why he doesn't take very many. You can't carry a camera around your neck in salt water. I know that now. Mine is in the trash.. With the fast action you also don't want to stop and go unpack the camera to take a photo. So we didn't. I did get a shot of Pat with a small trout. It's all so boring and easy for Pat. It's not a shark so its dull. Been there, done that. BORRRRINGG! He's still pissed at me for this photo..



Meanwhile Rich was throwing a swim bait, Randy a Pointer Minnow & I was throwing some sort of tantrum... as usual.







The Savagear Rattleshad spanked a snook on it's first cast of the morning.




You'll notice that Randy is not in these photos... He took off up the beach runnin and gunnin... We shark fished later that evening with several takers but no hook ups. Got some great photos though..





The next morning Randy had great success up the beach and headed out at a sprinters pace. Unfortunately I had my camera in the back of his pack when i caught my biggest Snook of my life on a topwater. NOt huge by FL standards but it was mid 30's and was the best fight i've had in a long time. Damn you Randy.

We had a pretty successful morning casting the trough and everyone caught fish though Pat was getting pretty bored as the flatlanders from the north whooped it up. Rich even got a bluefish.




Pat taught us that the gray area close to shore was actually baitfish. He's so dang smart! Too bad he can't find the wire cutters, his hooks, the knife, his car keys, the sunscreen....



Later that morning we stopped for a sandwich break and a cold beverage



I proceeded to catch my token catfish/bullhead that I get on every trip on every body of water everywhere.. always..



Quickly I redeemed myself and basked in my snooky glory.





We took a break around noon, had a fish fry at 3pm and headed back out for the evening to snook it up before Shark Time.



Now that's good eating! Don't freak, we didn't eat snook. Those were sea trout!









Did we mention that Snook fight awesome!







Stay tuned for Rich's Shark story.. or as we call it... the calm before the storm.

Mike's Florida Report... Part 1

Well here goes. A month ago I was offered a few days at a friends condo and then things just kinda fell into place for once.... Though it didn't seem so at the start.

Randy Dunlap and I left on Wed. to Ohare for a 7:15 flight. We arrive early to avoid any complications and had a drink or three while we waited. Did I mention that I took Dramamine® since I knew there would be bad weather and a bumpy flight... well combine the two and I was a little sleepy to say the least.

What do you know. The flight is delayed 15 minuted, 20 minutes, 30 minutes..and on I swear every time we looked up it was later. TWO HOURS LATER and a few naps on the airport floor the plane finally arrived. Randy woke me up and I limped over to see what was up. (Don't ask about foot. Let's just say I'm no longer young and I'm still accident prone. You see it all happened.... HEY WAIT I SAID DON'T ASK! MAN, YOU'RE A TRICKY DEVIL)




Well we get on the plane... I'm first as we weren't sitting together and would you believe I'm next to a 2 yo and a crying baby!!!!!!!! YES I would believe it. In fact when we saw them in line, Randy called it.

Oh well, doesn't matter, WE'RE ON OUR WAY BABY!! Then the plane backs out from the gate & the captain announces that the storms are further delaying take-off's for the next hour and half... Cue the screaching halt sound effects...I doze off to sounds of screaming children and my grinding teeth.

On and off for the next 3-4 hours I wake up to crying, in fact now the little girl behind me is crying also (No I"m referring to Randy... well maybe)

Finally our 10:30 pm arrival flight touches down in Tampa at 1:30 am and believe it or not our rental car company closed at midnight. WHAT THE @#$! Yes believe it.. the Kauchak curse shifts into overdrive!

So we walk around for awhile and find a couple agencies open.. Hertz wants to rent us a minivan for $99 a day. While Hertz the agent rumages through big box of keys looking for something else.. two women stand there bitching "It's So Hot In Florida. Nobody said it would be so Hot" I contemplate kicking someone in the #$$ with my broken foot but instead...

Exit stage left from Hertz and into Budget. Not only are they cheerful, pleasant and helpful, they give us the exact same vehicle we had reserved for 40 bucks cheaper.. BUDGET ROCKS! The curse is turning...

We head out to our 1hr drive to the condo..down Rt 75 but wait.... can you BELIEVE that 75 is closed at night for road work....I CAN"T @#$% BELIEVE IT! Out of the corner of my eye I see Randy reaching for the door handle attempting to bail out before something else happens but first he looks at the map and heck, we can take this old hwy 41 straight to Siesta Key. BINGO!

Finally.. foggy headed we arrive at 4:30am. We're just gonna stay up and fish! The sun's coming up soon then we'll......... 4 hours later we awake and head out to the gulf coast. It's 8:30 am, sun is already way up and the temp is 85 degrees. Pat said cast the trough what ever the hell that means and I tie on Savage-Gear Prey89 and Randy an X-Rap. 5 casts later..



A few more casts and..



Randy is jumping out to quite a lead (5 fish) and I don't have squat. Finally I hook up.



Now lets stop here and let me say that though I don't have as many photos as Ansel- Adams-Jamie, I do have 50 or so and it's hard to keep these all in perfect order but I'll do my best. Let's just say that the nightmare of getting here is all but forgotten as Snook explode everywhere for the next hour and a half. Schools as big a 30 or more blast out of the gulf 20 ft and sometimes as close as 6 ft away from us. We have multiple double hook ups and by the end of the morning we have over 35 Snook landed and this is a bonified @$$ whoopin. FINALLY A PLAN COMES TOGETHER! THE KAUCHAK CURSE HAS BEEN DEFEATED!








The Savagear Prey89 rocked on day 1. The Snook Teeth took their toll on the finish and it even picked up a couple sea trout. They hit on the pause almost every time. Great bait!


So we make the ultimate dumb move and leave the bite (JAMIE ALWAYS SAYS DON'T LEAVE THE YADA YADA) so we can go get some grub. Well it was so easy.. how could this end? A frickin cake walk I tell ya.... We grab lunch, take another couple hours for shut eye and head back out around 5pm for the evening bite. It's like going to Wisconsin..

That evening is even more spectacular but in a different way... in the eve' the fish push all the bait right up to the trough and then it's just a frenzy as all different types of fishy predators slash and grab. Sea Trout, Jacks, Bluefish, King Mackeral, Snook and more are on fire. We aren't getting as many snook now but the action is fast and furious.. Notice Randy's famous Crazy Eyed "here take my fish" poses and my sloppy-man-boob-hope this fish covers up my gut poses..






Part 2 Coming soon (The Rich & Pat show)