Happy Birthday, Frank!

It was a quiet day, but that's how the birthday-boy wanted it.

Ray & Bonnie came up from Del Ray to join us for dinner at Ian's Tropical Grill in Stuart.

And they brought the most delicious wines from Jones Family Vineyard (very appropriate) and Far Niente (their favorite wine).

We all enjoyed delicious meals and a yummy chocolate birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Frank!

Catch of the day...

After a long hiatus from fishing, due to the high winds, we were finally able to get back out today. We were successful in getting a few live bait fish and headed offshore.

Shortly after getting the lines out, we had something that approached our teaser, knocked down our flat line and batted at the outrigger. But nothing bit.

After a while of more trolling, we headed back out to a spot where there were some scattered weeds. Frank spotted something floating, something that all fishermen want to see out in the middle of the ocean! It was a pallet! We circled a few times and then continued through the 'garden' of weeds. All of a sudden, the flatline started to sing and there was a big flash of blue! A huge dolphin jumped out of the water! We could see another dolphin swimming nearby so Frank put out one of our live baits. Bingo! He was hooked. Within seconds of this happening, our outrigger was hit and the familiar flash of green-blue was coming out of the water! A triple hook-up! (Only two of us on the boat.) We jockied rods, teasers, and fish. Keeping the boat in check and making sure the fish didn't get tangled up or swim under the boat. The second fish, ended up scurrying away with our live bait. We got the third fish in the boat, but it took nearly half an hour to get the first fish in the boat!

Needless to say, it was all very exciting! We've really streamlined our operation and are getting pretty good with the multiple hook-ups.

It sure was nice bringing these two big fish home. :)

Heading to the fish cleaning station.

Oh yeah!

Pre-surgery.

Easter on the East Coast

This year's Easter Brunch with the Broomes, Yoders and Brents (affectionately named the Bro-Yod-Ents) was at the Dolphin Bar & Shrimp House in Jensen Beach. What a beautiful day!

All the ladies in their Easter finest, minus bonnets.

Ken, Victoria, Bonnie, Tad, John, Marilyn, Patty, Frank and Leann

The Dolphin offered a 'make your own Bloody Mary' bar.
The only problem....they poured the vodka. :)

The Gang, walking the plank!

Overlooking the Indian River, in Jensen Beach.

The Nauti Ones.

Battle of the Beasts - Frank and Tad's vehicles.

Nauti Gators visit Nauti Noles - The annual tradition continues!

For the past 3 years, the Nauti Gators (Ken & Victoria) have come to Stuart over Easter weekend. And this year was no exception.



They arrived Friday afternoon and the weather was perfect for a cocktail cruise. We enjoyed a trip along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. We enjoyed a fresh batch of mojitos along with some fun tunes.

See, Noles and Gators can live in harmony. :)

Usually you'd see this fellow driving a sled with 8 reindeer...
but not during the off-season when he's in Florida working on his tan.

Saturday morning promised calmer seas and winds so we set our departure for 7AM. Everyone was looking forward to the trip and ready to go! Ken got the morning started with the first cast of the day to a shady spot under the dock across the canal.

Nice snook, Captain Kenny!

Captain Ken and Victoria, trolling a lure along the river, hoping for another hit.

The Captain and his best mate.

Sunrise on the river.

Breakfast of Champions...PBJ and a Miller Lite.

Silly Leann..trying to keep the balloons from flying around and getting the line all twisted up.

You're probably wondering, "Where are the rest of the fish pictures?". Unfortunately, Ken's snook was the only bite we had, inspite of all our efforts, including live bait, weedlines, etc. But others we talked to didn't have any luck either. Must be the squirrely winds we've been having. Nontheless, we did have a nice time on the boat, sunny skies and fantastic friends!

All about the attitude and coconuts

SATURDAY Morning:
After a few days of less-than-perfect weather, we were finally able to get out! We felt very good about the day, especially since we had such luck the previous trip. Others had the same idea and we headed for the inlet.

The above picture is the only thing we brought back from yesterday's trip. No bite, no nibble, no nothing. But we would persevere! The seas and winds were supposed to lay down on Sunday.

SUNDAY Morning: We were thinking positive and ready for a good day on the water. We followed our usual plan and headed out about 7:30am. EVERYONE who had a boat, plus 3-4 of their closest friends or relatives did the same. As we made our way along the river, we counted 3 coconuts. "Why?", you ask. Well, it is supposed to be good luck to pass a floating coconut. At that rate, we were sure to have good luck today! Based on reports from yesterday, we heard there was bait at a spot south of the inlet so we zipped down there.

Left those who thought they might find some bait and headed out to deeper water.

As we were trolling toward the deep blue water, "something" stole one of our squid baits. Hook, line and skirt! Just as we were getting ready to put another bait on, one of the reels started to sing! FISH ON! Frank started clearing the lines and another rod started to bend! A double! No big deal for us now...we're pros. A third dolphin came to investigate, but didn't seem to like what we were serving. (That would have been a real treat to have a triple-hook up!) Nonetheless, we got the two into the box without any issue and back to trolling we went.

We LOVE to see things like this on the water. We circled a few times, but no luck. So we continued through a huge 'garden' of seaweed for quite some time. (Good cover for those mahi-mahi.)

Throughout the rest of the day, we had two more strikes and brought two more fish in the boat. We did have a catch-and-release...a bonita. Too bad it wasn't a sailfish.

"Redneck Riviera"

And at the end of the day, we reached part of Captain Frank's goal - to double the numbers from the previous catch. Oh yeah!