Living up to our name (blog name, that is). Part II

From Atlanta, we headed straight to the Big Apple where we were meeting our friends Ron & Lynne V. (from Tallahassee).

After our visit to NYC last year, and turning down Hilton's invitation to buy into a 'fractional ownership' (read that as "timeshare"), they wanted to give us one more chance to say yes.

For about six months, we've had the trip planned and coordinated things with Ron & Lynne to meet us up there.  They really enjoy spending time in NY!   Shows, eating, tours, eating and more eating were in the works!

Nearly two hours past our original arrival time, we were finally at the hotel.  We met up with the V's  and enjoyed a leisurely stroll through Central Park.  It is amazing how once you get off the street, it is pretty quiet in the park.

A big event in NYC the evening we arrived was the premier of "Sex in the City 2".  I was convinced the helicopters had a bird's eye view of the red carpet and all the celebrities.  (Unfortunately, my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.)

The V's had friends who came into the City to see them and Ron made arrangements at Carmine's.  If anyone left hungry (after veal scallopini, shrimp parmesan and pasta with broccoli, warm bread and cannolies), it was their own fault!  Everything was delicious.

The next morning, we attended (endured) another sales pitch from Hilton.  And they still got the same answer.

After escaping the sales office, we met up with Ron & Lynne for the food tour.  We had such a good time with The Enthusiastic Gourmet (Susan Rosenbaum) last year, that we wanted to go again with Ron & Lynne.  Susan is so much fun, knowledgeable and even added a few different stops from last year.  (Who knew chocolate covered deep fried bacon would be so delicious?!?!)

Of course when in New York, you have to see a show!  Jersey Boys was great!  The music was terrific and told the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. (Thanks, Ron.)  We rounded out the evening with a stop for the obligatory slice of cheesecake before calling it a day.

Wednesday was a little less structured and we were expecting it to be a very warm (ok HOT) day.  90 degrees in the City is not pleasant. 

We had H-U-G-E pastrami and corned beef sandwiches at Carnegie Deli for lunch.  And what better way to spend a hot day with a full belly than in an airconditioned theater seeing a matinee performance.  This time it was Promises, Promises.  The understudy filled in for Kristen Chenowith, but Sean Hayes was fantastic!  We had wonderful seats (Thanks Ron) and got out of the heat for well over 2 hours.

Our last dinner together in the city was Italian at Remi.  Unfortunately, we didn't have coordinating flights so we bid farewell to the V's and they went off to Tallahassee and us to Tampa.

We had a fun time with Ron & Lynne!  Think we'll be able to wait a few years before another trip to NYC.   'Tis good to be back in familiar surroundings.

Living up to our name (blog name, that is). Part I

Since the last post, we have been crazy traveling!  We left Stuart and headed to Tampa for a few days where we needed to trade our fishing duds for something a bit spiffier.

From Tampa we were going to Atlanta for Stephanie (Frank's neice) and Jermaine's wedding.  It was going to be a reunion of sorts - Allison recently returned from India, Andrea lives and works in Atlanta, both their aunts and several cousins were going to be there as well. 

It seemed like we went from one eating opportunity to the next!  But since it was a festive occasion and we were out of town, all the 'bad stuff' got cancelled out.

Stephanie did an amazing job with her "big day"!  No detail was left out, all i's dotted and t's crossed, she looked beautiful and Jermaine, very handsome!  (I'm going to take the easy way out and provide a link to the wedding coordinator's blog.) 

"Love you like a fat kid loves cake."

Another of Stephanie's perfect touches on the cake table.

Congratulations, Stephanie and Jermaine!!

Same fishing waters, different way to get there.

For the past few days, it has been rather windy which means the seas have been up and we haven't been able to fish offshore.

Frank REALLY wanted to fish and had been strategizing how to get offshore without getting beat up too badly.  Rather than go out the St. Lucie Inlet and have to face rough waters coming in, he decided we would take the InterCoastal Waterway to the Jupiter Inlet.  We'd get out to fishing waters and then head north with the wind at our backs, entering the St. Lucie Inlet when we were done.

So, we headed out at our usual 7:30AM.  Nice weather (with a breeze) was in store.  There were a few boats on the river, but not a lot of fishing boats.  We headed down the ICW and anticipated it would take a while because of quite a few slow zones.  Plus, the scenery is nice too - big homes and big boats.

Jupiter Island is home to several well-known golfers, one in particular who has been in the news as of late.  (I just refuse to write his name.)  Needless to say, he is going to have lots of room in his McMansion to play host to all the other scoundrels that have been in the news lately. 

Maybe he lives here?

Couldn't resist taking a picture of the little bathtub tug boat.  :o)

A golf course!  Maybe he lives here.

And maybe his yacht is in this little marina.

The boat house of another famous golfer, Greg Norman. 

This property reportedly went to his ex-wife (the one before Chris Everett.)

If you zoom in, you will see a boat with a pink hull!  

The Jupiter Lighthouse.

Once we got close to the inlet, the chop increased considerably as the wind was blowing westward and the tide was coming in.  We made it out and got beyond the reef to a depth we could start fishing.

It was quite wavy but we got the lines out and things ready to catch some fish.  We had the whole ocean all to ourselves so without any competition we were sure we'd be bringing some prize catches home.

There were some scattered weeds around and when Frank went to clear one of the lines, something went after one of the baits. He free-lined it for a bit, but the fish didn't take the bait.  When he pulled it in, you could see it had been hit vs bit which meant it was probably a sailfish.  :o( 

We thought for certain we would see a lot of things floating, especially since the winds had been out of the east for the past few days.  No turtles or jellyfish, but we did find something that from one direction looked like a log.  Turned out to be a foam float.

We weren't having much luck and it was getting pretty uncomfortable.  So we trolled into shallower waters and pulled in the lines. 

We were really hoping we'd catch a few keepers, but I guess it just wasn't in the cards yesterday.

Stuart Sailfish Club's annual Lady Angler Tournament

Last year when Frank entered me in the Lady Angler fishing tournament, I had no expectations whatsoever.  As a result of last year's finish, I wasn't going to forecast or announce any intentions for this year's tournament, but deep down, I was really hoping to better my standing from last year.

We decided it would be a good idea to have the boat on the other side of the railroad bridge so we wouldn't get stuck like last year.  Frank made arrangements to dock it overnight at the marina where the tournament headquarters was located.  We would then only have about a 10 minute ride to the inlet (which we couldn't leave any earlier than 7AM).  A very good strategy!

Capt. Pete agreed to be the mate again this year and we decided we'd leave the condo about 6AM.  That would give us plenty of time to schlep a few things to the boat, get situated and head out toward the inlet. 
Well, it was a good thing we had the boat at the marina because just as we turned off US1, we saw the blinking lights of the cross arms at the railroad track!  (We had to wait a few minutes but you can be guaranteed the arms are going to go up quicker than the bridge.)

It was also a good thing we didn't decide to use the boat ramp to put the boat in the water....everyone and their mother was there!  Craziness!

It was forecasted to be a beautiful day with calm seas and we had the "third day's a charm" attitude.  (See entry below.) 

Sunrise at the St. Lucie Inlet

We got to our starting point and began to get things set up.  We couldn't put the lines in until 8AM, but we got the other stuff (i.e. teasers) out and the rods rigged with the baits resting in the cooler.

Shortly after getting the teasers in the water, something attacked the pink one!  (There aren't any hooks in these rubber squids.  Their job is to just flop around and create a lot of splashing at the surface.)  Well, turns out it was a sailfish!  And he really liked those squid!  Unfortunately, the clock said 7:50AM.  Ten L-O-N-G minutes of waiting.  But as soon as they called "lines in", we circled back to where the sailfish was and tried to raise him again.  Something snatched at our bait, but didn't take the hook!  We tried again to get his attention, but he must have moved on to another location.  If timing had been better, that would have been the first sailfish release of the tournament!

We continued on our trolling when the teaser was hit again!  Was the sailfish back??  I donned the fighting belt and grabbed the rod!  No jumps or splashes so it wasn't a dolphin or sailfish, but it put up a good fight.  Could this be a kingfish or cobia?  Maybe a wahoo?  I reeled and reeled, bringing the fish closer to the boat.  Capt Pete reached out and plopped a damn bonita into the boat!  There went a waste of perfectly good bait!  I said to the guys, "We got our trash fish of the day out of the way." 

We resumed trolling operations looking for anything and everything that might produce some of the fish we were hoping to attract (i.e. weeds, flotsam, slicks, turtles).  We did come across many of those things, but there weren't any fish around them.  Meanwhile, Capt Pete cut a strip of the bonita and rigged it up for bait, adding a pretty skirt.  It wasn't long before we got another bite, on the bonita belly!

I jumped up, put on the fighting belt and grabbed the rod.  Again, no splashes or jumps, but a good fight.  This had to be a "good fish".  Steady reeling while keeping the pressure on and brought the fish to the boat.  Capt Pete leaned over the gunnel and brought the fish up.  There was no jumping for joy...it was another blankety-blank bonita! 

I was getting very frustrated.  Where are the right fish?  Seems like we covered a zillion miles of ocean in a zig-zag fashion and what did we have to show for it?  Nothing that qualified!  But we were determined to stick it out until the bitter end (2:30PM). 

As 2:30 started to approach, we decided to start pulling some of the baits in.  We even decided it wasn't going to be much fun to go to the awards dinner and watch other people win trophies.  And wouldn't you know, as soon as we started cleaning things up, we got a bite!  The rod zinged and whatever was hooked,  took a lot of line!  I thought to myself, "I still have a chance!  I could have something to show for our efforts today!  Maybe I could even qualify for a prize!"  I reeled and reeled and reeled for what seemed like a half an hour (but was probably only about 5 minutes).  No jumping, but a lot of pulling.  This must be a BIG fish (or a bucket)! 

Frank maneuvered the boat, Pete got the gaff and I kept reeling.  I backed up to the opposite side of the boat and Pete pulled up a HUGE jack cravalle. 

My heart sank...another trash fish or what some call "poor man's pompano".  Frank radioed our check in and that sadly we had nothing to weigh.  (And that was the same for many of the other boats, save a few.)

We certainly got an "A" for effort (preparation, presentation and patience), but unfortunately it's the fish in the box that count!  It will be interesting to see the final results and what whoppers the other ladies caught. 

I did have the best Captain (Frank) and Mate (Pete) a gal could hope for and I really appreciate all their work!  We'll give it a go again next year!

Prepping for the Tournament

Since our return from the Keys, the days we were able to fish were in preparation for the Stuart Sailfish Club's Lady Angler Tournament.   And we were hoping to make up for the lack of fish we caught while in the Keys.

The first day out offered relatively calm seas.  We went through our regular routine of getting things set up, worked out our strategy and crossed our fingers we'd be catching fish soon.  Shortly after we started our trolling, we hit a milestone - 1000 hours on the engines!  Congratulations, Nauti Nole!

The one bit of excitement was a sailfish free jumped, practically across the bow of the boat.  But it happened so fast I wasn't able to capture a picture.  Try as we might, we just could not get his attention or entice him with a bait. Much to our dismay, we got nothing that day!  No bites, no knock-downs, no nothing!

The next day was again nice and calm.  We thought we'd head back to the area where we saw the sailfish and use that as a starting point. 

Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart.

Big ol' ship!

Again no bites, no nibbles, nada!  We did however see about three dozen turtles of all different types. 

Kind of frustrating because everything looked really good (we thought)!   Oh well.  At least the water was calm and there was a little bit of a breeze.

As we headed back in, guess what we ran into....(not literally of course):

Fortunately, we only had to wait about 20 minutes for the train to pass and the bridge to go up.

So we decided our attitude would be "third day's the charm" - which meant we would have good luck the day of the tournament!

Day 6 of Frank's Birthday Week

We learned early on in the trip our good friends Ken and Victoria would not be able to come down as originally planned.   And actually, it probably worked out best because when we looked at the weather forecast for Friday and Saturday, it was going to be very windy and not comfortable fishing weather.

So, we made plans to fish on Thursday, pull the boat and start packing on Friday and head back to Stuart on Saturday.

Bridge over Tavernier Creek.

Since we fished the night before, we planned to leave mid-morning.  And, the winds were expected to pick up in the afternoon.  Captain Frank wasn't interested in going all the way to the Hump but had a plan to stay between 150' and 250'.

After a few hours with nary a nibble, Bob suggested we turn right and go that way for a while. Wasn't anything to lose, so we turned right. Shortly after that, I suggested we eat. (In a lot of cases, but not all, it usually happens that as soon as we start to enjoy our lunch, we get a strike.) Sure enough, two bites into our Cuban sandwiches, and a line starts to sing. It was Rich's turn to fight and he got a pretty good workout. he was finally able to get the fish to the boat and it looked like a black fin tuna!

We continued to troll around for a while longer and we got another bite! It was my turn this time and I was really looking forward to a good fight because I needed the practice for the Lady Angler tournament coming up on May 8th. Once we got it to the boat, it was another what looked like a black fin.

We trolled south for a while as Frank wanted to go under the bridge by Holiday Isle and get on the bay side before it got uncomfortably windy.

While it wasn't "the best fishing day/trip ever", we didn't get skunked.

Rich and his catch.

After dinner and another round of "Left, Right, Center" we called it a day.  Friday was going to be a busy day getting things packed up.

Day 5 Frank's Birthday Week in the Keys

Fishin' in the morning and fishin' in the evening was the plan for Wednesday.

Rich, Bob, Frank and I hopped on the boat Wednesday morning with the hopes of getting a few fish in the box.  For such a big ocean and such a popular area of the Keys, there were surprisingly few boats on the water.  The more fish for us!

But nothing!  Zip, zero, zilch! 

We got back to the dock, got things cleaned up and even had time for a little nap before our tarpon night fishing adventure was going to begin.  Little did we know what an adventure we would have when Frank and Bob met Capt. Bruce in the parking lot of Bass Pro and signed up all 5 of us for a 4 hour night fishing trip on a 24' boat.

Toby and I readied provisions, we all donned bug spray and had jackets at the ready.  It was supposed to be a beautiful night - on the water at sunset and a full moon.  Sounded just about perfect. 

We met Capt. Bruce at the dock at 6:00pm.  He had just returned from an earlier trip and hadn't had time to clean the boat.  (Oh what's a few fish bits gonna hurt?)  So we started to load our things and selves in the boat. 

There was surprisingly a good bit of room for all of us to maneuver but we found a spot and enjoyed the ride through the mangroves to where we were going to set up shop for the tarpon.

After about a 20 minute ride (with no cushions on the seats), we reached an area by one of the bridges.  There were several other boats but it wasn't too crowded.  Capt. Bruce promised a beautiful sunset and tarpon, which would most likely appear after the sun went down and moon came up.  But, there were at least 2 other boats that caught a tarpon while it was still daylight. 

We noshed, sipped, and floated along while watching the beautiful sunset. 

Sunset on the Bay:

Capt. Bruce kept promising we'd get a bite.  And since he delivered on the sunset, we kept the faith.  But nothing.  I held the rod just like he told me for so long I thought my wrist was going to break!  He also told us "a minute a pound" which meant if we caught a 100 pound tarpon we'd be fighting for and hour and 40 minutes.

The sun set, we put on our jackets and waited patiently for the moon to come up.  It was beautiful!!

Finally, about 15 minutes after the full moon had risen high in the sky, Frank got a bite!  The line zing-zing-zinged and he held on!  We all got in our places (and out of Frank's way) so he would have plenty of room to work. 

He did an awesome job and eventually the tarpon came to the boat (but not before jumping or gulping some air a few times)!   Click here for video. 

It was about a 110 pound tarpon and Frank fought it for nearly 40 minutes!  (Capt Bruce must give those time/pound estimates to amateur fishermen.) 

It was definitely a Happy Birthday Fish for Frank.  :o)

(And it was an "adventure" with Captain Bruce alright.....reminiscent of our fishing trip in Panama.  Don't think we'll be fishing with him again and I don't think the guys will hire a captain without a recommendation from now on.)