Two Theories

This post was from May, 2010.  Somehow an update got made and has now moved it to the top of the list.

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As you may have gathered from the lack of posts since the Ladies Tournament last Saturday, things didn't turn out the way I hoped.  But it wasn't for the lack of preparation and effort.

Frank rigging the ballyhoo bait for the tournament.

This little fellow appeared before we pulled away from the dock.  Good luck charm?

Leaving the condo at 6:30am.

Sunrise on the St. Lucie River.

 

Interesting cloud formation.

Our friend, Capt Pete had to cancel at the last minute. 
So Frank was both Mate and Captain.

And that's it.  We caught a bonita (which wasn't one of the qualifying fish).  That's all.  Very disappointing fishing, but it was a beautiful day on the water.

The next day was Mother's Day so we didn't fish.  However, we had plans to fish on Monday, although we agreed we'd start a little bit later in the morning. 

We tried for bait, but no luck.  Not to worry, we were prepared for trolling.  The seas started out a little rougher than the weatherman forecasted, but thankfully settled down around lunch time.

We had several knock downs and more pesky bonitas.  We did get a dolphin bite, but it was so little it couldn't even take any line.

So, here's my first theory.  Before we leave the fish camp to get on the boat, we slather up with sunscreen.  I've had very good luck in the past with Target brand sunscreen.  When I bought a new bottle, the picture was the same on the front and it was the right SPF so I just threw it in the basket.

But today, I realized that (if you look closely) it says "Compare to Banana Boat brand".  What's the big deal you ask?  Well, bananas on boats is a BIG no-no!  No banana sunscreen/lip balm, no banana muffins/bread, no banana hammocks, no Fruit-of-the-Loom underbritches, and no eating a banana before getting on the boat!   No Bananas!

So, in my humble opinion, that explains the lack of fish the past two days.

Yesterday's seas report gave all indications today was going to be PERFECT!  (1-2 feet).  But when we looked at the report first thing this morning, it increased to 2-3 feet.  No problem, that's still within my comfort range.

We got out the inlet and it was a little choppier than I expected.  (On a side note, in my next life, I'm going to come back as the NOAA weather person where I can "predict" the winds/seas every 6 hours - at totally useless times like 3AM, 10AM, 3PM and 10PM - and not be held accountable when it doesn't turn out quite as forecasted.)

We were prepared for drifting and/or trolling and we decided we'd work the northern part today as we had been spending a lot of time toward the south the past fishing trips.  We trolled for a while and got a bite right off the bat.  But, it threw the hook as Frank got it closer to the boat. 

We went back over the area hoping to find it or its buddies but no luck.  So we continued our trolling to a spot where we've had luck before.  There we decided to set things up for drifting. 

The winds had started to settle down (and the seas too), but without the wind, the *&^% love bugs swarmed the boat.  Keep in mind it's not like when you're driving and the bugs smash against your window or grill.  They are attracted to white (and there's a lot of that on the boat), and they just fly around or walk around on everything!   It was pretty annoying!  We tried to shoo them away with towels.  We sprayed them with water (numerous times) but they still wouldn't go away.

After not having any luck with drifting, we decided to go back to trolling.  We heard some chatter about dolphin and regrouped. 

During our time on the water we saw lots of weeds, turtles and a lone bucket.  (All signs that there may be fish around.)

No sooner had we put the baits out, than we got a hit!  A nice big dolphin!  Finally, the curse of the bananas broken!  We continued to troll for a while longer and got a small blackfin tuna. 

Kind of nice to have something in the fish box for a change.  But the love bugs continued to swarm and we couldn't get away from them.  So we decided to pack it in and head home.  We had fish and a boat to clean!

My second theory is that the lovebugs and fish are in cahoots!  The lovebugs drive the anglers crazy, so much so, the anglers pull in their lines and get the heck outta there leaving the fish to do what they do.

My 15-18lb dolphin.

Our first blackfin tuna. 

The next few days aren't going to be very good for fishing but we have plenty to do to get ready for our trip.  :O)