We're expecting!

"Say what?!?"  

"Aren't you too old?" 

"Weren't you enjoying the flexibility of an empty nest??"

"Didn't you just start a company?"

And the answer is YES to all of the above.  

But we were feeling like something had been missing....for a while.

Normally something like this takes nine months.  But hey, it's 2013 and things happen FAST these days!

We are excited to share the news and can't contain it any longer....

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The Nauti Nole is going to have a little sister!

We decided to adopt an older girl and figure over time, we'll get her some new clothes and accessories that are more in line with the color scheme of her big sister.  (She got a clean bill of health and the price was right so we figured we could look past some of the "blue blemishes".)  And we hope she likes her new Tampa home - the lift has been really lonely for a long time!  

So look out BayCrest and Tampa Bay, we are looking forward to getting back on the water, canal cruising, fishing and rafting up with friends!  :o)

Getting our fishing mojo back!

The past few fishing trips have been quite frustrating.  A lot of time and work to get bait, only to lose it to sharks or other unseen sea creatures.

But yesterday was a different story.  We left the dock at a reasonable hour with a strategy for getting blue runners (sailfish candy).  After spending about an hour trolling for these certain delectable species (and catching a few blue fish and a nice Spanish mackerel , we caught one blue runner.  However, our buddy Capt Pete had a few he wasn't going to use so he offered them to us.

Here are a few scenes from the day:

Our buddy Capt Pete and the "No Fuse"

Fish on!

Chasing the sail over to the starboard side of the boat.

Coming into view.

Getting closer.

Even closer!

Sailfish!!

Happy Frank and the sailfish

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

This is the first pink-hulled boat I've seen.  If this is what today's MaryKay Cosmetics reps win (instead of a pink Cadillac), sign me up!

Over all we hooked up three sailfish and brought one to the boat.  A very good day!

A Sporty Day

Since Florida State football had a bye week, AND the weather was forecast to be good, we decided to fish today.

A beautiful sunrise on the St. Lucie River

The weatherman was smoking some funny stuff today...the seas were supposed to be 2-3 feet (with a long interval between swells.)  Um, it wasn't.  Chatter on the radio described the ocean as "sporty".  

Frank and Capt Pete get the lines out and ready to catch some fish.

 We trolled for a little while and got 3 knock-downs.  The 4th hit stuck, but it was a barracuda.  (yuck!)

Another hit and this time it was a dolphin.

Action shot!

Nice cold box for you fishy.  :o)

We had two more baits attacked, but the sneaky fish escaped.  

Frank, his 'phin and Captain Pete

Overall the weather was beautiful, a bit windy, but there were fish to be cleaned when we got back to the dock.  :)

Going after the Mob...

...one fish at a time!

The winds and our schedule have finally settled and we were able to get over to Stuart for more than 24 hours.

The boat was prepped, the rods readied and we were ready to fish early Friday morning.

Fishing this year has been non-existent so we were really looking forward to getting out!  Our sights were set high and we were looking for the "Fish Mob" (and their wives): Sammy the Sail, Phil the 'Phin, Karl the King, Marty the Marlin, and Tommy the Tuna. :0)

We didn't want to waste any time and instead of 'hunting' for bait, we decided to pick up a dozen on the way toward the inlet.  While getting the bait, a hitchhiker hopped on board.

This brave fellow hung on for quite a while, even as we were getting up to speed to get around another boat.  But we slowed down so he could have a safe takeoff.

 We got out to about 130' and got things set up.  Shortly thereafter, we saw some activity around one of the balloons/bait.  Sure enough, a dolphin was after our bait!  Sadly though, it spit the hook and took off.

We spent some more time drifting with live bait and the only other bite we got was a yucky ramora.    We decided 'Free Lunch Friday' was over!  We pulled in our lines and regrouped.  It was time to troll for a little while.

While trolling, we ran across some scattered weeds, but then we hit the mother-lode!

 No, this isn't an oilslick.  It's huge patches of weeds - the Holy Grail of offshore fishing!  (Little fish hang out under the protection of the weeds.  Bigger fish come to eat the little fish.  So it makes for better chances of catching fish.)

Sure enough, we caught one of the 'mob wives'!

Marla the Mahi in the box

We drifted the weedy area several times, but no further luck.  Since we still had some live baits left, we decided to head a little closer to shore and search for cobia.  The winds picked up and it was pretty choppy.  After a few drifts, we thought it would be good to call it a day and leave some fish for the next trip.

So, while one of the mob wives is off 'The Most Wanted' list, we're adding 'Bruce the Bull'.  :o)

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)

King me!

Ok, that phrase is usually reserved for playing checkers, but it is very apropos for today's fishing adventure.
After looking at all the different websites:  weather.com (for rain), marine forecast (for the winds and seas), solunar calendar (for the major and minor times), we decided we'd head out somewhere between the crack of dawn and high noon.

We knew it was going to be hot and we planned accordingly.  Since we were leaving  later than usual, we would stay out longer.

We went to one of the usual bait stops (reefs) and had to work a little bit, but pulled in about a dozen fat greenies (aka fish candy).

The winds had been coming out of the east for the past few days which meant everything should have been pushed in closer and we wouldn't have to go out as far or to depths we sometimes do.

We set things up to drift and drifted for quite some time before we changed location.  We got the baits out and saw a free-jumping sailfish about 100 feet from the boat!  But, we just couldn't interest it in our baits.

A few more hours and drifts passed.  During that time, we had a couple of our baits stolen.  And it wasn't just the bait fish that went missing, but the hook too!  This was a good sign....at least there was life below!

Finally, we saw some action from one of our baits.  Frank was quick on the draw and was able to get that fish to stick.  After a little bit of a fight, we got it into the box!

Not our usual catch, but it was a good sized kingfish.  And Frank's got just the recipe for smoked fish dip!

King me!

In the perfect world....

....this post would say:

• Left the dock very early this morning.
• No stopping for the railroad bridge!
• Smooth waters with a gentle breeze and a bit of shade.
• Found the perfect bait on the first try and loaded the live-well.
• Headed off-shore and caught big dolphin right off the bat.
• Drifted around the entire Atlantic ocean with bait-candy, catching dolphin, cobia, sailfish and wahoo.
• Reached our limit and headed in.

Alas, this is not a perfect world!  But two out of the above ain't bad.  :o)

The countdown is on!

In less than 30 days, we will be in Spain!  We've been planning this trip for a while, but now it's time to get the details organized, tours reconfirmed and figuring out what to pack.

But in the meantime, there's quite a bit going on!

This weekend is the Annual Stuart Sailfish Club Ladies Fishing Tournament and my third time participating.  And I'm hoping to better my finish from two years ago. 

Then we'll make the trip to Winter Haven to celebrate Mother's Day with Frank's mom on Sunday.

We are still on "hold" for the Shuttle Launch.  It could be as soon as Tuesday or as late June.  But we are hopeful whenever it is rescheduled, we will be able to attend.  So in the meantime we continue to check the status. 

Off to ready the boat for the tourney!

What a treat!

We got an invitation from Captain Pete to go on the BIG boat!  Woohoo! 

 The morning started out quite foggy, but by the time we got to the marina, it was starting to burn off. 

We tried several locations for bait and finally found "the spot", but so did everyone else.

The weather forecast indicated sunny and warm.  Perhaps there was an intern filling in because there wasn't anything sunny, or warm, or minimal wind in our experience today!

A scene from "The Perfect Storm"?

As we waited for the sailfish to come along, we saw lots of wildlife - 2 hammerhead sharks, green sea turtle, millions of Portuguese Man-O-Wars, seagulls, and pelicans.

Hammerhead shark fin.

 We also did some bottom fishing and pulled in a few sea bass and a porgie.  Even though they are small, you get a good workout!  (As much as I was hoping for a big ol' grouper or amberjack, I don't think my little arms could have handled such a monster!)

Gettin' a little help from the Captain.

The weather was quite schizophrenic today and the fish did not share our agenda..  So we called it a day and headed back in.

Thanks Captain Pete (and KM) for inviting us to go on the boat!  Hopefully the next time the fish will be a little more cooperative.  :o)