Got the call on Wednesday that the boat was fixed and ready to go back in the water. So the Robin and I scrambled and headed back down Thursday night. We launched her on Friday at my neighbor Alan’s ramp and ran her down to Dolphin Marina for a quick test drive and filled her with fuel. I want to give a shameless plug for Marshall and his team at Fast Action Marine on Big Pine. He completed the job at the price and in the time line he quoted me, and did an outstanding job. The Woodytoo has a 12 year old Yamaha F225, and the oil pump seals failed blowing oil all over everything. We nursed her back home from way offshore a couple weeks ago by adding oil and watching things closely. The oil pump is located in the mid-section of the engine and getting to it was more that I wanted to handle myself. Looks to me like I have found my go-to mechanic here on Big Pine!
My welcoming committee met me Thursday night when we got to the house. I went to put some stuff in the garbage and was surrounded by the “elusive and endangered” key deer. There was nine in total in this group …
Saturday morning we loaded up and headed offshore. The crew for the day was my wife Robin, neighbor Alan, his best friend Jamie and myself. The water was beautiful, and a lot flatter than I had expected.
The he reports that we got from folks matched what I was seeing on the temp SST charts and we headed out deep. We saw absolutely nothing from the reef all the way offshore, and I finally throttled down at the wall. We spent the morning empty handed, working scattered weeds and birds from 1200 to 800 feet.
As the afternoon sun got hot hot things got better and we saw more and more bird and bait activity. Big as life the bit finally turned on like someone threw a switch! We ended up being escorted by a trio of frigate birds that hung with us for several hours.
We never saw anything big, but ended with a nice box full of fish. Best part was the good company. It was great to get to know Alan better, and the banter between he and Jamie was hilarious! Those guys are welcome company with Robin and I anytime!
Special callout to our dog Rebel … he loves to photobomb the fish pics!
The end result, robin made some killer open faced mahi sandwiches! Yowsers!
Bo
Gorham Fishing Team 