Lazy days weekend July 7-8

I have to be in Miami this week as a Recreational Fisherman Advisor/Witness for the Gulf of Mexico SEDAR Red Grouper Assessment workshop. So I guess that means I get to spend 3 days hanging out with fisheries biologists and statisticians figuring out how to count all the Red Grouper in the Gulf of Mexico. It will be interesting in a geeky kind of way, and definitely a learning process. It is also one more step networking and understanding our fisheries management process, that as folks who know me understand that I am wildly passionate, and a bit outspoken about! It also gives me an excuse to get two back to back weekends at our place on Big Pine … thus the need for an update.

This is not much of a fish story, as the title says – lazy July days around here!

We were welcomed back with another elusive key deer encounter … these two gentlemen have been eating on the Mangos falling from a tree in our neighbor’s yard. Can’t say I blame them, I like a good Mango Margarita my own self, but they drive my dogs nuts! So lots of barking and deer chasing going on around here!

Last weekend we took the Woody Too offshore on Friday for a couple hours and once again had a bad mechanical surprise. When I throttled up to head home I got a low oil pressure alarm and the Yamaha throttled down to 2,000 rpm. Multiple restarts resulted in the same condition, so we ended up trolling home …. A 3 hour ride. If you recall we had just had the oil pump replaces due to an oil leak, so this definitely got my attention! When I got back I hooked it up to the YDS and the computer spit out fault codes for inconsistent oil pressure indications, and I consulted with Marshall at Fast Action Marine and we both concurred it was time to replace the sender. Long story short, I spent Friday replacing the sender and a test drive, and all looks good to go.

Saturday the winds and seas were still up, so we spent the day on the skiff doing some lobster scouting, and looking for new likely spots. Off we go down the canal … I dream of that view when we are not here, we are definitely smitten by the keys life!

Harlan (pinerwhaoo) mentioned that they were starting to stack up, and good heavens I agree! Just about everywhere we went there were Lobsters hiding where you would expect it! Can’t wait for a couple weeks when we can go get em! We had a great day on Saturday with no pressures and nothing to do but explore new spots. There are so many hidden gems in the back country, some marked but most just randomly about … can anyone name this coral head?

On Sunday we wondered offshore, and were met with birds and bait crashing as soon as we crossed the reef. As far as the eye could see in 100 to 175 feet the water was busting with bonitos pounding small fry. It was quite the sight, and we spend an hour or so playing with them. We caught a couple on small feathers.

We ended up pushing on out to 600 feet and found a bunch of scattered weedlines, full of small flying fish and pretty good groups of birds working them, but very little as far as chewing. We did end up with a pair of decent fish out of the deal. All in all fairly slow day, but the best news … the boat ran perfectly. Knock on wood!!!!

Nothing wrong with Mahi served Lazy Days style!

Last night the winds dropped and the water became a mirror. How about this for an after sunset picture of our back yard!