Back at it!

Boy oh boy am I ever behind in the blog! Actually took a while to figure out how to log back in and build another post! Well, no excuses to my lack of posting, it certainly was not due to our lack of time in the keys, or the lack of fish caught, but I will chalk it up to being too busy to type, and being too pooped to poop!

As Tom says … “quit whining and trying to be a drama queen!” let’s get down to business!

The big news is …. The house is done, and we are in! Well, at least phase 1 anyway. We finally found a builder who really came through, and I have completely spoiled my wife! Happy wife, happy life as they say! Robin and I took the opportunity to build our dream house, and now we are in I have to say it was money well spent. Here is a quick unauthorized tour (aka – I did not clear the pics with robin)

Once we got the boxes mostly unpacked, and the curtains and pictures hung we got some fishing in. Robin and I snuck out for a half day offshore and filled the cooler with Mahi. We also found a piece of bamboo floating in a weed-line and I pulled my personal biggest Tripletail off the log. Unfortunately no real reference, but this is my big fish cooler it is sitting on. I put the fish at 10 pounds solid.

For those who don’t know, a tripletail is a really wild looking fish and they lay up next to flotsam out at sea and basically wait for the baitfish to fill in under them for dinner. This guy ate a live pinfish that I tossed in front of it’s nose, and really put up a nice fight once I got him hooked up. Best part is the eating, Robin and I cooked him “Lazy Days” style, and if you like the taste of Red Snapper, you would love a Tripletail!

(Sorry we took a bite before we remembered to take a pic!).

The day ended with us trying to drift for Mutton Snapper off the American Shoal. We ran back inshore to 150 feet of water, and tried bouncing live baits on the bottom unsuccessfully. When I throttled back up to head home, the WoodyToo sputtered and I lost power. When I tried to restart I was getting no-where, so we called for help. Tow-Boat US to the rescue and for the first time in 12 years we got towed back to the lift. The good news – it looks like it was a vapor lock, and after some fiddling I got her fired back up and running well the next day.

Back at it again, we took another half day offshore on Saturday and got into the Dolphin again, and also picked up a couple nice Blackfin Tuna. Sure is good to get back in the game!