Family fun fishing Florida

What a great feeling it is to be a part of someone else's “bucket list”, especially when it involves a 14-year US Navy veteran, and fishing....I'm in! Bert and Deb Welsh fished out of Pass-a-Grille back in 2003 and “caught so many Spanish mackerel” they just had to do it again, this time with the kids. You see, this was a special occasion to have Bert's 3 kids all together, on a boat, catching fish, and we were happy to be a part of it. So, with Bert, Deb, Bob, Michelle and Eugene-we were off to the 'mackerel factory' to pick up some groceries for the family.

My plan was to, hopefully, score some decent Spanish mackerel on/near St.Pete Beach and the Blind Pass Drop, and have enough time to run down to the shipping channel for a shot at a Kingfish, or two. Well, it went down just like that! Utilizing the hardware option for the mackerel was just right for this scenario and decent sized 'macks' in the 2 to3-pound range quickly started filling the fish box, and the crew-they were having the time of their lives, acting like Brothers and Sisters do...and of course, catching fish. After a couple of hours of these St.Patrick's Day shenanigans-it was time to get serious, and go for the big boys.

We took a quick ride out to the Egmont Shipping Channel, and as difficult as it turned out to be, we finally were able to 'sabiki' up a few Spanish Sardines and Cigar Minnows. 2 minutes with a bait in the water and we had our first King on, Bob took the rod and the fish came unhooked after a 2 minute battle,...now we're Kingfishing. As I rigged up another bait the other line went off, and I mean WENT OFF!!...Now we had a real fish on and Michelle stepped up to the plate for this one. This massive King dumped 300 yards of line in a flash and had no intention of turning around...we had to chase him. After a solid 20 minutes-Michelle was worn out and I had to assist in getting this pig to the gaff. I could tell I was bringing in dead weight and this fish died on the line, this was a problem. Even though I was able to muscle this fish, weighing well over 45 pounds, to within 15 feet of the boat, it's sheer weight(I thought) was just to much for 15lb test line. And then the tow hook popped from its face and it was hooked in the throat by the small treble hook, making it even harder to hold onto. As everyone on the Jawbreaker was looking at this monster, once in a lifetime Kingfish, in complete disbelief and amazement-the inevitable happened...just 3 feet from from the business end of our 12 foot gaff he came unbuttoned and sank to the bottom like a lead Zeppelin. Ouch! I won't get over that one for awhile but the Welshs' will be back... and that's good enough for me. As our last Sardine in the water got ate up by a schoolie King, it was gaffed into the box and our 4 hour fishing charter ended with a beautiful ride home, feeling both victorious and slightly defeated at the same time...Kingfishing 101! Happy fishing folks, Capt.Dan