Monday, April 29, 2013
STRIPERS
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Catching Snapper
22 Inch Trout
Friday, April 26, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
CROCODILE
Crocodile relocated from residential neighborhood
A Crocodile was relocated from a populated residential area at the 74 mile marker this morning. The resident at 321 Tollgate Shores Drive called Sheriff’s dispatchers this morning just before 8 a.m. to report what she believed to be a female Crocodile nesting in her front yard. She said she estimated it’s size at nine feet long.
Deputies arrived and stayed on scene until experts from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission could take over and relocate the reptile. Reports from the scene were that she had laid 27 eggs.
Photos by Sheriff’s Lt. Derek Paul.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
SNOOK
Bone Fish Rig
Someone asked me what kind of rig I use for Bone Fish. A kale hook on 18 inches of flurocarbon leader with a sliding barrel weight. Cut off the live shrimp's tail and skewer it onto the hook. I usually do this with three or four rods and then just surround the boat and wait. When the fish come out of the channels onto the flats they will smell the shrimp and go for them. I don't know if this method would work with an artificial like a Gulp Shrimp.
Lola
Captain Dave Perkins wrote a great article about his lovable dog Lola. Dave is a fishing guide and takes Lola on almost every charter.
Lola the Fish Whisperer
In 2004, a Miami friend of mine’s family were out on their porch giving out Halloween candy when a little black dachshund mix walked up and sat down with them. It was dirty, covered with fleas and had no collar. It didn’t seem like it wanted to leave so they fed it, washed it and let it stay inside the front yard fence. They figured that the owners would come looking for it, find it and claim it. After a few days, they realized they had adopted a new dog. They named her Lola. I was over their house frequently back then and I got to know Lola well. I noticed that of the three other rescues they had, she ran the roost. She was a balance of sweet and smart with feisty and tough. I fell in love with Lola instantly.
I was teaching middle school at the time. My summer break began that June. It’s nice to have summers off, but most people work 40 hours, so as a teacher you wind up spending a lot of weekdays by yourself. My friends knew how much I adored Lola and that I had a lot of time on my hands, so they let her come over for a play date. The play dates turned into sleepovers, which turned into days at a time. It got to the point where it killed me to bring her back. They had mercy on me. I became the proud owner of Lola and we became inseparable.
I’ve always spent as much time on the water as possible. On her first trip out, Lola took to the boat immediately. She was so excited and overtly happy to be there. When we were stopped she would sniff everything, run around and explore the boat. When we took off she would jump up next to me and put her head on my lap contently. Needless to say, I was thrilled about it. She was a bit scared of fishing rods at first, due to what I figured out was previous trauma regarding brooms. It didn’t take her too many trips to realize that the sound of a screaming reel meant incoming flapping, smelly fish to pounce on, bite and lick. Her fear turned to adoration. Sometimes you’d find her staring longingly at a rod and reel waiting for it to produce its magic. There have been many times since where if you take a lot of casts without hooking a fish, she’ll look at you and give you a frustrated yelp. Like, “Catch something already!”
Not long after becoming Lola’s dad, I traded teaching for captaining. Lola and I started spending 24/7 together. She came on almost all of my fishing trips and seemed to love every minute of them. If I didn’t take her for some reason (rough seas for example) she would wait anxiously by the door all day. Upon my return, she would give me the cold shoulder for a few hours. Just to be sure I knew what she thought of me leaving her home. Clients got to know and adore her. She became a fixture in lots of my many photos and Facebook posts. Once I even got a call from a client saying, “We’d like to know if Lola is free to go fishing on April 3rd? Oh, and if you’re free you can come too.”
When we are fishing, Lola is on point. When she hears the drag go out, her excitement boils over. She jumps to and fro, runs over the where the angler is and will even give high-pitched yelps. As soon as the fish comes into the boat, she pounces. She leaps on top of it and starts growling and attacking. Basically she goes from sweet, loving companion to crazy attack pooch in 0.1 seconds. She reacts differently towards different species and has preferences and dislikes. Here are some examples:
Ladyfish: Her number one, all time favorite. She even knows one is on the line before we get it in the boat. She goes ballistic on them. The only fish that she will out-right eat. After she helps it along its way to fish heaven, she proceeds to eat it. She’ll hold it in her paws, start at the face and devour it from head to tail; literally. I’ve seen her devour a foot-long ladyfish, roll on her back and lay around fat and happy for an hour or more.
Trout, Jack, Snapper, Snook, Grouper, Pompano, Pinfish, Mahi, Tuna, etc.: They get a pounce, growls, a bite or two and more growls until they stop moving or taken away from her. At which point she returns to search for more action.
Redfish: For some reason they make her nervous and she avoids them. It might have to do with the low-pitch sound they emit from their throats. They get the name Red Drum from it (not to be confused with “REDRUM” from the movie, The Shining).
Sharks and Cobia: She goes especially berserk over them. She will attack until they are either quickly released or put in the cooler. A shark is the only species she’s actually leaped from the boat after. She once jumped on top of one, swam after it and bit it repeatedly. Luckily it was a small one and in shallow water.
Lizardfish: She doesn’t like them. Neither do I for that matter.
Crabs: She will go to WAR with blue crabs. She becomes out-right apoplectic when they come on board. She and big blue crabs fight like a cobra and mongoose. She’s as fast as a mongoose could be, despite the scar on her ear from one slip-up. I always let the crabs go before she can hurt them.
Lobsters and Shrimp: Same as the crabs, but since they don’t have any means to defend themselves; I try to keep her away from them. She snuck one away from us one time. What I found afterwards looked like a lobster that had stepped on a land mine.
Mackerel, Bluefish and Wahoo: I keep her as far away from them as possible on account of their razor-sharp teeth and wicked speed (Much more so than sharks). I’d like to keep her from getting the nick-names; Tony Montana or Al Capone.
Salmon (Lake Michigan): She mostly licks them profusely and throws in a couple of growls for good measure.
Sailfish and Tarpon: She’s excited and interested, but gives them wider berth than other species.
Horse Flies and Mosquitoes: Catch, eat, catch, eat; very useful on the boat.
Bottle-nosed Dolphin: We come across pods of them very often in the backcountry and Flamingo. When I see them in the distance, I say, “Get em’ Lola!” She immediately jumps down from her spot next to me, runs to the bow and gets on point. Her head whips from side to side in a frantic search. When she locks on to them she begins to bark incessantly. Nine times out of ten, they zip over to us, get under the bow and swim along with us. They stare at her the whole time while she barks, yips and whines at them. It happens so often that I think some of the pods have gotten to know her. They seem to be as intrigued by her as she is by them. I know one thing; when she isn’t on-board; they are far less interested in the boat and hardly pay us any mind.
Lola won the lottery when she went from a street urchin to a sea dog for sure. I’d like to think that she has the best life a dog could have. On the other hand she has enriched my life and those who love her immeasurably. She has hundreds of fans all over the country and world who ask for her by name. One day that I’ll never forget was when I took a family out who had a daughter with very severe down’s-syndrome. They explained to me up front that the longest that they could possibly stay out was a couple of hours at most. From the moment we boarded the boat, the girl was completely entranced with Lola and she had her on her lap for the whole ride out to our first spot. When we started catch fish, Lola showed some interest, but not nearly as much as normal, instead focusing more on her new friend.
Somehow Lola knew this child deserved her attention. For the first and only time, Lola’s favorite past-time on the planet was suddenly trumped. SIX hours later we pulled back up to the dock. The little girl’s parents were beside themselves. With tears their eyes they explained that their daughter had never spent even half as much time remaining in one place and focusing on one thing in her life. Their gratitude was palpable. They hugged Lola, each other, me and Lola again. There wasn’t a dry eye on the dock. It was one most amazing things I’ve witnessed as a captain and I owe it all to Lola.
Steel Head
Friday, April 12, 2013
Old Timers Club
I caught nothing, Gus caught a Barracuda, but it was a beautiful day on the water anyway.
I just took the leaning post cushion and live well cushion off to be reupholstered because Pat and I will be doing some fishing on the west coast next week and we will not be using the boat. I'll try to post from there on my phone if we have any luck.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Cape Coral Snook
Find The Happy Face
If you want to know where we saw them just look for the Happy Face.
Monday, April 8, 2013
REDFISH
Friday, April 5, 2013
Snapper and Sheepshead
Hi Dave,
Glad you had a great trip. Now we can get down to fishing for the big ones.
Didn't get a lot of pictures but we did max out twice since you were gone.
Fresh Water Fish
The wind has been terrible the last few days, so windy that it sent a few anglers home after heading to to the back country. Charley is hoping to get out so he can catch a few Snook before he goes back to New Jersey.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
BULL SHARK
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Captain's Trip
Charley excels at catching trout and is known as Mr. Trout around the neighborhood.
Current Bait
When Captain Randall picked up shrimp at the bait shop Captain Troy Mello gave him these items and a seven inch pink bomber lure which we immediately used and caught a Grouper with.
Check Captain Mello out at: www.reelmello.com
Monday, March 25, 2013
Captain Snook
I had the pleasure of fishing with Captain Glenn Warrington this afternoon. We were looking for Redfish but on the second cast of the day I caught this Snook on a yellow jig with a white wiggle tail shad. We did see a few Redfish in the area but could not get into the shallower water.
Captain Glenn is also known as Captain Snook because of his ability to always find the Snook. When Captain Glenn first started spending the winters in the Keys about 10, or 11 years ago he was known as Little Snook Glenn because he had only caught a few small Snook while all the locals were catching the big ones. But in a few short years Captain Glenn surpassed us all in catching big and lots of Snook. He invented the team trolling method for finding them that we all now use.. The other member of his team is his wife Norma who usually is at the controls of the boat, an 18 foot Key West.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
BACK COUNTRY BONANZA
Brian and Ivette Katz fished the back country yesterday with Captain Dave Perkins. Brian caught his first poling Redfish. The Redfish was in the slot at 24 inches, Ivette's trout was 20 inches.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
WOW!!!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Snook Party
Since my friend Charley Best wrote such a nice article on his blog I will post it here.
Snook Party, 2013/St. Patrick's Day
Capt'n Dave and Pat Leahy's Snook Party
Each year, about this time, Pat and Capt''n Dave Leahy host a dinner to commemorate a Snook Contest that was recently held. The grand affair is held at the Leahy's dockside deck and attracts thirty five to forty fishermen and women who have sought the elusive Snook, a fish native to the Florida Keys. This year I was fortunate to receive an invitation to this popular event, however, I was not a contender for the biggest or smallest Snook caught, I never even saw one this year.
The party started at 4:00 in the afternoon with appetizers and cocktails, each guest was requested to bring a dish to the party, to be shared with the other guests. My contribution was a Potato Salad, my mother's recipe, and a fine batch of homemade Almond Brittle. I am proud to say that the Brittle did not last long, it seemed to be quite popular as it disappeared within minutes after it was placed on the desert table. After the appetizer and cocktail hour came an array of great Entrees that different individuals brought. There was Corned Beef and Cabbage (St. Patrick's Day), Battered Snapper, Popcorn Shrimp, assorted Casseroles to name just a few, more food than you could imagine. Now it was time for desert, Homemade Cookies, Brownies, Cakes and my Almond Brittle, treats that satisfied even the most discriminating sweet tooth.
The Party now turned to the Master of Ceremonies, Capt;n Dave to recognize those who were fortunate enough to catch a Snook and if you were the one who caught the biggest, you were rewarded with one of the great prizes that adorned the awards table. One problem, with so many gifts to give out for the Snook catchers, only three Snook were actually caught during the whole contest. Capt'n Dave, the consumate MC, now had to be more creative than ever in his award presentations, party goers, who never expected to go home with an award, were now given their choice of one of the great prizes that were left on the table. Everyone was a winner tonight.
The evening ended on a very posiive note, the food was great, prizes were terrific, everyone was happy and the Hosts were the best. I can't wait until next year, I hope I get invited back and especially hope that there is a price winning snook in my future.
The following Slideshow contains pictures that were taken at last night's Party, the music is Irish, after all is was St. Patrick's Day. Look for the one picture that shows that Capt'n Dave is truly Irish clear down to his Butt.
Mobile
http://youtu.be/8NOW6p2P_5w
REDS AND SPECS
Bottom: Brian Savage
Jeff and Brian fished the back country yesterday with Captain Dave Perkins and caught both of these fish in one foot of water.
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