A few weeks ago Susan and I took a well needed trip to my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. Before we left Atlanta Susan did some searching online for something for me and my brothers to do while she and my sister-in-laws went shopping. My brother Keith had recommended that we go fishing. I for one was happy to do anything but walk from shop to shop as the ladies discussed the merits of one piece of furniture over another. Susan is redecorating our house and has been looking for a few new small pieces of furniture. During her search for something to keep the guys occupied she came upon a place that rented boats. The thought was that my brothers, Keith (Dude) and Glenn, nephew Cameron, and I would rent a boat and do some fishing. None of us are fisherman by any stretch of the word. I don't know one fish from the other and I definitely don't know what can be kept and what must be thrown back. Florida has a lot of fishing restrictions now. Fishing today is not like I remember it was when we were kids. Back then we kept everything and were proud of it all.
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| My proud grandson Cody fishing in Lake Jackson, GA in 2004 |
And then there's the gear, we don't really have any. I do have a fishing pole. I've had it for about 25 years and I've probably used it twice. I brought it to Florida, just in case, along with my tackle-box which actually does have some stuff in it. It's nothing that one would use for fishing in salt water but together they should provide a few points toward the general maintenance of my "man card". We decided to forego the self-guided tour and opted for a trip with a real guide. My brother Keith made a reservation with
Coastal Fish Charters at Devil's Elbow in Crescent Beach, Florida. It just so happened that he had previously worked with our guide Rob Bennett at Ring Power where Keith still works.
Since we're not serious fisherman and a pre-dawn wake-up call was out of the question we opted for a 1pm launch time. We figured that half a day of rigorous fishing would be all we could stand. The Farmer clan rolled into
Devil's Elbow Fishing Resort south of St. Augustine just a few minutes before 1pm.
Capt. Rob took us to all (I assume) the secret spots in and along the Intracoastal Waterway near Crescent Beach.
Cameron brings in the first Drum of the day.
The Fishin' Farmers
Capt. Rob and Brother Keith (Dude). Keith is smiling on the inside.
Big brother - Big fish!
Three Big Fish!
An egret joined us as Rob filleted the fish.
Mahi was not as much of a social butterfly as one might expect from a lizard.
Before we returned to the dock we came up on a small sea turtle swimming around in one of the coves. I took several pictures of but none of them turned out very well.
The trip was over and I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the day. It wasn't so much the act of catching fish, which I did, but more about spending time with my Bros. I think we'll do it again next year. Maybe we'll make an annual event out of it. I think I'm even gonna buy some new line for my old rig.
Thanks for reading.
