Wednesday 2/25/09 - Fishing the Gulf

Chip was invited out today to go fishing with Glen on a friend's boat (Bill Worley), to fish on the gulf side of the Keys for a change. The winds were 15+ out of the East, so fishing the ocean side would have proven to be a bit rocky. The boys headed out about 9:00. Around noon Jeri and I received a phone call from the boys asking if we wanted to go fishing with them for their "second" run! Apparently they had gone out, found the "Triangle" and caught their limit on Mangrove Snapper, came back in to unload and were heading back out. Well of course Jeri and I jumped in the car and headed over. We climbed in the boat and off we went!

Bill went out to the same spot where they fished in the morning. We dropped anchor, put out a chum bag and started fishing. It takes a while for the chum to do its job and attract fish so to help expedite the process, Bill popped the lid on a 5 gal bucket and proceeded to scoop out his "secret" weapon and sprinkle it in the water. This was guaranteed to attract the fish even faster than just chum! Well the immediate attraction was there all right, but it was birds that were gathering, not fish!

Secret ingredient = oats & corn.

We did start catching fish, but nothing like they were earlier in the day. Glen caught Blowfish, or Puffers as they are called, that ballooned up three times their size while he was trying to unhook them and put them back in the water. Funny creatures. He also caught a couple small Catfish, which we tossed back too. Glen did manage to snag a small Snapper before almost hooking his second seagull of the day! The gulls were very smart, I cant tell you how many baits they stole right off our hooks! Jeri caught a small Snapper, but then she had the catch of the afternoon....a huge Mangrove Snapper! You would have thought she had a 400 lb Tuna on the line the way she jumped around and woo hoo'd.....LOL.

We headed back in around 5:00 when the winds started to pick up. After cleaning the boat and the fish (and feeding the pelican's that were hanging around) Bill was kind enough to whip up a batch of Margarita's for us to relax with while we watched the sun go down.

Good day.

Monday 2/23/09 - Happy Birthday Mark!

Today is my son's birthday, so I just wanted to say to him, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK! Love ya & miss ya, Mom

My brother Paul, Melody, my niece Kelley, her hubby Thomas and their friend Heather went to lunch with my son yesterday for his birthday and then they all went bowling! They sent me a photo of them having lunch.....but I still want to know who won the bowling game????? (and why didnt they take more pictures!!)

Sunday 2/22/09 - Cindy's Birthday Fishing Trip!

Today was Cindy's Birthday, so we decided to go fishing (her choice). It was also the first nice fishing day we had had in over a week. So Chip, myself, John, Mel and Cindy left the dock around 8:00. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, very warm (75) and the winds were 10 - 15 out of the Northeast. The seas were 2-4 ft, smaller inside the reef. We set up the rods, lowered the outriggers and started trolling. Within a minute or two we had our first knockdown. It was a nice King Mackerel. We set the lines back out and within another five minutes we had another fish on! John reeled in this one and it was a nice size Cero Mackerel. The water was full of grass patches today, couldn't avoid them so we spent some of the time reeling the lures in to clear the grass from them. About fifteen minutes later....fish on! This time it was Cindy's turn and she reeled in a Little Tunny. Not really good for food value, but makes excellent bait! It wasn't long after that Chip got his turn to catch something, and it turned out to be a Black fin Tuna, enough for Sushi before dinner! We had a few more knockdowns, but no keepers.

After trolling we decided to try out luck bottom fishing. No luck today, so we headed in around 4:00. We planned a cookout for Cindy's birthday around 6:00, so after cleaning up the boat and filleting the fish, Chip and I showered and began preparing food. I made salad and a chipotle cheese ball while Chip got out lobster tails and stone crab claws. We invited some of the friends we made here to join us. John & Debbie brought spinach dip, baked olives (she makes a crust of bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and butter..rolls olives in it then bakes 'em...yummo!), and she made a gorgeous four layered Strawberry Shortcake. Bob & Sue brought Green Bean Casserole and grilled Kielbasa slices, Mel made his famous Baked Beans w/ Rotelle Tomatoes, Glen & Jeri made Gruyere Cheese Potatoes, and Tom stopped by just in time for dinner, as he quite often does. We are thinking of changing his name to Justin Tyme! Chip grilled the lobster tails while everyone started on the stone crab claws and other appetizers. Then we all got down to some serious eating.....saving room for the cake of course! Everything was absolutely wonderful! Now that Ive made you hungry, take a break, run to the kitchen and get a snack.....I'll wait.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY MAE!

February 8 - 11 - Visitors from the Home Port!

On Sunday 2/8/09 our good friends Paul & Jennifer came down to pay us a visit. They were going to the Daytona 500 on 2/15, and decided to head down a little earlier so they could spend some time with us in the Keys. We spent the next four days being thoroughly entertained by these two! Paul's forte is tailgating....grilling....and being an all around funny guy. He backed his big ol' diesel truck up behind our boat, set up his grill and loaded up the prep area beside the grill with his grilling necessities......olive oil, butter, and red pepper flakes, as well as other herbs & spices, utensils and plates. He grilled for the next four nights!

We dined on Shrimp Scampi ala Paul Style (butter, olive oil and garlic....lots of garlic), grilled lobster tails, bacon wrapped scallops, Stone Crab Claws, skewered marinated steak strips, and Paul's own version of pizza, which is grilling pita bread then adding dressing for a base, and adds anything from lobster bits, to hot sausage, to shrimp, along with herbs & spices...DELICIOUS! All the while entertaining us with his quick wit while playing "Barefoot Man" CD's in the background. Jennifer's humor plays off of Paul's, and together they can be quite entertaining. The alluring aroma of the grill traveled through the marina, and soon our friend Cindy, Mel and Tom joined in on the festivities as well.

Paul did take a break from grilling one afternoon, long enough for us all to have lunch at one of the local's favorite places. Key Fisheries is famous for their Lobster Reuben. This is a huge sandwich, served with fries and slaw. Chip and I split the sandwich and ordered a bowl of Shrimp & Grits to go along.....one of the best Ive had! On our way out Jennifer and I stopped to pose for the camera......The sandwich board was barely big enough to hide us after dining the way we had been for the last four days! Ha!

Paul and Jennifer are welcome back here anytime!!!! See you two on the home front!

Thursday 2/5/09 Florida Weather...

No updates this week, it has been too cold (yea I know, waaaaaa, but 58 is cold for here!) and too windy (gusting 30+) everyday to do any fishing, much less cook out on the grill! This morning was one of the coldest so far, people were wandering up and down the dock in winter garb including ski caps, wool scarves, gloves and heavy coats! Boy, for a bunch of northerner's I thought that was pretty funny!

We should get better weather this weekend, and will hopefully get a chance to do some fishing. Enjoy your snow, 30 degree weather and iced over roads................ ;-)

Sunday 2/1/09 Dockside Chili Cook Off

Today Dockside held its 1st annual Chili Cook off / Superbowl party. There were 15 entries in the chili cook off, Chip's famous Menage' Trios Chili was entry #5. Everyone paid $3.00 and were given two tickets, one red and one blue. The red ticket was for your vote for the hottest chili, and the blue was for the best mild chili. They had everything from a greenish chili with black beans and chicken to one that had spaghetti noodles in it and tasted just like Ragu! Overall all the entries were good, none very hot in our opinion, but good.

Since this was Sunday it was open mike, anyone could get up and sing or play with the band. The music ranged from the Hoochie Coochie man singing blues to 70's rock and roll. I tried to include a couple of video's of some of the entertainment for the day, but was not able to, however I am going to set up a photo bug account of some sort and will post the address when I do. The gentleman with the tan shirt & pants and white hair is 91 years old and shows up every Sunday to jam. He plays the trumpet, sings......and tells dirty jokes. There is also a younger guy playing guitar that is quite talented, missed his calling!

Our table was well represented by Bay Point Marina.....Mel was there as well as our friends Rob & Emily (who were down to look at a couple boats), Tom Skansi, and George & Kim (who were on their way to Cuba) as well as some of our new friends here...Clark & Paula, Cindy, John & Debbie and Norman & Nancy. It was a great afternoon.

Later Chip and I wandered over to Glen & Jeri's boat to return their crock pot and ended up staying to watch the Superbowl...........what a game! It was anybody's game until the end.