Because August is such a slow month for the guide business in Florida, it's the perfect month to take time off for other things. I took all but Saturday of this week off, and did some serious work on my web page, and also negotiated a sweet deal with my good friend Craig Wildason of Outboard Motor Connection in Venice.
Craig is the man who has kept me in outboard motors for the past six or seven year, and I've bought several of his motors. I only wish I'd know him years earlier. Most of my regular readers know I bought a second boat back a few months ago. It's a Paradise 21 ft. tunnel hull; the same hull as BarHopp'R I, which was built as a ProCat before the company changed it's name. The new boat has a Yamaha 115 Salt water series motor on it, which is a beautiful motor. But, now that I've gotten used to having the reserve power of a Yamaha 150 on BarHopp'R I, the new boat seems underpowered.
Craig had suggested an interest in the 115, and this week he agreed to trade my new 115 for one of his remanufactured Yamaha 200's. The 200 will go on BarHopp'R I, which is considerably heavier that BarHopp'R II because of the deck design, and the Yamaha 150 will go to BarHopp'R II, which should run great with the extra power and bigger wheel. Craig has agreed to do the swap for a total of $100.
Now, I'm sure there's some consideration in there for the fact that I have been a loyal customer, but folks you just can't beat dealing with Craig Wildason. You should know that he will ship anywhere in the country. So, next time you're in the need of an outboard motor, you might want to give Craig a call at 1-800-889-5435. He builds a great motor, and sure knows how to take care of his customers. He has kept me happy all of this time, and I'll be the first to admit that I expect a lot when I'm the customer, as I think anyone has a right to do. The engine swapping starts later this week.
Saturdays' trip was with Henry "Oszie" Osgood and his good friend Chris Evans, both of San Diego, California. Henry grew up in the area and used to snook fish a lot some thirty years ago. He'd been telling Chris about how great it is, and this was Chris' first snook fishing experience. I was pensive about fishing on a Saturday, as I try to avoid the weekends for obvious reasons, and we had an outgoing tide all morning long. I figured that combo would make things tough. The full high was right at daybreak, which meant that the fish would probably have full tummies from feeding on the incoming tide through the early morning hours.
I elected to fish the flats first while the water was still high, especially since the bite on the Stickbeach has been slow, lately. I figured I'd save the Stickbeach for later in the day when the water was off the flats. We managed a few snook and reds inside until the water started getting skinny, and then headed for the outside.
On the Sticks we had a descent bite for over an hour, and managed a few more snook. The best fish of the day came when Chris battled an 8 pounder to the boat all on his own. As he said, it was his cast, his hookset, and his fight. He was really please with that fish. Both Oszie and Chris missed a lot of fish, and broke off several big ones, but hey, that's snook fishing on the Stickbeach. We finished the day with around 10 snook, 4 or 5 redfish, and a couple of ladies. Oszie and Chris both observed that there were several other boats fishing the sticks, and we didn't see another fish boated while we were there. Hum?
Well, September is here, and things are starting to pop again. I've
still got a few days available to fish if you're headed this direction.
Also, the redfish will be showing up in big numbers any day. Come catch
some.