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I spent some time visiting my mom in Key Biscayne this week and I got to fish one day.
Made the long drive from Miami to Riviera Beach to fish with Capt. Lee Egan on board the Sea Horse, a Chesapeake built 42' Markley. I have fished with him many times in the past 10+ years!
It was a nice morning, just a slight chop out in the ocean but storms were predicted for the pm. But we would be back before that.
As I asked some of the crew members if they mind if I lit a cigar...
...they beat me to it.
The big group was from Ohio although one of them grew up in the Riviera Beach area. Good athletes, big guns...some went to college on football scholarships.
Capt. Lee, a New Yawker, is lively. We get along well!
Some of the fishies we caught...
Oh, in the beginning, the guys set up a $10 a man bet for biggest edible fish. The false albacore did not score. They are turrible! Maybe if you were on a stranded island and cooked it on a palm plank...then eat the plank! The fish right above, caught by me, was the eventual winner. It was a slow day of fishing (quality) as we had little or no current.
Some action shots!
Jefferson, a 13 year old budding baseball player (we got along well), actually caught the biggest edible fish but he was not in the contest.
At the end, they all went to pay up and I just could not take the money with such a small fish so we split the winning money between Jefferson and the mate. Two happy guys!
A couple of visitors...
I had a rod built about 8-9 years ago specifically for this kind of fishing as I would get down there twice a year usually to visit our good friends, Mike and Rita. But in 2013, Mike passed away. He LOVED this kind of fishing! I have fished with Lee a couple of times since then but it's not the same. I had the rod with me and wanted to gift it to Lee (and the boat) but he would not take it. He said that the elements would destroy it. I then asked if he know of someone (hopefully, a kid) that could use it and he mentioned that one of the other Captains that runs his boat has a 12 year old son who loves to fish. Bingo! The kid now has a custom (with my name on it) built drift fishing rod/reel set up.
It was bitter sweet as we rode back as I could see Mike and Rita's condo as we headed back...
...and you could see the storms brewing.
And then, for the next 3 hours (twice what it should have taken), I was in and out of this crap...
...50mph winds and sometimes I could only do 10-15mph on the highway. Could not see a thing! Lots of palm branches littering the road.
I did have a couple of very nice meals while in the Miami area.
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Thanks for sharing Ernie, great pics...love how they beat you to lighting up a stick, the split winnings, and the rod gift. Good karma for you!
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What a great trip and report! Lots of good there. I will miss my FL trips and the fishing. May do it again, but will be different with dad gone.
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Great report!
Good for you for sharing the pot with the kid and mate and gifting a rod.
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