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More Fishing and Boating

• On the Hook: Be ready — and grateful — for what you get
• Collier, Lee among Top 10 most dangerous boating areas
• Anglers Outlook: The best bait to catch those huge tarpon

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“Jeez, dad aren’t we ever gonna see any action” was the lament of nine year old Jason, as we sat at anchor, chumming the water with everything imaginable and soaking multiple baits waiting for a tarpon strike.

That projectable reaction began several weeks earlier with a phone call from Jason’s dad inquiring about a charter for he and his son. He wanted his boy to catch a tarpon. Dad had caught one a few years back at Boca Grande and he categorized the event as the “pinnacle event in his fishing life.” Now he wanted his son to do the same. Sort of a right of passage.

Dad went deaf when I tried to explain the tedious event that tarpon fishing is to youngsters. They want action. Never mind what it is, they want it squirming on their line every 30 seconds. If it’s big that’s OK but if it’s small that’s OK, too.

We never did have any tarpon action that morning. A disappointing event for a youngster but hopefully one that won’t taint him about the great sportfishing experience.

That overmatch of fishing situation versus angling skill happens all to often. Folks get mesmerized by the ease of the catch on the Sport Channel fishing shows or enticed by the news accounts of the big catches in their local newspaper.

That tarpon outing was certainly one that unnecessarily showered disappointment all over that nine year old but there are other examples that point to matching skill with situation.

This one happened just recently. Got a phone call one evening from a dad from up there in the frigid Midwest asking lots of questions about a charter for his family. “Where do you fish? Is it rough water? Do you always catch fish? What kinds? How big are they? Etc.

I basically tried to explain that fishing here was dependent on conditions (good tide, clear water, favorable water temperature) but that we usually did fine on keeping the kids engaged and taking a enough home for dinner.

He wanted to think it over but called back in a day or two and booked a trip.

I didn’t hear any more from this family until a week before the scheduled trip.

“Captain, this is John Smith (fictitious). Sorry, we’re going to have to cancel our trip with you.”

“That’s OK, John. But can you tell me why?”

“Well, we found a site on-line, Pinocchio Charters, that has a daily report on their catch. Yesterday the 20 people on the boat caught 245 fish. That’s the kind of action we’re looking for” was John’s descriptive response.

Never talk down a competitor.” Great, John. No problem in cancelling your trip. Have a great time” was offered with tongue-in-cheek.

Never another thought until John called back just a day or so ago.

“On an outside chance, captain – do you have any charter slots open from now till Sunday?”

“What happened, John?”

John recounted the trip with 20 plus other folks that went offshore in rather rough conditions and fishing became secondary to being terribly seasick. The “regulars” were a bunch of old guys who hogged the best spots and used special baits that they brought onboard with them. The rest of the anglers just hung on for dear life.

The people who could fish did catch a lot of fish but most were non-edible like blue runners and undersize snapper. John classified it as a “bummer” of an experience.

Unfortunately, I had no charter slots available and thus, save their hooking up with someone else, their fishing adventure ended like a dud. Too bad!

The last example of angling skill not matching the situation was much the same. Again it was a family with a testosterone rich father wanting to engage his young sons in a macho fishing experience.

Explaining that the fishing was just great on smaller pompano, mackerel and bluefish fell on this father’s deaf ears. “I want my sons to experience the thrill of a snook or a redfish catch. You can leave that little stuff behind.”

So off we went. Turning our backs on a terrific pompano bite at the Capri Pass and wandering up into the backcountry with live bait looking for a longshot.

We set up on locations where the incoming current flowed past obvious piscatorial ambush spots, hooked on nice thread herring and set up for casting right up against the mangroves.

Again, the macho spirit was evident. When I tried to cast for the kids, El Papa protested, “let them do it; they must learn.”

For the next hour, I pulled their errant casts out of trees, shrubs, bushes and various parts of the boat. With nary a strike of any sort, the interest level of the kids was waning very quickly.

But El Papa did not relent. He persisted that the boys continue the quest much to their dismay.

Finally, with but an hour or so to go on the charter and having no success on snook and redfish in the backwater, El Papa recounted with a “take them where they can catch some fish.”

We headed back to the Capri Pass and the spirits of the kids lifted immediately. The energy level eroded by the “big fish in the backwater” quest returned with a bang as we hit the Pass and handed each of the kids a rig set up with a tipped jig.

Unfortunately the pompano had vacated the premises by the time we got there but, most excitingly for the kids, they were replaced by tenacious large ladyfish.

The last hour of their trip was filled with shouts, yelps and laughter as the boys caught ladyfish with a few bluefish mixed in until their arms ached. They were all smiles as we headed for home.

“Maybe the big snook and redfish can wait a couple more years” rumbled the now content El Papa. Ditto for the tarpon and Pinocchio Charters.

Species In The Spotlight

Name: Red Grouper

In season: Year around but likes water of 66 to 77 degrees.

Florida regulations: Two per person per day in the Gulf as included in the five per person per day overall bag limit. Note: Federal Regulations for catches in federal waters (nine miles offshore) limits the red grouper to one per day in the 5 per person overall bag limit.

Habitat: Likes hard bottom found on nearshore artificial reefs and wrecks and offshore on hard bottom. Spawns in April and May and have a lifespan of at least 25 years. Legendary table fare.

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Capt. Bill Walsh owns an established Marco Island charter fishing business and holds a current U.S. Coast Guard license. Send comments or questions to dawnpatrolcharters@compuserve.com.