St. Petersburg • Clearwater 2009 - (Page 60) continued from page 58 Wild 1 with a sign in the stern: “Looking for two for five hours Thursday. I called ” the number, and we were booked. Meet at the boat at 6:45 a.m. Since the Wild 1 was only a block from our hotel, we walked over and were still early. Our fellow fishermen – a dentist from Nashville and a young couple from Ohio – soon joined us, and we were underway. The plan was to head out to a reef about 15 miles offshore and troll, hoping for king mackerel. Almost as soon as the lures were in the water, the hookups began. But it was Spanish mackerel, the small cousin to the much larger and more powerful kings. The Spanish were plentiful, and within an hour or so, we were actually getting tired catching them. The first mate reloaded our tackle with bigger lures, including ballyhoo and even one of our smaller Spanish mackerel. The action slacked off quickly. Not everything swimming out there was big enough – or brave enough – to tackle our big baits. But then something slammed the trolled mackerel, and the fight was on! Pretty soon a big barracuda was beside the boat. A few minutes later my reel started screaming. The captain slowed the boat and the fish and the old man began their battle. The fish would take some line, I’d take some back. The tug of water continued Mullet are a favorite food of the redfish that inhabit the St. Pete/Clearwater area waters. for nearly 10 minutes, and I thought I was making some progress. Then suddenly, the line went slack. Somehow the big fish on the other end – probably a very nice king mackerel – had slipped the hook. Back at the dock, I looked mournfully at the stack of Spanish mackerel awaiting the filet knife. Had I been home, I would have put some on the grill that night and done a few more filets in a soy sauce braise, then arisen early the next morning to stack some more filets in my smoker. After two days of being up early, Jane and I were looking for something a little more laid back for our third day of fishing. As Jane slept in and the sun rose in the east, I was out on Pier 60 in Clearwater, just half a block from our hotel, trying to take advantage of the bright floodlights the pier burns all night to attract fish. I was hoping a small snook or a little grouper would be hiding behind a piling looking for an early breakfast (they had to be small, or my light spinning tackle wouldn’t handle them). No such luck. : HARNESSING THE WIND Worried about fuel prices? Learn to sail. There’s nothing like the thrill of turning off the engine and letting the sails catch the wind and drive your boat, the only sound the gurgling of the water passing along the hull. But sailing isn’t as easy as it looks. Before you don that captain’s hat, learn to adjust the sails correctly for any given wind speed and direction – it’s critical not only to getting where you want to go, but to getting there safely. There are several sailing schools in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area that will get you up to speed in a matter of days. Start with basic skills that allow you to charter your own day sailor for a fast turn on the bay. If you like it (you will!), you can take advanced courses that will give you the credentials to charter your own boat for week-long offshore cruises. What could be more relaxing? 60 : It’s a l l a b o u t t h e wa te r
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