Adventure Fishing

Every trip out onto the waters of Cedar Key Florida is an adventure in itself. I took folks out fishing during the week of July 7th through July 12th. Each trip had a special exciting point to it. Fishing was good each trip and everyone took home fresh fillets to have for dinner. Mackerel and speckled trout are all over the shallow `flats` feeding off the grassy bottom and the schooling bait fishes. Fishing is `fast and furious` (where have I heard that before?) You don`t have to have much patience fishing in an area called Kris Knox. It`s a shallow grassy sandy area about 3 miles away from Cedar Key. It`s a nursery for fish. Small fishes living down in the grass on the bottom. As the tide comes in schools of bait fish swarm in and around, and larger predator fish come in to feed on all the fish.

The water has been calm and smooth all week and the visibility excellent. As you glide over 3 to 4 feet of water you can see many species swimming back and forth. On one trip as we motored along there was a big splash and swirl alongside and I pulled back the throttle to coast over the clear white sandy spot and there were 2 Tarpon cruising side by side. They looked like missles in flight. I shifted to neutral and shut off the engine. By now everyone was standing and looking over the side. There were large Sting Rays scooting across the bright bottom. We looked forward and we all saw this very large Shark slowly wiggling thru the area looking like it was searching for something special. He may have been a Bull shark. He was definitely the biggest boy in the neighborhood. We floated there observing all the action and interaction of all the ocean animals and then slowly motored away. As we left the sandy area a big Cobia swam under the pontoons and came out at the bow end.

Time was long and we were hot and sunburned and everyone had `fishwrist`. (You know, when your wrist is sore from reeling in all those fish.) Check out some pictures from this past week: Theres` Bobbie with a 17in. trout she snatched up and her grandson Hunter with his trout. From another trip Audra and daughter Shannon hold up their dinner trout. When I arrived back at the doc last Wednesday I saw a small pontoon boat (18 feet) tying up to the dock. A man aboard said he had been offshore in the pontoon and had caught some huge fish from the short platform of a boat. Anthony Pugliese of Gainesville Florida showed me several large fishes he and his friends had captured out in 25 to 30 feet of ocean. Heres a picture of Anthony`s friend Carl Carrillo holding a 48 inch cobia he wrestled up from the depths and maneuvered over so Anthony could bring it aboard.

Folks, it`s the stormy season and theres rain and windy conditions around but if you can find a window of weather to get out in the fishin` is great. I`m going tomorrow early and hope to get out and back before the afternoon showers catch us. If you and your group would like to go, call me at 352-221-5463 and we`ll find a good day to have our own adventure.

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