I'm a gonna fishin 'cause everybody's fishing, And I'm a gonna fishing too

So when I arrived in Florida I was informed by my sister and her boyfriend that we would be going fishing the next day. I have to admit that I was not the most excited person when I heard this. You see I haven't really fished in about 20 years. I use to go out with my Pa and uncle Erkki and it was a lot of fun, but I guess I wasn't as in to fishing as most Finlanders. Plus I think I got tired of being the bartender during these little trips. But don't get me wrong they were some great memories that I wouldn't trade for anything. However, it is really my sis Aliss who's the real fisherman in the family. I remember her getting a lot of fishing gear at Christmas when we were kids and she and our old man went out fishing quite a bit. So because my sister was looking forward to this opportunity I wasn't going to complain. I mean I am on vacation right? Who knows it could be fun.

I think I got a little more excited about the fishing trip when I was told we would be fishing on a pontoon or party boat. I thought this was great because it would mean a lot more space. I really wasn't looking forward to being crammed into to aluminum boat, but this was completely different. We met up with out lead fisher and captain, Joe.
He was a really great guy and a terrific person to go fishing with. So we loaded up the boat and made our way to the launch. Getting in the boat was easy and I had a comfortable chair so things were already going in the right direction. It wouldn't be too long before the trip was all worth it.

So we made our way out into the Gulf of Mexico and I was impressed with the really nice homes on the water, but we were there for fishing dang it. Focus. Yes fishin'. So like I said I haven't fished in maybe 20 years and when I did we used worms or minnows. This time the bait was a little more fun. We got to use live shrimp. Those buggers were fun to hook because they liked to squirm and jump around a bit. So I hooked my shrimp and dropped it in the water.

So we were trolling and that meant I didn't really have to concentrate too much on the fishing. We were sitting around when we noticed some dolphins gathering around our boat. I decided I wanted to get a picture and stood up leaving the fishing rod between my legs. So I was standing looking to get a shot of the dolphin when all of sudden there is a tug on my line. The line just kept going out and out and out. I had a fish. I couldn't believe it. First time fishing in almost 20 years and I've already got a bite. So I put the camera down and grabbed the rod and started reeling it in. I don't remember how tough it was, but it did take awhile because so much line had been let out and there was a bit of a fight in the fish of course. So I did eventually reel the bad boy in and Holy Mackerel, had a fish to be proud of, a mackerel. Awesome.

Anyway I was pretty happy with myself and could have gone back to shore satisfied with the day of fishing, but I guess the others wanted to catch some fish too. Drew would soon catch his own mackerel and the gang would catch a lot of lady fish. They would give a good fight, but not good for eating, too many bones. So we didn't have too many keepers. We decided to stop trolling and set anchor and eat lunch and do some stationary fishing. That's when the Queen fisherknow as my sister took over. While I was having trouble casting she started depleting the local fish stock. I swear she would bring one fish out, rebait her hook and by the time her cast hit the water another fish was on her line. I think she may have caught as many as 7 fish in less than half an hour. I was a bit jealous, but I mean she knows what she's doing. On the plus side they weren't mackerel, they were a smaller, less attractive fish, so I had that on her. Anyway I bow to Alissa's greatness.

After Aliss drained the cove we were in we went back to trolling and I was able to catch a few more fish. One was a blue fish, which we were able to keep. So I had a great day fishing, lots of fun. I see why people love fishing so much in Florida. In the end I think we brought in about 15 fish in total. We fried them up and they were delicious. What a great day.
So I may not have been all gung-ho to fish, but I'm really glad we did. It rocked. I would love to do it again. So there you have it, salt water fishing from Southwest Florida. Hope you had fun. Coming up, we hit the outlet malls and see what Stephen Spielberg does for fun. So stay tuned as the adventures continue.

Later