Sugarloaf Key 05/17-19/2007
Posted: May 21st, 2007, 9:14 pm
My loving wife made special arrangement for me to spend a couple of days in Key West Florida to do a little fishing. We have vacationed in the Keys in the past, but I never have done any serious fishing down there. The condo was on the water and slept four and I needed some running mates to join me on this epic quest. I had to think of how to invite those that could join me on this little adventure. I decided the best payback is payback in it's self, meaning the format for choosing was those that have taken Chalk fishing. I made a list and started at the top; I got to number 4 on the list and had 3 takers filling my quota of fishermen. The takers would include Birddog, Barhopr and Tincan (for senior citizen discounts).
For weeks we read articles and made calls looking for a marina to launch from, what tackle to use, what species to target and where to eat. Lady Luck placed me in south Florida a month out from the trip and I was able to do some scratching and sniffing around. I stopped at Sugarloaf Marina and was able to secure wet slips and trailer storage for the boats.
Day One:
Wednesday May 16th – Two trucks with boats in tow leave Tallahassee at 4:00 a.m. heading south. Little did I know that Tincan the senior of the group was interested in setting land speed records with boats in tow. I had secured a Sunpass for the trip down the turnpike, but Tincan did not, stating something about it wouldn't make much difference. This actually worked out to our (Me & Birddog) benefit; it gave us something to giggle about when we blew through on the Sunpass lane. A few times we would call stating where you at and getting a good laugh. Then we would see this little white speck on the rear view mirror as Tincan was dropping the hammer trying to catch up with us, which he did. As soon as he caught us there was another toll plaza, which made us giggle again.
Then there was Tincan's blue tooth, we giggled at that as well.
We ended up making it to Key Largo somewhere near 1:00 in the afternoon, stopping at for lunch. I went and looked at my trailer tire to find that the new tire on the passenger side was missing some tread on the outside. I remembered a trailer place on down the road a few miles, so I decided to head down that way after lunch. We arrive at "the place" and get greeted by a nice professional type, telling him we have a slight issue and were wondering if he would take a look, which he does. He looks at the tire and says, "You have an alignment issue." I'm thinking this guy is brilliant; the whole time I thought it was the boat color. He states this next, "You're on vacation right?"
At that moment I felt my rear orifice getting lubed. 
He says take the boat off the trailer and bring it back. I ask, "How much is this going to run?" He states, "I don't know, I charge $80 an hour, whatever it takes." 
At that moment, I felt my already lubed rear orifice getting sandpapered with some 60 grit and alcohol. I say okay, we will be back and leave. I'm driving down the road and the gears are turning. We decide to take the tire and flip it on the rim, that cost me $10 and come back home to have it looked at. Which I have made some calls and done some investigation after getting home, it looks like the trailer is fine, it's a tire thing, combination of a bias-ply tire, tire pressure and high speed traveling.
Back to the trip....we launch the boats at Sugarloaf Marina, tie them off, and secure the trailers. We head to the condo looking to get out of the vehicles and chill out with a few adult beverages. We head to Chico's for a nice dinner and then we went over towards Mallory Square to visit the $altwater Angler. We then head back to the condo to plan out the next day's adventure.
Day Two:
We wake up and head for the Marina around 6:30 or so...load the boats and head off in separate directions...We started out investigating mangrove keys on the gulf side. We find that there are a lot of mangrove snapper, barracudas and sharks to keep you entertained. I hooked into a nice mangrove that I successfully keep out of the mangroves only to be sawed in half by a shark.
Birddog finds a nice Barracuda.
We then have a double on Jack's.
We work the whole area pretty good only seeing snapper, cuda's and shark's mainly, we are trying to find a tarpon and not having much luck.
We get near a mangrove island and Birddog see's a pod of tarpon surface, we think that is a positive sign...we end up fishing a nice sand flat flanked by two deep channels...we drift over to one of the channels and Birddog sees some tarpon roll, so we ease over with the trolling motor...I'm pitching a white jerk bait, looking around taking the scenery, and look down to a nice tarpon swatting at my lure....I think I snatched it away from it
We keep chunking and winding...Birddog calls Tincan and Barhopr and tells them we found some fish...they are on the way...I believe Birddog hooks up before they arrive and it comes off and then he hooks up again...Tincan and Barhopr show up....We see the fish working out in front of the boat...I hook up and the fight is on...I forget to mention that we are fighting sea monsters with BB guns....I was armed with a Shimano Curado, twelve pound line, 20 pound leader on a Marsh master rod at this moment....We chase the fish down a few times....We realize we don't have gloves or much knowledge on boating one of these things...We finally get the fish in the boat with a lot of luck and some south jawja ingenuity. Here you have my first tarpon
We couldn't find the pod again after we released the fish.... We ended up easing over to another place and finding some more mangroves...We fished for a few hours more and called it a day around 5:00. We had a late supper and planed our adventure for the next day.
Day Three:
Tincan and Barhopr decided to get after them early the next day and left the house around 5:00 in the morning...Me and Birddog took our time and got our stuff ready and headed to the marina. We decided to visit the Atlantic side today....we ran through some cool looking mangrove channels and popped out onto the Atlantic side and headed east. We start working a flat looking for the elusive silver king...We soon see a pod surface and ease into that direction....We soon start seeing a lot of tarpon swimming by the boat. Birddog hooks up on several fish that shake loose real quick or break off...We chase these fish for a long time chunking mirrolures and various crank baits at them. We move to the back side of the island. The flat looks like what I would call a bonefish flat clear water and nice looking bottom. Birddog has switched to a Fairwaters Tackle jig looking for a bonefish....All of a sudden the water near the boat erupts into a big boil/splash...I see Birddogs rod bent over, a yellow stream of something running down his leg and he was saying "crank the boat, this a Stradic 2500" I crank the boat and chase the fish down…It's hooked perfectly…The fish makes a few good runs, we get it by the boat and then the line decides to break. We go back to chunking and winding and looking, in a few minutes Birddogs line starts ripping by the boat…All I saw was a small silver flash…I say what do you have as his drag is screaming…Birddog says he doesn't know…I say I think you have a bonefish, sure enough he gets the fish to the boat and it's a nice 6 lb bonefish…We take a few pictures and let it go…Not a bad first bonefish Birddog (I was jealous )
Birddog's 6 pounder
We continue to fish around this flat getting harassed by the barracudas and seeing a few more tarpon but no takers…I decide to try a buck tail jig for awhile…second cast and something gives me a good thump and races to the right…A couple of good runs later I have my first bonefish in the boat…it weighed 5 lbs on the boga.
Chalk's 5 pounder
We fish around some more picking a few more fish, Birddog picked up a nice yellowtail snapper and I got a nice cuda.
We fish around some more and decide to make some breeze, get some fuel and head back to where we caught the tarpon yesterday. We fish down the channel edge, looking for any signs of tarpon…Birddog looks behind the boat and says there's a tarpon sitting behind the boat reading the numbers on my prop …It left as quick as it appeared….We keep fishing…I see something flash by my plug and Birddog hooks up with a jack, then something thumps me hard and starts taking drag…We chase it down…it takes off…no jumps, hmmmm….slow steady drag pulling straight from the boat…can't be a shark, it's not doing circles….we finally chase it onto a shallow flat and it's a shark…I break it off and call it a day.
We arrive back at the marina and secure the boat and head to the condo…We had dinner, made plans for the next day and retired for the evening.
Day Four:
Tincan and Barhopr are ready to go, but Birddog and myself aren't, so they head to the ramp…We gather our stuff up and head that way, stopping for ice and allowing Birddog to talk to the local roosters …A few miles from the marina my cell phone rings…It's Tincan, he says . "Where are you?" I say, "On the way, why?" Tincan says, "Somebody has been plundering in the boats." I arrived at the marina to see my console opened up and stuff on the boat floor. Tincan's registration was on the floor of his boat and some pliers and knives were missing. I didn't have anything missing just felt a little violated. I do consider the ordeal a lucky one on our part. We informed the marina and they said they normally take them out in the bay and either leave them or run them into the mangroves. Next time they will have to find my secret ignition kill switch and bypass the alarm, sorry jackazzes. We got the boat ready and headed off to where we were fishing yesterday.
West coast baby
We arrive at the flat…The fish would wake across this flat heading to deeper water, that's how we looked for most of them…It wasn't long before I see a wake real close to the boat…I pitch a Shedog in the path and twitch it towards the boat….it's four foot from the boat…I think dam where did they go…hmmm…then a two foot hole forms around my lure and the lure disappears…then a large beast comes out of the water…shaking violently, back down, then up again, down, then up again and the line breaks. This all happened in about 3 seconds…I think I froze, I know my Hanes needed some Clorox…I was shaking for an hour after that 5 second mêlée…I'm hooked now, I got silver king fever.
We end up catching another big cuda, never saw the tarpon like the day before…we moved back to the bonefish flat and chase a few tarpon…I see a fin along the bank…I'm thinking tarpon…I see a shadow come out of a hole, towards the boat, but it's short…hmmm, bonefish maybe…It turns to the right, holy sheet…Permit…nothing tied on for one and the long pole is put up…it swims off ignoring our offerings, but we did see one.
Another big cuda
We decide to move to another key, not much in good looking bottom…Tincan calls, he is ready to call it a day…we idle through our flat and only see two tarpon…head on in…Birddog backs the trailer in and we load up and head to the condo to illegally park the boat in the parking lot (we got in trouble, some jackazz complained)…But I figure a complaint was better than a stolen boat.
Tincan is lucky we didn't have any redhots handy
We get cleaned up and head to the No Name Pub in Big Pine Key…Noted for their pizza's, but my cohorts in crime order hamburgers , I ordered the shrimp pizza and it was good, not as good as the Big Kahuna's, but good. We head back to the condo and get ready for the road trip back.
Day Five:
We get up at 5:00 and pack our stuff and head out at 5:45…Stopping in Key Largo for fuel…We hit the turnpike and started sunpass'n Tincan and Barhopr, playing cat and mouse with them all the way back to Tallahassee…Me and Birddog took a short cut and beat'm back to Tincan's house.
It was a heck of trip, I'm ready to go back and do some serious battle with them silver monsters…Appreciate Birddog, Tincan and Barhopr for coming to play and my wife for letting us play.
Can't wait til next time
For weeks we read articles and made calls looking for a marina to launch from, what tackle to use, what species to target and where to eat. Lady Luck placed me in south Florida a month out from the trip and I was able to do some scratching and sniffing around. I stopped at Sugarloaf Marina and was able to secure wet slips and trailer storage for the boats.
Day One:
Wednesday May 16th – Two trucks with boats in tow leave Tallahassee at 4:00 a.m. heading south. Little did I know that Tincan the senior of the group was interested in setting land speed records with boats in tow. I had secured a Sunpass for the trip down the turnpike, but Tincan did not, stating something about it wouldn't make much difference. This actually worked out to our (Me & Birddog) benefit; it gave us something to giggle about when we blew through on the Sunpass lane. A few times we would call stating where you at and getting a good laugh. Then we would see this little white speck on the rear view mirror as Tincan was dropping the hammer trying to catch up with us, which he did. As soon as he caught us there was another toll plaza, which made us giggle again.
Then there was Tincan's blue tooth, we giggled at that as well.
We ended up making it to Key Largo somewhere near 1:00 in the afternoon, stopping at for lunch. I went and looked at my trailer tire to find that the new tire on the passenger side was missing some tread on the outside. I remembered a trailer place on down the road a few miles, so I decided to head down that way after lunch. We arrive at "the place" and get greeted by a nice professional type, telling him we have a slight issue and were wondering if he would take a look, which he does. He looks at the tire and says, "You have an alignment issue." I'm thinking this guy is brilliant; the whole time I thought it was the boat color. He states this next, "You're on vacation right?"
At that moment I felt my rear orifice getting lubed. He says take the boat off the trailer and bring it back. I ask, "How much is this going to run?" He states, "I don't know, I charge $80 an hour, whatever it takes." At that moment, I felt my already lubed rear orifice getting sandpapered with some 60 grit and alcohol. I say okay, we will be back and leave. I'm driving down the road and the gears are turning. We decide to take the tire and flip it on the rim, that cost me $10 and come back home to have it looked at. Which I have made some calls and done some investigation after getting home, it looks like the trailer is fine, it's a tire thing, combination of a bias-ply tire, tire pressure and high speed traveling.Back to the trip....we launch the boats at Sugarloaf Marina, tie them off, and secure the trailers. We head to the condo looking to get out of the vehicles and chill out with a few adult beverages. We head to Chico's for a nice dinner and then we went over towards Mallory Square to visit the $altwater Angler. We then head back to the condo to plan out the next day's adventure.
Day Two:
We wake up and head for the Marina around 6:30 or so...load the boats and head off in separate directions...We started out investigating mangrove keys on the gulf side. We find that there are a lot of mangrove snapper, barracudas and sharks to keep you entertained. I hooked into a nice mangrove that I successfully keep out of the mangroves only to be sawed in half by a shark.
Birddog finds a nice Barracuda.
We then have a double on Jack's.
We work the whole area pretty good only seeing snapper, cuda's and shark's mainly, we are trying to find a tarpon and not having much luck.
We get near a mangrove island and Birddog see's a pod of tarpon surface, we think that is a positive sign...we end up fishing a nice sand flat flanked by two deep channels...we drift over to one of the channels and Birddog sees some tarpon roll, so we ease over with the trolling motor...I'm pitching a white jerk bait, looking around taking the scenery, and look down to a nice tarpon swatting at my lure....I think I snatched it away from it
We keep chunking and winding...Birddog calls Tincan and Barhopr and tells them we found some fish...they are on the way...I believe Birddog hooks up before they arrive and it comes off and then he hooks up again...Tincan and Barhopr show up....We see the fish working out in front of the boat...I hook up and the fight is on...I forget to mention that we are fighting sea monsters with BB guns....I was armed with a Shimano Curado, twelve pound line, 20 pound leader on a Marsh master rod at this moment....We chase the fish down a few times....We realize we don't have gloves or much knowledge on boating one of these things...We finally get the fish in the boat with a lot of luck and some south jawja ingenuity. Here you have my first tarponWe couldn't find the pod again after we released the fish.... We ended up easing over to another place and finding some more mangroves...We fished for a few hours more and called it a day around 5:00. We had a late supper and planed our adventure for the next day.
Day Three:
Tincan and Barhopr decided to get after them early the next day and left the house around 5:00 in the morning...Me and Birddog took our time and got our stuff ready and headed to the marina. We decided to visit the Atlantic side today....we ran through some cool looking mangrove channels and popped out onto the Atlantic side and headed east. We start working a flat looking for the elusive silver king...We soon see a pod surface and ease into that direction....We soon start seeing a lot of tarpon swimming by the boat. Birddog hooks up on several fish that shake loose real quick or break off...We chase these fish for a long time chunking mirrolures and various crank baits at them. We move to the back side of the island. The flat looks like what I would call a bonefish flat clear water and nice looking bottom. Birddog has switched to a Fairwaters Tackle jig looking for a bonefish....All of a sudden the water near the boat erupts into a big boil/splash...I see Birddogs rod bent over, a yellow stream of something running down his leg and he was saying "crank the boat, this a Stradic 2500" I crank the boat and chase the fish down…It's hooked perfectly…The fish makes a few good runs, we get it by the boat and then the line decides to break. We go back to chunking and winding and looking, in a few minutes Birddogs line starts ripping by the boat…All I saw was a small silver flash…I say what do you have as his drag is screaming…Birddog says he doesn't know…I say I think you have a bonefish, sure enough he gets the fish to the boat and it's a nice 6 lb bonefish…We take a few pictures and let it go…Not a bad first bonefish Birddog (I was jealous
)Birddog's 6 pounder
We continue to fish around this flat getting harassed by the barracudas and seeing a few more tarpon but no takers…I decide to try a buck tail jig for awhile…second cast and something gives me a good thump and races to the right…A couple of good runs later I have my first bonefish in the boat…it weighed 5 lbs on the boga.
Chalk's 5 pounder
We fish around some more picking a few more fish, Birddog picked up a nice yellowtail snapper and I got a nice cuda.
We fish around some more and decide to make some breeze, get some fuel and head back to where we caught the tarpon yesterday. We fish down the channel edge, looking for any signs of tarpon…Birddog looks behind the boat and says there's a tarpon sitting behind the boat reading the numbers on my prop
…It left as quick as it appeared….We keep fishing…I see something flash by my plug and Birddog hooks up with a jack, then something thumps me hard and starts taking drag…We chase it down…it takes off…no jumps, hmmmm….slow steady drag pulling straight from the boat…can't be a shark, it's not doing circles….we finally chase it onto a shallow flat and it's a shark…I break it off and call it a day.We arrive back at the marina and secure the boat and head to the condo…We had dinner, made plans for the next day and retired for the evening.
Day Four:
Tincan and Barhopr are ready to go, but Birddog and myself aren't, so they head to the ramp…We gather our stuff up and head that way, stopping for ice and allowing Birddog to talk to the local roosters
…A few miles from the marina my cell phone rings…It's Tincan, he says . "Where are you?" I say, "On the way, why?" Tincan says, "Somebody has been plundering in the boats." I arrived at the marina to see my console opened up and stuff on the boat floor. Tincan's registration was on the floor of his boat and some pliers and knives were missing. I didn't have anything missing just felt a little violated. I do consider the ordeal a lucky one on our part. We informed the marina and they said they normally take them out in the bay and either leave them or run them into the mangroves. Next time they will have to find my secret ignition kill switch and bypass the alarm, sorry jackazzes. We got the boat ready and headed off to where we were fishing yesterday. West coast baby
We arrive at the flat…The fish would wake across this flat heading to deeper water, that's how we looked for most of them…It wasn't long before I see a wake real close to the boat…I pitch a Shedog in the path and twitch it towards the boat….it's four foot from the boat…I think dam where did they go…hmmm…then a two foot hole forms around my lure and the lure disappears…then a large beast comes out of the water…shaking violently, back down, then up again, down, then up again and the line breaks. This all happened in about 3 seconds…I think I froze, I know my Hanes needed some Clorox…I was shaking for an hour after that 5 second mêlée…I'm hooked now, I got silver king fever.
We end up catching another big cuda, never saw the tarpon like the day before…we moved back to the bonefish flat and chase a few tarpon…I see a fin along the bank…I'm thinking tarpon…I see a shadow come out of a hole, towards the boat, but it's short…hmmm, bonefish maybe…It turns to the right, holy sheet…Permit…nothing tied on for one and the long pole is put up…it swims off ignoring our offerings, but we did see one.
Another big cuda
We decide to move to another key, not much in good looking bottom…Tincan calls, he is ready to call it a day…we idle through our flat and only see two tarpon…head on in…Birddog backs the trailer in and we load up and head to the condo to illegally park the boat in the parking lot (we got in trouble, some jackazz complained)…But I figure a complaint was better than a stolen boat.
Tincan is lucky we didn't have any redhots handy
We get cleaned up and head to the No Name Pub in Big Pine Key…Noted for their pizza's, but my cohorts in crime order hamburgers
, I ordered the shrimp pizza and it was good, not as good as the Big Kahuna's, but good. We head back to the condo and get ready for the road trip back.Day Five:
We get up at 5:00 and pack our stuff and head out at 5:45…Stopping in Key Largo for fuel…We hit the turnpike and started sunpass'n Tincan and Barhopr, playing cat and mouse with them all the way back to Tallahassee…Me and Birddog took a short cut and beat'm back to Tincan's house.
It was a heck of trip, I'm ready to go back and do some serious battle with them silver monsters…Appreciate Birddog, Tincan and Barhopr for coming to play and my wife for letting us play.
Can't wait til next time
