Sharkman Birthday Trip
Posted: July 15th, 2007, 12:35 am
Took Sharkman out of Econfina this morning for an inshore/near-shore birthday trip. Could see some clouds from the river but water was nice, making for a beautiful sunrise.
Once we hit the outer edge of the mouth, the water was a bit more choppy and we could see by the look of the clouds ringing the bay that rain might be likely in the near future
The questionable weather kept us in the 6' to 10' depths but the action was fair. Being Sharkman's b-day I caught baitfish while he fished for game fish. Using a pinfish floated via cajun thunder behind the boat, Sharkman had a fun fight on light tackle against a big bluefish weighing in somewhere between 3 to 4 pounds. Sharkman also caught a small shark, keeping his bulletin board signature name earned
We hopped around between rain and lightning to keep the day going and got three big surprises. One was a summer grouper in a bit closer than we expected
Granted he was a little short but wasn't out far at all.
Second biggest surprise came when Sharkman pointed to something in the distance he was concerned might be a struggling craft or person... from a distance it looked like we were seeing a bright metal object so we quickly boated over to make sure all was ok. Lo and behold, it's a set of freaking aged BIRTHDAY balloons !!!
Sharkman got a real kick out of the balloons and repeatedly joked that I must have worked out some secret plan with his wife to float them out there just for him on his special day 
The balloons might have been the biggest surprise of the day if not for a 30 minute fight with a big cobe at days end We were eying a storm that pretty much drove sensible folks in after lunchtime and questioning our sanity for casting lines from my t-top lightning rod, when Sharkman's line began to sing!
About a half hour later the birthday meal is in the boat, the edge of the nasty storm is directly over our heads, and we're off to the races! Sharkman and I usually fish alternating Friday's due to our schedule and we both were surprised at the volume of Saturday scallopers at Econfina (we both knew St. Marks grew nuts but hadn't yet seen it at Econfina). Crazy at the ramp, with a small flotilla pulled up against the rocks debating whether or not to wait out the rain and about 10 other boats (all of dramatically differing sizes) weaving and dancing in circles around one another at the dock. Really was a lucky day for Sharkman, as within minutes of loading up, the heavens REALLY opened up and delivered some blessed rain.
Hope the birthday was a memorable one for you Sharkman, and that you have many more ahead.
Once we hit the outer edge of the mouth, the water was a bit more choppy and we could see by the look of the clouds ringing the bay that rain might be likely in the near future
The questionable weather kept us in the 6' to 10' depths but the action was fair. Being Sharkman's b-day I caught baitfish while he fished for game fish. Using a pinfish floated via cajun thunder behind the boat, Sharkman had a fun fight on light tackle against a big bluefish weighing in somewhere between 3 to 4 pounds. Sharkman also caught a small shark, keeping his bulletin board signature name earned
We hopped around between rain and lightning to keep the day going and got three big surprises. One was a summer grouper in a bit closer than we expected
Granted he was a little short but wasn't out far at all.Second biggest surprise came when Sharkman pointed to something in the distance he was concerned might be a struggling craft or person... from a distance it looked like we were seeing a bright metal object so we quickly boated over to make sure all was ok. Lo and behold, it's a set of freaking aged BIRTHDAY balloons !!!
Sharkman got a real kick out of the balloons and repeatedly joked that I must have worked out some secret plan with his wife to float them out there just for him on his special day The balloons might have been the biggest surprise of the day if not for a 30 minute fight with a big cobe at days end
We were eying a storm that pretty much drove sensible folks in after lunchtime and questioning our sanity for casting lines from my t-top lightning rod, when Sharkman's line began to sing! About a half hour later the birthday meal is in the boat, the edge of the nasty storm is directly over our heads, and we're off to the races! Sharkman and I usually fish alternating Friday's due to our schedule and we both were surprised at the volume of Saturday scallopers at Econfina (we both knew St. Marks grew nuts but hadn't yet seen it at Econfina). Crazy at the ramp, with a small flotilla pulled up against the rocks debating whether or not to wait out the rain and about 10 other boats (all of dramatically differing sizes) weaving and dancing in circles around one another at the dock. Really was a lucky day for Sharkman, as within minutes of loading up, the heavens REALLY opened up and delivered some blessed rain.
Hope the birthday was a memorable one for you Sharkman, and that you have many more ahead.
