The morning after.

Some Nice Mutton Snappers we caught in Key West

The dock on the morning after The festivities. The fest culminated in the big Parade last night. The crowds of the week swelled to 70,000 according to the paper. Personally the parade is to crowded. The dock was very slow to come to life. Fantasy Fest seems to have taken its toll on the crews. The few of us that were awake this morning sat on the dock and watched as normalcy returned.  There were a steady stream of planes overhead, coming in and whisking away people back to the real world. More than one or two people on the dock swore off ever drinking again as of this morning.

We did fish over the last few days. The current was against the wind and made it a bit tough to fish but we did manage to catch some nice snappers.

Now its time to head home. Unfortunately the weather is not going to allow that for a few days. The frontal system that passed last night has backed up and is going to make the winds blow from the north east at 20+ knots for the next few days. Probably Thursday. There are a few other boats in the same situation. It always sucks when we are allowed to leave but cant go. 

Tomorrow Kyle and I and the crew from the Sea Hawk are going to drive up to Ft Lauderdale and see the Boat show. The Lauderdale show is an amazing event. It is a sea of yachts and marine vendors. I sure do hope the boss's credit card is paid up. Hmmmmmm ???? I wonder if I can put a 66 Spencer sportfish on the card...

We did get entertained by the deck hands one afternoon. The all participated in " The Man Test". The Man Test consists of getting the 80 to 100 lb Tarpon feeding in an empty slip at the Marina. Then one takes a 20 foot peice of 400 lb test fishing line with a 16/0 fish hook on the end. Once baited with a snapper skin the deck hand wraps the line around wiremans gloves and tosses the bait into the feeding Tarpon. When the tarpon comes tight it is one hell of a fight. No one has been pulled into the water yet but there have been close calls. My son did it this last summer and "manned up". Below is a video of My Mate fighting a Tarpon.