REPORTS FROM THE RIP: Back to bottom fishing and throwing back big red snappers

Getting back into the groove of things stateside is always a bit strange. While somethings seem to not have changed a bit ( road work on US 19), Other things seem alien to us. After being at work and lifving on the boat for 5 months, Its always odd to have to drive to and from work. It seems at times that We spend more time driving to and from the boat than we do working on it.
We have stripped the boat of all travel equipment and are now doing a few projects that we could not do when we were traveling. Systems are being gone thru and cleaned as well as serviced. All the cabinets and hatches are now void of the clutter from traveling.
One of the perks of this job is that the boss bass a hunting camp. I spent a better part of last week up there putzing around the property. It is nice to just get away from the boat and get into the woods. I am not required to do anything or work on the hunting property, But i do enjoy getting up there and working on deer stands and stuff like that. The property has a few sounders of wild hogs on it. They are a nuisance as they eat a lot of the deer feed and tear up the roads. I have made it a goal for myself this season to eradicate as many hogs as possible. I tried in vain, while I was up there, to find a hog that would show itself. They never did. I have plenty of pics of them on the trail cameras coming in on the feeders at night but not during the day. In the next few weeks I plan to go back and do a little night hunting. I may be purchasing some night vision equipment. Regardless, as to if I do or do not kill anything, Its just nice to be in the woods. As I have said before, When we are fishing for marlin, we dream of being in the woods. When we are in the woods, we dream of chasing marlin. I am sure that after a few freezing mornings up there, I will be dreaming of marlin again.
One of the cool projects we are doing to the boat this off season is , we are installing a clear lens / window in the cockpit side of out live well. It will be a nice addition to the boat. It give the feel of having an aquarium on board. At times it will be full of baitfish, but at other times, it will have all sorts of sealife that we can scoop up and carry around as pets.
We fished this last Thursday and friday on an overnighter to the middle grounds. Fishing was slow as the current was raging. It was tough to hold bottom with 10 oz of lead. We did manage to capture a few mangrove snapper and had to throw back a bunch of Red Snapper as they are out of season. The grouper were not on the grounds so we moved inshore a bit and picked away at them.