Christmas with the Earles – Fishing Contest

December 23, 2009

We were up ready to go fishing with our guides. Contest time was set for 8:00-12:00. Our guides were out catching their own bait when we arrived at the other side of the marina. Captain and guide, Sean, came in first so he got a boatload of chics!! Captain and guide, Brad, took the guys out. Chics Rule!!!! We fished in Estero Bay – around the islands, by exposed oyster beds and by the docks – in that order as the tide went out. Holly caught the first fish – a sheepshead (not the same as what we have up north). Monica caught a coral/rock. I caught a snook (out of season), a redfish (only 17.5 inches but needed to be 18 inches), a ladyfish and catfish which apparently are not edible. We caught 8 fish in all – none were keepers. We were surely hoping the guys were having the same luck – after all, doing dishes for the rest of the week was on the line.

Alas, the guys had better luck. They, too, caught many fish, most of which they could not keep, but they did have three fish (sheepshead) that they could keep. Bryan caught the biggest fish and won the first place purse of $70.00. They said they also had a great time. Our charter fishing boats were about 21 feet long with 150 hp motors. When we were told to “hang on”, they weren’t kidding. We flew through the water. Both of our guides were great and Mark and I learned a lot about fishing on the backwaters in Florida. We both have fishing licenses and hope we get a chance to use them.

While cleaning the fish, pelicans, egret, heron and others gathered to beg for the scraps. This is not the first time they have done this. After the fish were cleaned we had enough for a tiny snack apiece. When Fish-Tale Marina manager, Mark, learned of this, he offered to bring us 4-6 fillets of fresh grouper that he had caught the day before. WOW! Now we had enough fish to bring to the restaurant on the premises, The Fish House, to have them cook it for us. We had a wonderful meal dining on our fish, but we look a little like the “fowl” we saw begging for scraps earlier in the day.