Scott told me he would get some fish pictures this weekend!

Saturday, July 11th - Left Conn Brown around 11:00 am headed for the Gulf. Last Friday, July 3rd, the end of the jetties was loaded with blue water and as many as 30boats catching Kings everywhere you looked. This Saturday the water was dirty green and I cannot remember seeing fewer boats in and around the jetties. As we entered the Gulf the wind was light and the waves were around 3' and 6 seconds apart. We headed for the first ship anchored about six miles out. We spent the next 4 hours drifting and trolling around six different ships as far as ten miles from the jetties. There was probably a total of 20 boats jumping from one ship to another looking for Kings. We never saw anyone with a hook-up. At our last ship we finally had a little activity. Amy spotted a ling swimming behind the boat by the engine. I scrambled to grab a light rod. I put on a gold spoon and could not entice him to bite. Then switched to a circle hook and put on a piece of ribbon fish. He jumped on it and the quick fight was on. Meredith brought him to the boat and Meg netted him. The minimum legal length is 37". I am not sure he even made 27" but it was a great fight since we had been skunked up to this point. We successfully turned him loose to be caught another day. We were about to call it a day when another reel started singing. Meg grabbed it and reeled in a small King. Again, due to the scarcity of action this was a huge success.

Shortly after the King we headed for home. Meg captained us all the way to the jetties. This was fairly uneventful until we reached the inside of the jetties near the Lydia Anne intersection. We were stopped by one the FOUR game warden boats working the channel. I have never seen such a strong presence. With four of them working the area they were able to stop every boat that passed through. When stopped I proudly showed them the certificate the Coast Guard gave me two weeks ago when they boarded us. It was supposed to demonstrate that we had successfully passed a very thorough inspection by the Coast Guard. The game warden did not seem to care. He looked confused when I showed it to him. They wanted to see life jackets, throw cushion, fish (of which we had none) and registration. We obliged and were on our way. Another beautiful day on the water. What a great place to be!