How about those Owls!

When I brought my son Michael down to Boca Raton to seek his B.A. at Florida Atlantic University ,, there was certainly no thought that a Final Four in March Madness could be in their future. That educational choice turned out well not only in preparation for going on to an MBA at Miami and teams to cheer for in the future — but also for a fishing trip to be remembered after his graduation in 2003. I figured the best gift for a fisherman would be a Keys tarpon trip with my old Montauk fishing buddy Joe Alexander, who had become a Key West guide.

May 8 was a perfect day to fish out of the Stock Island marina where Capt. Joe kept his SeaVee, Joe Green, and we only had to run yards before Joe dropped anchor and started chumming with shrimp boat “trash” (small fish and crab by-catch). Mike fought a big tarpon on 15-pound spinning tackle before losing it after 35 minutes. Fortunately, everything went well after that as Mike ended up releasing seven tarpon out of 15 jumped, including two that Joe estimated at 100 and 110 pounds — plus a nurse shark and a small cobia. I backed him up with four tarpon. a nurse shark, a ray, and a mutton snapper.

All that was accomplished despite going in for a restaurant lunch before the last couple of hours in the afternoon. Mike said the day was so perfect that he’d probably never go tarpon fishing again — though I hope that will change in the near future as his son Aiden is an enthusiastic and talented angler who will relish that opportunity to tangle with one of the world’s great game fish.

A small craft advisory is up until 11 p.m., but the morning forecast is for a mere 5 knot northeast wind. That increases to east 10-15 in the afternoon along with a chance of rain.

Kil Song was back at his favorite Texas jetty to cast for red drum.