It's been blowing hard most of the days that I've had any free time. The little Hells Bay had been sitting on the trailer since I took it out when the boat slips were being dredged. We finally got that done and I moved the boat back to the jet dock behind our home. We've NEVER had this much water at low tide in Manatee Creek since I've lived here. Getting the creek dredged is great.

A couple of evenings ago Erin and I went out to try to catch a pompano for dinner, even though the tide was wrong, high and slack.

I got the first fish - a sculpin. I could not tell if I thought it was ugly or beautiful, but it was a savage looking and very prickly thing which we released.

The next bite was a big puffer fish, definitely good eating but not our target and it was also released. We moved to another spot as the tide began to ebb. We had a few bites of unknown species but no hook-ups.

The weather was as close to perfect as it can get and when we headed for home I was glad I had one of AFTCO's long sleeved Guy Harvey shirts on. I prefer short sleeved cotton tee shirts, with plenty of sun block on all exposed skin, in hot tropical weather but LOVE the light weight polyester long sleeved tees when it dips below 70 degrees.

At the mouth of the Manatee Pocket is a little sand bar and flat that friends tell me gets good sometimes so we stopped for a few casts in what turned out to be Ladyfish Central. We averaged way over one bite per cast as the speedy and high jumping acrobats were masters at throwing the heavy headed pompano jigs.

I have no idea how many bites we had, or how many we released at the boat, but "Lucky" (our little rescue dog) had as much fun as we did barking at the jumping fish and trying to grab them alongside the boat. With two hooks in some of the Joe Masarro crazy jigs I made sure he could not reach them.

I am thinking about putting an ad in a trout magazine looking for anglers. We would use nothing heavier than a 4-weight fly rod. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back! 

Anyone I could put into a SWARM of ladyfish that could honestly tell me they had not had fun would not have to pay - or ever come back.

Special Reminder: Barb Lehner tells me that some of our 2012 Marlin University trips are suddenly booking up pretty quickly. Call Barb at (407) 571-4606 or email her at (barbara.lehner@bonniercorp.com).  There is a discount on the price of any trip booked before the first of the year.

Visit the Marlin U site for dates and locations of this year's trips. We go to some great spots during the prime times.


Happy New Year,   
Peter B. Wright