Deep Sea Fishing Off the Coast of Florida!

Alrighty then... So a couple of weeks ago we took a family vacation to Florida: The Sunshine State. Which was kind of ironic seeing as it was pouring rain most of the time. But we did luck out, and the day that we booked our DEEP SEA FISHING TRIP... Was a clear, sunny day!

Well it all started out on July 29th, 2009 at about 4:45 a.m. My alarm woke me up - I looked at the time - Almost died. That was until my next thought which came along about 2 seconds later: I'M GOING DEEP SEA FISHING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE TODAY! Well, it might have been a little less energetic, but not much! :)

So I rolled off the couch I was sleeping in (I, being the youngest in the family, was put on the couch in the hotel) and went and brushed my teeth. At least I think I did... I really can't remember, but it's a good fact to have in here I think. ;) Anyways, it was time to go! I want to say I was excited, but that, in fact, would be a enormous understatement. I was ridiculously excited!

All that could go on the chartered boat were 6, so the anglers that had the luxury of going on this trip were: My girlfriend, My dad, My two sisters, My older sisters' boyfriend, and Myself! We all arrived at the marina at about 5:45. We happened to stumble upon the captain, that would be taking us out that day, without much confusion. He was Captain Brock Anderson - Captain of the Bottom Dollar! (The name of the boat that he owns) So we all loaded up, and set off to catch our bait at around 6 a.m. The man must have been experienced, because he drove that boat exactly to our bait, and threw our cast net ONE time. How many bait fish came up? 5? 10? Well I think I have a picture to answer the question:

Once we had our bait, we set sail for deeper waters to engage with the big fish. The place Captain Brock selected first, was a natural coral reef about an hour and a half off shore. After a beautiful ride and a glimpse of a very large sea turtle, it was time to fish.

The style we were fishing was called trolling. For those those that aren't familiar with the technique, it is basically casting a few lines out at different depths and traveling at about 4 knots. This simulates the natural behavior of the baitfish as if it were not attached to a line with a hopeful fisherman on the other end!

So we started trolling. If I remember correctly, we had our first fish hit the bait about 5-10 minutes after casting - Captain Brock knew his stuff apparently! Well, my dad convinced me to take the first fish. (I'm pretty sure I didn't need much for this opportunity though) So I grabbed my ironically named "Butt-Head" (a device you put on the "butt" of the rod to keep from injuring yourself while reeling in monster fish) and picked up the pole. I had my first saltwater fish ever on the line!

So I reeled and fought, fought and reeled, until I wore my left arm to a spaghetti noodle. Apparently the cost of the day not only included fishing, but a lop-sided taibo workout as well. Needless to say, the fish was in sight. The water was so clear, you caught your first glimpse of the fish a good ten feet down or so. You couldn't tell much about the shape or species of fish, but you sure did see a stunning blue glow emitting from something down there. Take a look!

So after a long, hard fight, I brought him in close enough for the guide to snag him and bring him in the boat. It was a Bonita (or "Little Tuny"... They are in the tuna family... just miniature size ;) haha). It turns out that I had hooked him right in the side of the fish next to his right fin, which would be what caused such a fight. He wasn't too big, but it was my first saltwater fish in my life, and I was a happy angler!

We set up a rotation so everyone would have an equal chance at the fish. The rotation went: Me, my sisters boyfriend, my dad, my sister, my girlfriend, and my other sister. Well it turns out, that the first three fish caught were all bonita's. They were all roughly the same size. The next three fish caught were all kingfish! The kings were all around 10 lbs or so... Except for the one my girlfriend caught, which was around 15 lbs.

It was a long, fun day of fishing. By the end of the day the list of fish we had were:

3 Bonita, 12 Kingfish, 3 Sharks, and 1 Barracuda!

19 Fish! The whole day was a blast... I loved every second of it, and can not wait to go back! Well that about wraps up my first deep sea fishing trip! Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading, and come back for more stories in the future! Here are some pictures of the trip...