Saturday July 16th – Friday July 22nd 2022
This week’s headline. A rich life.
Day 29 – Saturday July 16th: Boca Raton Beach Day
After the concert in Boca, we spent the day in Hillsboro Beach.
We had a nice breakfast beachside at the Hillsboro Beach Cafe, coincidentally right next to the Hillsboro Beach Fishing Pier. This was almost too much for John to handle. After breakfast, we went back to the hotel for a swim.
The John and I ventured off to the sporting goods store for some fishing equipment to try out on the pier. We caught lots of little guys before being run off by the afternoon rain.
Day 30 – Sunday July 17th: Fishing with Rick
We caught up with Rick in the afternoon Sunday after returning from Boca Raton. We made a run out to the Everglades with my old fishing buddy in search of snook. After an hour or two of searching for pilchards, we finally found a school in the Florida Bay, by Stingray Creek. We filled the live well up and headed for our spots in Joe Pool Lake.
Holy cow! The yellow flies and mosquitoes were so bad we couldn’t stay. Unfortunately, the fish were there and were biting. The bugs were so aggressive that Rick said he thought cleaning the boat for fish wouldn’t be an issue, but all of the dead yellow flies made a huge mess. We ended up running over to Little Madiera Bay, as I thought there may be a little more wind to give us some relief. It worked out. We caught quite a few mangrove snapper, jacks & little sharks, and had some relief from the flies.
On the ride back to the house, at sunset, we saw some tarpon rolling in Adams Cut. John threw a big frozen mullet out and jumped his first tarpon. He estimated the fish at 70 pounds. By the following day, it had grown to 80. Regardless of the estimate, it was a big fish. He was very excited, but also disappointed when the big hookup he had a few minutes later turned out to be a big nurse shark. We know where to catch tarpon near the house.
Day 31 – Monday July 18th: Golf in Key West
On Monday, I drove down to Key West to play golf with my buddy EB and some of his friends (Tony & Paul). We played the Key West Golf Club, a Reese Jones design, in Key West on Stock Island. It’s a nice little course, in good shape, and I was pleasantly surprised to get the local discount as a Monroe County resident. On about the 3rd or 4th hole, we came to a little landlocked pond, by the tee box, loaded with baby tarpon. I told the guys, if my 11 year old would have been with us, we’d have a hard time getting him to leave the pond. It was really cool.
I shot 79 on the par 70 course (with a mulligan or two). A beautiful, but hot day.
Day 32 – Tuesday July 19th: Let’s Go See Poppop
Today, Jessica left early (about 6am) to head to Jacksonville to help Sandy get ready for her upcoming move. She and Jack are going to split up the band for a few days, leaving John and I on our own. Maybe we’ll fish?
After a trip up to Kendall for a doctor’s appointment, John and I drove up to Ocala to see Poppop. It’s about 360 miles to his house, and he’s on his own taking care of the cats (Rocket & Sunni) this week while Pat is in Delaware.
We figured some BBQ & Swirly Top with Poppop would be in order. We also think a fishing tournament in the micro-bass pond is in order. For the night cap, we watched the MLB All Star Game with Poppop. We were pulling for the National League, but once again, the American League pulled it out.
Day 33 – Wednesday July 20th: Hanging with Poppop
Hanging with Poppop is a blast. Just being with him is fun. He’s the dude. We got a chance to ride in the golf cart up to Lake Arlington in his neighborhood, then headed over for the tasty BBQ before heading home.
The drive back to Key Largo took about 6 hours and we got in late, just in time for bed. We snuck a great trip in for a visit with Poppop.
Day 34 – Thursday July 21st: TBD
You’ll never guess what we did on Thursday? We fished. Johnny NS was excited to try for some tarpon in the late afternoon. After a day of resting and relaxing, we headed for Adams Cut at the end of the day. The backdrop was beautiful.
We jumped one tarpon and had a large something up next to the boat. We think it may have been a massive mangrove snapper, but we’re really not sure.
Day 35 – Friday July 22nd: TBD
Friday was a day of work. Well, a very little amount of work. I had a call with a prospective client of Brightmove on Friday afternoon. It was nice to have a chance to talk a little business for the first time since June 17th. I’m looking forward to my new role in the coming weeks.
I also had a chance to fix the aerator in the boat – the rear live well pump went out, so I replaced it.
And what would a day in the Keys be without some fishing. John and I made another late afternoon/evening trip to Adams Cut in pursuit of some tarpon. We jumped one again but didn’t get him anywhere close to the boat. We both agree, we have work to do to get better with this target species.
