I knew Saturday that Sunday 11 Jan. '09 was going to be an excellent weather day in the "Conch Republic"
I had my 18' walk around "Live A Little" heading south out of Geiger Key before dawn & saw birds working
on the water before I got across the reef. I got 4 lines out pulling "naked" ballyhoo, which is sort of a chore
when your by yourself, & started trolling east. I spotted several Friggate birds a couple of times but when
I went in their direction they always headed away from me. Then about 1015 AM I saw a Friggate off to my right, so I started to slowly parallel in with it. We got pretty close but it passed & went ahead of me &
I thought, here we go again. Then a "clicker" went nuts, I let it go for about 5 seconds, then nailed the
throttle. I looked back to see the Cow, a 4 1/2 footer, doing 15' aerials & multiple 360's. I tried not to rush
her in but she was still green enough to do aerials right beside the boat ! I got the gaff in her & pulled her over the gunwale & she flopped so hard she knocked me backwards into the motor well. I got her in the fish
box, got my heart back down to survival rate, & began trolling again. Decided to head back in, had just
crossed onto green water, another good hit, waited, nailed the throttle & got another hookup. This time
I got the "cow & the bull" ! The next 30 minutes was a "blur" but I got both of them in the boat. I trolled
the 2 remaining lines until I got 2 "short strikes" & decided to head in. It's some of the best fun I've had in
the "Conch Republic" paradise & that fresh Mahi sure has been good this week ! Catch um up !
Jim