December 15-January 14, 2015
SIT landed back in Marathon Florida for a month. We had
planned to be here over the holidays to enjoy warm weather and just maybe some
fishing.
Our View
Just Watching
Hurry Up and Throw It
Do I have to go?
We hadn’t been here but a day or two and we met John and Teresa.
John was out walking Buddy and noticed our license plate and it turns out they
had recently moved here from Twin Falls. Izzy and Buddy get along well and
enjoy playing together. So Izzy has to split her fun time now between playing
with her floppy, finding coconuts, and playing with her new pal.
Izzy's New Toy
Buddy Chilling
John and Teresa
Buddy and Izzy
We started out with a round of golf. I wasn’t sure how well
we would do since we hadn’t played for a while. Steve started the round with
quite the game including almost making a hole-in-one. We had to celebrate even
though it was just a few inches short. My game improved from this point on, I
guess I wanted to see if I could get closer!
Almost
We played another time and I was able to beat Steve this
round, except I didn’t quite get a hole-in-one. That’s okay since we had a
wonderful round and found our iguana friend fast asleep on this tree.
Tree Hugger
We enjoyed spending Christmas with John and Teresa. We first
went to check out the water to see if boating in the afternoon was a
possibility. They have a nice boat that is great for fishing or just getting
out on the water. We headed to a restaurant for an early Christmas meal with
aspirations of spending time on the water. It was a wonderful day, especially
since we woke up to 75 degree temperatures!
Christmas Eve
Christmas at Sombrero Beach
Waiting for Santa
We have been enjoying John, Teresa, and Buddy’s company and
have had a few opportunities to get out on the water, both Gulf and Ocean
sides. John has wanted to learn about fishing in the area so Steve has become a
teacher of two. First it was me and now it is John.
My success on the boat has been captured with a few
pictures, although most of the time Steve or John are holding the fish I
caught. I am not sure how that happened, but that’s okay since I can keep on
fishing while they take pictures!
John's First Yellowtail Snapper
Steve's Mangrove Snapper
Grouper Catcher!
Tory's Angel Fish
Blue Tang - Way to Go Big Fish Tory
On another trip I had success in catching both an Atlantic
Shark and a Hammerhead shark. Now it was fun catching them since they put up a
good challenge, but not what we wanted for our dinner table. They were kind
enough to let us take their picture and then they headed back to their homes.
The last opportunity to get out onto the water Teresa and I
decided to stay on land and enjoy our time having a nice lunch and do a little
shopping. John and Steve headed to the water even though the conditions may not
be that great. They had a blast and almost felt like they were in the movie “Jaws”
when they had a fish hooked and two good sized Bull sharks were chasing it. At
one point they said the fish turned and swam toward the boat wanting to get
on-board and away from the shark! Needless to say they had a great laugh and
were somewhat relieved the shark didn’t have the same idea.
They were quite successful in landing a variety of fish and
had plenty to keep for a fresh fish dinner. I think the student, John, is ready
to handle fishing without Steve. I am sure though Steve would rather stay here
for a few more months and keep fishing. I kind of like it too!
John's Success - Jack Crevalle on a hand-line
John also caught this Remora
Steve's Chub
Red Porgy - no not Steve the Fish Silly!
We did spend some time at the water’s edge to watch the
sunset and see what fish were hanging out close by. We got to feed the fish one
evening and then the Pelicans came around to enjoy a bit of food as well. They
are pretty aggressive when they have an opportunity for food they didn’t have
to catch themselves. Although in watching them as much as we have they seem to
be that way even when they are the ones fishing!
Our time is up here in the Florida Keys for this time around
but we have more Florida sun and water to come!
