The Netboys (Nick aka Big Nick, Josh aka Stosh, Matt aka Nancy, Todd aka Tallboy) came together for another group outing staying in the quiet town of Holiday, Florida.
Our housing for the week was graciously provided by the Anastasakis family in their family owned condo at the Tahitian Gardens. The trip began with Big Nick catching a flight from Cleveland, while the Colorado contingent (Nancy and Tallboy) simultaneously boarded a flight in Denver. Josh boarded a flight the following morning meeting up with the rest of the group Saturday at the Tampa International Airport.
Holiday is located on the west coast of the state boardering the well known town of Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs is known for their sponge docks "The Sponge Capital of the World" and it's Greek Heritage. Yes, we indulged in some magnificent Greek Cuisine! More than once!! Check out Hellas Restaurant & Bakery if you are in town. http://hellasbakery.com
Favorite Dishes: Saganaki, Broiled Octopus, Gyro Platter
Our targets species for the week included Red Drum, Spotted Trout, and Snook known as the "Florida Inshore Grand Slam". All of which were new species for the Netboys. Our week got off to a rocky start as the weather was not cooperating due to a front that was passing through bringing with it rain and heavy winds that stirred up the water in the flats for a few days. Under good conditions the water is very clear and sight fishing is utilized to increase your chances of a productive day. The charters that we had scheduled for early in the week got pushed day by day and we also dealt with a cancelation due to the a captain having motor issues.
Day 1 - Thursday:
Once setting foot on the ground in Florida we made our way to our Tahitian getaway to unload our gear. The traveling had made us all hungry so we made a v line for some food at Capt'n Jack's Waterfront Grille. The restaurant overlooked a small marina where we watched two kids fishing from the dock. They caught a hand full of fish while we waited on our meals. The activity on the docks energized us for a the week on the water. We all started the trip with fish meals consisting Grouper and Ahi Tuna, which really hit the spot. After our late lunch we stocked up on the breakfast and lunch essentials. As the saying goes "Idle hands are the devils workshop". We were ready, diving into our gear we each rigged up our rods and decided to hit the Dunedin Causeway for an afternoon session on the water. We pulled to the side of the road and where a truck was parked with no less than 6 heavy rod setups. We were now thinking our setups were slightly inferior. We watched as they baited their hooks with whole Skipjack Tuna and proceeded to paddle the bait a 1/4' mile out away from shore in a kayak before dropping it into the water waiting for giant shark. We walked down towards the causeway a little further and chose the best looking spot we could find. The name of the game tonight was to get fish on the board. We started by casting lures and paddle tails into the sunset, this showed very little result and we quickly switched tactics. Carolina Rig's were the next on the list baited with live shrimp. It wasn't long before we began seeing action. Mostly small nibbles and providing an easy dinner for the smaller bait fish. Fish on, Nancy reeled in the first fish of the a trip a Speckled Trout. This was followed up by a catfish for Nancy and Tallboy joined the mix by adding a Rock Fish. We were quickly loosing light and the biting midges "No-See-Ums" were out in full force and it was time to wrap it up and grab a late dinner.
Day 2 - Saturday:
The day started with a leisure cup of coffee/breakfast on the lanai admiring the palm tree that was planted years ago by that Anastasakis family "it's a family tradition to take photos in front of the palm tree each visit" and a trip to the Tampa International Airport to pickup the forth Netboy "Josh" aka Stosh. The weather was cloudy and windy, a good day to prep and get some last minute tackle for the week so we headed to BassPro.
Stosh had been asking for coffee and breakfast all morning however our Chauffeur aka Big Nick politely declined the repeated requests. Our journey took us to the town of Ozona, FL where we stopped for some lunch at Molly Goodheads Raw Bar http://www.mollygoodheads.com. We enjoyed a couple beverages some great food. Nancy ordered some oysters that were fit for a king - largest oysters i've ever seen. Ozona Brewing https://www.ozonabrewing.com was directly across the street so we naturally had to check it out. No complaints from the group as we continued catching up and planning the week. Dinner, we stopped for the famous Greek Cuisine at Hellas Restaurant (also a tradition to have dinner here the first evening of the trip) that we heard a lot about leading up to the trip. The meals lived up to all the expectations.
Day 3 (Sunday) - Anclote Gulf Park Fishing Pier
Still windy with heavy gusts and scattered rain. The weather kept us off the flats for another day however we tested our luck at Anclote Gulf Park Fishing Pier. The pier was long and extended far out over the flats. There was a deeper channel on the left side of the pier that led to a power plant and to the right the water depth was approx. 3'-5' consistent with a lot of areas in the flats. We utilized live shrimp for bait. The smaller bait fish were on to us and immediately began picking our hooks clean. We were able to catch a handful of fish including two nice Mangrove Snapper (Stosh and Nancy), multiple Pin Fish, and a Needle Nose fish (Tallboy). Our 6 dozen shrimp lasted approx. an hour for the four of us.
We were ready to take some shelter from the gusting winds and headed of to the Tarpon Turtle https://www.tarponturtle.com a waterfront restaurant on Lake Tarpon.
Fishing resumed at John Chestnut Sr. Park where we switched over to some freshwater fishing for the afternoon hoping to find some hungry bass. Lake Tarpon is known for it's bass fishery however the lake was not willing to share it's secrets with us this day. Big Nick had one last location in hopes to put us on some fish. A little known pond, a bass preserve that was unmarked along the side of the road. We walked through tall grass to find the waters edge. The pond was very promising, looked fishy. We walked up on local that had collected a bucket of bluegill and assured us we were in the right spot. Well... I guess that's why they call it fishing, you don't always do a lot of catching.
Day 4 (Monday)- Dunedin Causeway
Weather was beginning to calm, the morning marine layer burned off and prevailed blue skies with the wind still pumping with gusts between 12-17mph. Today we were headed back to the Causeway for some leisure fishing off the causeway. Tackle, cooler, and a few chairs were all that was needed to get the party started. We stopped at a local tackle shop and bought all the shrimp that they had - approx. 2 dozen. The unfavorable weather had made it difficult for the bait boats to get out the last few days so they were running very low. We also picked up some frozen squid as the shrimp were likely not going to last. We claimed prime location on the leeward side of the causeway near the channel. It was a slow morning however we did make a new friend. The fish began showing up but not before we switched to even lighter gear - the big fish were not home. Several new species were added to the resume (several pin fish, puffer fish, and another catfish).
Before we called it quits we saw a couple large dark shadows cruising the flats. What could it be? We had already seen dolphin zipping along the causeway wall chasing baitfish. As the shadows came closer we could see it was a pair of Manatee slowly gliding across the bottom stirring up the bottom leaving a long trail of murky water in their wake.
It was now time to head to the beach. Down the road and across the causeway we headed to Honeymoon Island State Park. This was a beautiful beach and we were now windward which resulted in a stiff wind and some rough water (roughest that Nick had seen at this location in all of his visits). Big Nick and Tallboy waded out into the water for a quick dip. The wind was not forgiving and made for a difficult game of toss for Tallboy and Stosh with the nerf football.
We decided to take a walk down the beach looking for treasure. We found a few souvenir sea shells to take home to the family. Before heading back to the Tahitian gardens we sat in the sun for a few more moments while Nancy was feeding the birds. We saw a seagull that was missing his foot and also captured this picture of seagulls floating overhead waiting on their next meal to be dished out by Nancy.
The afternoon turned into a modeling session passing around Nancy's Non Polarized Waterland Cookers.
Day 5 (Tuesday) Chances R Fishing - Captain Robby
Finally... The day we had been long waiting for. When our previous captain had to cancel on us due to motor trouble. Big Nick found an opening in Captain Robby's (Chances R Fishing) schedule. Captain Robby was up front with us as the weather was still less than ideal but much better than the previous days. He was a great guy, full of energy and worked relentlessly to ensure we found the fish. First stop: Tallboy boarded a catfish on what seemed like the second cast. This spot produced a couple fish and we picked up and headed to several other spots throughout the day. Stosh, Tallboy, and Big Nick all caught Speckled Sea Trout. Nancy on the other hand sent an elegant cast up into the thick mangroves. This cast couldn't have been more perfect. Nancy was soon rewarded catching the fish of the day a beautiful hard fighting Red Drum (aka Redfish). The catches below would make for a great meal later in the week.
Day 6 (Wednesday) Chiropractor, Clearwater, & Frenchies
Wednesday we had an opening in our schedule and before we could do anything else we needed to get Nancy some help. The combination of travel, being on a boat, and falling out of the normal exercise regimen had wreaked havoc on his lower back. 6 hours later Nancy was a slightly newer man and we were ready to take the trusty minivan over to Clearwater. We were in search for a world class bloody mary but fell short on this particular occasion. We walked past Hogan's Hangout, Ron Jon's Surf Shop and headed out to the beach for a walk. We found ourselves at an Anastasakis favorite Frenchy's Rockaway Grill. I highly recommend sitting outside. We ordered a light meal and enjoyed a drink or two with the sand under our feet.
From there we headed over to another favorite and we met George a local Great Egret. George would hang around daily waiting for table scraps and even made it's way on top of the bar. Nancy was smitten and jumped at the chance to feed George. The waiter came out with a shrimp and provided some basic instruction for not loosing any fingers. I didn't think he was paying attention however he escaped the feeding scratch free. George and Nancy remain good friends to this day.
Chef Big Nick and Cheffe Nancy were up to the challenge of preparing the previous days catch for dinner. Fish wraps were on the menu. Nancy concocted a world class mango salsa while Big Nick worked the grille like a master and seasoned the fish with the highly recommended "Chef Paul's Magic - Blackened Seasoning" by Captain Robby. The fish and the salsa were a perfect pairing and it was very satisfying knowing the fish was fresh and we had all contributed to the meal.
I highly recommend Chef Big Nick and Cheffe Nancy for your next meal. You will not be disappointed. Tell them Tallboy sent you.
Day 7 (Thursday) - Bottoms Up Fishing - Captain Carlos
The day started with gathering our gear, grabbing coffee, and a short drive down to the marina where we met Carlos and first mate. We wasted no time boarding the vessel and the plan was to steam out 50 miles into the gulf for snapper and grouper. The anticipation grew as approached the first spot of the day, first mate was checking the rigging/setups, and began prepping the bait. The engine slowed and we were all on our feet. Soon Captain Carlos gave us the signal signal we were waiting to hear "Drop em". We were fishing in 90' to 110' of water most of the day. It took longer for our line to reach the bottom than it did take for us to catch our first fish. Big Nick was hooked up, followed by Tallboy. Nancy and Stosh we also on the action. There were smiles all around. We reeled in Amberjack, Mangrove Snapper, Lane Snapper, Vermillion Snapper, Red Grouper, and Trigger Fish. The fish were in abundance throughout the day. It was uncommon to have 5 minutes go by without a fish coming aboard.
Tallboy's rod loaded up and there was a very nice fish on the end of the line. It gave one of the best fights unwilling to release from the bottom of the gulf. We began seeing color and knew that this one was coming home. The largest fish of the day a prized Red Grouper.
Big Nick joined the action hooking into another monster Red Grouper that showed off its gorgeous color, also giving a great fight. After taking some downtime on the boats beanbag Nancy was eager to get in the action and reeled in the only Trigger Fish of the day. Stosh was quietly reeling in fish after fish, he wasn't smiling but we knew he was enjoying himself. He caught a couple very nice Red Snapper - hard fighting and delicious eating and we had to put them back in the water on this trip since they were out of season - "Catch you later".
Carlos gave the order "Ok boys reel in we're heading home". Everyone listened except for Big Nick, it wasn't his fault. His rod loaded up more than we had seen all day. Was this the bottom? or could it be something else? Soon, we saw movement in the line and the tugging began. For the next 15 min. Big Nick fought a sea monster, recovering line only for the monster to take it all back. This continued over and over. We expected that Big Nick was battling a 9' - 400lb Nurse Shark. Big Nick's will kept him in the fight and was making ground. He we close, Tallboy could see color in the deep blue. Moments later the fight was over and the shark faded off into the darkness, breaking the 80lb line. Exhaustion and disappointment overwhelmed our buddy. We celebrated the fight and the amazing trip by capping it off with dip in the deep blue. Stosh kept an eye out for the sea monster in case it wanted some revenge.
Day 8 (Friday) - Chances R Fishing - Captain Robby
We had such a great time with Captain Robby earlier in the week we booked another flats trip. We were still in search of the elusive Snook. We went to a few of the same spots that produced earlier in the week but the fish were not home. Tallboy had a shortline release of a black tip shark at the one spot where we were able to catch some Speckled Sea Trout earlier in the week. We saw an abundance of mullet and other sea life throughout the morning. As lunch approached we place a wing order with Hooters and picked up the wings at the dock. The wings exceeded our expectation as we headed to our first stop of the afternoon. Stosh caught a flounder and a puffer fish. Big Nick spotted some Snook cruising around the Mangroves. With a precision cast his bait was in perfect placement to entice the Snook. "Fish On", the first snook of the trip. Tallboy, flipped his bait toward the mangroves and found some action of his own, the second and final Snook of the trip. This gave us just enough excitement to want to come back to these same waters in the future.
Recap for the Week - 19 Species caught (Red Drum, Speckled Trout, Snook, Amber Jack, Catfish, Mangrove Snapper, Lane Snapper, Vermillion Snapper, Red Grouper, Pin Fish, Rock Fish, Flounder, Blow Fish, Red Snapper, Needlefish, Black Tip Reef Shark, Black Drum, Trigger Fish, Porgy)
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