Full day of fun!

The rain came and went, and came again making it for a true fun adventure for the guests on the Backwater Fishing, Shelling & Lunch Cruise, and the Sealife Encounter!

The following has been written by First Mate Andrew.

Using live pilchards as bait on the fishing trip this morning we caught several different species of fish including a 22 inch trout, mackerel, ladyfish, and jacks. We saw plenty of dolphins and even a manatee!

Following the fishing trip, we left for the Sea-life excursion where we went to picnic island and found lots of small animals that live in the grass beds such as, pinfish, pipefish, sea horses, spider crabs, and striped burr fish( puffer fish). In the deeper water grass beds we dragged the large otter trawl net and caught a large mangrove snapper, larger pinfish, and a variety of different sized burr fish. On the way home we stopped and saw several dolphins.

I have no pictures to share but Matt, the guide on this mornings Canoe & Kayak Eco Tour, had this to share.

It's a curious manatee! There were several out this morning hanging out with the kayakers.

An overcast and rainy day but everyone genuinely still had a great time on our cruises today.

First Mate Andrew

Lots of happy faces!

On the Sealife Encounter there were lots of creatures scooped up at Picnic Island, even some Sea Horses! The deep water (about 4 feet deep) net drag revealed a lot of Pinfish, Sea Squirts, a Blue Crab, a baby Striped Burrfish Puffer, and MIke Cohns' (the Naturalist) favorite today, a Mangrove Snapper.

This next picture is what we love to see on our Sea Life trips..pure Joy!

Sunset: Well, we're pretty sure the Sun set somewhere tonight, but we didn't get to see it with an unusual overcast sky. No matter. A very low tide, displayed large numbers of wading Birds feeding among the exposed Sandbars.

Most of all, we enjoyed an excellent show of a single Dolphin jumping over and over and over again. No complaints on not seeing a Sunset, it was a good trip.

Captain Bob

Nice time on the fishing!

First fish today, caught by a young lady from Pittsburg, the Baby Black tip!

We had some rain before the trip but it dried up on time. An unusually overcast day with light winds out of the West. The fishing was not great but with 11 folks on board, we did catch 7 Spotted Sea Trout, 6 Crevalle Jacks, 6 Pin fish, and one baby Black Tip shark. We also missed catching some Spanish Mackerel who are expert at biting off the hooks. And Jack, from Florida, caught his VERY FIRST FISH today, a Pinfish, unfortunately we didn't a get a photo... This is Jack posing with another Jack (Crevalle) that his Dad caught.

Not as many fish today, but everyday is a good day to fish..we had a nice time.

Capt. Bob

Great trips this past week!

Several Fishing, Sealife, and Sunset trips in the past week. The weather has been very cooperative, all nice days and evenings. Here are a few of the pictures.

Good time had by all.

Capt. Bob

Nice evening for the Sunset Dolphin Cruise

Westerly breeze making for a very comfortable boat ride. We spotted a large ship in San Carlos Bay. This is an unusual sight in this area.

We traveled around the ship to check it out: "OCEAN" from Salt Lake Utah! Beautiful Sunset over Pine Island. Perfect timing, as we then were treated to an active pod of about a dozen Dolphins. They put on a good show for us. Great trip!

Capt. Bob

Great dolphin show!

On the Sealife Encounter we had a great dolphin show next to the boat.

A nice crowd around Andrew Wooley, today's Naturalist. He's talking about creatures found at Picnic Island and the Deep grass bed net drag.

The kids always intrigued by the creatures in the Touch Tank.

Fishing: Typical Nice Day. No Photos, but enough action to keep it interesting. Good variety: Mangrove Snapper, Spotted Trout, Ladyfish, Crevalle Jacks, Sugar Trout, Spanish Mackerel, Catfish.

Capt. Bob

Weather is great, East breeze made it very comfortable.

Good action with the fishing today.
First fish, a small Spotted Trout

nice Pompano

Lady very happy with her Spotted Trout.

A nice size Spanish Mackerel.

A keeper size Spotted Trout.

Besides many Spotted Trout, other fish caught were, Mangrove Snapper, Pigfish, Pinfish, and Catfish.

Sealife Encounter: Fishermen head out with dip nets at Picnic Island.

Lots of creatures caught in the grass including one of our favorites, Seahorses. After Picnic Island, we found a nice Pod of Dolphins near the boat, and lots of pictures were taken. Our deepwater net drag (about 4 feet) revealed a lot of fish and Blue crab and a small Burfish (puffer).

Capt. Bob

Fish for everyone, lots of Dolphin to see....

And creatures caught in our nets topped off by a uniquely beautiful Sunset.
Here are some photos from the Fishing, Sealife Encounter, and Sunset Trip. Windy but pleasant day. A nice Day.

Capt. Bob