Jimmy Buffett

I woke up this morning to the news that Jimmy Buffett had passed. Both of our children were born to his music. “First Look” was playing when Cameron Neill was born, which we thought was appropriate. The song playing when Casey Ann Neill was born was “Livingston’s Gone To Texas” which is where she moved right out of college.
Tricia Neill is in Michigan visiting our first born.
I fed the dogs and cats, got in the boat, and turned on SiriusXM Radio Margaritaville. Watched the sunrise, caught some fish, and remembered some of our Buffett concert experiences that our children will never hear about.
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Net Man

I went speckled trout fishing with Stan Simmerman this morning. It soon became apparent that I was just there to net fish for Stan. He caught trout up to 24.5 inches long. I did have a huge trout on for a while that turned out to be red drum. I didn’t catch that fish either as the hooks straightened after a long fight. To give Stan credit, he did stay out there until I was finally able to catch a few. It was rather embarrassing for most of the morning. The final was 10 caught trout plus some other trout and drum encounters that were not as successful.

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Morning Trout

Fished for speckled trout the past two mornings. Yesterday in my boat, today with Stan Simmerman. Some topwater bites first light. Caught a couple each morning, lost some. Then the bite stops. Early morning feed.

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blacks

Ran the flats this morning. The haul seine boats were working. Had one topwater bite that did not come tight. Caught a couple of black drum on the reef. Pulled off a couple of other fish that felt like sheep. Back in for lunch.

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Drum and Trout

After sitting through 4 days of fisheries meetings, I needed to get back on the water for a reminder what it is all about. I did a little flats fishing and a little reef fishing. I caught trout and drum. I lost a big speckled trout but I held onto a full-grown red drum on my little sheep rig. Fishing is better than talking about it.

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Cameron’s Birthday

Today is our son’s birthday, Cameron Neill . Started celebrating this morning with a speckled trout trip. He didn’t go. He went to work but I did send him photos of his celebration. I caught 8 speckled trout and a spot who thought it was a trout. I had 3 topwater bites first thing and did not get any of those. I had one big fish that I lost at the net. Came back in to join Tricia for birthday lunch and ice-cream. Cam is having a great birthday!

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“Huge” Trout

I went fishing for speckled trout this morning. I missed some, pulled off a couple and caught five.
I get excited catching most any fish from spot to blue marlin. A big speckled trout gets me going as much as any. So, when the fish hit like a freight train and fought like a devil, I admit that I probably got overly worked up. I finally got the fish close enough to see that it wasn’t a drum or a rockfish but rather a huge speckled trout. It had no intention of getting in the landing net. If there had been a witness, he may have heard me talking to…begging the fish: “please get in the net, I’ll let you go, I just want to tag you”. At my 3rd failed attempt, I could see that only one tine of a single treble hook was barely holding in the monster’s lip. I knew the hook was going to pull. I may have brought in God at that point, offered him my first born if he would let me catch this fish.
The hook pulled…just as the fish swam into the net. It was huge, 28 inches long, maybe even 29!
I think that I need a new tape measure. Mine said that the fish was 24-inches. Still, very happy to have gotten it. Beautiful fish that I was very fortunate to catch. True to my word, I released the fish after tagging it.
Now, I have to tell my son to stop planning his wedding and that he has to become a priest. I’m sure his fiancé will understand. The fish was huge…really big…it was a nice trout.
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Big Pup

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Speckled Morning

I had a single topwater bite at dawn this morning. That was it. It was an 18-inch speck that turned out to be the biggest of the morning. No other bites until a school of 16-inch trout decided it was time for breakfast at 7 am. Until about 8:30, bites on every cast. That was a lot of fun. Missed some, lost some, ended up catching 9. Then breakfast was over and no other bites.

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Weekend

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