while waiting at the dock for pat to show up for a day of fishing i was trying to come up with the reasons to tell pat we should fish the outside islands. simple enough, but you have to know pat. he is a special breed of fisherman. he is backcountry nut who is also my best customer. fishing the outside islands is not his favorite area ,but after some grumbling we were on our way.

we began throwing floating plugs and jigs. within minutes i saw a good push. pat threw....no take. i backed him up with a jig, one twitch boom! a nice fight and a 26 inch red was in the boat, and released. and after some good-hearted ribbing about the guide catching fish, we were optmistic for what the day might bring. it didn't take long for pat to connect with a great 30'' snook. the tide was high, the mangroves were flooded and an epic battle followed. after getting within inches of the mangroves on two differnt runs, pat finnally landed the snook. after seeing the agressive strike on pats plug, i switched to a topwater plug. while pat threw ahead in pockets i threw behind in ''used'' water. i casted the plug without much success, while pat landed another 30'' snook and two nice reds. finnally my moment came when i cast the plug deep into a shaded pocket. when the plug landed there was an immediate push of water. as the plug began to move the push of water welled up behind bigger bigger with every twitch of the plug. the rest is a blur . the mouth of the huge snook exploded on the plug. after setting the hook i was ready to battle a 40'' snook in 12'' water. but it was not to be. a pulled hook has to be one of the worst feelings in fishing. i'd rather lose afish to a mangrove root , knowing the fish earned his freedom by beating you fair and square.

as the tide began to fall sight fishing was in order. water clarity was fair to poor and made fishing tough. we managed to get half a dozen shots resulting in couple takes with none to the boat. a fun day with a good customer and a great friend.

capt doug