Chasing Clowns

Earlier this year Brandon and I had a work trip that took me to Palm Beach County, FL. we were staying close to a lake that I had researched years ago that held Clown Knifefish. They've been on my catch list for some time but I had never targeted them. I booked a guide to shorten the learning curve and went with Captain Skip and he did a great job keeping us on fish.  While we were targeting Clowns, there was plenty of cool by-catch that kept us busy including Largemouth Bass, Peacock Bass and Florida Gar. The peacocks put up a great fight and are a blast to catch.

We booked a half-day trip and didn't hook up with a Clown until the final hour before heading to the dock. I hooked up and when I saw that I had a Clown on, my adrenaline really started pumping. I could see I didn't have it hooked well so I did everything I could to keep it from jumping out of the water. The fish made a few hard runs before tiring out and coming to the net. I was STOKED!! We all high-fived each other and even had a couple of the home-owners cheering us on after getting it in the boat. Catching any new species is great, but one as unique looking as a Clown was extra special.
After our fishing trip we had some time before our flight home so we headed over to Everglades Holiday Park to take an air-boat ride through the everglades and see an alligator show.  I always enjoy air-boat tours and the different wildlife you see. The Alligator show is always entertaining and something I encourage everyone to do if you're touring South Florida.

we started off with a beautiful sunrise and it only got better from here.

One of the many Peacock Bass landed.

Urban fishing at it's finest.

Brandon with his first ever Peacock Bass!!!

Our only double of the trip with a Peacock and Largemouth Bass.

Small Florida Gar.

Reaction to knocking another species off my list!

Clown Knifefish; Such a unique fish!

Alligator we spotted on our air-boat tour though the Everglades.

Tarpon Adventure

In May we took a cruise to the Bahamas, Key West and Coco Cay. We went with my wife's side of the family and had a blast. My favorite part of this trip was seeing the Nieces and Nephews exploring and having fun new experiences. 

Our first stop was Nassau Bahamas. We all went to Atlantis Resort to hang out at the water park and aquariums. This is one of my favorite spots of the places I've traveled. There is something of everyone here.

Enjoying Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.

Enjoying the world-class water park.

He kept looking back like "can you believe this"?

Conch Salad

It's tough to beat the beaches in the Bahamas. 

Looking down from the tip of the ship.

She is a big fan of the desserts.

Our table had delicious Indian food every night.

Our second stop was Coco Cay; Royal Caribbean's private island. We spent the day playing on the beach, Snorkeling, and getting to swim with Southern Stingrays. Coco Cay is a great place to be lazy and soak up the fun with a cold drink in your hand.

High up in a Coconut tree..

Found a little Hermit Crab on the beach.

Southern Stingrays by Coco Cay.

Our third stop was Key West, FL. We took a tour of Ernest Hemingway's house and stopped by Blue Heaven for the best key lime pie that I've ever eaten. After that we cruised around and explored the small island.

Ernest Hemingway's office just as he left it in Key West.

Blue Heaven. Home of the best key lime pie.

Mile-high meringue on my favorite key lime pie on the planet. 

Exploring Key West.

We ran into more iguanas than you could count.

When we landed back in Miami, Chelsea and I stayed an extra day while everyone else flew back home. I booked a Tarpon trip with Captain Jeff Maggio (click here to read about my first trip with Jeff). Jeff knows the inner coastal like the back of his hand. However, to this point I'd hooked 13 Tarpon without landing one. No other fish on the planet had beaten me this bad for so long. Jeff and I were determined to get one to the boat on this trip. We had horrible weather conditions where it dumped rain on us most of the afternoon. We ended up hooking into one fish on our trip about two hours in. I fought it for about 40 minutes before finally landing it in spite of a Guggan getting with 15 ft of the boat while I was fighting my fish. I thought I was going to relive the experience I had on our first trip. I can't put into words how satisfying it was to finally cross tarpon of my species list after years of trying. 

Fish On!!!

First Tarpon ever landed!

Finally! How sweet it is!!!

Newfoundland and Labrador Canada Adventure

My work took me to the furthest east you can go in North America. St. John's in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is full of history and dripping with charm. It is both the oldest city in North America as well as the most easterly point in North America. I had a few hours after work each night to explore, so  I tried to make the most of the time I had. The first place I explored was Signal Hill. Here you will find spectacular views and so much history. Signal hill overlooks the harbor so it was heavily fortified. 

I also took a quick boat tour around the harbor and out to Cape Spear and back. I didn't see any whales or ice burgs, but did get to see several Puffins flying along the cliffs which was really cool to see.

View out from the top of Signal Hill.

Signal Hill

This section of town built on the cliffs is called Lower Battery. St. John's has charm for days.

The next day I headed over to the Cape Spear Lighthouse. The wind was whipping which made it really cold. I walked around to take in the sights and old World War 2 bunkers until I got cold enough to call it a day.

The sea was angry on this day.

Eastern most point of North America.

Cape Spear Lighthouse.

As I walked around, I started asking some of the locals where I might have luck finding someone to go fishing with. They all recommended going to Quidi Vidi so I made my way over. Quidi Vidi is a little fishing village located on Quidi Vidi Lake. I asked around until a guy with a boat said he could take me out for an hour. I made it worth his time, and we headed out. Where this was completely unplanned, he asked what I wanted to catch, and since St. John's was built on the Cod fishery, I figured I'd like to try catching some. With that we were off. 

While heading to some fishing spots He asked if I wanted a rod or if I wanted to fish like the locals (hand-line). I chose the latter for a different experience. I had an absolute blast for that hour hearing local fishing stories and making a new friend. I landed 2 Cod which happened to be a double during the hour. 

Left: My Cod double I landed while hand-lining. Top right: Quidi Vidi
Bottom right:Middle Cove Beach.

Delicious Cod tongues. I love trying the local foods of the places I travel.

St. John's is known for its colorful houses and shops which I read about prior to going. Pictures simply don't do the city justice as to just how charming it is. I also wasn't expecting the food to be as good as it was. I tried blood pudding, fish pie, salt cod and cod tongues for the first time along with other seafood I've had before. I also had the loaded chips which was my favorite. Needless to say, I gained an extra pound or two.

The real estate around St. Johns has so much character.

More views while exploring. 

Fresh mussels, cod, scallops and shrimp with fries smothered in gravy, hamburger and grilled onions. 

St. Kitts Adventure

Well, I'm playing catch up. I took a break from writing and decided it was long enough. I have a lot of trips to write about and I'm going back to 2016 when my wife and I went to St. Kitts for business. I was there for work, but being at at 4 pm every day meant there was plenty of time for a good time. We stayed at the Marriott Resort which had lots to do, but exploring new places is what I love so we didn't stay at the resort long. 

Our first night there, we walked down the road to a big open field where a lot of locals were flying kites as is tradition there around Easter. we made a few friends and they told us to head to Shiggidy Shack because that's where the party was in the evening. 

Marriott Resort where we stayed. No complaints with views like that.

A monkey we saw on the say to Shiggidy Shack.

Shiggidy Shack is a beach bar & grill that you can find at the end of the world (this place had to be the spot that inspired Kenny Chesney's song). We had great food, and a watching a fire breather was great fun along with the music and dancing.

Shiggidy Shack. This is where the party starts when the sun goes down.

Atlantic Ocean on the left and the Caribbean Sea on the right.

People being baptized as we made our way out to fish. 

 We got to to a snorkeling/fishing trip that last day we were there which was great. We started off snorkeling along a ship wreck and saw all sorts of fish. After we went out a ways and bottom fished for grouper and whatever else cared to bite.

My biggest Red Grouper of the trip.

Chelsea with a Squirrel Fish and Strawberry Grouper double.

Top left: Mahogany Snapper       Top right: Squirrel Fish
Bottom left: ???          Bottom right: Strawberry Grouper

Chelsea caught the biggest fish of the trip with this nice Red Grouper. She didn't want to hold it.

The keepers.

Beautiful sunset to end the trip.