Saturday Fishing Class 25 September 2010

Saturday Fishing Class started a little earlier this last weekend as the students called me to tell me they are all ready. We had a few new students this weekend and the other students helped them get their fishing rods ready. Once everyone was all set up we walked down to the boat ramp to start fishing. The students had the best day fishing to date. They caught more pinfish, grunt and snapper than we could count. We actually lost count about an hour after fishing. The also caught some bluerunner, a houndfish, and hooked barracudas and a snook. All in all we had an amazing time on Saturday I am seeing them improved every week we are out there.

Saturday Fishing Class 9/11/10

This past Saturday I met some of the students at the Sims Center and met the remaining students at the boat ramp. When we arrived the students who had already painted their fishing rods grab their rods and headed down to the boat ramp to start fishing. The students who needed to still paint their fishing rods stayed at the classroom with me to start painting. Having watched the students from the previous week, those students who painted this week were able to see what worked best and which colors looked the coolest and produced some amazing rods.

Once we were all done painting the fishing rods, we all headed down to the boat ramp to start fishing too. I had given the students my camera to start taking pictures as they had expressed a lot of interest in photography. The students caught some amazing fish including 2 sheep-head, a barracuda, a blue-runner, a jack crevalle, and the usual grunts and snappers. One of the students also caught a pinfish which is now living in our fish tank.

On the walk back to the classroom, once all the bait was done, I was speaking to the students about the photos and how they are going to go on our blog. Kevens and Darian express interest in helping write the blog, and some of the other were extremely interested in taking the photos for the blog. So this weeks blog is going to feature the students photos and hopefully their writing when they finish writing it. You can see two of their photos above. One thing I did talk to them about was taking a picture of themselves with the fish, as all the photos are of just the fish. They explained to me that a close up picture of the fish is more important than taking a picture of themselves!

Saturday Fishing Club Boat Trip and Rod Building 8/2/10 and 8/4/10

Last Saturday we took the Saturday Fishing Club fishing on the boat to say thank you for all their hard work they have done on the classroom thus far. The fishing was very slow Saturday due to the west wind. We set up a few drifts and caught a few remoras and not much else. On the way in we trolled 2 yellow bucktail jigs and caught 4 bonitos and a bluerunner. Despite not catching much the kids had an amazing time fishing and swimming.

Monday I picked up the kids early and we headed to the classroom. We started the morning fishing and caught some snappers and grunts, and caught 2 more fish for our fish tank. Once the bait was done we went back to the classroom and the kids learned how to paint their own fishing rods. Everyone started getting their rods ready and some finished painting theirs. We are going to finish them up this afternoon.

Saturday Fishing Club 8/28/10

Last Saturday was a huge day for all of us at the Florida Fishing Academy, as well as for the kids. We started out bright and early showing up at the Boat Ramp and met with Capt. Rich. The plans for the day were to work on the new Florida Fishing Academy building, go fishing, and cook lunch. The kids, along with some awesome volunteers, started removing the wood wrapping the building. Once the kids needed a brake we all went down to the water to start fishing. The fishing plan was to try catch some fish for our fish tank, as well as some larger fish. The kids caught some smaller fish for the tank, along with some big legal snappers and big grunts. Around noon Robert, one of the older students, starting grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for the students and volunteers. Very good I might add!! With full bellies everyone started working on the building again to finish removing all the wood from the outside of the building. We would like to thank all the volunteers, the students, and the City of Boynton Beach employees for all their hard work last Saturday and we can not wait to see how the building turns out when it is finished in a few weeks.

Boynton Beach Summer Camp Fishing Trip - 3 Aug 2010

Yesterday Capt Rich and I took the Boynton Summer Camp camper out fishing on the boat. We took the first group out at 9:00am and we set up in front of the inlet in 115ft. The bite was on right away and the kids landed a handful of big bonitos using sardines and squid. The second group went out with us at 11:00am, and we set up in the exact same spot. We chummed with the bonitos and right away we got a massive hit which almost spooled one of the kids. 20 minutes later we had a 30lb kingfish in the boat. Just as everyone calmed down, we got another huge hit. This fish too almost spooled the reel. We got most of the line back and then it took another run. Almost 30 minutes later we saw the kingfish and another 10 minutes later the fish was in the boat. This kingfish weighed in at 35lbs. The third trip was just as exciting. We were all thinking of fish we would want to catch to add to our already great day. The one fish which was not on the wish list hit right away, and we had a dolphin fish in the boat. The kids caught a remora and some more bonitos to end the trip. The kids, as well as us, had an amazing day and everyone went home with plenty of fish for dinner.

Captain's Report 7/30/10

Today we headed out the inlet and set a north drift between 90ft and 175ft. The fishing started off slow and then we ran into the blue runners and triggerfish. We spent a few hours catching them till our arms got tired and headed in to snorkel just off the breakers. After we got out of the water we decided to troll home. On the troll home we caught a handful of blackfin tunas and bonitos. All in all it was a wonderful day and week out on the water.

Captain's Report 7/29/10

This morning we headed out with every intention to troll offshore, but once we cleared the inlet we saw no divers so we set up a drift in 111ft. Right away we caught a yellowtail snapper and mutton snapper. We set up again in 111ft and continued to catch snappers. We drifted north till around 1:00 and catch a nice kingfish, snappers and bluerunners. We then set up a troll back to the inlet and caught 3 blackfin tunas

Captain's Report 27 July and 28 July

Yesterday we tried our hands at bottom fishing in front of Boynton Beach. We fished between200ft and 50ft and caught a little over 60 fish for the day. We caught another nice mutton snapper, some yellowtail snapper, grunts, bonitos, and much much more.

Today, because it was the start of mini-season, we headed offshore to see what we could find. About 8 miles offshore we started finding some nice current breaks, and even found a huge bag, but sadly no dolphinfish. We trolled around for a couple of hours and saw no dolphin or weed lines. We did see a billfish chasing some baitfish on the surface, but as fast as he arrived he disappeared. We did come in around lunch time and caught a bonito and some grunts over the reef.

Captain's Report - 26 July 2010

Today we took a group of students out fishing on the boat. We started the morning trolling and about 8 miles offshore we caught a barracuda. A few minutes later we found ourselves in a school of dolphin fish. Most of the fish we undersized but the kids still had a blast catching fish after fish. After the dolphin moved off, we headed in to cool off and snorkel. we then headed out to 125ft and started our drift back in. On our drift we caught some big yellowtail snapper, a nice mutton snapper, a grouper, and some blue-runners.

Tomorrow morning we are heading back to fish the reef before the madness of mini-season starts

Boynton Beach Summer Camp Fishing 20 July 2010

This morning we fished with the Boynton Beach Summer Camp campers once the rain let up. The fishing started off slow, but once the tide switched the fishing heated up. The kids caught pufferfish, snappers, grunts, and crabs. Some of the smaller fish even made it into the touch tank along with the crabs.

Captain's Report (7/15/10) plus more...

Yesterday, (7/15/10) we started off the morning fishing with a school group who just finished our 5 week course. We headed down to Lake Osborne in Lake Worth, FL and sadly did not catch a single fish.

Later that evening we headed offshore with a charter. We started off trolling as soon as we were out of the Boynton Inlet and soon we had a big hit. The angler fought the fish for a while, but soon we had a bite off. We had a few more hits, but the fish did not get hooked. The final hour we headed into about 130ft just south of the inlet and tried a drift. We caught a bunch of blue-runners and triggerfish. Suddenly we had a big fish hit and almost spool the reel. We fought the fish for about 10 minutes until the fish stopped running and reeled in a big tuna head!

Today (7/16/10) we went fishing with the group from yesterday at the Boynton Beach Boat Ramp. Thankfully the fish started biting right away. The kids caught pufferfish, snappers, and blue crabs using cut up squid. I would like to thank everyone at Discovery Key Elem for all their help and for an amazing last 5 weeks.

Boca Raton Intracoastal Fishing 7/14/10

This morning we took the Boca Raton Housing Authority summer camp fishing at the Boca Raton boat ramp as a reward for doing so well during the last 5 weeks in class. The kids were all so interested in learning about fishing, and always had fishing questions for me. This morning was their chance to show me and themselves everything they have learned. The kids all set up their rods, put some squid on the hook, and dropped their lines in the water. It didn't take long for the fish to start biting. The kids caught snappers, grunts, and a sand perch. There was even one student who fought an unknown fish for 10 minutes before losing it. I would like to thank everyone at the Boca Raton Housing Authority and the kids for an amazing morning of fishing.

Boynton Beach Summer Camp Fishing 7/13/10

This morning I was lucky enough to be able to take the Boynton Beach Summer Camp fishing at the Boynton Boat Ramp. The tide was almost high and the water was as clear as I had ever seen it, and there were fish everywhere we looked. We cut up the squid into small pieces and started fishing. The kids caught snappers, grunts, and pufferfish. There were also about 5 barracudas hanging around and we hooked into 2 of them, but sadly got bit off.

Saturday Fishing Club 7/10/10 and mor

We would like to first thank the City of Boynton Beach for all their support and for allowing us to create an amazing classroom at Boat Club Park. All the students are extremely excited to finally be able to learn how to fix and build fishing rods, fix and clean their fishing reels, build lures and rigs, and much much more.

The last week has been filled with fishing and new adventures. This week we took a group to the beach to try their hands at surf fishing. The fishing was not going very well, so we switched to snorkeling and kayaking. The kids were soon taking turns with the kayaks and snorkeling equipment, and loving every second of it.

The kids are excited for the coming week as we have another beach trip planned, but more importantly they can not wait to start learning how to build and fix their fishing equipment.

Saturday Fishing Club started off hot right away with the kids catching fish after fish, but then all of a sudden the tide switched and the sun started really heating everything up and the fishing slowed down dramatically. The kids caught snappers, grunts, pufferfish, and had a barracuda teasing them the entire morning! One of the most impressive things I saw all morning was a boater coming in and throwing an empty chum box in the water, and one of the students put his fishing rod down and went over and picked up the box and put it in the trash can.