Sometime in July, I was playing around the internet and decided to look up an old Air Force buddy named Buckner. Found him, learned he was planning a fishing trip in Florida, and got an invite. I pulled the RV down to John Dickenson State Park between Hobe Sound and Jupiter, and he came down with his 21' Chris Craft and a friend Steve the last week in July. We fished 8 days and had a ball! Took 91 pictures, about 20 of which are in this chapter. Firstly, the crew -- on the left is our "captain" Buckner -- on the right are Steve and me and our first big catch. I hooked this Wahoo and had it right next to the boat when it slipped the hook. Steve earned the title "super gaffer" when he managed to gaff the fish after it was off the hook -- an amazing feat! And the week only got better after that.
Never did see any of Hagar's PullFish ... lol
The photos below will probably only be appreciated by those who were there, but I included the series of the "Big Shark Fight" just because I thought they were neat pics ... and a reminder of good times.
Every day we caught anywhere from 5 to 20 or so fish. We caught
little fish, like Grunts
big fish, like Wahoo
fighting fish, like Hammerhead
wierd fish, like Ramura
pretty fish, like Bonita
and fantastic fish, like the Sailfish that I fought and caught!
partial fish, like the Wahoo that Buckner shared with a shark
Camping at John Dickinson State Park was also great! Very private campsites surrounded by palmettos and trees. Here's Steve and Buckner cooking out, Buckner trying his mosquito net outfit.
28. Florida: Big Fish
My Travel Log
Nothing in this site is copyrighted -- I'd be honored if you'd reuse anything you find here for your website
"The Big Shark Fight" : Thursday afternoon, Steve and I were fishing off the back of the boat with Buckner driving as we usually did. Buckner had stuck some live bait out the front just to get a little action -- and he got some REAL action! I looked around and noticed he'd been standing up front fighting a fish for quite awhile, so took a picture. Then, as the fight heated up, we brought our lines in. Good idea, since Buckner was soon being pulled to the back and both sides of the boat. Below, 1: front, 2: coming around the port side, 3: off the back, 4: came alongside -- turned out to be a shark about 7' or so.
In response to frequent whining from South Carolina, I decided to include ALL 91 pictures. Then I discovered Shutterfly -- click the logo below to see the whole fantastic set, or go back to my chapter index, or on to the next Travel Log chapter.
Below, the fight continues 1: shark thrashes around the side, 2: bending the pole, 3: notice ship in center of picture, 4: still fighting, ship's closer, 5: still fighting, ship's passing us, 6: Buckner just after the shark dove under the boat and cut the line.
Although the "big one" got away, it was a great battle. Lasted about an hour or so. Buckner stayed in the position shown on the right for quite awhile after the shark left. He looks like a contented man, eh? Said something about his arms being tired ... lol.
