An impending snowstorm loomed over our heads here in the North-East corridor. The weather apps were calling for somewhere between 8 and 20 inches of snow and gusts up to 40 mph starting at 9 p.m. We had agreed to try to beat the storm. Steve's truck was already full when he arrived at my house to load my stuff, and then also K.G.B.'s stuff. We filled it, and then filled it some more, until there was just enough space for three people to sit. We managed to be wheels up around 4:00 p.m. Our plan was to drive as far as possible, maybe North Carolina, maybe South Carolina. We were doing great. Going through D.C. a little snow started to fall, and Steve put on the windshield wipers. They slowed. And then, the tachometer went to zero. And then, the truck sputtered. Steve barely made it off of the highway and onto an exit ramp and into the parking lot of a gas station where it died.
I recognized the symptoms as a dead alternator and/or dead battery. The snow and sleet were really starting to come down. It was getting on 7 p.m. and decisions had to be made. Options had to be sussed out, discussed, pondered, agreed upon. Our trip had come to a sudden halt.
(We were all familiar with the situation, as we had broke down in Steve's previous truck on the way down to Oak Island years prior.)
What made it worse this time was the snowstorm, the cold, and the dark. My Sister's family lives in DC; I managed to get a hold of my BIL and asked if we could crash at their place. We could. With an Autozone just ten minutes away, we decided to try to replace the alternator and battery They said they had the parts on the phone and they were open until 8. Lenny, a tow truck driver who was waiting for the storm to give him some business, gave us a ride there and back for 30$. Everything was down to the wire. We made it to the Autozone in the nick of time. Getting the alternator off in the dark and the wet cold was a TOTAL pain in the ass, but we did it. In the process, one of the three wires that go to the alternator harness broke.
My shoulder had been operated on about two months ago (it's a 4 to 6 month recovery), and I was starting to feel it. We weren't sure if the white wire jump we had attempted was successful or not, so we stayed at Jon's house instead of trying to continue down the road. It was late already.
Jon supplied us with all of the necessary comforts to help us temporarily forget our predicament: cheese, beer, scotch, salami, and a full breakfast (with liquid slap ya mama hot sauce to boot) in the morning. My nephew Elias was looking forward to winning a pi contest, as it was now the morning of 3-14, as things go, and he had it memorized some 40 odd digits in. AMAZING! What's even more amazing, as we found out later, is that he didn't win.
day 2: Tuesday March 14.
 |
| we thought we were leaving Jon's house early, but only made it to Florida......Avenue |
 |
| snow melting, alternator wires getting fixed |
We finally made it on the road, later is better than never.
 |
| find Steve |
That day we made it as far as a South Carolina Motel 6.
Day 3: Wednesday March 15.
 |
| Huddle house is NO Waffle house |
In a recent interview, when discussing life after fame, David Letterman said: "Here’s where I’m comfortable: There’s a bait-and-tackle store near my house. They’ve got guys in there, and you can buy live bait, you can buy artificial bait, they’ll put new line on your reel. You can talk to them about rods. They’ll tell you where to go for a largemouth bass. That’s exactly where I want to be."
As it was with us, but we had to try to make it to the John Prince Campground at Lake Worth Florida, (it's between west palm Beach and Boca Raton, we were calling it Mar A Lago, as we were dangerously close to it.) and so we drove on....
Pulling back the veil just a little bit, I will have to admit that I had obsessively watched every Lawson Lindsay video in preparation for this trip. He fishes out of Neptune, which just north of Lake Worth. I was more prepared to fish this zone than I was the keys, but I didn't know this yet.
We managed to launch and fish the bridge lights for a couple of hours that night, and Steve hooked into a few small snook, and some bigger ones that came unbuttoned.
 |
| bridge lights |
 |
| first kayak snook for Perchman |
Day 4: Thursday March 16
 |
| John Prince Campground |
 |
| dinner spec! Lake Worth Lagoon |
And another nicer spec later.
 |
| though the picture is illusive, this spec is MUCH bigger than the first |
In the lagoon, pitching a fake shrimp under a dock, just as I had learned from the internet, I nailed this little snook.
 |
| My first (and only) Snook |
 |
| my first (and only) Jack |
Day 5: Friday March 17
 |
| not enough rods |
We hit the road a little later than expected. It's become more and more difficult to fish all day, party all night, and then wake up early the next morning. Regardless, we were making tracks south again. In our minds the Keys had become this magical fishing paradise where there is a fish on every cast. Our anticipation was palpable. And then....pop....crunch crunch crunch......blow-out on the highway.
 |
| KGB's hat blew off his head while putting the spare on |
 |
| changing tires |
 |
| tire shop |
 |
| BPKFL |
Day 6: Saturday March 18
This was our first REAL first day of the original fishing trip plan to fish the keys from our kayaks. We had made it. We fished the south side of Big Pine Key. The ocean side, known as Newfound Harbor Keys. There was a flats boat in the distance, and I watched them pull in a small Barracuda on a Cuda Tube. At that point I decidedly changed my retrieve from kind of fast to super fast.
 |
| crystal clear waters |
Steve had caught and landed a couple of small Barracuda, and so had KGB.
 |
| Cage's Cuda |
I cast a Whopper Plopper into a pothole and immediately hooked into a nice sized fish. It was a 30" Cuda.
 |
| 30" Cuda |
and so the game was on...we were decidedly Cuda fishing the flats with occasional forays into the mangroves.
 |
| This picture tells it's own story... the fight was short |
 |
| many Mangroves |
 |
| 40" Barracuda |
Day 7: Sunday March 19
This was the first bit of rest KGB and I got, as we opted not to fish the whole day, just half. Steve went out in the AM and got into some more small Barracuda and some Mangrove Snappers. We had decided to fish a different area that day, so we went under the bridge towards the bayside. We fished around Mangrove Key and caught Cuda's on Cuda on a flats jig-head. Nothing of any size was brought to the side of the boat. Before we had met up with Steve he had already been hanging out with a Manatee.
 |
| Manatee |
It was windy, and if the chop across the channel was sporty, then the chop in the water getting under the bridge was a downright Carnival ride. We finished the day off on the ocean side flat fishing the potholes hoping for another big Cuda. That evening was slow, we had some more small ones, but nothing over 30"
Day 8: Monday March 20
Another mellow day, we decided to spend the morning bridge fishing for Mangrove Snappers with live shrimp.
 |
| bridge fishing |
KGB basically killed it, though we didn't get any keepers, we caught lots of small fish and quite a variety.
That evening we fished the ocean side flats again. Again hoping for another big Cuda. I had a decent sized needlefish, but no more big Barracuda's.
We put in many hours of fishing, and much much more happened than could be explained in detail in one blog-post. It was an epic trip, and we learned a lot about our own expectations and abilities. The most limiting factor was time. The next most limiting factor for me personally was my recent shoulder surgery. I limited my casting and resorted to trolling as much as possible, though I couldn't resist a well placed cast if I felt I could land one. I could go on about the camp sites and the neighbors, or the food we ate and didn't eat, the fish we cooked, the mini deer, the fish we released, the millions of beers we drank, and then the nights we were so tired we fell asleep before we could even do that. Or the lures we used, and the rods and reels, or any of the technical aspects of our trip. But really, the essence of it is in the fish, and the fishing.
Day 9 and 10: Tuesday March 21, Wednesday March 22
We drove back in time...back into winter....
 |
| Needlefish |
 |
| fishing up until sunset every day |
We put in many hours of fishing, and much much more happened than could be explained in detail in one blog-post. It was an epic trip, and we learned a lot about our own expectations and abilities. The most limiting factor was time. The next most limiting factor for me personally was my recent shoulder surgery. I limited my casting and resorted to trolling as much as possible, though I couldn't resist a well placed cast if I felt I could land one. I could go on about the camp sites and the neighbors, or the food we ate and didn't eat, the fish we cooked, the mini deer, the fish we released, the millions of beers we drank, and then the nights we were so tired we fell asleep before we could even do that. Or the lures we used, and the rods and reels, or any of the technical aspects of our trip. But really, the essence of it is in the fish, and the fishing.
Day 9 and 10: Tuesday March 21, Wednesday March 22
We drove back in time...back into winter....
