Category Archives: Week 9

Fishing in the Lake Worth Lagoon

Hi Everyone welcome back!

We finished up the weekly adventure session with another wonderful day of fishing. We had a great group, great weather and great fishing! It doesn’t get any better than this!!! This summer has been the very best that I can ever remember! Every group has been just great! We’ve had so much fun and learned so much I never want it to end. And I can tell you, my adventurers don’t either!!! Just a few weeks left, and they’re all filled, still taking reservations for a waiting list just in case of a cancellation but I haven’t had one yet. Wish I had a bigger boat, and two more of me. Maybe next year…

Jordyn holding the Barracuda

I arrived at the dock about 20 minutes early, and you guessed it , everyone was already waiting for me and wondering what took me so long. They were ready to go and full of enthusiasm. Just the way I love it! We loaded up and went to the sandbar by the Deep Hole to look for some menhaden. The tide was very low and the menhaden weren’t in yet so we motored over to the Rock Garden to take a few casts with the net. It only took one! We had about 200 baits with the first cast. We put them in the live-well and off we went.

We motored a few times around the artificial reef till I marked some large schools of fish. I anchored up current a few feet, baited the hooks and AdventureJason, Jordyn, Michael, Christopher, Trevor, Gunner and Jagger dropped down. If you’ve been following my posts lately, you know what happened next! The second they touched bottom we had fish on!!! All kinds of fish! It took almost 15 seconds before I heard those familiar words, “I need more Bait!” From then on out, it was non-stop as usual!

AdventureTrevor took the lead right at first, with AdventureJordyn a close second. These two were neck and neck till about 40 fish each, and truthfully, I can’t remember who caught the most in the end! We were all too busy having fun!, and I was too busy baiting and taking off fish to keep count! This is when I really need 3 of me! Oh well…

AdventureMichael, Jason, Christopher, Gunner and Jagger were catching fish almost non stop too, but not quite as fast as AdventureJordyn and Trevor. Once the action started it was pretty much a blur for me after that for the next 3 hours! No time for snacks or drinks, just baiting hooks, taking off fish, occasionally re-rigging and every now and then stopping to take a picture of one of their fish when they wanted. Like I said, “It doesn’t get any better than this!” I just love it.

I baited up one of the bigger rods with one of their fish and gave it a short toss behind the boat. BOOM!!! The water exploded, and a second later a nice barracuda launched skyward! I think AdventureChristopher, Jason, Gunner, Jordyn and Michael took turns reeling it in. When it got right up to the boat, I took over and reached down with a short gaff, lifted it into the boat and put it in the live well out of the way so no-one could get near those wonderfully awful, nice large and very sharp teeth! I wanted to keep this one so I would have some nice bait for the crab traps over the next few weeks. Almost nothing smells “stinkier” or “fishier” to me than a nice barracuda! Well, short of a large flying fish hitting me square in the face and splattering at 40 mph on the way over to the Bahamas once. Nice shot too, bull’s-eye, square on the bridge of the nose. Ouch!, and a nice splatter job too, had fish parts from ear to ear, up my nose and even in my “pearly whites”. Everybody aboard loved it, well short of me of course, and maybe the flying fish! But barracuda does works great for bait, shark fishing and even deep dropping.

We fished non stop for about three and a half hours and caught all kinds of fish! Grunts, snappers, yellowtails, tomtates and sailor’s choice were the most common catches, but we had a few really nice fish on that I think were groupers or large mutton snappers. Just couldn’t get them up to see what they were. Maybe next time, but either way we had fun, and all of us loved it! We decided to spend the last half hour swimming in the Deep Hole, so we pulled anchor and motored over.

I took a couple of quick photos of the barracuda with all the adventurers then off into the Deep Hole we went. It was beautiful! Crystal clear and full of fish! We had a ball swimming and talking about the weeks adventures! On the way back, everybody said they had never had so much fun and learned so much at any summer camp before! And they didn’t want to leave. And you know something, I didn’t want them to leave either! Oh well… I really love it when things end like that!! Makes me feel proud inside. Thanks guys!!! I’m sure going to miss you and everyone when summer is over. We have had so much fun, so many wonderful adventures and discoveries, and so many great kids!!! Thank you! I never want it to end! Never…

I’ll be out of town for the next week. Going to do some adventuring of my own! I can’t wait!!! I’ll keep you posted. In the mean time, Get outdoors, enjoy life, live the adventure, laugh alot and remember my motto:

LET’S GO HAVE SOME FUN!!!

AdventureMike

Lake Worth Inlet Snorkeling Fun

Welcome Back All,

I just finished up the third day of this weeks adventure session and I just don’t think it gets any better than this!!! There just wasn’t enough hours in the day for us to do all we wanted. Every place we went and everything we did was an absolute blast and we all had fun like their was no tomorrow! I was joined by three more new adventurers today, AdventureAlgis, Linas and Paulius, all the way from the Republic of Lithuania, a country on the southeast shores of the Baltic Sea sharing borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of the Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest. Talk about adventurers, not only could these boys swim, they knew how to travel and even spoke a few words of English. So we got along great! And one thing they knew for sure was how to have fun, and they came to the right summer camp! I can guarantee that! With AdventureDavid and Dina from Hungary and Adventure Algis, Linas and Paulius from Lithuania my summer camp, AdventureMike’s, has gone international, and it has been Fabulous!!! From here on out, the skies the limit. Right on!

Group Photo

With AdventureAlgis, Linas and Paulius joining AdventurersJason, Jordyn, Christopher, Trevor, Gunner, Jagger, Michael and Chaz I had a full boat load, and I knew I was going to have my hands full! I knew this would not be a problem though, I am well seasoned by now after months like this! This is a great group of kids, knows how to swim, and DEFINITELY knows how to have fun!!! And that makes my job easy, at least on days like today!

We decided we would head straight for Little Munyon Island to do some seine netting while the tide was still low. AdventureJason, Jordyn, Michael, Gunner, Trevor and Jagger took turns pulling the seine net thru the shallows while AdventureAlgis, Linas and Paulius went snorkeling with AdventureChaz looking for starfish, sea urchins and large sea grass hermit crabs.

By the time we were finished seine netting the adventurers had found juvenile barracudas, hogsnappers, striped grunts, caesar’s grunts, french grunts, small mouth grunts, tomtates, pinfish, porkfish, mutton snappers, yellowtail snappers, gray snappers, mojarras, filefish, pufferfish, pipefish and even a few scorpionfish which we were careful not to touch. These were just a few of the many “treasures” we discovered. While we were having fun doing this, my Lithuanian Adventurers were discovering all sorts of cool things besides just starfish, hermit crabs and sea urchins. They saw eagle rays, crevalle jacks and even a pile of small lobster under a rock in 3 feet of water. Now that’s having FUN!!!, especially when you are from Lithuania!!! I could hear their excited voices all the way back to the boat! I was loving it!

Seine Netting

We went to Big Munyon Island for a really cool island hike, checked out the estuary for finger mullet, the backside of the island for horseshoe crabs and hermit crabs, the wild coffee and knickerbean plants scattered about, and we even checked under the rooftop of the picnic area to find 2 different type nests of 2 distinct species of mud dobber wasps. One type built a group of single family nests while the other built condos. Just like us. Now that was cool to see! We walked back along the beach to the boat and headed to the sandbar to swim in the Big Hole. Along the way. we stopped at Starfish Prairie, picked up a few very large Cushion Seastars to show the group, released them, and off we went.

We arrived at the Deep Hole along the sandbar and the water was perfect! Just the right depth and perfectly clear! The way we love it! It was full of menhaden and the snook and small barracudas were having a feast. The menhaden would spray out of the water trying to get away from the hungry fish below while the terns and sea gulls were having a feast from above. There was action in every direction and we were loving it. We checked out the West Indian and Florida fighting conchs laying eggs and found that the West Indian species out numbered the Florida species by about 3 to 1. Along the way, AdventureJordyn found the smallest Beaded Sea Starfish I have ever seen. It wasn’t a half inch in width. They are not just uncommon around here, they are downright rare, and to find one this size, unbelievable! I thought it was great, and the coolest thing was that the smallest adventurer aboard would find the smallest beaded starfish I will probably ever see my whole life. Now that’s neat, and I have searched alot!

Conch Collectors

After this we went to the Rock Garden, dropped anchor and got in. And low and behold what did we see? That’s right, thousands,and I mean thousands of fish in every direction! One of the best days ever! And how was the visibility? That’s right, crystal clear! It just doesn’t get any better than this! We watched hundreds of blue runners and snook eat menhaden till their hearts, and stomachs content. All within inches of our masks. Just great! AdventureMichael, Gunner, Trevor, Jagger, Christopher and Jason caught all kinds of swimming crabs, blue crabs, seaweed blennies and hermit crabs, while AdventureJordyn, Linas, Chaz and Paulinus were content swimming amongst the tropical fish and watching parrotfish, surgeonfish and spotail pinfish graze on the algae covered rocks.

By now we had only 45 minutes left so we climbed in the boat, had a quick snack and some drinks, and decided to head out to the beach since the ocean was as calm as a swimming pool. We drove around the south jetty and dropped anchor a few hundred yards down the beach 10 feet from shore. The water was crystal clear, the beach full of shells and hundreds of juvenile pompano and permit were feeding on sand fleas in 3 inches of water. We were loving it all! The days just don’t get any better than this! Blue skies, clear calm seas, thousands of fish and a great group of adventurers enjoying their day. Now that’s living!!!

Exploring the Sea Shore

When it was time to go, you know, not one of us was ready to call it quits. And especially my group of Lithuanian Adventurers. Even they, with there limited knowledge of English, let me know they wanted to stay longer! And they sure knew how to say FUN while they were having it!!! Today was one of those truly blessed days and even though AdventureAlgis, Linus and Palius spent only one day with me, I know they will never forget it! When we arrived back at the dock and I heard them excitedly talking to their mom about the day I knew things just didn’t get any better than this! I knew every one of us had fun today! And the best thing about it all, there is one more day of ADVENTURE and I just can’t wait till tomorrow!!!

Its fishing day!!! And you know what that means!!! We’re going to have fun, catch fish and live the adventure!!! We’re going to have some FUN!!! Right On!!! God, I love my job!!! Yippee!!!!

AdventureMike

Snorkeling for Crabs by the Sailfish Marina

Hi Everybody,

Welcome back! We just finished up the first day of another new adventure session, and as usual, what a great day it was! AdventureJason and Jordyn from a couple weeks back returned for another fun filled week of adventure and I just love it! After a weekly session full of adventure and sharing discoveries you almost feel like you become part of the family! It doesn’t get any better than this! AdventureChaz from last week came back again to give me a hand with the boat, helping out with the group and looking for critters, and we had a blast! We were joined by 5 new adventurers today, AdventureMichael, Trevor, Christopher, Gunner and Jagger, and let me tell you this bunch can swim too. Just like fish, and they seemed to love the water as much as me! Once we got in, we didn’t get out for 3 hours. It was great! My kind of adventurers! Mini me’s! RIGHT ON!

Group Photo

We loaded up the boat and left straight for the Rock Garden. The tide was incoming and the water crystal clear and full of fish! Absolutely Beautiful!!! As soon as AdventureChaz dropped anchor we were in the water. There were large schools of fish everywhere, starting right underneath the boat and all the way to the beach. We didn’t know which way to go first! We decided to head to the rocks and the shallows to get up close and personal with some really big snook feeding on the menhaden. They let us get withing 3 feet before slowly swimming away. We felt like we could reach out and grab one and a few of us tried but no luck. They were faster than they looked! There were so many large schools of fish all along the rocks that it made the snorkeling just unbelievable. Parrotfish, sergeant majors, porkfish, menhaden, grunts, snappers, angelfish, barracudas, needlefish, Bermuda chub, surgeonfish, etc., everywhere was fish! and I mean EVERYWHERE!!! There were all sorts of tropical fish within inches of our nose! We were swimming in our very own underwater paradise, sea world it was, and again, we had the “pool” to ourselves. Nobody else around. I just love it when things come together like this! And I was sharing it all with a great group of adventurers too!!!

Checking the Shallows

We found another nice chocolate chip sea cucumber and you guessed it! Yep, We took another photo op. of my new adventurers with “sea cucumber head hairdo” and I think in some cases it was quite appealing! I just love having fun like this and so did they!!! We stopped in the shallows and collected hundreds of the tiny hermit crabs with the little blue legs. They were under every rock by the dozens, and the last I saw AdventureJordyn she had a handful of them in a dozen different types of shells. It was just great! The rest of the gang caught every different type of crab you could find around here. It was like show and tell for all of us for 3 non stop hours! We caught arrow crabs, stone crabs, rock crabs, spider crabs, shame faced crabs, porcelain crabs, blue crabs, sally lightfoot crabs and an assortment of different types of sand crabs I hadn’t seen before. If it was a crab, we caught it, checked it out, let it go and went looking for another species. We found plenty of nice size queen conchs with their beautiful pink interiors and bright blue eyes too. The way they would stick their eyes way out and look at us was just magnificent to see. We all felt they were checking us out too! Just Great! It was like this all day, non stop action like I said. Everybody was catching something different and we were loving it!!! It was nothing but smiles all day!!! Everybody was having fun and I felt great!!! I think I had the biggest smile of all watching everybody else smiling, laughing and finding “treasures”! Just love it like this…. Thank you!

A Net Full of Crabs

With 40 minutes left we headed back to the boat, had some quick snacks and drinks and went swimming in the Deep Hole with a million menhaden all around us. We took turns chasing them around and when someone jumped in, the menhaden would jump out of the water and land on our backs and flip all around before swimming off! Talk about having fun, WE WERE HAVING IT!!! Right up to our gills! It just doesn’t get any better than this! And as usual, when it was time to go, nobody wanted to head back. We were having too much fun with too many smiles to go along!

On the way back we talked about what we were going to do tomorrow and where we wanted to go first. Everyone of us was looking forward to it and I could hear the excitement in their voices. I can guarantee you everybody is going to be early again! After the very first day on an AdventureMike adventure session, nobody ever arrives late! Not once this whole summer! They are ready and raring to go and full of excitement. The way I love it! Thanks to the parents too!

And guess what’s going to happen tomorrow? That’s Right!!! WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SOME FUN!!!

Stay tuned for the next adventure! Cause we’re going to live it! Wish you were along cause we’re going to have a story to tell… another adventure of our own to share!

See you on the return,

AdventureMike