Summer Camp 2009 Early Registration NOW Open

April 8, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everyone, Welcome Back!

I just wanted to drop you a quick post and let you know that registration for my 2009 AdventureMike’s Summer Camp begins NOW!!! Please don’t wait too long to register! I know the spaces will fill up quickly as usual and I would love for each one of you to be able to join me again!! The first week begins June 2nd, 2009 and that’s right around the corner… I just can’t tell you how excited I am and just how much I’m looking forward to having another unbelievable Summer of Fun, Excitement and ADVENTURE with all of you. Last year had to be the best Summer we have every had, and this year I’m planning on outdoing it! It’s going to be GREAT!!! I Guarantee it!!!

I’ve been scouting out many new locations and have come up with many more ideas to make this years camp sessions as absolutely fun, exciting and educational as possible. I know that all of us are going to have a fantastic time!!! I’m going to personally see to that!!! I promise!!! For those of you who have joined me in the past, you know the kind of Fun and Excitement that’s in store. We are going to have honest to goodness Adventure Sessions from start to finish!!! And we will be having “live updates” thru out the day on our adventures so you, the parents, can tune in and join us in our discoveries and share in our excitement… More to come on that!

We will be hitting all the spots from the Rock Garden to Starfish Prairie and Beyond… The best of the best! As if boating, fishing, seine netting, specimen collecting and identification, cast netting, crab trapping, island hopping, nature walks, eco-tours, games and more isn’t fun enough already for a weeks adventure! I just never get over how many species of fish and invertebrates, etc we find and discover, and all the smiles, laughter and thrills that go along with them! Memories I will forever cherish!, and I love every minute of it! Makes me feel like we are living within a rain-bowed sea, surrounded by beauty in every direction and blessed all at the same time. It just doesn’t get any better than that! An Adventurers dream come true… And for your child, an adventurers dream come to life…

For those of you who have joined me in the past, you know I can’t wait to see you! For those of you who will be joining me for the first time, I promise you your child is going to love it! AdventureMike’s is not your “normal” Summer Camp! No “glorified baby sitting” or “boring day care” here! We are going to be having an honest to goodness educational hands on experience in an outdoor, safe, fun-filled environment!!! I love what I do and take great pride in what I offer! I want your child to have the very best time of their life, like I did when I was a kid and have never forgotten and always appreciated!!! I will give it my very best, and that’s a promise! And looking forward to it…

Come join us, and be a part of the Adventure!!! See you soon!!!

Click to reserve your spot NOW before I open the camp to new adventurers »

AdventureMike

Spring Break 2009: April 7 - April 10

Fishing Adventure among Lake Worth’s Artificial Reefs

April 8, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everyone. Welcome Back!!!

We just finished up the days Fishing Camp Adventure Session and let me tell you WE HAD FUN TODAY!!! Just ask AdventureMickey, Maggie, McKenzie, Matthew, Rachel and Joe! They will tell you what fun we had! Non stop action from start to finish, 4 solid hours of “FISH ON!!!!” and smiles from ear to ear. No “fish story” here!!! Just non stop FUN!!! Double, triple, quadruple and even quintuple headers of fish on. I needed 3 of me to bait the hooks, take off the fish and try and take photos of everyone having the time of their life all at the same time! And with that same constant “ringing in my ears”, all in unison too from 6 happy fishermen ” I NEED MORE BAIT!!!” And you know I’ve heard that before…. Oh boy… 🙂

Today was a bit windy and cool so I decided to have our fishing day a day sooner than normal instead of getting wet on the coldest day of the session. We loaded up and arrived at my secret GPS #’s and dropped anchor. We didn’t hang exactly perfect over the ledge like I wanted but we gave it a shot anyway. Only caught 2 fish in the first couple of minutes so I decided to pull up anchor and move a few feet further to the north, and I mean just a few feet! Didn’t want to waist any time with slow action when I know how good things can be. From that moment on, once the baits went down, the rest was just a blurr! Didn’t even have time to look at my watch, eat, drink or catch my breath, and just the way I love it! GO go go go go….. 🙂

AdventureMcKenzie was the first to catch a fish, and a nice big lane snapper at that! AdventureMickey, who had never been boating or fishing before in his life, caught the next. A big fat Sailor’s Choice! Right on Mickey!!! You should have heard him yell, “I CAUGHT A FISH, I CAUGHT MY FIRST FISH!!!! and seen that great big smile of his! I will never forget it! Makes me feel extra special to know he caught his very first fish with me and I was smiling from ear to ear too! Love it when things come together like this! I know he won’t forget it either, including the flounder, lane snapper, mangrove snapper, mutton snapper, blue runner, tomtates, Cesar grunts, spot-tails and margates, etc he also caught non stop after this. Talk about your first and only day of fishing…. WOW!!! He’s going to be spoiled now!

Along with Mickey, AdventureJoe and Matthew were doing the same and having the same non stop action! Just like AdventureRachel, Maggie and McKenzie! Everybody was catching fish as fast as I could bait a hook. If I would have had help today, we might even have beat the all time record set for AdventureMike’s July 10th, 2008 of over 350 fish boated and released in under 4 hours! I have never seen so many nice snapper being brought in non stop like this! I couldn’t keep track of who caught what, and how many each as I released them, but I think AdventureMckenzie may have boated the most fish over all. That girl knows how to FISH! And don’t let her small size fool you either. My moneys on her!!! I think she caught the largest assortment of species too. Even a nice big yellow porkfish! Just a beauty! What a great day!!!

I am not sure if the cooler water temperature, at 67.3 degrees Fahrenheit made any difference, but like I said, I have never seen so many snapper and flounder being caught non stop. AdventureMaggie and McKenzie were working together taking turns bringing in a very large hard fighting fish of some kind and just as it got to the side of the boat, there was a big swoosh, and something even bigger ate it! Hook, line and sinker! And then the same thing happened to AdventureRachel and Mickey too in short order. I think all the action chummed up a big Goliath grouper right under the boat, and he was having fun and an easy meal eating our big snapper like jellybeans. After one big particular splash that just about soaked us, and with everyone screaming with excitement, I heard those famous words I’ve heard before,”WE NEED A BIGGER BOAT!!!” And at time likes this, I just can’t tell you how much I love my job!!! It was the perfect way to call it a day, or at least for us it was…

I can’t even begin to make guess as to how many fish we had on that we didn’t hook or lost just at the boat. And like I said, I have no idea what made the action so extra special, or what made the fish bite like they did, but I know one thing for sure, not one of these adventurers will ever forget this day, and neither will I!
We had fun!!! We had a blast!! ! We had another once in a lifetime day!!! And, best of all, we had a story to tell!!! It may sound like a “fish story” to some, but we all know differently! WE LIVED THE ADVENTURE AND WE SHARED THE SMILES, THE LAUGHTER, THE EXCITEMENT!!! If you saw the smiles on the faces like I did today, you would never forget it either!!! Thank you !!! And Mickey, Congratulations on catching your first fish, and the next 30 or more after that too. You did GREAT!!!

I just can’t wait till my Summer Camps begin on June 2nd!!! I don’t want this much fun to stop!!! I don’t think I can wait that long!!! How about you? God, I love my job!!!! How can we have this much fun!!!

I must still be dreaming…

AdventureMike

Spring Break 2009: March 31 - April 3, Uncategorized

Hanging Out With Puffer Fish on Spring Break

April 1, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everybody,

Welcome back! We just finished up the first two days of our first Spring Break Adventure Session and let me tell you we had a blast! It was just great from start to finish! As Usual, and just the way I love it!!! AdventureSheri and I were joined by AdventureJake, Allison and Noelle from last Summer and three new Adventurers, AdventureJada, Rio and Alex. I love arriving at the dock with everyone raring to go and eagerly awaiting for the days adventure to begin, and hearing the excitement in their voices and seeing the smiles on their faces when we load up. It makes for a perfect day!

We began the day a little differently by motoring over towards the Power Plant to take a quick look to see if any Manatees might be resting in the warm shallow water near the out flow pipes. AdventureJada was just dying to see one and I wanted to make her day. We gave it about 10 minutes and didn’t see any this time so we headed to a nearby beach to do a little exploring. We anchored the boat right on the beach and hopped out and immediately found a nice big Spotted Sea Hare swimming in the shallows. The neat thing about these is they sometimes release a dark purple cloud of ink when disturbed and much to the excitement of the gang, this big fellow released a nice batch right on cue. It was great to see the smiles then! Everyone took their turn gently touching the Sea Hare and then we moved further down the beach to check out some of the large stands of Nicker beans we found during AdventureLauren’s birthday party last weekend.

We stopped and I picked up a few thorny pods to show them the tiny gray beans inside and everyone wanted to keep a bean or two for “good luck”. They are commonly called “Lucky Beans” and the anti-malarial drug Quinine is still made from the gray husks of these beans. You have to keep away from the branches and leaves though since they have numerous hooked thorns to snag both you and your clothing! The first time I found this out when I crawled though the branches left a lasting impression. Ouch!, but it was still fun!

From here we headed to the Rock Garden to do some snorkeling and search the shallow rocks for Hermit Crabs. AdventureJake and Alex came back with some big Coral Crabs while the rest of us were busy finding blue-legged hermits and red-banded hermit crabs. We were having a blast! When I pulled one of the large female coral crabs out of the net to show the group her eggs under her abdomen, she latched onto my finger and hung on for dear life! I wasn’t sure who had who, but I know this group of Adventurers loved seeing that crab hang on to my finger for at least 5 minutes! We were all smiles by then!!! AdventureSheri kept a watchful eye over the girls busy in the shallows finding all kinds of hermit crabs and captured most of the days adventure on film for the rest of us to enjoy later. Nice job!!!

AdventureJake found a sharptail pufferfish and was able to catch it in a small net and bring it back to show us. Not an easy feat for those who haven’t tried this! We were delighted to watch as it puffed up full of water and more than tripled its size. We took a couple of quick photos then released it unharmed and then headed back to the boat for some drinks and snacks.

While they were eating, I moved the boat to a nearby shallow sandbar and got in to look for some lizard fish buried in the sand to show everyone. AdventureNoelle, Rio, Allison and Jada were quick to follow, while AdventureAlex and Jake set the anchor in the shallows. Somehow this searching for lizard fish turned into “netting” AdventureMike and you should have heard the laughter then after I was “netted” and they piled a giant sand ball right on the very top of my head. They were laughing like crazy, having a great time and smiling from ear to ear!!! And that was the perfect way for us to end the day!!!

We laughed the whole way back to the dock thinking about how much fun we had! And I know one thing for sure, I just can’t wait till tomorrow! We are going to have a blast, do some seine netting, short-spined sea-urchin collecting, crab trapping, snorkeling, an Island hike and maybe even visit Starfish Prairie along the way. And who knows what else… As if a day out boating isn’t fun enough all by itself!!! It just doesn’t get any better than this!!!

Stay tuned, or better yet, come join us!!! It’s time to get outside and live life to the fullest!!! I know we are. 🙂

Let’s Go Have Some Fun !!!
AdventureMike

Uncategorized

Adventure Mike on WPBF Channel 25

March 23, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi all,

Cathleen O’Toole from WPBF Channel 25 stopped by for a quick interview and update on my spring and summer camp adventure sessions. Check it out!

See you in the water,

AdventureMike

Uncategorized

Adventure Lauren’s Birthday Party

March 23, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everyone, Welcome back!

We just finished up a custom birthday party adventure session for AdventureLauren and again wanted to wish her a very happy birthday. Lauren and her brother Andrew are repeat Adventurers and I have to say I love having them along! They are full of energy and smiles and that makes trips like this extra special for me!!! Lauren brought along 4 close friends, Adventurers Natalie, Katie, Sonam and Ariane that were equally as enthusiastic and excited as the rest of us. We were joined by two of my favorite Adventurers and camp counselors AdventureLisa and AdventureSheri.

We hurriedly boarded my Adventure Boat the “DREAM CHASER”, a custom 26′ Island Runner and off we went to begin the days adventure. On the way out we stopped along a nearby beach to do some exploring and see what we could find. We had no sooner hopped out than AdventureLauren and the gang found some very large and uncommon Spotted Sea Hares washed up at the high tide line. We collected these and placed them in a bucket of fresh sea water to revive and moved further down the beach where we discovered some nice colonies of Nerites and hermit crabs along the rocks. We also found some nice open pods of Nicker Beans full of the gray hard shelled beans openly displayed within, like tiny eggs in thorny bird nests. A cool find. Nicker Beans are what the anti malarial drug Quinine is made from and are commonly called “lucky beans”. This is the only time of year you can these pods containing seeds.

From here we headed back to the DREAM CHASER, released the now revived Spotted Sea Hares after taking a few photos of AdventureAndrew wearing one on his head like a slimy toupee, and scout the shallow sand bar for eagle rays, manatees and maybe a passing turtle. On the way to explore the shallow grass flats by Little Munyon Island we stopped at Starfish Prairie and hurriedly collected a few for a quick photo op. and then seconds later gently released them exactly where we found them. “Starfish Head” photos are always a popular attraction for a young group of Adventurers and everyone was full of smiles!

After this we motored to Little Munyon Island and AdventureSheri organized a fun game of egg toss competitions while AdventureLisa became the staff photographer for the day. We all had an absolute ball! AdventureSheri and I won once and AdventureLauren and Andrew won another time and by the time this was over and done with we all had great big smiles on our faces and egg on our hands. It was great and non stop laughter!!! We did a little bit of Seine netting and found some nice juvenile snappers and mojaras and discovered a large bed of short-spined sea urchins in the very shallows. They came in a variety of colors and sizes and we collected a few to look at, check out their tiny tube feet and spines. We turned a few over to take a closer look at their 5 tiny mouth plates, also called “Aristotle’s Lantern” then let them go.

By now we only had a short time left so we quickly donned our snorkel masks, took a shallow snorkel around the island and found tons more sea urchins, hermit crabs and a variety of shells. It was just great and everybody was excited to discover some new things. I took a look at my watch, realized it was time to go and we boarded the boat to head back. And as usual, nobody was ready to go, but Lauren’s mom, Lisa, had a nice birthday party awaiting back at the park and we couldn’t stall any longer.

On the way back we pulled out a dozen “giant bubble” tubes and left a trail of iridescent floating bubbles all the way back to the ramp. It was a great way to end the day and celebrate AdventureLauren’s birthday, and with all the smiles and laughter I heard and saw, I know everyone will remember this day, and especially me!!!

Be back soon, Spring Camps start March 31st thru April 3rd, and April 7th thru 10th. I still have a few spaces left, but not for long, and I know I just can’t wait!!! How about you? Come join us and “LET’S GO HAVE SOME FUN!!!

See you soon,

AdventureMike

Uncategorized

Let’s Go Have Some Fun!

March 12, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everybody, Welcome back!

I just wanted to drop a quick post to everyone to say hello and let them know how excited I am about this up coming Spring Break Camp session! The first Adventure Session begins March 31st and the second on April 7th, and to say I just about can’t wait is an understatement!!! I am really looking forward to it and I know that all of us are going to have a fantastic time!!! I’m going to personally see to that!!!

For those of you who have joined me in the past, you know the kind of Fun and Excitement that’s in store. We are going to have an honest to goodness Adventure Session from start to finish. I checked out the moon phase and am happy to see that the first adventure session will occur right around the new moon. That means we are going to have higher highs and lower low tides than normal and that is just perfect!!!

At high tide the Rock Garden will be loaded with thousands of tropical fish just waiting for us to enjoy! I know the water is going to be crystal clear as usual, and I can’t wait to get in it and go exploring! How about you? Who knows what we may find, but I can guarantee one thing. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE FUN!!!

At low tide we’ll head to the Big Sandbar for a quick round of exploring and I know this time of year we will find lots of Beaded Starfish, some Cushion Sea Stars, Baby Ear Mollusks, a variety of Blue Crabs, Spider Crabs, Hermit Crabs, live Olive shells and quite a few large Mantis Shrimp. If we are really lucky, we might even find some of those elusive and nocturnal 9 Armed Starfish, and I know just the photos I want to take with this group of Adventurers! From here we’ll head towards the back side of Little Munyon Island and do some seine netting in the shallows and see if we can find some more of those really rare Pygmy Seahorses and some sharks teeth and fossils! Last year we had so much fun in this area! Every pull of the net was another Adventure waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. We found hundreds of juvenile reef fish and even some frogfish that are rarely seen around these parts. I never know what we may discover, but we always find something truly fascinating and worthy of our attention. I just love it when things come together like this!

In between snorkeling at the Rock Garden, swimming in the Deep Hole, exploring the Big Sandbar and seine netting behind Munyon Island, we are going to be learning cast netting and water safety, enjoying crab trapping, nature walks, eco tours and more! As if spending a day out boating isn’t enough fun all by itself, and where else and in what other camp do you get to do that? None that I know of… Lucky us!!! YIPPEE!!!

And Best of All, we will be spending a day fishing in my favorite secret spots where the action can be non stop from start to finish. AND I MEAN FROM START TO FINISH!!! Just ask AdventureCarolyn from last summer… She caught 71 snappers, grunts, pinfish, porgies, yellowtails, spot-tails and groupers, etc. all by herself! And in just one outing of fishing!!! Had to quit cause she couldn’t reel in another fish! Everyone else caught around 50 or so each. What an unbelievable day! I’ll bet we boated and released over 350 fish in under 4 hours by 5 young adventurers. I may never have another day like that, but I can only hope!!! Maybe this will be the time…

Check out the post for July 10th, 2008. “Fishing near Peanut Island” I can promise you, they will never forget that day!!! And neither will I!!! Making memories that can last a lifetime… That’s what I LOVE ABOUT THIS JOB!!!

For those of you who are again joining me for our Spring Camps, I can’t wait to see you!!! For those of you who may be thinking about it, you may have to HURRY to decide… AdventureMike’s is not your “normal” Spring or Summer camp and I only have six spaces left. They won’t last long… One things certain…

It’s time to get outside and Live Life to the fullest!!! Come join us and be a part of the Adventure!!!

LET’S GO HAVE SOME FUN!!!
AdventureMike

Tips

Record your Adventure Mike Adventure!

March 11, 2009 Mike Leave a comment

Every few weeks I have a budding photographer on one of my kids adventure camps. Last summer I took Adventure Drew on a custom photo safari and we got some rare video of a Striated frogfish!

Reflecting on our past adventures today I was surprised more kids don’t bring cameras along. Underwater photography isn’t a cheap hobby but I’m sure most of you don’t realize you can get a camera, prints (and digial versions) all for less than $20. What better way to remain inspired by a life changing adventure than for your kids to bring home and share their record of the trip?

Here’s how to do it! First, get a Kodak Water Sport camera at your local Walgreens or CVS store. Just look in the film section for one hanging on the shelf. They usually run about $15 and look like this in the box:

Last Minute Tip: There is a Walgreens on the southwest corner of Blue Heron Blvd. and US1 right on your way to the boat ramp.)

The only drawback to the camera is that it’s a one time use film camera so you can only take 27 photos. Be sure to remind your son or daughter to conserve their photos or you might get 27 long distance photos of a hermit crab in various poses.

It’s super easy to use. There’s one button to take a photo and a big knob to wind the film forward. Click. Wind. Repeat. Got it!

After they’ve finished the roll just return the camera back to the CVS or Walgreens you bought it from and you can get the photos developed in a day for about $5. Awesome!

Week 11

Manta Ray Adventure!

August 27, 2008 Mike Leave a comment

Welcome Back All,

We just finished up the first half of another fabulous adventure session and like all the rest, we had a really great time! The water clarity this week has been poor thanks to all the fresh water runoff being drained into the intra-coastal waterway from the left over remnants of Tropical Storm Fay. This gave us an opportunity to do something different instead of spend most of our time snorkeling at the Rock Garden, even though I would have absolutely loved it!. Visibility just isn’t there right now! Oh well… first time all summer it didn’t look like a swimming pool. But this sure didn’t prevent us from having a wonderful fun filled time!!! Not this gang of adventurers!

I have a whole new group this week and everybody is absolutely GREAT and totally at home in the water! It just doesn’t get any better than this! Groups like this make me truly love and appreciate my job! Right on…You guys can swim!

I arrived bright and early at the dock and was joined by AdventureZach, Matthew, Max, Doug, Ben and Preston. Everyone was excited and ready to go, including me! We loaded up, stashed our gear and headed straight to the sandbar to see what we could find. The tide was really low and made it perfect for exploring. We had no sooner gotten out of the boat before we found some nice large Cushion Sea starfish. Big bright red ones too, really great! Shortly after this we found some nice juvenile mantis shrimp crawling around outside of their burrows which is unusual in the day time and cool to see. There were plenty of blue crabs around to keep us all busy having fun catching them! Occasionally one would latch on and give me a really good pinch which everybody loved watching. Of course nobody wanted to help me get it off my fingers when the time came to let it go… On the way back to the boat we stopped and jumped in the Deep Hole and found a really large Beaded Sea Starfish which was a nice find. Largest I’ve seen all summer. We all checked it out then released it and swam back to the boat and loaded up to go to a new spot.

We motored out the Inlet and around the south jetty and dropped anchor in 4 feet of clear water. There were large schools of anchovies and glass minnow just inches from the beach swimming right in the trough. They blackened the water for 200 hundred yards down the beach. They were so thick you couldn’t see though them. Every now and then a big snook would go by and take a mouthful which was great to watch just inches from your face. Really exciting! We grabbed some dip nets and waded in to see who could catch the most with a single scoop. I think I took the cake with 26 in just one swipe. Everybody was having fun and catching fish. Even the sea gulls around us were loving it, grabbing our escapees fresh out of the net. I’m not sure who was having more fun, us or the birds, but we were all making nose trying to catch fish! Every now and then we would come up with a big lady crab in the net to add excitement to the chase. We found a nice big one with no claws and this gave us a chance to take turns holding it and check it out. Its really neat to see how well they camouflage in the sand. Can hardly see them once they dig down a bit. Nice find.

Today there was a nice little swell coming in that was perfect for body surfing and we spent an hour or two having an absolute blast surfing the waves into the beach. Was great exercise too. After this we had about an hour left so we called it quits and went back to the boat for some snacks and refreshments and decided to motor along the beach down towards the Breakers Hotel. We never got there!!! And boy were we lucky!!!

About half way there I spotted 3 big black shapes in shallow water swimming in formation heading right at us. They were about 12 feet wide and looked like stealth bombers moving down the beach! They were Manta rays, and BIG ones at that! Just unbelievable!!! Big, beautiful, totally harmless, gentle giants that were just waiting for us to get in and take a look! Many times they would swim right up to the boat, take a look at us, then slowly pirouette and glide away. Just incredibly beautiful to watch and such a lucky opportunity! When I asked if anybody wanted to get in and check them out, you know the answer to that! AdventureZach was ready in a heartbeat and the first one in. My kind of Adventurer!! On the first encounter he had a nice cobia come by and look at him that was swimming right next to the ray! It didn’t take long for AdventureDoug, Ben, Preston, Max and Matthew to follow. Talk about having fun!!! We were having it by the truck loads now! It just doesn’t get any better than this!!! What an opportunity for us to experience!

How an hour could go by so quickly I will never know, but we were having fun like there was no tomorrow! When I looked at my watch it was past time to go, so we hurriedly got aboard and headed back. I can guarantee you no one wanted to go back now! We were just too busy having FUN! This was the first time all summer for an unbelievably wonderful Manta Ray encounter. On the way back I felt like we were living life right, AND LOVING IT!!! Been thinking about it all day and smiling non stop! Thank you!!! Leaves me longing for more, more fun that is!!!

I just can’t wait till tomorrow! Going to have 2 more adventurers join us and we’re going to go out and Have Some Fun! Stay tuned… Who knows what we may discover, but I can guarantee you one thing, we are going to have a ball and loads of fun along the way!!!

See you on the return…
AdventureMike

Week 10

A Manatee Adventure in Palm Beach!

August 14, 2008 Mike Leave a comment

Hi Everyone,

Welcome Back! We just finished up the first day of another new and wonderful adventure session and as usual we had an absolutely fantastic time! It was perfect from start to finish! Just the way I love it!!! AdventureJonah, Annie, Allison and Nicholas came back for some more adventuring and the four of us were joined by five new adventurers, Adventure Emily, Katie, McKenzie, Megan and Joseph. Everyone was excited and ready to start the day. I quickly gave a run down on what we were going to do and we loaded up, donned life jackets and off we went.

We went straight to the Rock Garden, dropped anchor, readied our gear and in we went. From the very start I could tell this was going to be another great group. It didn’t take them long to get ready and they could swim like fish! Just great!!!The minute we got in we were surrounded by parrotfish, surgeonfish, doctor fish, porkfish, pinfish, grunts, snappers, wrasse, menhaden and hundreds of tropical fish too numerous to mention. We saw some barracudas, snook and large houndfish chasing menhaden with blue runners quickly following. It was wonderful to see so many fish in such shallow water and as usual the visibility was almost perfect.

We swam from spot to spot chasing fish, catching hermit crabs, finding queen conchs and looking for “treasures”. We covered almost every square inch, stopping here and there to check out something new, answer questions and look for more. It was non stop fun for two hours and we finally headed back to the boat for some snacks and drinks and take a quick breather. The wind was out of the west today and the ocean flat calm so we pulled anchor and decided to motor around the south jetty and park right next to the beach. What a great decision that was!!!

We didn’t even have a chance to drop anchor before we spotted two large manatees coming right towards us. They stopped in three feet of water not far from the boat and just laid there and nibbled algae off each others backs for half an hour. We had such a fabulous time watching them from 3 feet away. You just wanted to swim up and kiss one! Well actually, both of them! They didn’t even mind that we were there watching and smiling the whole time. It just doesn’t get any better than that!!!, and boy were we lucky to have that opportunity in crystal clear water! What a way to start the first day!!! Right on!!!

A while later they swam into deeper water and we spent some time swimming along the shoreline looking for shells and watching juvenile permit and pompano search for sand fleas in the shallows. We just could not have had a more wonderful first day than this! With only a short time left we loaded up, motored to the sand bar and searched for fighting conchs, mantis shrimp and what ever else we could discover. We found both Florida and West Indian fighting conchs and watched as many were laying eggs. We found one conch that was extremely beautiful! Instead of being solid orange or dark brown inside, it had a pure white interior that was outlined in bright purple.

Absolutely gorgeous! I have never seen one like this before, really a nice discovery! Everyone took a look, then we put it back where we found it and swam back to the boat. It was time to go, and I can tell you nobody wanted to head home yet! I had heard it all before, ” AdventureMike, why can’t your camp last till 3 or 5 instead of 1, why do we have to go back so soon?” Oh boy, I still haven’t come up with a good answer for that…. and most of the time I don’t want to go back either. Oh well…

All of us had such a wonderful time! You could see it in our smiles and hear the excitement in our voices! We just couldn’t wait to do it all over again! Each one of us was looking forward to tomorrow! We just can’t wait!!!

Stay tuned….. We are going to have some fun!!! I can guarantee it!!! Right on!!!

AdventureMike

Week 9

Fishing in the Lake Worth Lagoon

July 29, 2008 Mike Leave a comment

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…

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

Palm Beach Summer Day Camp Blog