We spent a very enjoyable afternoon yesterday trolling with a couple of enthusiastic youngsters and their mentors. The Spanish were snapping; lots of small albies, some blues, and about a dozen undersize kings were boated. The hot water (82 degrees) hasn’t slowed down the bite. At the cleaning table, lots of the conversation centered on how to cook the Spanish. It seems there are nearly as many ways as Bubba Gump has to cook shrimp. Fresh fillets on the grill, smoked, or in Cap’n Dan’s fish chowder are my favorites.

From Spanish to Mahi to bottom fish, everything out there is turned on and hungry. The last 2 days, we had a group of Lake Erie walleye fishermen with us, and they had a blast. Sunday we trolled up a load of gaffer dolphin and like most offshore trolling, there was plenty of time between strikes and turns in the fighting chair for the party to relax and tell tall fish tales. Monday was a different kind of day as we bottom fished but were interrupted on several occasions by schools of Mahi cruising by to see what we were up to. When that happens, you just can't let them visit and leave without inviting them for "dinner." The party had a great time sight-casting on light tackle into that beautiful blue water and watching the show once they got one hooked up. The two days went by too quickly, but we look forward to having them on board again next year.