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I met John Nguyen down in West Palm to fish a couple of days with Capt. Craig Korczynski.
Craig "grew up in Palm beach county spending countless hours scouring docks, flats and sea walls in search of the next big catch.". I have fished with him numerous times and John fishes with him every year.
We were staying at different hotels so John picked me up in his rental.
It was cheaper than a KIA!
On Monday (8/2), we stopped at Wawa for breakfast! I was well represented.
We met at the dock at 8a...let the 2 day expedition begin!
Those clouds were around both days but we would dodge them by going to different places.
Our targets were snook and tarpon...all on the fly!
Both John and I had tarpons on but could not get the job done. But other fish were willing.
Then...I get slammed and after a couple of runs and jumps, I was able to land him!
My 1st tarpon on a fly!
After catching a bunch of jacks, blue runners, the 'cuda and the tarpon, we made a run.
On the way, we saw some cool things...
...no clue whose owns the houses but they were nice.
This is Tiger Woods' yacht!
This is Ken Griffey Jr.'s sport fisher!
This is Jack Nicklaus' house and some toys!
A random boat...
...many 3-4-5 motor boats down there.
Now we make our way back into the creeks but made a stop just before and scored some nice fish!
And now...another tarpon for me!
More fishies...
After a weather alert, it was time to beat the storm in (which we did)! It was almost quitting time anyway.
I was not able to get a snook but I did get a catfish! We caught lots of fish, had some tarpon on which is always thrilling. The blue runners, which are considered a bait fish for the deep, command a nice $5-6 each, We probably caught about a dozen or more...and they give you a great fight on the fly rod.
Dinner was at Captain Charlie's Reef Grill in Juno Beach and it did not disappoint. I've been there many times. John had a whole (fried) Bahamian snapper and I had the grouper. Man...we were hungry!
I promise to do better for tomorrow night's meal...
Day 2
We met Craig at 8a and off we went. Weather was going to be an issue today but we persevered.
Jacks came to play today, they are a beast on a fly rod!
But John had a couple of tarpon on that not only did the dance but flew in the air. What a show!! He could not land them but the images of those tarpon jumping up over 5' will not soon be forgotten.
Here's the blue runner pic...
Here comes the storm!
We had to wait it out under a bridge...
...but it did not stop us (yet) from more catching. I finally got a snook!
And some more...
John with another one...
...and another one!
And then...this huge thing hits my fly and starts running! What a blast! I was smiling the whole way but relived when we got her aboard!
What a thrill! On an 8wt no less!! Craig estimated it to be 30+"!
Yep...caught her in here!
After this, I was done. I made a few more cats but I was happy. Craig asked if we wanted to keep going and we both said, "nah!". We had caught another boat load of fish. Arms were tired.
Dinner was at the Greek Islands Taverna in Ft. Lauderdale. A great family restaurant. The whole family is involved!
This is just the appetizers...
I had grouper again...fantastic!
I slept good!
John actually went back today and fished a half day. He said, " Tarpon did not want to play but caught about $1000 in blue runners. Went back to the canal to find your snook, she did not want to play. But did end up catching over 30 snook before storms sent us back to ramp."
Overall...a GREAT trip and we will repeat it again next year. What, you say? Florida in the summer? Yep...you can breath down there as the air is clear. And there is always a breeze. And the food.............
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Fantastic! What a great trip and report. Congrats on the beautiful Tarpon and that Snook, wow! No regrets there.
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Great report!
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Phenomenal report! What a beastly snook. You are living life at it's best!
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What a trip, that snook is a monster!
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Quality fish! Thx for sharing. You two sure got your money's worth!
It was cheaper than a KIA!
Found out the same thing in CA. Gas was about $4.50 a gallon and they wanted me to take a Mustang with a 350 V-8 over a Chevy Storm. No brainer for me. What a blast to drive. Wife's still yelling at me for my gas bills.
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The Mustang that they gave to John was an unstable ride. Scary. No comparison to the muscle cars of old.
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Ernie wrote:
The Mustang that they gave to John was an unstable ride. Scary. No comparison to the muscle cars of old.
The one I got was nice. Raced a Porsche in the canyons. The 'stand had a switch on the dash that went from NORMAL to DRAG.
I put the vehicle in DRAG and punched int at a light when a Porsche gunned it's engine next to me.. No burn out just power to the wheels and go. You could feel the G's throw you back in the seat. Handled like a charm on the twists. The Porsche did keep up, but since the "stang was a rental I may have pushed the limits by taking up the whole road .... I was vey impressed with the one I rented but had to back down because I didn't want to end up in jail or with a huge ticket
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What an awesome trip! As impressive as all the fish are my favorite picture is of the spread of food, and that was just the apps?? Y'all living the life!
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