LOG OF THE TOP CAT
STUART, FLORIDA
JUNE 9-11 2006
This is a little different sort of cruise for us. Jayne and I went along with the Sebastian Inlet Sportfishing Association (SISA) on their annual “fishback”, a combination cruise, fishing tournament, and cocktail party. The fishback includes a cruise down the Intracoastal Waterway from Sebastian to Stuart, a fishing tournament, and then fishing back up north offshore.
JUNE 9
Rather than run the whole way down from Sebastian, we trailer the boat down to Fort Pierce and intercept the Knockdown, the Fishmonger, and the Perks just north of Fort Pierce Inlet. The group stops at Fort Pierce city marina for lunch at the Tiki Bar. Over lunch, we consider running the rest of the way to Stuart in the ocean, but the wind is picking up and the flat morning is turning into a choppy afternoon. So we all run the 20 or so miles down to Stuart in a flotilla down the ICW. Janet on Knockdown got a nice picture of us underway.
We arrive at Pirates Cove Marina in Manatee Pocket in Stuart about 2:30 and get checked in. Jayne and I decide to forego a room and sleep on the boat, and so we rig our usual system of cabin fans and screens. We have snacks and cocktails poolside with the group, and are joined by our friends Jim and Beth, who live in Stuart and will fish with us tomorrow. Also joining the group are Raymond and Gail Reed on the Gail Ray. We all decide to have dinner right there at Pirates Cove restaurant, which is convenient but not very good. We kick in $25 per boat for an offshore fishing tournament to be held tomorrow.
JUNE 10
We get up around 0630 and buy a hundred bucks worth of bait and ice, and rig up the gear for offshore trolling. We really don’t do a lot of this kind of fishing, and both we and our tackle are a little rusty (literally- when I try to put a bait out on the downrigger later today, the corroded cable pops, and a $40 weight and release clip is donated to the fishing gods). Jim and Beth join us around 0700, and we head out St. Lucie Inlet. It is flat and glassy this morning, just the way I like it. We spend the next hour catching live baits in the middle of a huge herd of boats all intent on the same thing, and then head out offshore. We put the baits out in about 100 feet, and troll offshore. There is a lot of scattered weed around, not formed up in nice weedlines like you would like. The weed is kind of a nuisance, and Jim does a great job working the cockpit and keeping all the lines and baits clear. Out at around 350 feet, we get our first and only hit of the day, a seven pound dolphin. But it doesn’t sound on the VHF like anyone else is doing all that great either. Around lunch we decide to try and anchor up on a reef and try bottom fishing and drifting live baits. But the current is just ripping (about 2.5 knots) way too much for bottom fishing and not so good for live baiting either. I feel lucky just to get my anchor back. We have lunch and then troll uneventfully back north. As the 4:00 weigh in time comes around, it seems that our little dolphin is going to be the winner!
We bask briefly in the glory of it all, and then head up to the pool for a good soak and drinks, including a couple of trays of delicious and very potent Jello shots. We all discuss the first official Tropical Storm of the season (Alberto), which has just formed in the Gulf and is promising rain in our area by tomorrow afternoon. The conversation moves on to more cheerful topics, like fishing stories and Bahamas trips. We find that some of our group goes scalloping every year in the same place we do, and we will be there at the same weekend this year. Small world. Everyone piles on to Perks, a 35 foot Cabo, for a short ride over to Shrimpers, a nearby waterfront restaurant. We have a really great dinner, followed by mudslides and more Jello shots back at the dock. The dock seems to be spinning slightly as we stagger off to bed. Jayne and I just can’t seem to keep up with this crew in the drinking department.
JUNE 11
Today is the actual “fishback” part of the fishback, where we all troll our way back north towards home. We get a little earlier start than the rest of the bunch, perhaps a result of our sissy lightweight early bedtime last night. It is choppy and sloppy offshore this morning, and the first rain bands from Alberto are coming up from the south, but we should be able to stay ahead of them. We slug out to 120 feet and put out baits and head north in a 2-4 foot quartering sea. After about a half hour, we get a hit and see a big dolphin leaping on the end of our line. It is just Jayne and me today, and I am scrambling to steer the boat and clear the other lines while Jayne fights the fish. I’m not quite fast enough - the fish gets fouled in one of the other lines and breaks off.
We continue to troll north, and catch a hard pulling but unprestigious and inedible bonito before deciding to call it quits. We are loading up on the trailer in Fort Pierce by noon, and are back home by 1:00. The first really nasty squall from Alberto hits as we are cleaning up the boat.
I think the fishback will become an annual event – it was really a lot of fun.