The first year I was there for vacation, it was really calm the whole week.  The water was really clear.  Much of the success I had was either early in the morning (sunrise plus an hour or two) or an hour or so before sunset.  I’m guessing the low light countered the clear water at these times. 

I had a lot of success with top water plugs at first light, but be warned, the birds can be a problem with these types of lures (at least in the part of AMI I was in).  You have to constantly watch for them because they will try and take your lure and this makes it difficult to fish.  But if you’re there at first light, the birds aren’t up flying as much as they are 30 minutes later.

I also had some success with jigs and Gotcha plugs.   I found that the 5/8 ounce gotcha plugs could still be worked pretty well off the beach.  Anything heavier was tough to use.  Also, the gotcha plugs with orange heads seemed to work better than others. 

Outside of early morning and evening, I fished, but had little success.  Time was better used being spent with the family or doing something else.  I did catch an occasional flounder during the day (used cut bait with a small weight and drug it slowly across the bottom), but for the most part I was feeding the bait fish. 

Under calm conditions, in my limited experience, it’s important to look for the potholes.  You can usually see these as they appear darker than the rest of the water around them.  So during the day take a look at where the potholes are and fish around those early and late. 

My second significant trip, the conditions were quite different.  The early part of the week was calm which again, I didn’t have much success except for early and late.  However, midway through the week the ocean got rougher and the waves bigger (in this case due to a tropical storm).  This seemed to actually improve the fishing for me. 

I had a lot of success with jigs under these conditions.  I would typically cast the jig diagonal from the shore (even right parallel with the shore), out past the breakers, and would get the majority of bites fairly close to shore.  I caught Snook, Trout and even hooked into a Tarpon (although my gear was not prepared for this and he snapped me off).  I found that the electric chicken colored jigs worked really well, but had success with other colors as well.

I tried all sorts of live and dead bait and to be honest, didn’t have that much success with it.  That could just be inexperience on my part.  Caught a big sting ray once and hooked into what I think was a big Tarpon on live bait once, but outside of that, not much success at all.

Keep in mind, I was fishing the north end of AMI, almost at the tip.  It may be and probably is different further south on the island.  Again, this is just my experience.

I fished Rod and Reel Pier a couple times and caught stuff each time, but no keepers.  It’s best to take your own bait there if you can.  One time all they had was frozen shrimp, and another they had all sorts of bait. So you never know.  I found that in the evenings the pier tends to fill up with lots of kids which I’ll leave up to you whether or not that’s good or bad.

AMI is a beautiful place and I plan to go back many times.  Keep it beautiful by cleaning up after yourself and being respectful to the nature that calls AMI home.

I feel so blessed to have such a great kid, or should I say boy (when do I start saying young man?).  10 years ago Monique and I thought we would never have the joy of being parents.  And now today, almost 10 years to the day, God has blessed us to be parents of not only a boy, but also a little girl (she’s not 10 yet and so I can still say that).  What a blessing  this 10 years has been.  I like to think I’ve appreciated this blessing since day 1 (and I think I have) but with my condition, I have never felt so blessed and appreciative to have him in my life.

Like any boy growing up, Austin is not perfect (I know I wasn’t).  But the many positives far outweigh any negatives.  Austin has packed many experiences in 10 years.  Whether it was travling to London and San Francisco or heading down the cul-de-sac to play with friends, Austin has always been adventurous.

And now ten years to the day that he was born I couldn’t love him more.

Those of you that have known me a while know that I was a total “surfer dude” growing up.  Spiccoli was my idol.  My main ambition was skimboarding. You know, the pseudo surfboard thing that you ride along the shore break.  I was totally into this.  Just about every weekend of my teen years was spent at the beach doing this.  I even have proof!

Shredding...

Yeah, that’s me back in the day.  I probably couldn’t stand on the thing now.  Or if I was able to, my knee would probably rip to shreds again.  Anyway, we were preparing to head out to St. Augustine for a couple days recently and Austin out of nowhere told me to bring my old board.  I was able to fit it in the car (thanks to my Dad for passing down the “packing” gene) while the whole time thinking I’d just be giving this thing a ride across state in the car and it would never be used.  But it wasn’t long before he asked to use it and he wasn’t half bad for a beginner.

As I sat and watched, I couldn’t help but think back on all the good times I had on that board.  My buddy Todd and I tearing up Treasure Island.  My brother and I skimming in Delaware in December.  Me trying to handle the heavy surf in La Jolla, CA while my parents watched.  That board had been so many places with me and had been a part of so many good experiences.  I just found myself lost for a few moments in thought.  Thoughts about how I didn’t truly appreciate those times like I should have.  Thoughts about how close me and my brother were and how I miss that.  Thoughts about how carefree that time in my life was. 

So there was my son.  More than 20 years after I sent off to have that board custom made, there he was riding it.  I never imagined back when I was riding it, that 20 years later, my little boy would be riding it.  I only hope he can take some time and appreciate the moment.  I know I certainly appreciated and savored this moment.

Shredding

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world/europe/23crapstone.html?_r=3&em

As I’m watching this, my daughter who is 5 (ok, we’ll talk later about whether she should have been watching this in the first place) became engrossed in it.  She couldn’t take her eyes off of it.  You would think she would say he’s scary or why is he green.  But all she could manage to say was “Man, that guy has big boobs.”  I had to laugh.

I hope to post my son’s solo as well soon.

Not to mention their mascot looked like a gay pirate. 

So there was no jumping ship.  So I’ve gone through three Superbowl championships and another failed Superbowl bid.  Lately I’ve been going through a lot of bad seasons.  It’s been tough to be a Redskin fan for sure.

This past Sunday as I’m watching on my NFL Sunday Ticket that I pay way too much for, I’m flipping through various games and would stop on ones that have some sort of relevance to my Skins playoff hopes.  So I settle on the hated Cowboys game.  As I’m watching I find myself rooting for guys to get hurt.  Now before you think I’m an awful person, I’m not hoping they break a neck or something.  Just something like a hamstring pull, a pulled groin, or a ruptured spleen.  Nothing serious like this. 

 I constantly found myself doing this as I watched the Giants, the Eagles the Falcons.  Every guy that got up limping after a tackle I felt some sort of hope for my team.

I feel pretty bad after these thoughts run through my head. So, is it wrong for me to feel that way or am I just a true fan???  Should I be asking for forgiveness?

Go skins!!!

Monique and I met about 21 years ago.  Since that time she has become and remains my best friend.  I cannot imagine life without her.  She loves me with all she has and sometimes that’s not easy.  Monique is a wonderful mother to my kids, although she’s very tough on herself when it comes to that.  She loves those kids with all her heart and I am so thankful that my kids have such a Mom.

Monique, I know I don’t show it or say it enough, but I love you.  And I am so thankful to have you in my  life!

Together always!