In last week’s article I was talking about all the wonderful people I meet, and the friendships made while working at Bluewater Outriggers. The following day, amidst the usual hustle and bustle of our store on a busy weekend, I was answering the call for some live shrimp when who should I see but my good friend Lewis Bartels. I met Lewis a couple of years ago while working at Bluewater. After some friendly banter and printing out his fishing license, Lewis left the store; but that was not to be the last time I ever saw him. A few days later, while fishing for trout at the Marina wall, I was pleasantly surprised to run into Lewis and his family. Lewis’ lovely wife is Aida, and together the two of them take care of his grandson Braxton, who has been put in his charge. We spent many hours fishing together on the wall, and my four-year-old, Rory, happily played with his new friend Braxton, who is about the same age.
So, you can imagine how pleasant it was to run into Lewis after a year’s passing. He invited Rory and me to join him and his family at the Mexico Beach Canal. He has had several good days there this last week catching reds, speckled trout, and flounder using live shrimp. You can see Lewis and his doormat flounder (above left). Lewis’ wife Aida is quite the fisherwoman as well. She and Braxton can be seen (above right) holding a nice, red they managed to land. The Bartels are such lovely people, and it was such a pleasure to spend some more time with them. They even brought my boy an Easter basket! Thank you Lewis and Aida, and congratulations on the nice fish!
Holy Mackerel! I almost forgot to mention that the Spanish are back in town. I knew it was about time for them to start, and boy have they! Just look at the haul made by Uncle David and Bobby Everett (above center). These mackerel are crazy about anything flashy that you pull in or troll at a high speed. Captain Jake likes throwing a small Gotcha lure at them. I prefer the trusty silver Clarkspoon. Don’t overthink it too much though, if you throw something shiny in a school of hungry Spanish, you’re probably going to get slammed. I have reports that the Spanish are thick out there and anglers can get them by trolling a little way out from our beaches or casting off the seawall.
Speaking of Captain Jake, he made it offshore a few times this week. They’re continuing to haul in the red grouper, triggerfish, vermillion snapper and porgies. He’s got the pictures to prove it, but I’m not going to include them this week because I don’t want his ego to get any bigger than it already is. We spent some time together jigging for squid this last week, and I could tell Ol’ Jake really thinks he’s something. He just needs to dial it back a notch or two, because at the end of the day, I know, and you, dear readers, know, that I caught more than he did. That's right, the squid seem to be in town as well as the Spanish. They’re here in Port St. Joe and Panama City. PC has the bigger squid I’ve been told, but good luck finding a jig, it seems as if most places are out of them! One word to the wise, if going jigging for squid, do NOT leave your four-year-old in the truck with access to an Easter Basket full of chocolate that you forgot about and a purple permanent marker that you’ve been using for work purposes. If you do, I promise the interior of your vehicle will never look the same. I know mine never will. And though some might see the purple squiggles and smiley faces that adorn the ceiling, seats, side panels, and display screen of my vehicle as depreciation; I like to think of it as a little forever reminder of the night the old man put that young buck, Captain Jake, in his rightful place.
Have a fun, safe and fish-filled week. I hope to see you out there!
-Jeremiah Beasley