CORAL SPRINGS HOLIDAY PARADE

The MARC VI was in the Coral Springs Holiday parade, lit up like a Christmas tree
and carrying a few elves. It was entered under “Garnett Storage” - the boat/RV facility
in Coral Springs that has been the home of the MARC VI for 16 years. Steve Garnett
had asked if I’d let him enter the MARC VI in the parade months ago, to showcase his
business, and I happily agreed.

A huge, special thank you goes to friend Carl Grassi, who – along with the assistance of
his two crew members Vladimir and Danny – spent five hours decorating my boat and
Steve’s vehicle the day prior to the parade. I’d like to say I was instrumental in helping
Carl and his gang decorate the boat, but I’ll admit I was in their way more than I was
an asset. I got the hint when Carl sent me on the road to find an inflatable Santa for the
boat, while they kept on decorating! Carl is the owner of Carl’s Sunoco on Sample Road
in Coral Springs. In addition to being a virtual mechanical genius (he does my auto and
most of my boat work) and a good saltwater angler (he owns a center console and a flats
skiff), he also sells non-Ethanol fuel. You guessed it; this is where I fuel up my boat and
vehicle!

As usual, Sample Road was jammed-pack with spectators, and it took nearly two hours
for all the entries to travel the parade route. We were assigned spot # 42, and there were
at least 20 some floats behind us. Did I mention it was bitter cold in that boat? Despite
the cold, it was an enjoyable night. Plus, there was no boat or tackle to wash afterwards!

Garnett Storage is a well-run storage yard that caters to RVs and boats. It is nestled
between the Coral Springs Police shooting range and the Coral Springs Fire Department
training facility. If that’s not enough heat to keep the place safe, Steve has two live-in
nighttime security people. It is about as safe a storage place as one can get. Rumor also
has it that Steve Garnett will start a fishing club, for all the boaters he has in his yard. I
hear tales about a commercial-grade ice machine coming to the property - where boaters
can load up on shaved ice, a boat wash-down station, fish-cleaning facility, and monthly
meetings. Look for all this to crank up sometime in the new year.


With a little help from Carl’s gang! Left to right – Danny, Carl,
me, and Vladimir. Carl owns Carl’s Sunoco on Sample Road in Coral Springs. He
decorated the MARC VI and the tow vehicle for the parade.


Nothing like dredges off the outriggers to light up the night!


Wonder how fast the Coast Guard would respond to a boat this lit
up well offshore at night?!


OK, I’ll give up my “hot spot” that night: It’s on the Lowrance
screen for all to see!


In case you couldn’t figure it out on the map, or see the GPS
numbers, here you go!


The Garnett Elves!

It's A Wrap!

We wrapped up our final television shoot for our 2011 season this past Monday
(December 6) in Big Pine Key! And we did it in style, catching Cero and king mackerel,
dolphin and a sailfish. We even live-chummed up a bunch of big bonitos, which gave us
some fun on light spin tackle.

Carl Grassi, a friend who also owns Carl’s Sunoco in Coral Springs – where I gas
up the MARC VI with his “non-Ethanol” fuel, was my guest angler. We timed the shoot
and trailed down to Big Pine on Friday afternoon, as the winds from a passing cold front
were beginning to subside. As luck would have it, an Artic Clipper (real strong cold
front!) was on the preceding front’s heels, and projected to pass through the lower Florida
Keys on Sunday evening, bringing 25-knot winds and low temperatures into the 40s.
Talk about a tiny window to squeeze this shoot through!

We were based at Parmer’s Resort, at mile marker 28.5 on Little Torch Key
(www.ParmersResort.com). We kept the MARC VI, and Carl’s boat – which we used as
our camera boat, at one of Parmer’s lagoon docks. This was a very convenient, trailer-
boater friendly place. Best of all, we were just a few minutes from open water.
Bundled up in layers, long pants and jackets, Carl and I set forth to find fish. We
had a nice, ten- to 15-knot northwest wind, with its energy scrubbed off by the land, flats
and patch reefs (we were on the lee of the breeze). Our plan was to troll natural baits,
or drift live baits and also deep jig, based on what we found in the way of any bait, rips,
color changes, temperature breaks, etc.

When we opted to troll, we ran about 16 miles to some good looking structure
which fluctuated between 550 and 600 feet. Once there, the surface water temperature
had risen to 78 degrees (it was 76 degrees on the reefs). We put out a spread of baits
on 30-pound class Penn tackle, and went hunting for fish, or signs that would lead us to
them. We eventually turned the bow toward shore, looking to troll into 200 feet of water.

In 300-feet, we caught a dolphin. There were no followers and we proceeded shallower
after trolling that zone produced nothing additional. In 110 feet of water, we came upon a
significant color change and rip, complete with weeds. We trolled tight up to the rip and
then paralleled it, moving in and off it some 100 feet.
After boating two more dolphin, Carl hooks up with a sail – which ate a small,
plain ballyhoo trolled off the starboard outrigger. A beautiful, acrobatic and lit-up fish, I
billed the sailfish, removed the hook and – after admiring it a few seconds – set it free!

The live-baiting portion brought us our kingfish, Cero mackerel, bonito and a
few sharks. Deep jigging was a bit on the quiet side, as the tactic registered just a single
kingfish.

I won’t describe how the action went or get too much into the technical aspects,
simply because I don’t want to spoil the episode! Look for it in early 2011.

A huge tip of the white visor and “Thank You” goes out to my entire production
team for another great season. They’re the best. On our final shoot was Kevin Tierney,
Rob “Swede” Greene, and “Dynamite” Dave Nyitray. Carl Grassi and I had the easy job:
catching the fish!


Fish-Eye view of Carl Grassi and me trolling off Big Pine Key. Kevin Tierney captured the moment.


Kevin Tierney took this neat underwater shot of a dolphin, during our Big Pine Key shoot.

HIALEAH SPEEDWAY REUNION

As luck would have it, the first ever Hialeah Speedway Reunion was held the
Saturday evening of Thanksgiving weekend, in nearby Celebration, Florida. From
when I was nine- years old and to when I was nearly 19, my grandfather took me to that
track nearly every Saturday night to watch the stock car races. Bobby Brack was the
winningest driver to have ever raced at that speedway, which closed in 2005, and he was
my idol! I’d cheer him on, then say hello to him in the pits after the races. He was larger
than life to me.
After Brack retired from racing, and I had gone on to college, I quit going to the
races. Some years later, I saw him at a fishing tournament. It turned out he loves to
fish. So, he and I had become reunited and he has since been an instrumental part of my
fishing team.
The reunion was a great walk back in time, as some 400 drivers, car owners and
fans were on hand in that hotel ballroom. Most of the top drivers were there. It was also
an “eye-opener”, as I’ve not seen most of these guys since I was a kid, 35 years ago; I
had a “visual” in my mind of what they looked like back then, so you can imagine how
taken I was over how differently they looked that night! Time does indeed march on!
Brack, incidentally, was inducted into the Hialeah Speedway Hall of Fame that evening,
along with 11 others.


Me and Bobby Brack, after his induction into the Hialeah Speedway Hall of Fame


Bobby Brack with yellowfin tuna caught aboard the MARC VI this summer


Brack at Hialeah Speedway in "the day"


1974 - Me and Brack after he won his sixth straight, annual 200-lap South Florida State Championship, at Hialeah Speedway


1970 - Me and Brack after he won the 200-lap South Florida State Championship, at Hialeah Speedway

A HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS THANKSGIVING

The entire family spent the week of Thanksgiving in the lake country of Central
Florida, more specifically – Howey-In-The-Hills on Little Lake Harris, about 35-miles
northwest of Orlando. I love it up here, as the scenery is so different than what I’m used
to with my coastal fishing. This is lake country, and bass fishing is HUGE here!
Of course, every time I’m here, I chase after some bass. The biggest challenge is
trying to figure out where they’re at, either along or in the vegetation lining the shore, or
along drop offs and deep structure. I’m not a freshwater angler, so I think “seatrout” and
fish accordingly. I caught 27 bass on this trip, with the largest weighing four-pounds.

Keys Day Job!

It seems as of late, I can’t stay away from the Florida Keys! Due to a
Mako brochure shoot in Fort Lauderdale, I had to cut last week’s Islamorada
TV shoot short by one day. So, to obtain the “spine takes” we needed
to complete that show, I drove to Islamorada for the day on Tuesday,
November 16, and met up with producer Kevin Tierney.

A “spine take” refers to those tight face images that fly in during a fishing
show, where people reflect back on a catch and other highlights during the
trip. We needed to “spine take” two episodes: our recent Islamorada shoot,
and also our July trip to Ocean City, Maryland. On hand today were Greg
Poland and John Oughton, my guest anglers in both shows, respectively.

First on the hot seat was Poland, followed by me. After the
Islamorada “spine takes” were logged, Oughton did his on Ocean City, and I
followed with my take. While all went smoothly, I have to admit that it was
painful to be landlocked, with such gorgeous weather and light winds!

We began shooting at 9:30 a.m., and wrapped up at 2:00 p.m. Figuring we
needed to reward ourselves for working so hard, Kevin and I enjoyed a late
lunch at World Wide Sportsman’s Islamorada Fish Company. And what did
we eat? Why, blackened dolphin fish sandwiches, of course!

I got back on the road around 3:30 p.m. and pulled into my driveway at
5:30 p.m.

We’ve one more trip to the Florida Keys before 2010 draws to a close.
Friend Carl Grassi and I will fish the MARC VI off Big Pine Key shortly
after Thanksgiving.

THE MAKO SHOOT

Mako introduced a new, redesigned and reengineered 284 center console model at
November’s Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, and the company hired Michael Fuller
Photography to shoot stills and videos of a pair of new 284s on November 11 and 12.
Being a long-time Mako owner (since 1977), and having owned their 284s since they
came out with the model in 2005, I am honored to serve as Mako’s spokesperson for this
boat.

For this two-day shoot, I found myself behind the wheel of a tricked-out, red-hulled 284,
powered by twin 250hp Mercury Verado outboards. Mako’s John Bower rode shotgun,
and we also had one of Mike Fuller’s crew to fill out the boat. We were based at Ft.
Lauderdale’s Pier 66.

We gathered at the boats at 5:00 a.m. Thursday, and proceeded to the inlet, where we’d
wait for the helicopter carrying the production crew. At the slightest hint of dawn, in
comes the helicopter, and we take off running in four- to six-foot seas, to obtain early
morning offshore stills/video. We had a 15- to 20-knot northeast wind. After running
north and south for what seemed like well over an hour, the helicopter flew back to shoot
the second 284. John Bower and I regrouped for the trolling portion of the shoot, and
soon found ourselves being shot/filmed on the troll. We got back to Pier 66 around 10:30
a.m. We would regroup at 2:00 p.m. for the afternoon boat-to-boat shooting sessions.
The wind that afternoon was out of the northeast at every bit of 20-knots, and seas
were running five- to seven-feet. We spent the rest of afternoon (until the sun dropped)
offshore.

The next day was spent primarily shooting video footage of John Bower and me talking
about the new improvements and features designed into the boat. Afterwards, it was
some more boat-to-boat photography, until the sun dropped out.

In short, the new Mako 284 now features a “no wood” (cored-foam/fiberglass) structural
system, redesigned 50-gallon live well fed by dual pumps, channeled fish box lids,
larger cockpit drains, redesigned console with a lot of internal room and easy-access to
electronics and other critical rigging components, low-maintenance and electronically
operated trim tabs, LED nav lights, and impeccable fiberglass and finish work. The hull
comes in between 400- and 600-pounds lighter than the previous 284, a difference which
I readily felt when running this boat.

Look for a brand-new MARC VI in February or early March 2011, just in time for our
new fishing season!


At speed off Fort Lauderdale in the newly re-enginered Mako 284.


On the troll of Fort Lauderdale in the new Mako 284.

KEYS AGAIN

KEYS AGAIN!

Trailered the MARC VI back down to the Keys last Monday (Nov. 8), this time to
Islamorada, to fish/shoot an episode with friend Greg Poland. Production crew included
Kevin Tierney, Carl Grassi, and Mr. Miller. We launched my boat and the camera boat
at a private ramp by Poland’s home, and docked them at World Wide Sportsman. We
stayed at Cheeca Lodge, and even got in a dinner at Ziggy’s and Mad Dog’s!

Fishing was good, but not fast. We had to really work at it, but we scored mutton
snapper, grouper, and Cero mackerel. Looking to revisit a kind of fishing I thoroughly
enjoyed in the Keys during my early 20s, we spent one afternoon catching ocean-run
barracuda on tube lures and 8-pound class spin tackle! What a blast! I was always
impressed by the fight a barracuda gives when it is matched on ultra-light tackle, and
these fish – up to 15-pounds – were no exception.

We spent two days on the water, and had to pull the boat after our second day, and
trailer it back to Broward County. I had to be at Ft. Lauderdale’s Pier 66 at 5:00 a.m. the
following morning, for a catalogue/brochure shoot for Mako Marine. I dropped my boat
off at its home in Coral Springs (Garnett Storage) at 8:30 that evening, and then went
home for a well deserved shower, quick dinner and few hours of sleep!