06/20/2026
Sometimes the best fishing days start with a little chaos.
Hank and Sam have been fishing with me for nearly a decade now. Multiple trips every year chasing everything from hard-fighting redfish and big speckled trout to Gulf red snapper. When the stars align, we get a shot at all three.
This trip started with a delay. We left the dock later than planned after Sam realized he’d forgotten his sunglasses. Normally I’d be annoyed by losing 15 minutes, but this time it turned out to be a blessing. The later departure let me spot a massive school of premium bait flipping on the surface—bait I likely would have missed otherwise.
After a quick five-minute bait session, with Sam catching baitfish faster than I could unhook them, we pointed the bow offshore toward our first snapper spot.
About 300 feet short of the reef, my Raymarine Axiom Pro lit up with big marks and clouds of bait. I tossed a freelined bait behind the boat while easing toward the structure, expecting a king mackerel or bonita to pounce.
Instead, all hell broke loose.
Within minutes, the rod doubled over. Hank grabbed it and immediately started grinning.
“What do you think it is?” he asked.
“I was thinking kingfish,” I said, “but it’s fighting more like a snapper.”
Three minutes later, a giant red flash appeared beneath the boat.
BOOM.
A 14-pound red snapper.
Hank and Sam were fired up. I tossed another freelined bait overboard while getting their vertical rigs ready, but the real action was about to happen below the boat.
As soon as Hank dropped his bait down on conventional tackle, his drag started singing. This fish didn’t stand much of a chance, and soon a 12-pound snapper hit the deck.
Then came another.
And another.
Before long, Hank and Sam were standing there looking at me like, “That was some serious snapper fishing.”
The keeper tally: a 12-pounder, a 14-pounder, and two more around the 15-pound mark. With many more 7 #-10 # fish.
The kind of snapper bite that doesn’t happen every day but we sure appreciate when it does.
With everyone smiling ear to ear, Hank and Sam asked the question I knew was coming:
“Think we can catch a redfish?”
I hadn’t crossed paths with any of the giant bull reds they love so much, but I did have an inshore spot that had been producing the occasional quality redfish and speckled trout.
A short run later, live baits hit the water.
Within minutes, an overslot speckled trout and an overslot redfish found their way into the boat. After a few quick photos, both fish received DISL/CCA tags and were released to fight another day.
Slimy high-fives were exchanged.
We talked about how funny it is that a forgotten pair of sunglasses helped set the entire day in motion. We reflected on another successful trip, another collection of memories, and enjoyed a smooth ride back to the dock.
Lord willing, Hank and Sam will be back again soon.
We’ll keep chasing big fish and making big memories.
And as Hank always says…
“Keep whacking ’em!”
