By - Captain Rod and Susie Stebbins

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Florida - It is 4:30 AM. The night has been calm and the tide has been rising for about an hour. Susie sneaks into the kitchen for a pan of ice water. Back to the bedroom where she, without hesitation, takes my foot and thrusts it into her pan. Awake with a yelp and a leap to the floor my day begins.

A quick shower takes care of the morning duties and without much ado we aim the car towards Tarpon Springs, Florida. This morning we are going "flats fishing" with a mighty guide, Captain Dave Markett. Some may ask why are we going with a guide. Easy answer, for the most part we are lazy. We don't have to do much of the work, and with the right guide, one can just about taste the catch before you leave the dock. Our mission, two Flats Grand Slams. We wanted a Snook, Redfish and Sea Trout all on the same day and bait.

Susie is the fisherman in our family and I am usually great at catching catfish. Captain Dave has promised that I will not catch one catfish and that my day will be one to remember. "Ha," I said to myself, "natural ploy for the fee." I should know for I have been fishing with me longer than he has and I know my luck.

It is 5:45 AM and we meet at the Tarpon Springs Mobil Station. A couple of moments for "good mornings" and Captain Dave leads the way to his marina. By daybreak we are on the way to cast for bait. The boat is positioned, the anchor is placed and Captain Dave prepares the chum. Two loaves of bread, two cans of Kozy Kitten Fish Dinner and a magic potion to enhance the aroma. Wow, what a mess and the smell was too bad to describe. Chum, chum and cast. Chum, chum and cast and within 20 to 30 minutes we had enough white bait to last the day and all of the smelly chum was gone. Light tackle was the fare. The line was 6 pound and the leader was 15 pound. No snaps, swivels or hardware of any kind. Just mono, #4 snell hook and live bait.

Captain Dave lifted the anchor and pointed the boat to a spot he had been using for Spotted Sea Trout. I reached into my duffle bag for my Magellan 5000DLX GPS, turned it on. Captain Dave asked to see it and immediately took the batteries. Boy, some Captains just don't want me to publish their spots. Unruffled and after several tries at various locations we found a spot. Susie and I had a bet going. First fish caught was dinner out. And if Susie caught the biggest I had to do the dishes for a month. If I caught the biggest, Susie would have to scratch my back every night for a month without question. Susie was the first to get a strike, a nice keeper Trout for sure, but she lost it trying to board it. I was still anticipating my strike when Susie got another, only this time she boarded her Sea Trout and I was out a dinner. During the next 20 to 30 minutes we jointly caught 30 to 40 nice trout and all but 12 keepers were released. Live white bait was the bait and we had our first leg of the Grand Slam made.

Captain Dave raced to a second location. The water was only about 18 inches deep, grass all around and absolute quiet was the order. Dave mounted the stern stand and with pole in hand went about the business of stalking Red "Drum". A fishing partner of Dave's appeared and started poling towards us from the other end of the grass field. I have stalked fish before, I have poled for fish before, but I have never thought of "herding" a school of fish into position for what was to become a real fishing frenzy. Susie, Dave and I had gorgeous Red fish on at the same time for the better part of an hour. Every fish Susie and I caught were measured by Dave and then released. All of the Reds were between 24 and 30 inches, all out of season. But we had our 2nd leg to the Grand Slam made. The bait was white bait, light tackle and rigging was the same. We were tired and Susie wanted to quit. She was beat and she still had the biggest fish.

Captain Dave raised the anchor again, turned his ProLine flats boat towards the northeast and we raced to a "Snook Hole." Time was critical for we had to complete our mission before 2:00 PM or we would have to pay Captain Dave extra.

We arrived at his Snook-hole and I spotted several monster Snook lurking about just waiting to fill our card. I was the first into the water with bait and quickly Susie and Dave followed. I got a tug, I yanked and lost my bait and fish. I reeled in quickly, put fresh bait on the hook and made a quick cast. The bait hit the water, settled a few seconds and whoosh a great strike. I set the hook which completely irritated the fish for he ran taking line without effort. Small reels, light tackle, I thought. I imagined all of the line being stripped from the reel and the fish turning around and laughing at me. The Snook turned and I regained the advantage. Mr. Snook fought, yanked, jerked, jumped out of the water, ran, swam around the boat twice, but he lost the fight. In just about 10 minutes I boarded the Snook. The measurement was 34 inches and I now had the biggest fish by at least 3 inches. My back could just about feel Susie's fingers. Susie's groan made me feel great.

I started insisting we go back, I claimed I was getting sun burned, I was thirsty and getting heat stroke, I wanted to win the bet - time to go home. To all of this I was out voted. Captain Dave was determined to get Susie a Snook to fill her Grand Slam. He promised me it would be smaller. Just ten more minutes. Dave moved the boat about 60 feet to the east and reset the anchor. Three freshly baited lines went into the water. Wham, Captain Dave had a strike, took the bait and got away. I got a strike and I too pulled in an empty hook. Susie just sat there, finger on the line with that hopeful look. Her anticipation and patience was rewarded with a great strike that nearly pulled the pole from her hands. Susie was ready, and her Snook was to be denied victory. Susie was to earn her Grand Slam, but not without a great fight. The Snook yanked, ran, jumped three mightily leaps into the air, stripped line, dove and swam around the boat. Susie finally won the fight landing her Snook. Susie had claimed her Grand Slam with a keeper. Captain Dave boarded the monster. He then laid it against the tape and proudly announced that Susie had the biggest fish. I groaned and pleaded for Susie to dry the dishes and her smile told me the job was all mine. Back at the dock our guide claimed the chore of cleaning the fish as being a part of his job. I now remembered what it was that I liked about chartering. Susie and I didn't have to do any of the work. This day destined "Sanchito," our electronically equipped Sea Ray Laguna flats boat, to be a carport ornament. Gee, we really like fishing.

COOKING IS MOST OF THE FUN: Once home, we broke out some of the best ranch and cheese dip and chips we've ever tasted. After the quickie snack, we took one of the Snook fillets (29 inches long, 6 inches wide and 1-1/2 inches thick) and sliced it down the middle. It was then sliced width-wise to produce one inch chunks. We rinsed the chunks with fresh water and patted them until they were just damp. Sifted flour was placed onto a plate. We mixed 3 eggs with about 2 cups of milk. About two inches of fresh vegetable oil and two cloves of garlic went into a wok. The oil was allowed to get very hot and the garlic was cooked until well charred. The oil was not very hot and ready. The fish chunks were lightly rolled in the flour and dipped into the egg/milk mixture and deep fried until light brown, maybe 10 minutes. The Snook was placed on a paper lined platter, served and eaten with buttered corn on the cob. An ice cold portion of grog capped the meal. We crawled off for an evening of TV. Susie picked the program and I fell asleep immediately following the dishes.

Capt. Rod & Susie Stebbins of Weak Industries can usually be found surfing the internet or cruising up & down Florida's Suncoast in a Sea Ray boat of type (depending on Rod's mood).

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