The Edge - Jupiter, Florida
(561)746-0032
Part 1
July 22-25, 1999
A different roll of the dice, as we say...a change of pace. South Florida in the summer (that's right) for trophy snook. Go to the fish, they're not getting on the bus to come to you. It was actually cooler in Florida than in New York, go figure that one out. I think Mother Nature has the flu. On this trip, Mike Laptew was doing underwater photography....free diving, no tanks. And "Crazy" Alberto came with his bag of tricks. The captain was George La Bonte of The Edge. Al and I met at La Guardia airport early Wednesday morning catching a flight to South Beach. Al was beyond ready...all his flies tied and ready to get busy. We were crammed into the airplane like cattle. I had a seat next to a woman that had to be 350 lbs. and that's being polite. So I found myself a seat in the back, next to the engines and crashed out. Before long the wheels hitting the runway woke me up and we were getting off. I grabbed a cigarette and lit up, grabbed our luggage, got the rental car and off we went.
I was psyched, we'd be fishing in an hour. Al was dying to get on the water. If you want to see Al smile, get on the water. We got our hotel and checked in, didn't even unpack our luggage, and went straight down to the dock. As Al and I walked up to the dock we looked down through gin colored water and our socks were blown off. Right in front of our eyes were schools of giant snook right there! I'm talking 15 lbs. and better, much better. We saw one snook that had to be thirty pounds. Al was dying, "Dave excuse me" and he ran off to get his rod. As Al tied up his line he was about to drop it in when he looked over at this little sign, "No Fishing Off the Dock." Al was like a little kid with a pocket of cherry bombs. You've gotta light 'em! Well he didn't. I just watched him implode. Thank God at that moment, George La Bonte came up with his boat and Mike was on it. Al was saved!
We ran into the store and got a Seven Eleven lunch (translation, major junk food), jumped on the boat and off we went. We did not have to travel far. Right outside Jupiter's Inlet, Mike Laptew geared up with his wet suit and underwater camera and went into the drink, into photo heaven. Snook were everywhere. Al and I were tossing live bait. We caught into the large schools of snook. Wam bam Al was on to a monster. I, on the other hand, was off. I had to get in the grove. Al was red hot snapping away at trophy snook. I looked like I was fishing with a hammer and a nail (Hey, I say it as it is). George the captain was consoling me. After that I got my secret weapon out of my bag and tied it on. Wham my rod was doubled over and I had my first snook close to twenty pounds. Al switched to his fly rod...brand spanking new that Al Goldberg had just finished the day before. Al was going to put it to the test. He slammed a beauty on it as his line whipped through the air tight. He played out that fish perfectly and got him into the boat. As far as I was concerned this trip was already made.
Mike was in the water most of the time. I think Mike had the upper hand on us. He knew exactly where the fish lived. He just filmed them. Well the sun was coming down and Mike Laptew climbed through the tuna door, grabbed a rod, threw out a fresh bait and was on. At that moment, Al hooked up and I had just busted one off. George La Bonte had the fish's number. He is one of those captains that fish are scared of. Because when George is around, he is going to do some damage to those fish.
The first day came to an end with all of us as happy as grown kids can get. George said, "I wish it was a little better." I looked at him and said, "it was fantastic." So I tried to see in my half baked mind, "better". Mike, Al and I thanked the Captain, we would meet up with him early the next morning. I was absolutely starved out of my mind. George told us the best place to eat and Mike had already eaten there. So off we went to the "Reef Grill" in Juno Beach. There was a long line and as a true New Yorker I said, "we're out of here I'm not waiting." Mike said, "Dave, this is the best food in town." So I waited as my stomach made some bizarre sounds. They finally sat us down and we ordered three appetizers. When that food got to the table, I dove into it like a starving dog. The food was out of this world. Al was having a food orgasm, I'm talking rock your socks right off. The freshest, sweetest fish you ever had. They had some smoking cooks there, and the appetizers were the size of a full size dinner. When our dinners came, we devoured them. I was so stuffed I was about to explode. Then the waitress came by and told us about their homemade desserts. We might as well go all the way, right? I had Key Lime pie, Al got some chocolate creation from hell, and Mike got some kind of soufle. We were done, stick a fork in me and turn me over. We bearly made it back to the car and drove back to our places. Staying awake was a major accomplishment (if any of you know "Crazy" Al, you know what I'm talking about!). As soon as my head hit the pillow, I went right into a coma.
The alarm went off at 5 AM and I was a scary sight...Al wasn't too pretty either. We got into the car, coffee and cigarettes in hand, and we were off to the boat. I was saying to myself, "how the hell are we going to outbeat yesterday?" George said that today, we have to catch bait first. So off we went in search of fish for chum and bait. George is a great net thrower. I loved that part, it reminded me of netting when I was a kid in the South Bay for spearing or killies in the early morning light. The smell of the morning's breath is always a blessing to be alive, to enjoy Mother Nature's gifts. So we filled the live well and we're off to deeper waters. Thirteen miles out, we were fishing for world record bonita on light line and Al was fly fishing for them. Mike Laptew was going to film this little scenario. First you see the blue runners, then you see a blue and silver flash here and there as we throw out the live bait, and then explosions on top of the water. I was ready as a sky rocket.
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