...Today it was Amy, Fin & Sherry's turn to sample the awesome fishing we have been having. The key has been the incredibly good weather over Christmas / New Year. This time of year the fishing is always good, it's usually the winds and swell that keep us from getting at the fish. Fin is 5 years old (almost 6 I was reminded) so today's trip was going to be a mom & son combo trip. Honestly, trying to combine adult and kid fishing usually doesn't work out to well for the adults. However, as with most things in life, there are exceptions. Fortunately for the adults, Fin was such an exception. We started at 7am returning to the dock at 4pm, so yes, Fin lasted 9 hours on the boat. Definitely a record for anyone that age on my boat so far, and a pleasant 9 hours at that. The morning started with a very up close and personal encounter with Manatees. We used the trolling motor to slide up right next to them. They were not bothered by us at all and at one stage were literally inches from the boat, just checking us out. Perhaps they were on a human watching expedition themselves. Not knowing how long Fin would last on the boat I figured I'd give the adults some fishing time before the drama began and we'd have to be heading back to the dock. First stop was the trusted Amberjack spot. Armed with good live bait Amy dropped down first and landed a small 8 pound AJ. Thrilled with her catch and quite surprised at the pulling power of these fish we dropped another bait down. Next bite was a little bigger. The fish hit nice and hard and it was game on. To make things a little more exciting the reel Amy was using decided it was about time for it to retire and the gears began jamming. Kind of tough to fight a really powerful fish that needs to be muscled up with a reel that is not really doing what it is supposed to be doing. Amy was patient and fought the fish like a pro, half broken reel and all. The AJ weighed out at 28 pounds. With Amy recovering it was Sherry's turn for some heavy lifting. As soon as Sherry was done teaching Fin the Hokey Pokey dance she dropped down a bait (with a rod that had a fully functioning reel) and was soon tied into a nice fish too. This Reef Donkey weighed out at 32 pounds. With the ladies both in the recovery ward it was time to head closer to the beach and get Fin some action. With young kids you don't want to get them connected to fish that are too big for them to handle, so Bluefish & Spanish Mackerel are great fish for kids. They can catch a bunch and not feel like the fish they are catching are stronger than they are. Fin went to town catching a bunch of Bluefish, Mackerel and small Jack. A pod of dolphins showed up so we took a break from fishing and again with the trolling motor were able to get fairly close. With Fin not showing any signs of wanting to go home it was adult fishing time again. Seeing that Amy and Sherry didn't have too much difficulty with the AJ's we figured we may as well go bigger. So sharks were the target. The Spinners and Blacktips were kooky again today. Amy did manage to catch a small Blacktip, but with a reel that actually worked it was hardly a challenge. We had to work pretty hard at it but finally we got one of the bigger sharks to eat and Amy was off to the races connected to about a 150 pound shark. With the heavier tackle (in working condition) and the experience she had gained throughout the day Amy was up to the challenge. About 15 minutes later the shark was boatside for some pictures and a release. On this high note it was time to call it a day. No drama, no meltdowns, adults and kids fishing together, that's how it should be. Fin really impressed me today, perhaps there is more to his name than just letters.