If and when I have Ill or bad feelings towards others I will say in a Civil way, Im 68 , 69 next month, and have some regrets, but we are a Very Happy Family,, That said ,I've posted photos of my Family and when I've gone fishing, but still get shot down by the same deniers, Im tired of not being able to meet these facebook internet warriors , I've always been an open book here on Stage, have you that like needling or pretending to say something else? I'm a Man with feelings as I'm sure most Stage Women & Men are,,,,Tomorrow will mark 39 years of Marriage🙏

This is a short story out of my Anglers Journal. I have caught one Sail Fish in my lifetime and enjoyed it. Hope you enjoy this story


The fight lasted perhaps a millisecond, but the impression the fish imparted on me never faded. I was visiting my father in the Florida Keys, where he had a fifth-wheel estate in a ramshackle trailer park. His trailer was actually pretty cool, full of fishing flavor and tacky bachelor decorations — old car dealership signs, broken propellers — affixed to the walls. But the best part about the place was the location: waterfront on the Atlantic side of Plantation Key, a bit north of famed fishing town Islamorada.

The trailer park had a small marina, a saltwater pool that changed levels with the tide and its own inlet, which required some Conch Republic muscle to remove debris that came in on the heels of a storm to prevent the local fleet from bumping bottom. Dad kept a 20-foot Aquasport in the marina, and we got around in a golf cart. There’s something special about using a golf cart for transportation. If you’re getting from point A to point B at the helm of a gas-powered cart, odds are you’re in some sort of tropical paradise. The locals had colorful names like Boilermaker Bill and checkered pasts. I could spend hours listening to their rum-filled tales.

We mostly split our time between trolling rigged ballyhoo at the Islamorada Hump for mahi-mahi and anchoring out to chum up yellowtail snapper, usually in the cool, low-light hours of early evening. It was during one such evening of chum-induced revelry that I saw my first Atlantic sailfish. We were situated well inside the reef edge when its telltale dorsal fin crested the surface and cut through the water like a surfer.

“What the hell was that?” I asked Dad.

“Looks like a sailfish,” he said. “I don’t know what he’s doing here.”

I made a cast toward a splash of water the sailfish had just flung at the boat with its tail. I was fishing a quarter-ounce lead-head jig with a piece of cut bait. My dad shook his head at me. He didn’t have to say what he was thinking. I knew from his facial expression. I’d seen it my entire life. His rolling eyes and pierced lips were saying, Why the hell did you do that?

The best things about sailfish are their beauty, accessibility and tendency to jump.
The best things about sailfish are their beauty, accessibility and tendency to jump.

Harry Hindmarsh

Just as my jig hit the surface, the 3-foot sail munched it. I heeled back on the light rod and somehow came tight. The fish erupted out of the water, swung its bill like a flag-carrying member of the color guard, and snapped the 20-pound leader as if it were thread. Gone. I jumped up and down with teenage enthusiasm and asked if we could pull up anchor and chase the fish. It was the coolest creature I’d ever tangled with. And that’s how the sailfish caught me.


You don’t need a big boat or a big budget to fish for sails. You don’t even need a passport. In Florida, sailfish run up and down the coast all year, with November through February reigning as prime time. You can target them trolling rigged dead bait and teasers, fishing live baits off kites or bait-and-switch them with fly rods. They’re everyman’s billfish.

But the best thing about sailfish is not their speed or the fact that they like to stay much closer to the coast than marlin. What makes sailfish special is their beauty. The long, tall dorsal is lined with spines and tends to breach swells as the fish waves hello. Blues, silvers and deep purples radiate from its flanks. They have an uncanny ability to dance across the water and cartwheel like an acrobat.

I love catching sails on light tackle — watching them cut and turn after a live bait or storm the spread like a soldier. And more often than not, they ignite a passion inside the angler that leads to venturing farther afield in search of bigger specimens.

I’ve never been a fan of big, flashy fish mounts, but I do have a sailfish mount on the outside of my house by the patio. It’s not big, but it sure is pretty. I look at it every day and think back to that wayward fish that pulled on my line so many years ago.

DEVOTION # 16
WHY WE CELEBRATE EASTER

Today’s devotion is a live reenactment of the last few days of Jesus’ life on earth, including The Last Supper with His Disciples,

His prayer and arrest in The Garden of Gethsemane,

His trial and beating, and His crucifixion.

Most importantly, it is also of His resurrection because He is NOT DEAD, for HE IS RISEN!

There is also a short message by Jentezen Franklin, the Pastor of Free Chapel, where this presentation takes place. Together, it explains WHY WE CELEBRATE EASTER!
God bless you .

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h5eHH07BW6c

Recently purchased Bass Pro’s Bone Dry rain bibs and jacket. ($200)Fished wearing them this morning for first time in the rain, it wasn’t a downpour, just steady rain. After about 45 minutes I was noticing dampness in the inner sleeves and in pants bottoms, after and hour I was pretty well soaked inside the suit and was cold and miserable. Temperature was in the upper 40’s and 15 mph north wind, needless to say I was cussing Johnny Morris. Going to take them back to store in the morning for a refund ….. hopefully they will not be a pain and give me a refund.

Since I saw these hunter's captured films of hairy creatures walking around in the woods and the stories continue to this day of sightings of Sasquatch and Bigfoot being spotted all over the country. My thoughts are we're too well armed with high powered guns for these creatures to not find itself mounted over some hunter's fireplace mantel by now. Many of these so-called creatures have come out of the woodworks and have been discovered to be fraud with man made costumes, Bigfoot was supposedly spotted up in the Wichita mountains of Oklahoma, everyone has a gun in Oklahoma, sightings in Oregon and Washington State, California, Louisiana and the list goes on of sightings of big hairy creatures they're calling Bigfoot.

So all I'm saying is about all this time all these supposed sightings of a creature called Bigfoot some lucky moose Hunter or a gun happy camper would've bagged one of these suckers by now.

I have been singing this song to myself and a few others since I first herd it in the early 70's. AS i understand it it was written by an old Blues musician. I have heard it played by several folks fro Blues, Country, and Folk artist. I will not insult your ears by recording and posting it but this is the chorus

Have you been a-fishin all the time
I'm a going fishing too
Well You can bet your life
Your loving wife will catch more fish than you
Now here is a little secret I would like to relate
Any fish will bite if you got good bait
So come on Baby come on gal
I'm a going fishing, yes I'm going fishing
And you can go fishing too

I believe it is titled Fishing Blues