Hello Everyone,

I hope you all are doing great. The weather continues to warm up here in SW Florida. It has just been beautiful out. We are beginning the get our afternoon thunderstorms which are really nice. It cools everything down and the air smells so crisp and fresh after the hard rain. The rain does not last long at all.

For those of you who do know and those of you who do not know, starting the Middle of May the Dolphin (Mahi Mahi) start there annual migration. The schools of Dolphin are thick along the coast of Florida out in the Gulf Stream and sometimes just off the reef in a few hundred feet of water.

For those of you that have larger boats that you can stay aboard with a cabin there is a place called Plantation Yacht Harbor. They have an amazing facility there. Fuel docks, 30, 50, 100 amp service, water, fish cleaning tables, clean bathrooms and showers. There is a 42 acre park with pool and white sand beach. It is located right on the bay and minutes through Snake Creek to the Atlantic Ocean. One of my Broker / Managers has his boat there in the water for the next 3 months. For the cost of keeping your boat in the Marina or renting a house or condo for 3 months, the Marina is a much better value. Please check out the website....http://www.pyh.com/

This time of year off the Reef the sail fishing is slowing down and the Dolphin and Tuna fishing is picking up. The reef fishing has picked up too for Yellow Tail Snapper and other reef species.

My son Wade and I headed over to Brad's boat right after sunrise. Brad and Jesse had the boat all ready to go. We boarded the boat and headed out. It was a flat calm day, no wind at all, nice cool morning breeze. We headed about 7 miles out and began to troll for Dolphin or Tuna. We had a hit pretty quickly and pulled up a small Black Fin Tuna. These are great eating, white meat fish. Just be sure to bleed it as soon as you get it in the ice box.

After Trolling for awhile we decided to head out farther, to about 23 miles out. You will see a lot of big ships when you are out this far. We were trolling and saw a bird frantically flying over the water. I said Guys there is fish under that bird you watch. We trolled by the bird and whammm!!!! Fish on!!!! It was a nice 48 inch Dolphin. Brad struggled with the fish and got it to the boat, I gaffed it and swung it in to the fish box.

Off in the distance you could see the dark clouds building up, nothing to be concerned about, just aware. As the dark clouds moved closer, Brad said, Shane is that a water spout? I said yes it is and they can be very dangerous. Check out the photos. It is the cone shape dropping from the clouds. A water spout is like a Tornado except over the water. The winds can be from 10 MPH to 90 MPH. I have never stuck around so I could not tell you personally. I always head away from them. Check out the photos...

The fishing was slow so Brad asked where a great place was to go snorkeling. I said Alligator Light. The ref is amazing and so is the wild life and you can jump off the light house into the water. So we headed to Alligator Light. The water there is just so amazingly beautiful. Check out the photos....

When you come to the Keys, you must get out to Alligator Light. It is so beautiful, the water looks like you are in the Bahamas. I have much more to share with you but I am out of time. Next week though I will finish up the boating guide. Please, Please, when you plan your trip to the Keys and need a home to rent on the water, need a great hotel to stay at, a ramp to put your boat in, cool places to go by water or great places to go fishing, Please send me an e mail and I will be happy to help you any way I can.

Make it a great weekend and remember make time for your family and friends, Enjoy!!!

Til next time....

Shane "Waterfront" Wilson