Boca Grande Pass

[gran398]

Pic Eugene sent of a chopped Bertram and others tarpon fishing

[CLM65]

Nice looking boat.  That's not Captain Matt on his right, is it?

[slvrlng]

I think his hull is grey, unless he has repainted. Boca Grande, my old stomping grounds.

[Group W Bench]

It can't be Matt's boat as all boats have to be 24' or up in the World's Richest Tarpon Tournament where those pics were taken. It looks like a modified 24' Morgan. WRTT is the last of the old school live bait only, full release tarpon tournamnets. Responsible tournamnent fishing compared to the travelling shitestorm that is the PTTS. Hopefully the jig ban will change things.

Dixie Hollin's chopped 31 Bertram in the pic is one of the the sweetest girls at the dance to my eye. That boat sits at the docks at the end of Damnifiknow and Damnificare St. in Boca Grande. These are real street names on the island and are just past Damnifiwill St.

A chopped 34 Hatt with a slightly lower and more sweeping coaming would be like Audrey Hepburn deciding to drop in at that dance. The 34 Hatteras has such a nice curvature in the transom that is an excercise in perfectly understated elegance. It would look mighty fine as an express. You are a bad influence Scott.

[gran398]

Yep I'm a bad influence

 There is another 1960's 34 Hatt up here. This one is stripped and ready to begin new life as an express. Straight, sound hull,  cored hardtop from a late model Hatteras 60 Express. Original 34 molded flybridge with center helm pod, instrument/switch panels, etc.  Deck intact, dual settees with storage below, etc.

 Install/modify this part as the new helm area,  hardtop above...instant express.

She's ready to slice and dice.

Cheap too

[Capt Matt]

That's not me but that is a 22 flat back guide boat I see all the time up there, lots of aquasport and pro line flatties around boca
Rarely will you find me in that pass
When tarpon fishing gets tough in the sound you might find me inside the pass on the hill, outside on the pan even north on the beach at the Alamo
Gotta know the lingo to fish boca lol

Great to see the ban on jig fishing (snagging) went into effect nov 1, might even be fishable to locals again next spring

Capt Matt

[gran398]

That's not me but that is a 22 flat back guide boat I see all the time up there, lots of aquasport and pro line flatties around boca
Rarely will you find me in that pass
When tarpon fishing gets tough in the sound you might find me inside the pass on the hill, outside on the pan even north on the beach at the Alamo
Gotta know the lingo to fish boca lol

Great to see the ban on jig fishing (snagging) went into effect nov 1, might even be fishable to locals again next spring

Capt Matt

Matt, some of us NC boys went fishing to Boca several years ago.

Guide pulled up to the dock to pick us up, five-thirty a.m.

He shut her down. We loaded up....then he couldn't crank her. Said his boat was in the shop, borrowed a friend's boat, etc.

He messed around with it for nearly thirty minutes without interruption. Finally decided to take a look.

The kill switch was disconnected from the ignition.

And our "guide's" incompetence continued all day.

As you guys suggest....the pass fishery there.... anyone guides, anything goes, dog eat dog.

You could basically walk across the boats stacked together on the falling tide. A lot of yelling and middle fingers.

I'll never go back, unless with inside recommendation/guidance.

[seabob4]

Scotty, guaranty you, Matt would take you to places "not on the map" that will get you bigger, better Tarpon.  

Boca just has that...name.  Just like up in your neck of the woods and the OBX.  Love the OBX stickers you see on vehicles...   They're starting to do that with Anna Maria (AMI) stickers down here.  I've been going to AMI (we "locals" call it that because it's a WHOLE lot quicker than saying Anna Maria Island!) since I was 6...47 years now.  Wonder if I should get me one of them decals...

But we are not adverse to saying Anna Maria...just sort of rolls off the tongue...

[icemanbryan]

That's not me but that is a 22 flat back guide boat I see all the time up there, lots of aquasport and pro line flatties around boca
Rarely will you find me in that pass
When tarpon fishing gets tough in the sound you might find me inside the pass on the hill, outside on the pan even north on the beach at the Alamo
Gotta know the lingo to fish boca lol

Great to see the ban on jig fishing (snagging) went into effect nov 1, might even be fishable to locals again next spring

Capt Matt

Matt, some of us NC boys went fishing to Boca several years ago.

Guide pulled up to the dock to pick us up, five-thirty a.m.

He shut her down. We loaded up....then he couldn't crank her. Said his boat was in the shop, borrowed a friend's boat, etc.

He messed around with it for nearly thirty minutes without interruption. Finally decided to take a look.

The kill switch was disconnected from the ignition.

And our "guide's" incompetence continued all day.

As you guys suggest....the pass fishery there.... anyone guides, anything goes, dog eat dog.

You could basically walk across the boats stacked together on the falling tide. A lot of yelling and middle fingers.

I'll never go back, unless with inside recommendation/guidance.

Sounds like out here on the West Coast.
I can't believe some of the azzhats here.
Saturday or Sunday from June till August.
Not only what they do and say but the condition or the boats they are in.
Really kinda scary

[dburr]

But we are not adverse to saying Anna Maria...just sort of rolls off the tongue...

Now that would make a good fish boat name...  Would even sound good as a hail on the VHF.

[Group W Bench]

That's not me but that is a 22 flat back guide boat I see all the time up there, lots of aquasport and pro line flatties around boca
Rarely will you find me in that pass
When tarpon fishing gets tough in the sound you might find me inside the pass on the hill, outside on the pan even north on the beach at the Alamo
Gotta know the lingo to fish boca lol

Great to see the ban on jig fishing (snagging) went into effect nov 1, might even be fishable to locals again next spring

Capt Matt

Matt, some of us NC boys went fishing to Boca several years ago.

Guide pulled up to the dock to pick us up, five-thirty a.m.

He shut her down. We loaded up....then he couldn't crank her. Said his boat was in the shop, borrowed a friend's boat, etc.

He messed around with it for nearly thirty minutes without interruption. Finally decided to take a look.

The kill switch was disconnected from the ignition.

And our "guide's" incompetence continued all day.

As you guys suggest....the pass fishery there.... anyone guides, anything goes, dog eat dog.

You could basically walk across the boats stacked together on the falling tide. A lot of yelling and middle fingers.

I'll never go back, unless with inside recommendation/guidance.

Bad guides are a fact of life and an unfortunate force of nature. Several year ago, when ricockulous expense accounts were the norm and acceptable, our employer allowed us to write off month or more long tarpon fishing junkets as client entertainment. My buddy Derek was developing the Angler's Club in Placida behind the Gasparilla Marina. He needed to have 2 more presales to go vertical on construction, and I was his huckleberry/sucker. Somehow, my employer agreed to pay my note for several months every year on the townhomes for client entertainment and pay for 2 am guides, 2 afternoon guides, and 2 night guides for 7 straight weeks. The clients would stay in one townhome and the guides in another. We had one jackwagon guide so hopped up on Oxys/Roxys or whatever the idiot was doing , that I had to gas up the boat and catch bait at o'dark thirty for 2 mornings until I could find someone to come down and replace his sorry arse. I was entertaining clients all nights, so I was straight up in the dirt hungover catching whitebait at 5:00 am. He was a zombie and my yellow arse was flat out kicking his skinny white arse to try and wake him up to no avail. Gran can attest to the fact that you have to be dead to the world plus some to live through a handful of my kicks, particularly when exceedingly hung over and annoyed. The kicker of if is that when he got back up to Clearwater after I dropped him like a bad habit, he told other local guides that I was a cheapskate for not tipping him. I was taken aback by the gumption of a jackwagon that would sleep in a pill induced haze while his client gassed up his boat and caught bait, and then have the nerve to complain about no tip after sleeping for 2 nights at my place. Good guides are the norm, but bad ones stick in your memory.

[RickK]

Somehow, my employer agreed to pay my note for several months every year on the townhomes for client entertainment and pay for 2 am guides, 2 afternoon guides, and 2 night guides for 7 straight weeks. The clients would stay in one townhome and the guides in another.

The good ole days  

[Capt. Bob]

I've been going to AMI (we "locals" call it that because it's a WHOLE lot quicker than saying Anna Maria Island!) since I was 6...47 years now.  Wonder if I should get me one of them decals...

Yep, the Islanders sell em'.
 "Daytripper"

When the City Commission puts up the toll booth, then you can get a "Sun Pass".

If you love politics, that whole county area is a great study.

Nice view of the Tampa skyline and bridge though.

[gran398]

That's not me but that is a 22 flat back guide boat I see all the time up there, lots of aquasport and pro line flatties around boca
Rarely will you find me in that pass
When tarpon fishing gets tough in the sound you might find me inside the pass on the hill, outside on the pan even north on the beach at the Alamo
Gotta know the lingo to fish boca lol

Great to see the ban on jig fishing (snagging) went into effect nov 1, might even be fishable to locals again next spring

Capt Matt

Matt, some of us NC boys went fishing to Boca several years ago.

Guide pulled up to the dock to pick us up, five-thirty a.m.

He shut her down. We loaded up....then he couldn't crank her. Said his boat was in the shop, borrowed a friend's boat, etc.

He messed around with it for nearly thirty minutes without interruption. Finally decided to take a look.

The kill switch was disconnected from the ignition.

And our "guide's" incompetence continued all day.

As you guys suggest....the pass fishery there.... anyone guides, anything goes, dog eat dog.

You could basically walk across the boats stacked together on the falling tide. A lot of yelling and middle fingers.

I'll never go back, unless with inside recommendation/guidance.

Bad guides are a fact of life and an unfortunate force of nature. Several year ago, when ricockulous expense accounts were the norm and acceptable, our employer allowed us to write off month or more long tarpon fishing junkets as client entertainment. My buddy Derek was developing the Angler's Club in Placida behind the Gasparilla Marina. He needed to have 2 more presales to go vertical on construction, and I was his huckleberry/sucker. Somehow, my employer agreed to pay my note for several months every year on the townhomes for client entertainment and pay for 2 am guides, 2 afternoon guides, and 2 night guides for 7 straight weeks. The clients would stay in one townhome and the guides in another. We had one jackwagon guide so hopped up on Oxys/Roxys or whatever the idiot was doing , that I had to gas up the boat and catch bait at o'dark thirty for 2 mornings until I could find someone to come down and replace his sorry arse. I was entertaining clients all nights, so I was straight up in the dirt hungover catching whitebait at 5:00 am. He was a zombie and my yellow arse was flat out kicking his skinny white arse to try and wake him up to no avail. Gran can attest to the fact that you have to be dead to the world plus some to live through a handful of my kicks, particularly when exceedingly hung over and annoyed. The kicker of if is that when he got back up to Clearwater after I dropped him like a bad habit, he told other local guides that I was a cheapskate for not tipping him. I was taken aback by the gumption of a jackwagon that would sleep in a pill induced haze while his client gassed up his boat and caught bait, and then have the nerve to complain about no tip after sleeping for 2 nights at my place. Good guides are the norm, but bad ones stick in your memory.

Glad you're back

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