"...would like to add that this was the highpoint of our summer and the best fishing trip of our lives. Your knowledge of the sport of fishing, the laws governing which fish are keepers and which must be released, all the way to how the tide works and affects fishing conditions was astounding. This was truly a learning experience for my son Charles and I as well as one of our last chances to spend significant time together before his going away to college and that made this trip with you all the more special. We thank you and hope we can do another trip with you in the future."

Sincerely,
Scott Gillig

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Scott and Charlie have lived in Fort Lauderdale for over 14 years. They live on a lake but have not been successful in catching many fish. Charlie was recently accepted into college in Sarasota, so Scott decided to give Charlie a going away present: a fishing trip with Captain Brian on the Nice 'N Easy.

We started out at 3 o'clock from a Biscayne Bay launching dock. In 15 minutes we were fishing in one of the beautiful grass flats that have grown back after many years. Up until 20 years ago, pollution was allowed to drain into Biscayne Bay. But over the last 20 years, it's been cleaned up, thanks to the laws put in force preventing the discharge of wastewater into Biscayne Bay.

Since the fish live and breed in these grass flats, fishing had declined dramatically. Today, it's like the old days again: there are speckled seatrout being caught as large as 26 inches (over 5 lbs.) We started out on one of my favorite flats. The view is beautiful from there: high-rise condominiums on Miami Beach; cruise ships lined up preparing to set sail out of Government Cut; the lights of American Airlines Arena and the Shops of Bayside.

Scott and Charlie started fishing, equipped with Billy Bait bobbers with a 2 foot length of 20 lb. test fluorocarbon leader, a No. 1 live bait hook, and a live shrimp. On the second cast, Charlie landed a baby speckled seatrout, about 8 inches - the first fish of the day. It made me feel good to see the babies, because it means the fish are breeding and healthy, and the stock is growing.

Suddenly, an explosion on the surface of Scott's bobber! It dunked under - the rod almost pulled out of the boat. Scott reeled in an 18-inch, 2 1/2 lb speckled seattrout. That was the first one in the live well, the first one for dinner.

After about another hour, and after releasing half a dozen small trout, a 17 incher clobbered Charlie's bait. For Charlie it was a thrill to boat that beautiful speckled trout: #2 for the live well (and dinner table).

By 5 o'clock, thunder and lightning was coming from the northwest right towards us. To the south of us was a rainstorm. It was obvious we were going to be hit. We decided to go to Bayside and get out of the rain - and stay out of the rain. Just as we were pulling up to the dock, the sky opened up and we were caught in a deluge.

After about 2 hours the rain subsided, we got back in the boat and headed back out to the trout grounds. I don't know if it was the tide falling, or the 2 hour rain, but as soon as the bait hit the water, a 19-inch trout struck and fought all the way up to the boat: #3 in the live well.

We were out of live shrimp, so I took a few pinfish that we had caught, fileted them, and used the filets for bait. A barracuda nailed Scott's bait, and we brought him in and released him. Immediately afterwards, a 22-inch seatrout devoured the pinfish filet: #4 for dinner.

All we wanted was just 1 more for dinner. It wasn't 2 minutes and Charlie caught another Biscayne Bay, downtown Miami, 19-inch speckled seatrout.

As we were riding the boat back to the dock, we realized how lucky we were to be able to experience South Florida's finest fishing just a few minutes from where we live and work.