After weeks of being landlocked by relentless wind and rough seas, Tania and I were itching to get back on the water. When the forecast finally promised a calm window before the tropical storms, Tania and I jumped at the chance to chase permit at the boils. Our buddy Vern, who recently moved over to Florida’s west coast, had been asking when we’d take him out for a permit, and this felt like the perfect shot. I also owed my good friend Bill a trip, so we rounded up the crew for what promised to be a special day.

Vern arrived at our house on Friday night around 8:30 pm. About thirty minutes out, he called us so we could order pizza. It was great catching up with Vern over pizza, which built anticipation for our trip the next morning. On Saturday morning, Vern told us he had trouble sleeping due to the excitement of being on the boat with good friends and chasing such a prize catch.

We left the house about 6:00 am to ensure we had time to get ice and bait for the trip. I told Bill we would arrive at the dock about 6:30 am. Unfortunately, we got held up at the bait shop, and we were a few minutes late. It was about 7:00 am by the time the boat was loaded, and we were heading out of the inlet.

It was a beautiful ride out to the Boils, with light wind, calm seas, and a gorgeous sunrise. Everything was lining up for us to have a blessed day. Our prayer before arriving at the dock was that the Lord would provide us with His protection and keep us safe, open our eyes to see His creations, and provide us with a bountiful catch.

We all started fishing with 30g slow-pitch jigs. This was Bill’s first time jig fishing, and he was quite skeptical that these small jigs would catch us fish. But a few minutes later, Bill was the first one to hook up and land a blue runner. Shortly after that, all except Tania started catching ladyfish after ladyfish, with Bill catching the most. Bill caught so many, Vern made a joke about how good Bill was with the ladies, and we would have to tell his wife.

Tania was getting frustrated, as in the first thirty minutes, she had not caught a single fish. She had one sound bite, but that was it. She made a statement that it wasn’t her day to catch a fish. Shortly after her comment, Tania’s reel was screaming, and she was being taken around the boat. I knew she was on a permit. Tania was the one who started off the day of catching permit.

Shortly after Tania landed her Permit, Vern hooked up with something that made his drag start screaming. About 30 seconds into the fight, we saw a significant tarpon jump, and it was another minute or so before the fish broke him off. He was both disappointed and excited about the prospect of catching some large fish.

While we were fishing, we continually watched the weather, and at about 9:30 a.m., we heard a loud boom from the thunder. I have always been told if you hear thunder, the storm is too close; however, we looked at the closest lightning strike, which was more than 15 miles away, and the storm was moving away from us.

Over the next few hours, we ended up catching seven permit, one nice lane snapper, and a legal pompano. I caught three of the permits, Tania and Bill both caught two, and unfortunately, Vern lost the only one he had hooked. About 11:00 am, the sharks became very active. Vern had one on that was very acrobatic behind the boat. Unfortunately, none of us were filming to get it. But we were all in awe of the show the shark put on for us. We decided to call it a day at that point, as the storms were approaching, and we grew tired of losing gear to the sharks.

Before we headed in, Vern asked if he could throw his barracuda tube at the buoy, knowing there were some large ones. His first cast, he hooked up, but jumped off very quickly. He told us he usually only gets one, but he kept casting. He finally hooked up and had a great fight, and right at the boat, the fish went airborne. It was cool seeing a huge barracuda jump so close to the boat. That catch was a great way to end the day.

We made it back to the dock, unloaded the boat, and cleaned the fish before the storm moved in. Right as I started to clean all my gear, it started to rain, and just as I finished up, the skies opened up and gave us quite a light show. Standing there, soaked but smiling, I couldn’t help but feel blessed. Days like this, filled with good friends, laughter, and the thrill of the catch, remind me of the Lord and the joy of times spent together on the water.

Tania and I send our best wishes to all our fellow anglers. May your time on the water be safe, blessed, and full of tight lines and good memories. Until next time, keep casting, keep believing, and keep chasing those dreams on the water.