Well another spring has come and gone and Summer is cooking! I am usually glad to see summer come, as I love the heat and it also means my schedule is going to slow up a bit. But this year I’m still waiting for the slow down…now I’m not complaining at all I feel very blessed to be so busy. In fact it has been kinda nice on the water, for some reason there are very few people out fishing, maybe its just to hot, and the weather has been great light winds and showers in the afternoon help clean the boat when I’m done.

This is the time of year you can do many things in the coarse of the day, you can start out fishing, then go to one of our beautiful beaches and hang out You can also jump over the side and pick up scallops if your in the right region, or just cruise from port to port drinking and eating with having to worry about the weather.

Out of all the things you can do I am usually focused on the fishing and scalloping After being in Boca Grande for two and a half months it is nice to get back to the waters I grew up on, I get to go back out and find fish that haven’t been messed with in a few months and are ready to eat. And the best part is that with few people on the water you don’t have to look over your shoulder for a few more months!

Summer is definatly the lazy time of year for fish and fishermen, but get out early or late and there are plenty of fish to catch, go swimming in the middle of the day.

And for those that don’t fish as much or are waiting on the good fisherman to get out and find the fish….now is the time to fix your lower units and make sure your equipment is ready..the time tail will be here soon;) HAHA

One thing that I have learned in my life is that it is much better to be lucky than good. and when you are good enough to be a little lucky it is even better. I have been very blessed in my fishing career to have had ALOT of luck, but at the same time put alot of hard work in to it to make that luck pay off! I have been fortunate enough to win 2 national redfish championships with hard work and lucky enough to have had my father fishing with me in both of them. I have been lucky to be apart of one of the most dominate Tarpon fishing teams in the past 10 years, that has won 7 team of the year titles with hard work and great team work. And I have been lucky enough to fish with one of my best friends and win many smaller tournaments with a combination of good skills and great timing. Then there is a great local tournament that I get to fish with four very good and very skilled fisher-women, and I think their record stands for itself. I think they have fished the tournament with me for 5 years now and every year they have been “in the money” with a great win last year.

Now this is where the “rather be lucky” part comes in. there are many different types of luck, the luck you make for yourself by putting in the time to make yourself a better fishermen, the luck you make for yourself by being prepared and ready for anything that comes your way, the plain old luck you get by dropping a really good redfish in the water…then catching an even better one. All of these kinds of luck have happened to me and my teammates over the years and I feel very “lucky” for that. But there is one kind of luck that you just cant plan on, and very seldom can you beat it. And that is plain old DUMB luck, it happens to all of us once in a while and everybody gets there  fair share of it. There is no rhyme or reason for it, it just happens. In fishing it is like the fish gods throwing you a bone, For example you go to a spot that you know is a heavily fished area and you have seen several people fish and catch good fish. You get stuck going in and have to push your way in, you sit and wait it out because you have no place else to go, and low and behold the stars aline, bells start to ring, and you manage to catch some fish. All you can do is smile and think I was just glad I didn’t tear up my lower unit!

We have all been beaten more times by the last kind of luck than we would like to think, but it happens, and thank goodness it dose. Perhaps it is gods way leveling the playing field, either way it keeps it interesting and only make me work harder to do better.  And remember it is still better to be lucky than good….oh yeah one more thing, if you are going to try and follow be careful where you step, it aint all sand out there!

This is the time of year as a fishing  guide that I look forward to the most. While we have great fishing all year long on the west coast of Florida, and I am fortunate enough to stay busy fishing year round. Nothing is more exciting than to feel the warm south winds start to blow and know Spring is just around the corner. There are a few things that get the adrenalin going this time of year, the Snook that have been dormant all winter will be hitting anything that moves, the Redfish will be in large schools roaming across the flats looking to do one thing…EAT. And the arrival of our most prized game-fish, the mighty Tarpon.

This time of year also does something else for Fishing Guides, It solidify’s there ability to catch fish and stay in business. This is the time of year the fishing is easy and relationships are built with clientele on the boat. The next few months will provide some of the best fishing trips of the year, and this will create a client for a long time for the guides that can ” make it happen”. So even though we do have to deal with a little extra pressure the rewards are far greater. I know for a fact that some of my best client relationships started on a fishing trip in the spring where we had one of the best days of catching that many of them ever had.

So as we go head first into what has already been a great spring, I look forward with great anticipation to getting to fish with some, next to be long time clients. Now is the time to walk the walk!!

Fish on,

Capt, Greg DeVault