Keep Learning
How did it happen and when? I am at a loss to figure out how I have become the “Old Captain” chartering out of the Lower Keys area. Don’t get me wrong there are older people in the business here, but they were retired when they started. I got into this as a youngster just out of high school. You know, the “New Kid” who didn’t know enough to know that I didn’t know enough. Now I have guys starting in the industry just retiring from a first profession calling me “Old Man”.
It seems like just the other day that I decided that I could work for myself if I wanted to stay broke and sad to say that, that part hasn’t changed all that much. The standard joke being if you want to make a small fortune chartering you should start with a large one. I found a 22’ center console and started FUNYET Charters. I found used engines and tackle and made my own rods and trolling lures and sinkers from pouring melted wheel weights. And more than once I found myself peddling my bike to Winn Dixie with a roll of change to buy peanut butter and bread because it was that or put fuel in the boat and you had to keep your priorities straight.
While I am definitely not above buying a piece of used gear for the right price, the boat is now decked out in the latest and best gear that my checkbook can handle. My new 33 foot boat is anything but new. It is a product of years of design and experimentation. I thought that it would be nice if I could have a bait well here or a tackle center there and instead of hunting for a boat that was set up the way I wanted it would be custom built locally or found off of the rack, and modified to fit. Finding a boat outfitted as well as mine new, would be the same price as a waterfront home here in the Keys.
All of that being said, I have gone from getting advice to giving it on a regular basis. I am doing several seminars a year in the Keys and spend a lot of free time at the local tackle shops talking and helping out with people’s questions. Not to mention any tidbits that might be gleaned from my humble writings on these pages.
I suppose that the point that I am trying to make is to keep learning. Never allow yourself to stagnate into one type of fishing. My particular malady namely, Fishing ADD actually helps keep me going. It keeps me young - inside my own head at least. And more importantly it helps keep me successful after over 33 years of chartering.
When the FUNYET leaves the dock in the morning I have an outline in my head of how the day is going to unfold. Rarely does it play out as planned. One of the most important things that I have learned is that you cannot change game plans if you are not equipped for the game. Even if I am planning to troll all day, I bring live bait and chum in case it becomes prudent or necessary to change from trolling to reef bottom fishing. The same goes for deep dropping, deep wrecks and channel fishing for tarpon. When the boat leaves in the morning I can change from one type of fishing to another at a moment’s notice. Sometimes it is the weather that prompts a change of location, other times it is the customer’s intolerance of the seas that prompts a change. Mostly, it is that we have been unsuccessful at one type of fishing and it is time to try something new. By being ready, willing and able to change the game plan I have been able to keep the count of days that we have come home with nothing to show for our efforts to a count that is easy to display on my fingers. Not bad for 33 years of chartering.
While I am not often willing to give you the coordinates of my favorite patch reef, I will gladly tell you how I set up and fish the reef. Keep learning and teach when you have information that might help someone be successful, and use your own Fishing ADD to your advantage.
When you get to be the old man; bald, fat and grey wondering how you got to that point, hopefully like me, you will also have no regrets of the journey that got you there.
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Capt. John Sahagian
Author
Offshore and backcountry fishing in the Lower Keys, Capt. John fishes out of Little Torch Key. Catch up with him at 305-872-3407 or on the web at fishingthefloridakeys.com