" As you can see in the picture on the right(above), the first spear was bent when it hit the fish. He told my brother and I, 8 and 10 at the time, to get in the boat because a big storm came up on us at the time. We did, but we didn't realize that the anchor was dragging due to the storm because we were little kids and were playing with our toys on the deck. When my mother looked up saw how far away we were, she put her head down and swam as fast as she could to get us. We went back and picked up my dad and dragged that fish into the boat. As you can see in the pictures, it took several spears to get that fish. My dad used an old Jaguar pneumatic spear gun which I still have today.

After the law was passed that you could not take jewfish anymore, my dad would, and I am not kidding, hug any jewfish that he found in a hole. Dad died in '99. My family and I spread his ashes in Channel 2 on the bay side on an outgoing tide so his ashes would be in Channel 2 and would also go out to the Gulfstream since we would fish Channel 2 in the morning for tarpon and then head out to the Gulfstream for dolphin. I ( the blonde kid up on the ladder) am 25 now and since my father's passing, every time I find a jewfish in a hole I hug him for my dad... more