King of the moonfish

The king and the fish an early Florida morning

Martin Bowman

Back in 2008 I went to Florida with my family. We had rented a mobile home and picked it up in Miami and had almost three weeks to tour the sunny state before we had to return it and fly home.
It wasn't a fishing trip, which was absolutely OK with me in spite of my knowledge of the fantastic opportunities. Going south along the keys it wasn't hard to see what was pretty obvious: endless stretches of fishing water. Home to tarpon, bonefish and snook and many other fish.
I did bring rods and I did fish a bit here and there, but with no great luck.

Martin was a longtime online acquaintance from Canada, who had written a bit for GFF, and now had moved to Florida. I had contacted him, and we passed by his house to say hi. He dragged out his boat, drove it to the ramp just down the driveway and took us for a boat trip in the mangrove channels. Later we dined together with him and his wife and parked the RV overnight on his curb.
Early the next morning before sunup the two of us sailed out to fish a bit as the sun rose.
The prime target was snook, and we fished some structures along the canals and harbor facilities under the street and harbor lights. I caught moonfish. Martin called me king of the moonfish. But I also did manage to land a single snook. Not a big one, but my first, and certainly lasting memory from Florida. But the moonfish were the most memorable fish with their odd, flat shape and kinda innocent look. The meeting was a true reminder of what online friendships can lead to.

The family in Florida

Martin Joergensen - Martin Bowman