You just never know what you are going to see at the docks.

Yesterday, the Sunrise brought in an unusal little fish. It was bright red with a touch of neon yellow on the tail.

Some thought it was a creol snapper others a hog snapper. If you have any ideas or have caught one of these let me know.

Thanks for the help.

I’m all about competition.

I believe in ball games - there are winners and losers.

But I also believe in “good sportsmanship.”

Well Saturday’s Easter Egg hunt at Morgan Sports Center turned into a race for a “big special egg” that was placed out in the middle of the hunting field. Never mind the other 9,999 eggs that were on the field - they all wanted the “big egg.”

Kids racing for eggs is one thing, but when the parents get involved - it can sometimes get ridiculous. And that’s what I saw on Saturday.

At one point I saw a Dad dragging — and I mean dragging like a blanket  — his 5 year old daughter across the field in an effort to get to the “big egg” before the others. Well they didn’t make it in time, but when the Dad finally stopped running, and his daughter could stand up - I saw her wiping her eyes.

Now what fun is there in that.

I say let the kids hunt the eggs. So what if they didn’t get the “big egg” loaded down with Hot Wheels stuff.

It’s not the end of the world — it’s just an egg hunt. And there will be others.

Besides what are we teaching the kids, when they think Big is better. A lot  of good things come in small packages.

I know we catch a lot of fish around here, but I got this via e-mail and found it very interesting.

So I thought I would share it –

Pompano Beach resident Tim Maddock and his angling crew caught and released 50 sailfish off Key West Thursday, while tuning up for the World Sailfish Championship that begins next Tuesday.

Maddock, who owns the Vitamin Sea Too, a 33-foot Contender, fished with Mike Reisert of Pompano Beach; Chris Zidar of Boca Raton; Jon Kreig, Deerfield Beach, Chris Meek of Pompano; and Mike Dinnen of Fort Lauderdale.

For certain the 50 releases in a single day of fishing is a Florida Keys record, said Mike Weinhofer, World Sailfish Championship director and it could be a state record. The previous Keys record was 37 sailfish releases in one day, achieved in May 2005 by Captain Marty Lewis on the Main Attraction off Marathon.

The International Game Fish Association does not keep records for releases, according to World Record Coordinator Becky Wright. A call to the Billfish Foundation was not returned Friday, perhaps due to the Good Friday holiday.

“The fish were just pouring through,” Maddock said. “We had 60 bites and caught 50 of them.”

Maddock said he ran out of bait three times, borrowing each time from a nearby boat.

Maddock hopes the hot sailfishing continues into next week for the WSC which features three days of fishing and one lay day. Eighty boats are to compete for a cash prize purse of $1.6 million, Weinhofer said.

“The World Sailfish tournament is in its seventh year and it’s never been won with more than 15 fish,” Maddock said. “Timing is everything.”

I was looking around on the Web for cobia information when I ran across this cool video of a school of cobia that someone filmed under water.
Check this out.

A couple of weeks ago when March Madness started with the NCAA basektball tournament, I had interviewed Geoff Brower, a former FWB Viking and FSU Seminole.

At the time he picked North Carolina, Michigan State, UConn and Pittsburg to make it to the Final Four.

Not bad — the only one he missed was Villanova.

Way to go Geoff.

For all you fisherman out there waiting for April 15 to roll around so you can catch a red snapper — hold the rod and reel.

Opening day for red snapper, due to a recent ruling by the federal and state regulators, opening day for recreational fisherman to catch red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico is June 1.

Who is the recreational fisherman? That’s the guy who is booking a trip on one of the many charter boats here in Destin — or it’s the guy, who has his own boat and ventures out into the Gulf to hook up with a snapper.

Don’t do it — you can hook ‘em, but you’ve got to release them — no can keep until June 1.

And yes I know it appears that red snapper are plentiful right now, but the government says no.

So toss them back and target something else. There are more fish in the Gulf than the red snapper — and they are plenty tasty.

The Daybreak with Capt. Eric Thrasher brought in this rack of amberjack, amberine, scamp and triggerfish on a recent trip.

In the last week or so I’ve seen some action on the fishing docks.

Last week I saw Capt. Jim Green on the New Florida Girl’s American Spirit come in with a nice catch of amberine, mingo and white snapper.

Yesterday was even better. The folks aboard the party boat Destin Princess had a load of mingo, and a few amberjack and scamp mixed in.

The biggest catch was aboard the Daybreak with Capt. Eric Thrasher. At first his group was telling those standing nearby that they hadn’t caught anything  — I knew that was a fish story - but that’s what fisherman do. A few seconds later deckhand Mick Parker started pulling the fish out of the box. They had several amberine, then he began lifting out some big amberjack — in the 20 to 35 pound range.

But then we got to hear about the one they had to let go - a 40-pound grouper. Capt. Thrasher said that was the first time he has ever had to let a grouper go and it hurt. Season doesn’t open until April 1 for grouper.

Come on down to the docks — things are starting to heat up.

Should see a cobia soon.

When do you think the first cobia will be caught? Comment and let me know.

It never fails, about the time baseball and softball season rolls around, the temperature takes a nose dive.

Living here on the Gulf Coast, folks wear shorts to the football games, a time when cool temperatures would be welcomed.

However, when it’s time for baseball, the temperature plummet.

Last week I took it as long as I could down on the ball field taking photos — until my hands were about frozen to my camera. However, when the fourth inning rolled around I used my press box priveleges and headed upstairs - away from the wind and cold. Much to my surprise, they had a little space heater up there which made it nice.

My hats go off to the fans (mostly family members) that come out and support those baseball and softball teams that have to play in 40 degree temps at night.

Looks like there’s another one on tap for tonight. Make room in the press box, because here I come.

I know this is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s a new year, well it’s a month-and-a-half into the new year and 32 days into my new weight loss program.

Like most folks I started the new year with plans to lose weight and just to try to feel healthier this year.

Goal: To quit driving through those fast-food places on the way to ball games — and to stay away from ball park food, like hot dogs, pizza, popcorn and nachos … which I love all of them. But they don’t show much love to my waistline.

Anyhow, the program I’m on is working great. I joined Metabolic and started eating on the program on Jan. 12 and after 32 days into the program, I’m down 13 pounds and eating great. When I say great, I get to eat things like bread pudding, cheesecake, chili, veggies and lots of fruit. I love fruit … I believe I could be a fruititarian.

I’ve still got a way to go to reach my goal. But so far I’m right on track.

So take this as encouragement. Hang in there …. all you who made that new year’s resolution to take off the pounds this year. So what if you just lose 1 or 2 pounds a week … that’s a good thing. Taking it off slowly and sensibly is the way to go.

See you on the way down.

You’ve just got to love the holiday basketball tournaments our area has to offer.

Freeport has the Hilton Sandestin Beach Blowout with 16 boys basketball teams and eight girls teams, while Fort Walton Beach has eight boys and six girls teams.

And the competition  — is unbelieveable.

Besides the competition, I always like to see who comes to the games.

At Fort Walton Beach, you can always count on seeing Dave Stuart and the Kelly’s sitting on the top row behind the time clock. And Aaron Brock is almost always keeper of the clock during the tournament.

Then there are the past players who like to come back and watch the “now” Vikings play. In the crowd last night, I saw Geoff Brower, Casey Craig and Brett Stuart. I also recognized Carrie Long.

Another good aspect of the holiday tournaments is the hospitality rooms they provide for coaches, officials, tournament workers and the press. One thing for sure,  during tournament time there’s no need to worry about catching a meal on the road — the food is always great.

Who ever made the chocolate pound cake in the hospitality room at Freeport - great job.

There is still a couple of days left to catch the action at both Freeport and Fort Walton Beach — both tournament wrap up New Year’s Eve.