IB Hooked - July 18, 2007

The grind begins, this weekend is the Poco Bueno tournament out of Port
O‚Connor. Judgin‚ by the number of boats still in their slips at the Sea
Ranch, the Sandspit ain‚t gonna be well represented. Then we got the Port
Mansfield tournament next weekend, don‚t know what the situation is with
the Mansfield cut but I heard they bought a dredge so hopefully the pass
is open. After Mansfield we got the 69th Texas International Fishing
Tournament the granddaddy of the Gulf Coast and after Poco the prestige
tournament of the year with all of it‚s perpetual trophies. And finally if
everybody ain‚t bankrupt we got the 26th Ladies Kingfish Tournament.
If ya‚ll been wonderin‚ why it‚s been so cool in the shade the last
several days, Sancha Steve tells me there‚s an upwelling just off the
beach, temps in the 70‚s and the Campeche outer band current has moved
closer to shore ya gotta run almost to the canyon to find blue water.
The editor of this rag is lookin‚ to talk to owners of the boat that
turtled off of Jim‚s Pier last weekend. I spect the real reason he wants
to chat is perhaps he has a Chihuahua fetish cuz a pair of the l‚il
critters were thought to have drowned in the mishap. Turns out they
treaded water for near fifteen hours in an air pocket before being
rescued. Hope they ain‚t fixed cuz their offspring should be worth a
fortune.
And finally, all you mom and pop outfits need to get with your
accountants pronto cuz when them imbeciles in Sodom on the Colorado
overhauled the franchise/ad valorem tax ya‚ll knew you were gonna take it
where the sun don‚t shine but this is ridiculous. From news accounts one
small bidness in Austin have seen their tax go from 6k a year average to
60K next year. Have a nice day.

Cut line- Diane Johnson from parts all over fished with Captain Dave who
seems to be one of the only boat owners that can afford to run offshore
these days aboard Not at Work. Nice amberjack, Captain Dave also put a
gaggle of boy scouts on some sailfish.