Triple the Adventure: A Labor Day Weekend on the Water

This adventure was a little different compared to others I’ve shared. It actually turned into three mini-adventures all in one weekend.

We kicked things off Saturday evening with a boat cruise around the Longboat Key/Bradenton Beach area, dropping anchor at the sandbar. The sky was overcast with streaks of pink, which made for the perfect backdrop as we jumped in for a relaxing evening swim. It was the ideal way to start the weekend.

Sunday morning, I was up before dawn and made my way to the beach for some shore fishing. I was greeted by a stunning sunrise and quickly got to work throwing the cast net, pulling in a few good hauls of whitebait.

The wind and heavy swells made casting tricky, forcing me to fish in only one direction where I could still feel the bite. Despite the challenge, I managed to land a few undersized Mangrove Snapper (all around 8–9 inches) that put up a good fight, though I was hoping for a keeper over 10 inches. 

As the morning went on, I hooked into some ladyfish and even a surprise Spanish Mackerel. Both fish ripped some drag, making for exciting battles. Since mackerel is excellent tablefare, I kept that one for lunch before the bite slowed down and I called it. Two hours of fishing in rough conditions and still ending up with a variety of catches—not bad at all. The Gulf Coast sunrise was worth it on its own.

On Monday (Labor Day), my dad and I found a good weather window to head out for some inshore fishing. We stopped by the mangroves to load up on bait—netting whitebait and pinfish—before running out to a reef between Egmont Key and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Dropping bait to the bottom, I felt quick taps right away and pulled up some smaller White Grunts, along with a few mackerel on freelined baits. After releasing the fish and seeing the bite shut down, we decided to wrap things up and head back in.

Even though the weekend didn’t deliver much for the dinner table, it was incredible to spend so much time on the water. Between the fish, the sunrises, the sunsets, and the time spent with family, it was one of those weekends that reminded me why I love being out there.

To see more from this trip, check out the full recap on our Instagram page by clicking the link below!

Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOFN-gEDZR9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==