Tony and Maria were invited on a fishing trip by CR Hall while visiting beautiful Florida. Little did they know it would be a trip that will be talked about for a lifetime! The morning started off fishing for the big “over-slot” bull redfish. Capt. Peter positioned the boat up on the grassflats where schools of redfish were feeding on the edge of sandbars. Casting big baits to big fish in shallow water never gets old – especially when they are as aggressive as they were on this trip. Sore muscles, full cameras, and CR’s passion for grilled redfish helped make the decision the finish off the day targeting keeper sized redfish and trout. After boating 14 redfish, some gator trout, and a nice mess of fish in the cooler they called it a day – and this is where the trip went from fun to memorable. . .
About two miles from Kiwanis Island Park, driving back to the boat ramp, everyone was watching as a seaplane took off across the rough water and eventually headed into the sky. As soon as it became airborne, all eyes came off the place except for CR – who gave a quick elbow to Peter after about 20 seconds after liftoff. Just then Peter looked to see the plane falling nose-first into the water which became a massive explosion of water and plane parts. Everyone emptied their pockets of cell phones and belongings as the boat raced to the crash site, visualizing a very bad scene and hoping for the best. Arriving on the scene, there were pieces of the plane floating about and a wrecked plane slowly sinking…just then a person popped up out of the water (the pilot – no passengers) and asked for a ride! With only a banged up knee, and some bruises he was plucked from the water and carried to shore where paramedics, firemen, and police officers were already there waiting. It was an amazing relief that the pilot was in such good shape!
