by:Chasten Whitfiel
We started off our morning at the boat dock in Cortez at 7am and I found myself helping Captain Brian load the boat up with rods and some bait. We were heading a little offshore today as the inshore area still had hints of red tide around. Captain Brian of Double Trouble Charters offered to help take Delaney (my guest) fishing and we happily said yes, please!! Delaney is part of the Children’s Craniofacial Association which empowers and gives hope to kids affected by facial differences. When Delaney arrived, she lit up the whole dock, she was so excited. She jumped on the Double Trouble boat and started to check everything out. We had a camera man from Hook and Gaff watches come to capture this amazing trip. Delaney was really excited about going fishing today. On the way out through Cortez we knew we made a good decision to head offshore as we could still had the scent of the red tide which quickly passed and before we knew it, we were in clear beautiful water. We made our way out to our first spot about a mile or two offshore. The water was like glass – lucky us! It is always a great day when the water offshore is like glass on the Gulf of Mexico! Captain Brian dropped some squid on a hook and a minute later we had some grouper eating. Delaney’s goal was determined to catch five fish today. After a couple grouper she caught a puffer fish she called “bubble fish”. She just giggled at the puffer fish, so we loaded up another rod with bait. Delaney started quacking and said that the quacking will make the fish eat her bait, and she was right. After a few more grouper and snapper, beautiful Delaney caught a beautiful hog fish. Delaney started out with a goal of five fish and she didn’t even care what kind of fish and ended up catching at least 15 fish. We don’t get many days like this – epic weather conditions, a child who is super excited to catch fish, and a charter Captain who volunteered to make this little girl’s dream of catching her goal of fish! Thank you again Captain Brian Alcorn from Double Trouble charters out of Cortez, FL. This was a day I’ll never forget and I can’t wait to see what Delaney accomplishes in her life. Please see her video here trust me you will fall in love…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOe8bhpd0sg
Chasten’s mission is to help kids of all ages, especially girls, become comfortable anglers while teaching positive life skills, thoughtfulness, doing what’s right for the right reasons, and choosing to stay active outdoors. It’s not about what you look like or outside appearance, what matters is what’s inside.