Email ashivers@johnrwood.com

Believe it or not, I really enjoy fishing. Am I good at it? No. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a relaxing day on the water in Naples Florida. The fish certainly enjoy when I try to catch them, because they usually end up getting quite a feast of bait from me.

Over the years we’ve been on several Naples fishing excursions. Some that take us on the back waters and others miles out on the Gulf of Mexico. But this month we went on a four-hour fishing trip with Captain Jesse Karen of MadSnookin whose territory is the Ten Thousand Islands. Having grown up in the area, Capt. Jesse knows the back waters of Naples extremely well, but what really endeared me to him is his love of Bon Jovi music!

It was just the four of us on a small boat and it was an absolute gorgeous December day. The most exciting part of our trip was when my dad hooked a drum fish that put up quite a fight. A dolphin started circling the boat and Capt. Jesse cut the fish free. We caught and released a lot of fish that day, including catfish and sheepshead, but it was fun all the same.

Capt. Jesse even hooked a pufferfish and it was fun to watch him blow up while Jesse tried to release the hook and throw him back.