Isaac Webb's Dream Trip Offshore

Some trips are about the fish. This one was not, and it still ended with fish.

Isaac Webb is 13 years old, he is from Missouri, and his dream was to go deep sea fishing. That dream came to us through Brett McCracken at the Dream Factory of Greater Kansas City, an outfit that grants dreams for kids who have been handed more than their share. Brett called looking for the right boat. By the time we hung up the phone I knew DirtyBoat was the right fit.

The whole Webb family came down to the Keys for it. Isaac and his dad Matt did the fishing.

What Isaac was working with

Up to that week Isaac had fished Missouri and Arkansas. Bass, catfish and crappie. Good fishing, but nothing about it prepares you for the Straits of Florida.

His mom said he had talked about mahi, tuna and swordfish, and that he would be happy catching anything at all. That last part turned out to be exactly right.

The setup

Friday was not the day I would have ordered for him.

An easterly wave moved through the Keys that morning and brought showers and thunderstorms with it. The Straits started at 3 to 4 feet, occasionally 5, before settling back to 2 to 3 later on. East 3 feet at 5 seconds. Hawk Channel was 2 to 3 feet easing to 1 to 2. Vaca Key water was 88.7 degrees.

The Gulf Stream edge was close, 6 miles southeast of Alligator and 2 miles southeast of Molasses. Close water and a rough ride.

Warming up on the reef

We started Isaac on the reef to get his legs under him and let him feel what saltwater fishing is about. It did not take long. He put a couple big barracudas on the line and handled them like he had done it before. Fast fish, hard pulls, and a 13-year-old grinning through all of it. Good way to get the blood going.

The deep water wreck

From the reef we ran to a deep water wreck looking for an amberjack. Isaac hooked up and the fish was coming. Then the rod got heavy in a way you do not want it to get heavy. Shark found him on the way up, loaded the rod down, and eventually cut us off. That is the tax you pay sometimes. Isaac shook it off and was ready to go find something else.

The grind

From there we pushed offshore, and the fishing was tough. That is the honest version, and Isaac earned the honest version.

The seas were up and the bite never turned on. This was a day that would have sent plenty of grown men to the cabin. Isaac got seasick. Then he kept fishing.

He did not complain, he did not ask to go in, and he did not put the rod down. Every fish that came over the rail that day got worked for. He is a humble kid and a genuinely good angler, and those two things do not always show up in the same person.

Five on the dock

We came in with five mahi. On a day the ocean did not give anything away, that is a real catch, and Isaac caught his own.

A kid whose whole fishing life had been freshwater a week earlier ran out into a 5 foot sea, got sick, stayed on the rail, and put mahi on the dock. That is the whole story right there.

Thank you

Big shout out to the Webb family for letting us be part of Isaac’s dream, and to Brett and the Dream Factory of Greater Kansas City for the work they do. Getting to be the boat on a day like that is an honor.

Isaac, you fished harder than the ocean did. Come see us anytime.

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