July 28, 2026

Father Ryan and the Boys, a Dozen Snappers for Lazy Days

Ryan and his sons Colin and Max at the dock with their snappers

Ryan brought his two sons Colin and Max down for a half day. He coaches both of them, and you could tell by the way they listened. No repeating instructions, no chaos on the deck. Good crew from the jump.

Late start

Thunderstorms rolled through Islamorada this morning and sat on us for a while. No point running out into lightning, so we waited it out and pushed the departure back. When it cleared we got after it.

The reef edge

The plan was to hit the edge of the reef and put yellowtail snappers in the box for dinner. Simple trip, feed the family.

We set up to flat line them. Chum bag over the side, baits going back with no weight on them so they drift natural in the slick. That is how you get yellowtail to eat when they are being picky.

The current had other ideas. Instead of streaming off the stern it ran straight under the boat, so the slick never set up right and the flat lines went down instead of back. Nothing looked natural out there. When the current does that on the edge, you are not going to will yellowtail into biting. You either wait it out or you move.

We moved.

Patch hopping

The boys working baits on the bow over a patch reef

Picked up and started working the patches, hopping spot to spot looking for mutton snappers, grouper, mangroves, anything that wanted to eat. Fishing was tough out there too. Whatever the morning storms stirred up had the whole reef in a mood.

But Colin and Max stayed on it. They did not get frustrated, they did not start messing around, they just kept dropping baits and working the bottom like their dad told them to.

Dinner is served

We put together about a dozen snappers by the end of the half day. Not the kind of trip where you lose count, but it was enough to do what they came to do.

Ryan loaded the boys up and took the fish straight over to Lazy Days. That is the right move. You catch them, you walk them across the parking lot, and somebody who knows what they are doing cooks them for you. Hard to beat that dinner.