Happy New Decade

May the tens and teens be good for you all. The decade past was a roller coaster ride for me. I started out flat broke, no captain's license and in the Keys. Finished it flat broke, no captain's license and in the Keys. In the middle I tangled with a lot of different fish and a few different women. The women were mainly catch and release.

At times I had plenty of money in my clothes and others I had no home or money. I slept through about a dozen hurricanes and nearly had a heart attack when a tree fell on my RV during a little tropical storm name Katrina. The homeless situation was cause by a little storm called Wilma. I evacuated for Wilma the only one I did evacuate for by the way. Manage to stay in a hotel in Hollywood, Florida right where the right side of Wilma's eye wall hit. That was a pretty interesting couple of days.

Right at the time of Wilma the IRS decided I owed them $17,000.00 and after Wilma FEMA gave me about the same amount which I spent too quickly to keep the IRS from taking it. The FEMA money was a big help but not quite enough to get me back to where I was. Things started improving money wise until around '06 when doctors started try to kill me. One drug call Procardia sent me to the emergency room. When you go to an ER and they take you back before filling out any paper work you must look pretty bad. Another drug called Enalapril caused me to have coughing fits to the point I would black out. That wasn't much fun. My personal best blood pressure score was 162 over 122. When a nurse says holy shit that is not a good sign.

With the health situation, working a full load was impossible so money became a bit of an issue. The only good thing about being broke was conversations with the IRS. They never did take me up on my offer to do some federal time in exchange for the cash they think I owe them. I figured Health Care in prison had to be at least as good as what I could afford down here.

One good thing about nearly dieing a couple times is that it don't scare you half as much when it happens again.

I made two trips to Vegas in the oughts, caught 26 permit in a single day, made a lot of friends, pissed a few people off and generally lived pretty well other than the near death and poverty and homeless period.

Given my life style I expect the tens to be a roller coaster ride also. So happy New Year and New Decade to you all.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas