For small boat anglers here in the Florida Keys, especially in February and March, wind is always a factor. This is especially so if you are planning to fish the Big Reef on the oceanside. For days we had been kept ashore by a stiff northeast wind that exceeded 20 knots. With a hankering for some fresh fillets of Mangrove Snapper, we finally decided that you can’t fill the cooler by watching the building, frothy sea from the dock.

We decided to compromise with Mother Nature and, despite northeast wind gusts to 30, elected to fish the bayside of the 90-mile Keys peninsula. It can blow up good on the bayside, but you don’t have to deal with the big swells that always accompany a northeast blow on the oceanside.

So, after topping off the tank on son-in-law Jacques Pauchey’s big, seaworthy Seacraft and filling the live well with bait shrimp, we ventured forth. Our fishing party consisted of Capt. Jacques, daughter Suzie, my wife Diane and Jacques’ college buddy Mark Ritter and his friend Bob.

Finding legal-size snapper on the bayside is a little like trying to find a four leaf clover — unless you know where the honey holes are and have them way-pointed in your GPS. Skipper Jacques has a good GPS and it took us to snapper hole No. 1, which is nothing more than the aging hulk of a sunken boat. (Native anglers safeguard their fishing hole coordinates as though they were gold coins). Fish, especially grouper and snapper, like to hide under the old boat. In fact, once hooked up to a grouper the trick is to not let it take your line under the boat. That happens, forget it!

Fishing wise, we had a better day than expected. Despite the heavy wave action from gusty winds and a tossing boat, the fishing was exceptional. Right off the bat, we were into the snapper, nice ones. The minimum length on snapper is 10 inches. We boated a number that were well over the minimum. Along with snapper, we caught a number of other species: jacks, yellow fin, sheepshead, grunts, lady fish, sharks, pin fish, sand perch, catfish, and grouper, lots and lots of grouper. Next to a feed of pan-fried mangrove snapper, I like baked grouper. Trouble is, Florida’s fishing regs on grouper are highly protective. We must have boated a dozen grouper, none of which were within the legal slot length.

One of our crew made the observation that South Florida’s sport fishery is multicultural. Truer words were never spoken. Like a box of crackerjacks, there is a surprise in every hookup. Angling tactics are pretty simple: put a shrimp on a circle hook and toss it out and let the split shot take it down. Feel a tug? Apply pressure and let the the circle hook do its thing.

Funny thing. Of our many trips to this bayside snapper hole, this day was about as windy and wild as it gets short of a hurricane and yet the fishing was as good as I have seen. The nonstop angling action was pure joy in spite of being tossed about. Everybody caught fish and worked together baiting hooks, cutting shrimp, de-hooking throwbacks and shouting words of encouragement over the whistling north wind. Why, even the boat’s canine mascot, Roxie, a miniature dachshund with attitude, got into the act, munching on errant shrimp pieces off the deck and barking with excitement at each fish brought aboard.

By noon, with a cooler full of fish, we pulled anchor and headed back to the barn. Nobody got seasick, Roxie only got stepped on once, and, perhaps best of all, Capt Jacques new vessel, a used Seacraft, proved more than worthy of its name, and the promised rain squalls held off. Who could ask for more. A good day, especially if you are a gray-haired Maine snowbird looking for a seasonal alternative.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] and his new book is “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook.”

photo caption: Diane Reynolds with a sheepshead caught in Florida Bay, off the Florida Keys, temperature 82 degrees, wind ENE at 30 knots.