After conferring with Slappy Jack about the winds,(he came through for us) Greg and I set up base camp just down the road from the launch. One tip about camping out in North Florida; check the hunting seasons before you go. Seems we picked the opening day of muzzle loader and the camp ground was packed.

So after a long, cold, sleepless night (who knew you could use the “MF” word as a noun, verb and adjective all in the same sentence) we awoke early to hit the water. As we had a bite to eat, Robert and I sat back, heads turned skyward and watched a really cool meteor shower. Hot chocolate and shooting stars, doesn’t get much better than that for an eight year old. Soon enough we met Chip at the launch and we were off in search of tails.

Well, the Big Ugly’s were nowhere to be found. I did see one cruising the shore line, but didn’t get a chance to make a good cast to it. Chip managed a nice little red that was tucked back into a little cove.

As the day got longer, the water got lower, we decided it just wasn’t in the cards for this trip and headed back to the launch. As we were packing up it suddenly hit me. I have a son who is twenty five. My god, where has the time gone? Why it just seemed like yesterday were doing the same kind of things that Greg and Chip were doing with their sons. When he was young, we did everything together, now that he has family of his own, seems he is busy working and we never get to do the things we used to.

I sure do miss spending time with my son.

About the Author: Bill Howard is a Pro Staff Member at Yakangler.com, as well as Malibu Kayaks. He is also on the Columbia Sportswear Pro Team. Bill is an avid photographer and writer, contributing to numerous websites and publications in the Tampa Bay area. In 2008 he completed a 17 day, 129 mile trip around Tampa Bay raising nearly $4000 dollars for the American Heart Association. He is also a board member for the Tampa Bay Chapter of Hero's on the Water.