Simmons finally launched

[Pipefitter]

It's been a long time coming. This boatbuilding stuff is kinda fun.

[Frank Hagan]

Very nice!  And you can be honest, you bought the fish at the store before launch, didn't you?

If not, I'd consider that a double bonus ... it looks great on the water, and you can actually catch fish from it (YOU can, I would get skunked no matter what boat I was in!)

[Charlie Jones]

Very nice- and a nice red to break it in too.

Frank- you can't buy that redfish in a store here. I doubt you can in Florida either- considered a game fish.

[jack grebe]

good job......when we gonna go out anclote  fishin  

[Craig]

What a beauty, both of them.  Nice work!!!  Nope, no reds here either.

[Brian Walters]

Good job Pipefitter great boat and a good fish to boot.
 Now if it's reds yer lookin' fer try down around Fort Myers or port charlotte lots of reds and everything else down there.

 Brian.

[john bowen]

Yup! A boat to dot the oceans and a dot tailed fish to boot. An account for the memoirs.

Nice build, Pipefitter!

[Pipefitter]

I come from down around close to Charlotte County and also lived in Lee County by way of Englewood/Boca Grande area. Thanks for the thumbs up. As a young teen,I used to pound 20D stainless ring shanks thru the carvel planks on some shrimpers,scraped and painted quite a few boat bottoms and caught and stocked bait for the tarpon charters for spending money.  Reds are my favorite fish to catch. I remember catching Snook while night fishing the Boca Grande tressel with fish commonly to 30+ lbs.Down that way is where I learned to fish and my mom's freezer was always stocked to capacity with tupperwares full of shrimp frozen in water that I used to dipnet from the Englewood Bridge with aid of a lantern. Avg night was 4-500 shrimp in season with a personal best of 100(nearly 2-5gal buckets full) dozen. That used to be such the little paradise down that way. I used to get the commercial fishermen's throwaway pole skiffs and repair them for tidal drift fishing in Lemon Bay. Sometimes drifting up to around 8 miles and catch the tide back and just beach them at the end of our street at the bay. What a cool way to grow up.Now I have traded the 18ft bamboo push pole for an outboard and shiney paint. I still haven't lost my eye for good fishing places on this coast anyways. This humble little boat has put me right back where I belong.

Thanks again.It has turned out to be one of the best things I have ever done.Building one's own is so much better than building or working on someone elses.

I know some good places around Ancelote,Jack. I need bottom paint and a tach and some cleats to complete the project now that sea trial is out of the way.When I get finished,we will have to make a trip.

Catching 3 decent reds,a nice trout and a sizeable mangrove snapper was a great way to launch the boat. I had sworn off fishing until the boat was done and these were the first I caught in over 3 years. I still haven't lost it. All but the trout and snapper were released. Those my buddy kept.

[Brian Walters]

I remember many nights fishing off the tresseles on boca grande and fishing on and around palm/knight island(used to catch yellow jacks there), sailing in charlotte harbor,I lived down there for a while, it was pretty awsome, In fact when I get my boat finished I would like to go sail that aria(and fish) again sometime.
 Brian.