Chapter 2 of 23
Welcome
Dan picks Matt up in the Tahoe. Donuts at the grocery store run by the unsettling Rawley Simms. Dan's stilt cottage, the pelican rookery with Bertha and Oscar, the tarpon room, rigging eight poles, and a warning: tomorrow's clients are federal agents.
Where we are
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Naples, Florida (airport) — Where Matt lands in Ch. 1 and takes his driver's test in Ch. 22. -
Everglades City — The mainland town; Rose lives here with her dad; Marge waits tables here. -
Chokoloskee causeway — First view of Chokoloskee Bay, 'the glassy waters of Matt's youth.' -
Chokoloskee Island — Home base. Seminole for 'Old House.' Dan's cottage, the grocery store, the marina. -
Dan's cottage and rookery — Stilt house with banyans out front and pelicans out back. Fictional location — place near the island's east side. -
Anglers Motel dock — Childhood catfish and lobster traps. -
South Point (abandoned post office) — Matt's spot. The snook, the smugglers' meeting, the sleeping-bag night. (The real Smallwood Store sits at Chokoloskee's south tip.)
Word of the day rookery — A breeding colony of birds; Dan's name for his pelican hospital.
“Lead by example.”— Dad
“If you caught fish all the time it wouldn't be called fishing, it'd be called catching, which is way less fun.”— The Guidebook
“Let your insecurities swim away.”— The Guidebook
“Can't keep a Christmas tree forever.”— Matt
Fish in this chapter
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Common snook Fishing royalty. The black lateral stripe is the tell-tale. Matt's 36-inch, 20-pound monster at South Point… Ch. 1Ch. 2Ch. 4Ch. 5 +2 -
Tarpon ('silver king') The trophy fish of South Florida and the tournament's main event. Old Scarface. Rose's 68-inch, 81-pound… Ch. 1Ch. 2Ch. 7Ch. 8 +3 -
Redfish (red drum, 'spot-tail') The first keeper Matt ever caught, at Comer Key. Rose's cooler-toppling redfish at the marina. The 22- and… Ch. 2Ch. 3Ch. 7Ch. 8 +1 -
Spotted seatrout 'Grass bed fishing meant trout.' Three keepers on the first client trip; Dave's trout off Little Pavilion Key. Ch. 2Ch. 3Ch. 7Ch. 16 +1 -
Mangrove (gray) snapper Dave's 22-incher; the snapper bonanza at the river mouth ('leave that snapper in the water, it'll attract… Ch. 2Ch. 3Ch. 7Ch. 13 +2 -
Grouper (goliath / gag) Matt's favorite eating fish. The 'unseen giant' that dragged the anchored Bonefisher across the channel; the… Ch. 2Ch. 3Ch. 13Ch. 14 +2 -
Yellowtail snapper On Dan's list of what the Ten Thousand Islands offers. Ch. 2 -
Ladyfish Matt's metaphor: the tiny ladyfish that minds its own business before the snook gobbles it. Ch. 2 -
Gulf flounder On Dan's list. Ch. 2 -
Sheepshead On Dan's list. Ch. 2 -
Pufferfish 'Those little puffy buggers were tough to unhook.' Ch. 2 -
Hardhead catfish The 'spiny catfish' Matt caught as a kid off the Anglers Motel dock. Ch. 2
Crew in this chapter
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Daniel Walter Panther Jr. ('Uncle Dan') Matt's uncle, charter captain Ch. 1 -
'Rawley' Simms Grocery-store owner / undercover FBI agent Ch. 2 -
Rose Matt's oldest friend Ch. 1 -
Snapper Dan's neighbor, retired guide Ch. 2 -
Bertha and Oscar Pelicans of the rookery Ch. 2 -
Russ Worthington FBI agent, fishing client Ch. 2 -
Dave Carver FBI agent, fishing client Ch. 2
Critters in this chapter
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Brown pelican Bertha and Oscar; the hooked pelican Snapper carries to the door; the fish-head thief at Lostman's. Ch. 2Ch. 5Ch. 7Ch. 13 +1 -
Bald cypress 'Colossal cypress trees gnarled up out of the ground like giant twisted guardians of the realm' on the drive… Ch. 2 -
Banyan / strangler fig Two massive banyans flank Dan's front yard. Ch. 2 -
Mosquitoes, sand fleas, no-see-ums 'It was the mosquitos that chomped at his peace of mind.' Dan's homemade lavender repellent. Ch. 1Ch. 2Ch. 5Ch. 16 -
Stone crab Matt begging claws from the seafood company as a kid. Ch. 2
Boats in this chapter
From the tackle box
- Lure
- A miniature plastic or metal fish with treble hooks, reeled with just the right jerk to look like a scared meal. Floating or sinking depending on weather, tide, and target.
- Leader
- The last few feet of line: heavier or clearer than the main line, with the lure or hook, often a swivel and a small weight above it. Matt adds a thirty-pound leader the night before the big snook.
- Swivel
- A tiny metal figure-eight that joins main line to leader and keeps the line from twisting.
- Bagley Mullet lure
- Dan's black-and-silver mullet imitation that 'glistens in the moonlight.' The lure that caught the South Point snook.
- Yellow feather tipped with shrimp
- A feathered jig with a piece of shrimp on the hook; jigged over grass for trout, bounced for snapper.
- Reading the tide
- Fish the hour either side of high tide; 'morning high' means plenty of water over the oyster bars. Dan: the water isn't rising, the earth is turning through bulges of water pulled by sun and moon.
Matt’s list
- Be an amazing fishing boat captain's assistant — added this chapter
- Get the girl — added this chapter
- Get into trouble — added this chapter
- Not too much trouble — added this chapter
- Remember everything that happens for later — added this chapter
- Make Dan proud — added this chapter
- Decide once and for all what superpower you'd have and stick with it — added this chapter
- Catch the BIG ONE — added this chapter
- Have fun alone — added this chapter
All chapters: Ch. 1Ch. 2Ch. 3Ch. 4Ch. 5Ch. 6Ch. 7Ch. 8Ch. 9Ch. 10Ch. 11Ch. 12Ch. 13Ch. 14Ch. 15Ch. 16Ch. 17Ch. 18Ch. 19Ch. 20Ch. 21Ch. 22Ch. 23