Whatever the reason for its existence, it became a regular stop for my dad and me on every fishing trip to Flamingo, and that meant almost weekly for a good four years. It seems that because of the tidal flow, the channel bank is quite deep and steep next to the marker. A flat that comes almost dry on one side of the marker is bordered by a good deep hole right at the marker.
Around the marker, the flat lengthens out with several potholes and shoals that hold snapper and seatrout. On the deeper side, that hole almost always had a jewfish(Goliath grouper) sitting in it. That was the very reason we always made a stop there around slack tide.
Before leaving in the morning, we always checked the tide charts to determine when we needed to be at the marker. When the tide began to slack, we stopped fishing for trout and snapper and anchored the boat off the marker about 20 yards. As the tide slowed, we heaved one and sometimes two handlines baited with live fish toward the marker. Then we sat back and waited.
More often than not, one or both of the ropes would begin running out. Usually when we grabbed the rope to try and set the 12/0 hook, we ended up being pulled to the marker, while the rope was dragged across the barnacles and finally severed. It was quite some time before we finally hooked a fish we could stop and turn toward the boat. My imagination still reels at the thought of how big some of those fish must have been that drug us to the marker.
We even devised a method that included tying the rope around the aft cleat and using the engine to try and drag the fish away from the marker. For a long time, it seems that every time we hooked a fish, the engine decided to be difficult and we ended up on the marker anyway.
It was in 1965 that we finally turned a fish and brought up a 208 pounder. The whooping and hollering from my dad and me could be heard all the way to Marathon, I do believe. Then in 1967, we managed to boat the biggest one we ever caught - 347 pounds. That one took the bait from us twice before we could hook him, and when he surfaced and rolled on top of the water, I thought my heart would stop!
We caught quite a few jewfish over the years from a variety of places in Florida Bay, but that marker always held a special place for both of us. It still holds a special place for me. In 1996 we scattered my dad's ashes in the water around marker 10X. We just figured it would be the right thing to do for him. He loved that place so.
And the jewfish? Although they are currently protected, they're still there, coming back stronger than ever. Pop would be proud.
