As I waited on the beach for my next client to arrive I began to daydream as the minutes rolled by. It had been a long day, which began way before dawn, and now as the afternoon was turning to evening I was beginning to feel the effects of a long day on the water. As the sun began to move lower in the west I noticed a woman walking towards me up the beach. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, had curly brown hair that hung just above her shoulders and was dressed in only a black bikini top, a pair of "Daisy Duke" shorts and flip flops. I turned my attention away trying not to stare but I continued to catch myself stealing a glance. As she walked ever closer I began to think to myself that this couldn't possibly be my client. It was then that she walked up and stopped just short of me.

"Are you D.C.?"

"Yes," I replied. "Hi."

"Hi. I'm Corey. We talked on the phone the other day."

"Yes, of course," I said. "Are you ready to go?"

As she nodded to me that she was ready I began to explain to her what we were going to do for her trip. I explained that there had been a lot of big snook around and that we were going to take an easy paddle around one of the islands and fish the dock and seawall lights for them. Enthusiastically she listened as I helped place her and her belongings in the kayak. Once she was situated I then grabbed the rest of my gear and made ready to get under way.

"You know that this is my first time?" she said, looking up at me with a playful smile.

"That's all right," I replied. "We'll take it nice and easy."

"Are you sure? I don't want you getting frustrated with me if I do something wrong."

"Just relax," I said in the most comforting voice I could muster. "We're going to take it nice and slow until you get the hang of it."

With that being said I moved to the back of her kayak and slowly pushed her into the water. All at once there was a look of hesitance mixed with excitement running across her face. As I held onto the back of the kayak I began to coach her in the proper way to paddle. With just a few brief words of encouragement she was off paddling by herself. I quickly turned to the beach and eased my own kayak into the water and made my way to catch up with her.

As I caught up with Corey she was already moving the kayak through the water with a great bit of agility. "Are you having fun?" I asked as I made my way up along side of her.

"Yeah," she said. "This is great. It's a lot easier than I had expected."

"Well let's get going then. The sun is going to start going down here soon and we want to be around the first set of docks by the time it gets dark."

As we made our way out of the secluded cove that was hidden amongst the mangroves and into Sarasota Bay we were greeted by a flurry of mullet jumping to get out of the way. Corey was as excited as a child on her first school field trip.

"What kind of fish are those?" she asked. "Can we catch them?"

As I began to explain that those weren't the fish we were after tonight a slight pout started to show on her face. But this was immediately replaced with a much brighter smile when I explained that we were after snook tonight and that we could expect to catch at least a dozen or more large ones before the trip was over. Satisfied with the positive outlook we made our way over the flats toward Lido and Bird Key.

By the time we reached Bird Key the sun was already low on the horizon and the dock lights were emitting their soft light on the warm waters below. Making our way towards the first of a series of lit docks I could hear the tell tale "schloop, schloop" of snook feeding on the surface. I motioned to Corey to slow up here kayak and we made a stop about 15 feet from the first dock light. I pulled up along side of her and pointed to the light. Already I could make out at least 20 fish laying up under the light, taking turns at feeding on the baitfish that were hanging around the outskirts of the lit area.

"Look at all those fish," she cried.

"Shhhh. We don't want to spook the fish."

I reached behind my seat and pulled a rod from its rod holder and began to get it ready for casting. As I reached into the livewell in the back tank well of my Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120 I began to explain to Corey what kind of rod and reel set up she would be using as if she actually cared. She could care less about why this of Star Rod or what model of Shimano Baitrunner reel was filled with what size monofilament line. All she cared about was the fish under that light. As I hooked a large hand-picked shrimp under the horn and prepared for the initial cast it was all I could do to get her attention and get her ready to hold the rod.

The first cast was perfect. I flipped it under the dock just beyond the snook with barely a sound as it hit the water. I quickly checked the drag and handed the rod to Corey as I watched the lively shrimp begin to move farther into the lighted area under the dock. Just as I was about to begin explaining what to feel for in a strike I watched a nice snook race up and inhale the shrimp.

"Reel," I said, "reel, reel."

As she started to reel the snook made a couple of quick passes in front of the kayaks and then quickly made a run for the dock and its supports. I reached over and grabbed a hold of her kayak in an attempt to use the added weight and drag of my kayak from allowing the fish to pull hers under the dock.

"Pull back on the rod," I coached. You don't want him to get you under there and break loose on the barnacles. Pull back hard and then reel quickly to the fish.

"I'm trying, I'm trying," she cried.

"Good job," I replied. "Good, now one more time."

With this last pull Corey managed to pull the snook from under the dock and back into open water. In a few brief moments I was able to let go of her kayak and pull her first snook from the water. It was a nice fish measuring just over 28 inches. After I removed the hook I showed her how to hold the fish for a quick photo. Squeamishly she took the fish and I back paddled away to get a good shot of her under the light with her first snook. Wouldn't you know it though as soon as I set my paddle down to grab my camera the fish flopped in her hands and with a startled shriek she let the fish fall back into the water.

"It's all right," I said to her. "There will be plenty more tonight."

I moved back along side of her and began to prepare the rod for casting once again. As I cast the shrimp under the dock once again it was only a moment before she was hooked up yet again. This time a little smaller but still nice none the less. We pulled four more fish from under this light before the bite really slowed down. As I placed the rod back behind my seat Corey looked at me with a puzzled look on her face and asked if we were done for the night. I enthusiastically replied that it was just time to move on to a new light.

For the next four hours we stalked the waterways around Bird Key and Lido Key in search of snook. With each passing lit dock we repeated the success we had at our first stop. All in all Corey caught and released 36 snook that night with one topping out at 35 inches. Not too shabby for a first time angler.

Finally around 12:30 a.m. we made our way back across the flats to our launching site. All was peaceful as the moon shined down upon the water and the lights of downtown Sarasota could be seen off to our right. Not a word was spoken the whole return trip, both of us just taking in the serenity of the bay at night.

When we reached the beach I quickly pulled the kayaks up onto the beach and helped Corey get out and up to dry land. After standing and stretching for a moment she began to collect her things from the back of the kayak.

"That was great," she exclaimed as we settled the fee for the night's trip.

"I'm glad you had a good time. You caught some really nice fish."

"Yeah," she said. "I never thought it would be so much fun. It is great being so close to the water and seeing and hearing everything. I definitely want to do this again sometime."

"Good," I replied. "I look forward to it."

"Good bye," she said as she made her way up the beach. I watched her walk away up the beach as I began to pick up my gear and get ready to go home. As she neared her car she turned and waved one last time. I waved back and turned to haul my gear up the beach to my Jeep. As I pushed the final kayak into the roof top rack I took one last look at the moonlight as it illuminated the small waves breaking against the beach. Tired and weary I thought to myself that this had been another great night of fishing but for now it was time to home. With that I stepped up and into the driver's seat, turned the key, and made my way home.