Alex's Wish is Granted

 

In early June Alex's wish to go fishing in the Florida Keys was granted by the Jose Wejebe Spanish Fly Memorial Foundation.  "This has been a long year, but when we were on our trip things could slow down, we could enjoy, and not have to worry."  This was their time to leave reality at the dock, and just have fun.

For their first day they met Captain Kenny Harris from Key West Extreme Adventures. "We had such an amazing time with Ken."

 

Alex learns how to throw a cast net

The next day they met Captain Mike Weinhofer of Compass Rose Charters at the Hurricane Hole in Key West.  The first day of fishing was spent on the reef catching sharks, and various types of snapper.  The wind picked up the second day, so Mike brought them fishing in the infamous Key West Harbor for tarpon.  Jose often referred to it as "the minefield", since the harbor has many obstacles. Alex and his family went 1 for 8 with the silver kings.   Alex had mentioned earlier in the trip that he wanted to learn how to throw a cast net.  Mike patiently instructed Alex on how to load, and throw a sixteen-foot cast net. Jose would be so proud of Mike's excellent ability of coaching Alex through the process, and setting him up for success.  

 

While we were planning Alex's wish I knew they would get a kick out of Mike. Catching up with the family after their trip I asked them what they thought of him.  "Well what can you say about Mike!  He is crazy! Crazy fun!!!"  And of course Shimano, Costa, Under Armour, and Yeti pitched in to add a little something special. "Where do we begin with the fishing gear we received? That was so cool!  It was like Christmas!!!!  We are thankful for Ken and Mike for taking their time to take us out on the water and just letting us enjoy ourselves. We are forever grateful for their generosity. We will NEVER forget our trip!"    

 

  

 

About 10 years ago I took my daughter (now 30)to SW FL to fish for a week.  I had just purchased a Sea Cat catamaran to start ocean fishing. Not knowing anything about saltwater fishing, we were just trying everything!!  Out of nowhere, Jose came up to my boat to say hi & ask if we were ok!!!  He obviously knew we didn't know what we were doing!!!
He took over an hour to give us instructions, draw locations on our chart to fish, what to fish with, & how to rig our baits!!  We caught more fish that week than I can even tell you about!!!
He told us he came over to help us because he loved the fact I was fishing with my daughter, because he loved fishing with his!!!
The funny thing is, we had know idea who he was until later, he never even told us his name!!!  My daughter referred to him as the "fishing angel" for years!!!
I still have that chart, but after hearing about his tragic death, I had it framed & hung it on our fireplace in our living room!  Now, he truly is a fishing angel.
I bought my daughter one of the shirts from the website to give her on our annual trip fishing over July 4 holiday.  I'm sure it will bring tears to her eyes & she will love it!!!  She watches Spanish Fly to this day & calls me on some episodes to tell me to watch!!! We both have a special place in our hearts for Jose for how he touched our lives!!!

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