June 2016 | Page 46

I should really back up and start at the beginning, when I first met Mike Gallo, almost five years ago. I was a brand new writer for Marsh & Bayou, and I happened to see his truck in the parking lot of Winn Dixie. The logo, “Angling Adventures of Louisiana” appealed to me, and I imagined he was someone I should be fishing with. So, without the slightest hesitation (I wince at the thought now), I walked right up to him at the shopping carts and said, “Hey, I’m a writer, and I’m going to go fishing with you one day!” He smiled politely, as I’m sure most adults would when having been approached by a total stranger, and said, “Well, I’ll look forward to that.” Neither of us could have known it would take five years for that to happen, but happen it finally did. It was a little chilly at 5:00am on that Sunday morning in May when we were boarding his Pure Bay 2400 from the dock at his camp on Hwy 433. Captain Mike told me we were in for an hour and a half boat ride out to the Louisiana Marsh, which is more commonly called “Biloxi Marsh,” and I knew I would have to bundle up. His good friend, Captain Kent, who has been handling charters for Captain Mike for years, joined us on the excursion. The three of us settled in for the long drive, stopping only once to admire the brilliant red sunrise that seemed to light the water on fire. None of us could speak, and cameras don’t do it justice, so we simply admired God’s magnificent art in silence. We arrived at what one might call a “patch” of marsh grass in the middle of vast open water, and there were no other fisher- Capt. Gallo’s FAVORITE TOP WATERS mirrolure TOP PUP mirrolure SHE PUP BOMBER BADONK-A-DONK 46 June 2016 www.marshandbayou.com SUMMER HOT SPOTS