MADEIRA BEACH - Somewhere on the high Gulf seas, where the dirtfoot fisherman gets queezy in the swells and only the serious angler drops a line, is a small boy putting us all to shame.

Every Tuesday night, with bedroll and pillow under one arm and Thermos and fishing poles on the other, 11 year-old Tommy Butler mounts the plank to the Florida Fisherman for two nights and a day more than 100 miles out.

He comes alone, but won't be for long because the "regulars" on Capt. Wilson Hubbard's overnight fishing jaunts have adopted Tommy as one of their own. He is their mascot; almost one of the crew.

"He's fished ever since he was in diapers," says grandmother Margaret Solomon. "It's his big hobby. It's the only thing he wants to do. I've never seen a kid his age fish so much."

Not even the nickel-and-dime poker games on board interest Tommy. He'll join in on the rare occasion "when there's nothing to do.

"Heck," he says, "I prefer fishing." Enough said of a youngster who dreams of nothing more than being a commercial fisherman working a grouper boat when he gets older.

Tommy's mother Charlotte began taking him down to the Johns Pass docks about a year ago for his weekly trips to keep him busy. A highly active child around the house- "He won't sit still a moment," says his grandmother - nothing but the thought of pulling in a big one could keep him quiet.

"He's just like everyone else out here," says Hubbard Pier's Phil Gulick. "You've got to be pushy to stay on top of everyone."

As soon as Tommy stows his gear on his bunk, he heads to the deck to lash down his array of fishing poles and then stake out a favorite fishing berth. He prefers dropping a line midship. "I just like it there," he says'. "People like the stern, but the fish end up coming where I am".

His success at fishing is almost legend. He goes for grouper, but doesn't turn away the snapper, cobia, amberjack or dolphin when one strikes. His largest grouper weighed in at 43 pounds (one last week was a 42-pounder), a hefty catch since he uses light line most of the time.

Tommy keeps all the fish he catches to sell for 80 cents a pound at the fish market his grandfather owned (Gene's Seafood). His grandmother usually advances him the $57he needs for each trip and his catch pays her back. He cleared $116 last week and has sold as much as $238.

Now how do you suppose a curly-haired youngster weighing a scant 116 pounds manages to reel in his catches? Friendship with the crew helps. The mates on board - John, Billy and Joe - "they always help me with the real big ones," he says. So do the other fishermen who may be on board every week or just once in their lives.

There are longtime friendships between grown-up fishermen and Tommy. He has a picture book of the numerous large hauls he's made, some of them sent to him by vacationers who snapped his photo and others that were made on the dock and later appeared on the Ernie Lee Show.

"He just loves helping out the tourists and the ladies," says Mrs. Soloman. "But when he's fishing, that's all he wants to do. His uncle doesn't like to take him fishing anymore because he 'skunks' him every time. He's smart for his age with knowledge about fishing, knowledge that isn't book knowledge."

But knowledge and the love of fishing doesn't make it all rosy on a tipsy deck.

"I get seasick once in a while," Tommy says. "Especially when it's real wavy.

"But you ' just hold on to the pole and shake it off," he adds with confidence. "Heck, yeah. You just fight it and you'll be okay."

This feisty character will be back in school when the doors open in the fall, but not far from fishing. He already dreams of the Friday night weekend-long trips aboard the Florida Fisherman. "I'll be there as often as I can," he says.