Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums • Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:41 am

by Cracker Larry

I just returned last night from a fishing trip with Richard (Aripeka Angler) that was very enjoyable. We made a 24 hour trip and ran about 70 miles offshore in the Gulf. Richard's 27 Pursuit made for a fast and comfortable ride and we were blessed by 2 days of flat seas. His twin 200 Yamahas are so quiet you could hear the bait pump running over the 2 engines at WOT.

We spent the evening before we left catching bait and collected about 50 nice little bait fish for the trip.

Richard took us to an amazing location to anchor up for the night. It was an underground freshwater spring running out from a large cave in the middle of the gulf in 125 feet of water. Sort of like King Spring in Crystal River, but 50 miles offshore. The sea life around the spring was incredible, water was clear blue with about 100' visability, and there were huge schools of amberjacks, cobias, kings, and sharks, lots and lots of sharks swimming around the boat. The surface was literally boiling with feeding activity, which we added to with a chum bag.

My first bait in the water resulted in a hook up with a smoker kingfish, but sadly I only landed a head, a very large head that weighed about 15 pounds. We managed to salvage 5 lbs of meat from it anyway. Should have taken a picture of that head. Then Richard hooked up with a nice AJ about 30 lbs. and managed to get it to the boat whole. After that, every fish we hooked we had to race the sharks to get it in the boat. They were actually jumping out of the water at boat side to eat our fish, and we averaged about 1 for 3 with successful landings.

We ended up with a limit of snapper in the boat and about 2 limits fed to the sharks. I really wanted to take my morning swim, but discretion kept me from even putting my hands in the water

I'll usually swim with the fish, but not here.

Richard tried to set a light tackle record and baited up a 10 lb. bream rod with a live pinfish. Whatever he hooked, he had it on for over an hour before it broke off.

And we had a few minutes of real excitement when a large ship seemed to intentionally try to run us down around midnight. Looked to me like a RORO car carrier which altered course straight for us and got closer at an alarming rate

We had to make an emergency anchor haul and get the hell out of the way. You've never seen a big plow anchor with a lot of chain come in a boat so fast. Wow, that was scary

All in all a great trip with great folks. For some reason I never even took a picture

Thanks again Richard

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:48 am

by TomW

Wow Larry and Richard sounds like a very exciting and eventful trip

Glad the weather stayed night for you all.

Tom

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:08 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Larry, I am glad you had a good time. Jim called me today and said he had a blast as well. I guess you could say it was quality sleep deprivation.

The event with the freighter was like a twilight zone experience. You have to wonder how a ship the size of a 50 story building could get that close to a small boat that is nowhere near a shipping lane and 50 miles offshore

It was good to have an experienced crew with me to help

I am thinking as you said that maybe he was asleep at the wheel. The main thing I am glad of is that we made it out of there safely and didn't have to get in the water with those damn sharks. There must have been thousands of them.

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:12 pm

by Cracker Larry

There must have been thousands of them.

Thousands would be a conservative number.

I've never seen any more in any one place in any of my travels. There were a serious amount of sharks. Not only that, but they were continuously worked up and surface feeding in frenzies, not just lazily cruising about. They did put on quite a show.

I'm sure that fishing in that hole would be world class quality in the seasons that the the sharks aren't there.

Yes, that ship was a very erie experience. It appeared from nowhere abeam and running parallel to us about 5 miles off. Then it turned directly at us and grew in size at an alarming rate

. We quickly discussed pulling the anchor, then discussed cutting it loose. I think Jim pulled it almost quicker than I could have cut it

I don't think 5 minutes passed from the time we first saw the ship until we scrambled, and 10 minutes later it was completely hull down and gone. Very weird. Also glad the fog I slept through waited until after the ship experience

It was good to have an experienced crew with me to help

It was also good to have an experienced Capt. who immediately recognized the gravity of the situation and made the right calls. I'll go on a boat with you anywhere

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:35 am

by JimW

Once you pulled anchor did you guys try to hail him on VHF 16 and thank him for his course correction towards you? Did you "spot light" his bridge? Did he alter back, or return to course after CPA-ing you? If he maintained the same course after going past you it was probably inocent. Those big RORO ships have terrible visibility close in and you are so small that until you're too close to see he can't see you very well either. Gotta always have one guy on watch at night on the hook out there.

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:52 am

by Mad Dog

FINALLY

Got on (in) the water this weekend.

Had one fantastic afternoon on Saturday.

Caught this 28" fat boy Red and a 26" and 20" to go with it.

Caught a couple of really nice Specks too.

26"

24"

Rounded it out with a few smaller trout for the fry pan.

MD

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:46 pm

by Aripeka Angler

JimW wrote: Gotta always have one guy on watch at night on the hook out there.

Jim, I did doze a tiny bit but I never left the helm all night. I worry more about a small boat running over me to get to the same fishing hole that I am on than getting hit by a huge freighter. I don't sleep very well way out in the GOM after dark.

We didn't have time to contact the guy it happened so fast.

I am not convinced we spoke his language anyway. When we first saw him he was approaching our bow roughly 2-3 miles away and running roughly parallel to our anchor heading. His initial course should have allowed him to pass our starboard side roughly 1 1/2 miles between us. Best I could tell he turned about 80-100 degrees to starboard and closed on us to within 100 yards before making a roughly 140 degree turn to port. Scary crap.

I don't know how fast he was moving but I am sure it was better than 20 kts.

We decided to take evasive action and not waste any time trying to figure out what his intentions were. We did turn every damn light on in the boat we had while we were pulling the hook. The anchor light was obviously already burning. CL may have a seen all this slightly different but I think I am pretty close on the details. Larry had his knife out to cut the anchor line but fortunately we didn't need to.....

Mad Dog, nice fish

Didn't mean to be long on this issue and my apologies for the threadjack.

Richard

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:03 pm

by Mad Dog

Aripeka Angler wrote: Mad Dog, nice fish Didn't mean to be long on this issue and my apologies for the threadjack.

Richard

Don't mind at all.

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:32 pm

by Cracker Larry

CL may have a seen all this slightly different but I think I am pretty close on the details.

I agree completely with your assessment. That is exactly how it happened. He altered his course over 90 degrees to head for us, then once past us he reverted back to his original heading. The situation went from informational, "look at that ship over there", to curiosity "what's his heading?, yeah we'll be well clear", to concern "what's he doing now?!", to "oh Sh*t

" in just a couple of minutes.

Then there was no time for spotlight tag. A ship that size takes a mile to turn and 5 miles to stop. We had less than 1,000 yards of time.

Larry had his knife out to cut the anchor line but fortunately we didn't need to.....

No, but I did cut most of the fishing lines we had out. There wasn't even time to reel them in.

Once you pulled anchor did you guys try to hail him on VHF 16 and thank him for his course correction towards you?

No, once we caught our breath and settled down it was already heading over the horizon. A maritime version of VHF road rage didn't seem productive after the fact. We just went back to fishing

Jim and I made a drink

Mad Dog, those are really nice trout

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:51 pm

by gk108

Well, that's one way to get run off from a fishing hole.

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 4:22 pm

by Aripeka Angler

gk108 wrote:Well, that's one way to get run off from a fishing hole.

Only for a half hour or so.

I am starting to wonder if the RORO captain turned because he saw CL and realized he was packing heat.

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:19 am

by JimW

Wow! That would scare hell out of me. Good job gettin' gone quickly. 20 knots is freakin' screamin' for night time.

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:37 am

by Cracker Larry

I am starting to wonder if the RORO captain turned because he saw CL and realized he was packing heat

I don't think he was particularly intimidated

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:22 am

by colonialc19

Caught some flouder yesterday, caught em' at the Hampton bridge tunnel, in Hampton,VA here's a pic of a one

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:46 am

by tech_support

mullet run is in full swing here in FL. last weekend we were catching bluefish, jacks, and redfish all together on topwater. There were large bull sharks feed on the blues - took one off my line

All in 3' of water.

After a school passed, we would be missing several of the hooks off our plugs. One fish grabs the plug and other grabs the other side and the hook get straightened. Sometimes you could land the third fish you catch on a cast

Lots of fun. Blue fish were about 5 lbs jacks 10 to 15 and the redfish were all 30+". The bull sharks were 6' to 8'

No wading in the river for me this time of year

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:43 am

by Mad Dog

Man, I have to move closer to the coast. Mullet run is on along the Texas coast too. Reds, specks, bluefish, jacks, spanish mackrel, snook... all hot an heavy and I'm at home working a boat.

Glad for you guys. October is my favorite fishing time.

PS Keep the reports coming. I need those reports to keep me going.

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:33 pm

by dborecky

I went spearfishing this past weekend and we did well.

I also found out that I'm really out of shape and need to start working out again...

This is the first spearfishing I have done in about 20 years...

I not got the bug back and can't wait to go again....

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 8:18 pm

by colonialc19

Thats some fine fishing, and spearing. Its that time of year

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:20 pm

by Fred in Wisc

The salmon are starting to run from Lake Michigan. My young neighbor Glenn and I caught this 33" 15 pound or so king salmon off the breakwater in Milwaukee.

It was his first time salmon fishing and his first time salmon fishing. I've already been asked when we are going again. He was pretty surprised that the spoons and cranks we throw for these are nearly as big as the bluegills we catch on the inland lakes.

Fred in Wisc

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:07 am

by JimW

Send those hogfish fillets to me, there are no good to eat and I'll get rid of them for you!

Are they still as stupid as they used to be? Swim up and turn sideways to look at you?

Kayak fishing last two times in a new creek has been "berry berry good to me". Got my first good "Sleigh ride" from a 24 inch redfish.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:32 am

by tech_support

Derek

Thats awsome. How far down are those fish? This past summer I was doing a good bit a free diving off the beach for snapper/sheephead using a sling. Im not that good yet, so the deepest I can dive and kill effectively is 20' But I bet those fish are down a little further

Jim, that a nice red. Its fun to have them pull you around. Tomorrow Im going back to the place where the bull sharks were eating our blue fish last weekend (drop off of a popular flat in Sebastian). But this time Im going armed with a conventional outfit spooled with 50 lb braid and shark rig. The boat we are fishing out of it 14' flat bottom "stump knocker"

So the idea is that Im going to put about 25 lbs of drag on the reel and see how far the bull shark will tow the little boat. Some of them are a good bit bigger than me

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:48 am

by dborecky

Jim,

The hogs are mostly the same but they try to avoid you as well. The grouper also flash you their lateral line prior to bolting most of the time. That is if you are in the friendly mode and not the chase all the fish off the reef mode. The hogs are already eaten. They are the first to go...

Joel,

We used tanks for those fish. They were between 90-120 feet deep and we were using nitrox for the dives. I did about 7-8 in 2 days. We slept on been bags on the deck at night. You need to come my way. There are grouper and hogs at 20 feet that should be coming in any time now. You just need a wet suit because it is going to be getting cold.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 11:26 am

by JimW

shine wrote:Jim, that a nice red.

He's still swimming also. I don't eat too many fish. Just for a treat sometimes. I like sea trout better than reds.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 11:33 am

by smilinmatt

The grouper and hogs are already in 20', you just can't see them. I went out last weekend and got four gags and a couple hogs. There was only about 5' visibility inshore, so you had one quick shot at the fish before they disappeared for good.

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:00 pm

by dborecky

We had 5-8 foot vis as well for most of the dives...

Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:40 pm

by Mad Dog

JimW wrote: He's still swimming also. I don't eat too many fish. Just for a treat sometimes. I like sea trout better than reds.

Nothing like fresh specks, for sure.

Jim,
Have you tried grilling those reds on the half-shell? Butter, a little cajun spice or fajita spices, and a little smoke. Grill just until the flesh starts to turn loose from the skin. That's good eat'n too.

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:43 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I thought I would revive this thread with some pics from a trip into the Gulf of Mexico that we took one week before Christmas. My son brought along two of his friends and we had a great day. We caught over one hundred grouper as well as snapper, grunt, scamp, bonito, sea bass and one nice triggerfish. We kept plenty of gag grouper and one red grouper as well as some smaller fish. We split about 4 gallons of fillets. The boys are real studs and came in handy when pulling the anchor

Richard

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:28 pm

by Mad Dog

Nice catch

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:43 pm

by TomW

Well done Richard! How far out were you?

Tom

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:53 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks Mad Dog

Tom the fish were caught in shallow water. They move in close to shore this time of year. The water depth was 30 feet and the location was 14 or so miles west of Bayport Florida.

Richard

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:04 pm

by colonialc19

Nice catch of fish!

GOOD eatin'

Daniel

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:10 pm

by TomW

Richard I'm coming down!

Tom

Well as soon as I have a boat built.

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:33 am

by JimW

I thought depth 14 miles west of Bayport would be about 14 feet?? Did it get deeper over there since the 1970s?

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:22 pm

by Joe H

Nice fish Richard, I'm with Tom, be down soon.

The wife say's Hi!

Joe

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

Never in my whole life have I ever wanted to catch a fish that bad. That picture is exactly why they invented Delta Air Lines IMO

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:01 pm

by topwater

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 2:57 pm

by Mad Dog

Geez Joe,

you are one hardcore fisherman.

Hardcore is code for, "lost your marbles."

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:52 pm

by Aripeka Angler

JimW wrote:I thought depth 14 miles west of Bayport would be about 14 feet?? Did it get deeper over there since the 1970s?

Did you use a rock and string to measure the water depth

Tom the fish were caught in shallow water. They move in close to shore this time of year. The water depth was 30 feet and the location was 14 or so miles west of Bayport Florida.

The depth was 30 feet as stated. I think it is 14.9 nautical miles off the Bayport channel. Hence the quote 14 or so miles. If you go there try Loran 14315.1 and 45150.2. Bring lots of live bait and a stout boat rod. There is a hard elbow there with some big rocks. The grouper fight all the way to the gunnel in that water depth

I promise from now on to provide exact Loran numbers numbers with each picture

Joe, that is classic picture. I want to try some of that ice fishing someday. I don't think it would be too bad if they made a butt warmer

I hope you can make it down in the Spring. Tell your wife I said hi and we wish yall a happy and prosperous New Year...

Richard

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:41 pm

by gk108

Larry, you should see how they gig sturgeon through the ice up there. Basically, you cut a small hole in the ice and stand over it with a big gig, ready to throw. When a sturgeon happens to swim by, you jab it, then cut the hole in the ice bigger so you can land the fish. Lotsa fun.

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:24 pm

by Dog Fish

What do you do with the sturgeon.

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:14 pm

by gk108

Dog Fish wrote:What do you do with the sturgeon.

When I was a kid, they were still smoking the meat and getting eggs for caviar. Then they got on the endangered list. I think you are allowed to tag and release now, no gigs. Apparently the Great Lakes zebra mussel invasion has helped them begin recovering.

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:59 pm

by TomW

Yea smoked sturgeaon is excellent. Especially the smaller ones in the 24" size. They don't have any bones just a spiny skin and a cartilage backbone. They don't really start laying eggs until they are 5 years old which is why they went on the endangered list. We used to catch them in the Mississippi to Gary as well as the Lakes.

Tom

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:45 am

by Cracker Larry

Larry, you should see how they gig sturgeon through the ice up there.

Dam that idea. I can catch sturgeon right here where it's warm(er)

And a lot of other fish that taste a lot better than a sturgeon. Well, maybe not the caviar

But did I mention it was warm(er)

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:34 pm

by Joe H

It's only maybe 50% about catching fish, it's also about getting outside and doing something through the winter, I used to snow ski but that was 40lbs ago, I'm all set with ice fishing, 4 wheeler, shanty, portable heater, gas and hand auger, Ford F150 truck to haul it all in, it's really a blast, never been to cold. I know guy's that the only fresh air they get through the winter is when they open there front door for the pizza delivery boy at half time,that ain't me.

I have seen a Sturgeon swim through once and it looked like a monster coming through, the water clarity is incredibly clear thanks to the zebra mussels and ice over top. Perch and Walleye are my main game and they just seem to taste better when taken through the ice, maybe I just appreciate it more.

Now all that being said, I can't wait to get down south to enjoy some warm weather fishing, I haven't lost all my marbles just yet!

Joe

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:47 pm

by TomW

Nice perch Joe. I can taste those down here as I watch the snow come down. Boy I used to love catching them we'd use to catch a couple hundred in 2-4 hours in Lake Erie.

Tom

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:19 pm

by Workin Man

Cracker Larry, you don't know what your missing out on. Two years ago fishing on Guelph Lake, a bunch of kids got together and started playing football, then somebody's rottweiller (sp?) stole the ball and the kids chased the damn thing all over the lake trying to get the ball back. Laughed my friggin arse off, and catching perch the whole time. When your ice fishing and they aren't biting all sorts of things can happen, like barbeques, hockey games, snowball fights, probably lots of stuff I've forgotten and lots I haven't seen yet. I love the sunny south, but I would miss Ice fishing and winter rabbit hunting too much to ever move.

Jim

EDIT and you don't have moose down there either, how do you cope?

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

EDIT and you don't have moose down there either, how do you cope?

We have to make do with little wild hogs...

And gators......

Got plenty of rabbits and BBQ, down here too. No snow

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:46 pm

by tobolamr

Workin Man wrote: and you don't have moose down there either, how do you cope?

We had a bull moose spotted for a few weeks just north of us, about 10 miles, here in the county of wisconsin that has more cattle than people. The DNR said "Yeah, it's alright, it's a normal migratory pattern. But, don't be too surprised if you get a few really ugly calves on the dairy farms next year."

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:54 pm

by Workin Man

Larry, we've been working on a boathouse up here the last few weeks, we can walk all the way around it, drop tools and get em back without going swimming and ain't been bit by a mosquito lately either. And our moose get bigger than that pig (LOL).

Jim

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:34 am

by Mad Dog

Workin Man wrote:Larry, we've been working on a boathouse up here the last few weeks, we can walk all the way around it, drop tools and get em back without going swimming and ain't been bit by a mosquito lately either. And our moose get bigger than that pig (LOL).

Jim

Just think how big those moose would get if they had the year round resources that hog grew up on.

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:15 am

by JimW

Aripeka Angler wrote:
JimW wrote:I thought depth 14 miles west of Bayport would be about 14 feet?? Did it get deeper over there since the 1970s?
Did you use a rock and string to measure the water depth

Tom the fish were caught in shallow water. They move in close to shore this time of year. The water depth was 30 feet and the location was 14 or so miles west of Bayport Florida.

The depth was 30 feet as stated. I think it is 14.9 nautical miles off the Bayport channel. Hence the quote 14 or so miles. If you go there try Loran 14315.1 and 45150.2. Bring lots of live bait and a stout boat rod. There is a hard elbow there with some big rocks. The grouper fight all the way to the gunnel in that water depth I promise from now on to provide exact Loran numbers numbers with each picture

Joe, that is classic picture. I want to try some of that ice fishing someday. I don't think it would be too bad if they made a butt warmer I hope you can make it down in the Spring. Tell your wife I said hi and we wish yall a happy and prosperous New Year...

Richard

Just remembered from childhood diving off Bayport that depth changed about 1 foot per mile. Didn't mean to question your report. I'm sure the slope can change at different rates depending on slight heading differences out of the channel. Yes we used rock and string method (recorder paper was too expensive) but at bayport we could always see the bottom.

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:25 pm

by Lon

Know a spot in Flathead Lake that is 91 feet deep 40 feet from the water's edge at a cliff.

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 5:15 pm

by TomW

Lon, some of these mountain lakes here can drop very fast also 50' over 50' is while rare is not uncommon.

Tom

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:49 pm

by BoatGuy

I have a trip booked with Deedaddy in Febuary off NC coast. Going for Bluefin.

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:33 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Just remembered from childhood diving off Bayport that depth changed about 1 foot per mile.

Very true Jim. From Bayport north to Cedar Key that is a good guide to water depth change.

I'm sure the slope can change at different rates depending on slight heading differences out of the channel.

Yes it can. My secret spot is a little south of the channel. The water depth changes by ten feet 1 mile north of that honey hole.

Yes we used rock and string method (recorder paper was too expensive) but at bayport we could always see the bottom.

Yes, I have used the same method as well. The bottom is also very visible in 30 feet during the winter when the water is clearer.

Didn't mean to question your report.

No problem Jim. I should have mentioned that I use nautical miles and that I was a couple of miles south of the channel. I don't launch from Bayport. I fish offshore there all the time but leave from my fishing shack in the Hudson/Aripeka area. The rock piles are very good for grouper and snapper

There is a creek just south of the pier at Bayport that is absolutely covered up with snook in the summer. I don't remember the name. Did you fish that creek when you lived over here?

Richard

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:24 pm

by JimW

We were hard core scuba divers back then. Each diver usually came up with a stringer of four or five grouper. 4 divers times two tanks = 40 grouper for 2 hours of bottom time? Always ate them all. I don't shoot fish anymore. I'm in good shape but shooting fish is hard work, I like to relax on the water. Still have two wood guns in the shed. Just feel like the fish have a good chance to escape when angling. Never fished that area, just offshore spearfishing. I do remember the freighter that they anchored off shore in the '70s to be a casino (that never happened).

Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 2:47 am

by Fonda@kauai

Here's a few kumu's taken a little while ago. All were shot in caves at around 70 ft freediving. I know they're not that big but very prized fish. They go for $20 a pound in china town in honolulu. Anything over 3 lbs. is a monster. And here's a small ulua taken in a cave at 60 ft yesterday. Was around 20 lbs. He tried to wrap me up and drown me a few times. Even the little ones are spunky.

They get up to 150 lbs. but anything over 30 is pretty tough. Gotta smoke em. This one made good poke and sashimi though

And here's a bigger one

Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:39 pm

by JimW

I remember seeing one of those ulua's shadowing a huge ray of the ledge at Halaiewa (sp? been too long). I couldn't shoot because I was afraid it hit the huge ray GONE! They didn't give me a second chance to position better. Nice FISH!

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:03 pm

by Fonda@kauai

Yep Haleiwa. Usually you get one shot, they turn broadside to get a look at you and that's the kodak moment. Shoot

Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 10:43 pm

by Mad Dog

Finally had another chance to get on the the water this weekend. Practiced CPR this time.

Speck on the line.

Red Drum #1

Red Drum #2

Red Drum #3

Nice Flounder

And a winter Texan

Enjoy.

MD

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:15 am

by cape man

Fishing was slow, but my annual sojourn to the Cape was relaxing.

Always wanted to eat a ray, it swallowed the hook, so this one went in the box. Made for some very fine fried nuggets!

Going after sails and kings this weekend off Little Torch Key.

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:55 am

by TomW

Nice MD. Looks like a good time.

Tom

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:46 am

by cape man

No sails, and we lost several kings trying for sails with flourocarbon leader. Threw some wire on and landed this little girl. Smoker's working this evening...

Little bit of Lobstering on Staurday.

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:20 pm

by Bowmovement

A couple of decent size ones.

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:43 pm

by topwater

where are the claws

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:49 pm

by Bowmovement

topwater wrote:where are the claws

The California Spiny Lobsters do not have claws. You can check them out here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_spiny_lobster

As for the taste.....BEats Maine lobster any day of the week. Texture is so much tender and has a better taste.

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:51 pm

by Mad Dog

Nice.

Are you trapping or diving?

MD

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:59 pm

by Bowmovement

Mad Dog wrote:Nice.

Are you trapping or diving?

MD

No diving, water is too cold for me. We use lobster hoops. Its illegal to use traps. The hoops have a large metal ring on top with a smaller on the bottom with neetng in between. This makes so the the lobsters can get in and out. When you pull them out of the water you have to pull fast or they swim out. Its alot of work but loads of fun. Plus you get some good eats out of it. It makes them taste even better when they cost $33/lbs at the seafood market and all it cost to catch them is $15 in bait and 1 gallon of gas.

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:33 am

by jgroves

Wow that looks like fun! Mmmmmm crab.

Now that's a FISH

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:30 am

by peter-curacao

Medical student lands 359-lb grouper

November 13, 2007
THIBODAUX , La. --A medical student who blindfolds his friends to keep his favorite offshore fishing spot secret has come up with a record-beating fish -- a warsaw grouper weighing 359.1 pounds. The giant hauled in by J.J. Tabor of Thibodaux is 12 ounces above the previous Louisiana state record, a state biologist confirmed. It's been cut down to fillets. The first fillet weighed 53 pounds, Tabor said.
He caught it near an oil rig 70 miles south of Fourchon, in 400 feet of water. He won't give a more specific description. 'It's J.J.'s secret,' said Joey Rodrigue, a friend from Baton Rouge who joined Tabor and Tabor's father, John, on the record-making trip Saturday. 'I don't even know where I was. He blindfolds us on the way out.'
Tabor said he thought at first that his hook with a live hardtail on it had it the bottom 'until I felt the big head shake.'
Rodrigue steered away from the rig. 'I put myself in a harness and just had to lay back and fight,' J.J. Tabor said. 'It was about a 15 or 20 minute fight.'
Tabor cleaned the fish late Monday afternoon outside his father's auto repair shop in Thibodaux . 'We'll split it up,' he said. 'I'll make some phone calls and try to get rid of it fresh. The rest, we'll vacuum pack it and cook it later.'
Tabor says he believes t he fish is about 33 years old. He plans to send an inner-ear bone called the otolith to a university in Florida where researchers can help determine the age of the fish. He hopes to get the results in about four weeks.
The world record, caught off Florida in 1985, is 436 pounds, 12 ounces.

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:27 am

by tech_support

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:29 am

by gk108

What a monster! I wonder how many other fishermen hung that one and cut the line, thinking that they hooked the oil rig?

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:40 am

by TomW

That is a monster, not often do you see a record breaker like that.

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:26 pm

by wegcagle

Why did they hang all that extra bait next to the only fish they caught

MAN what a catch

Will

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

Looks like one of Derrick's grouper. I wonder if a grouper that big is really good to eat? You'd almost need a chain saw to clean it. I think I would have released it, especially if I caught it in my boat

dancing dolphin

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:47 pm

by peter-curacao

Just bought a dancing dolphin anyone familiar with those lures and are they really that good?, canâ€™t wait to test them tomorrow

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:57 pm

by Cracker Larry

Never tried them or seen them, just looked them up on google. Wow, they are pricey

I can buy a lot of ballyhoo and skirts for what a pair of those cost. Are you going to use them as teasers or bait?

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:28 pm

by peter-curacao

I know I know but the ballyhoo doesn't do so well couple of last weeks, so I thought I give it a try they are new here on the island and only a couple came in, so had to buy one
I'm gonne use it as bait
Sorry should have provided the website dancing dolphin

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:49 pm

by Dog Fish

I went to the website and watched the vid's, very cool and they look like they should work good. They make lots of smoke.

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:05 pm

by peter-curacao

Weeee good lure to get drunk grin

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Did you catch any fish, or just a buzz

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:24 pm

by BassMunn

If you like those you should check these out http://www.williamsonlures.com/products/live_series.php

You must see these things swim

They used to make these down the road from me, but they have since been bought by Rapala and production moved to China

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:19 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Did you catch any fish, or just a buzz

Nothing at all it was so boring that we keep on popping beers open, one bright side is that the other bait didnâ€™t work either so it just wasnâ€™t our day I think (talking about the fishing now

)

Btw whats a buzz?

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:26 pm

by Dog Fish

[quote="peter-curacao"]

)

Btw whats a buzz?

Peter, that would be the result from drinking beer or what ever you alter your brain with.

Your funny

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:35 pm

by peter-curacao

Dog Fish wrote:
peter-curacao wrote: )

Btw whats a buzz?[/quote

Peter, that would the result from drinking beer or what ever you alter your brain with.

YES for that it's a GREAT Lure!!

or do you mean a hangover?

nm

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:03 am

by D2Maine

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:38 pm

by frazoo

Well haven't fished yet, but reservations are made, boat ready to go, heading to Chesapeake Bay's eastern shore next week for 9 days. If anyone has any experience in that area from Cherrystone to the concrete ships on around to Wachapreague, please let me know. I was told that there are door mat sized flattie and a red drum and striper half as long as me waiting for me there. Oh, and a cooler full of 'tog too!

I'll let you know how it goes..., .

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:26 pm

by Dog Fish

frazoo wrote:Well haven't fished yet, but reservations are made, boat ready to go, heading to Chesapeake Bay's eastern shore next week for 9 days. If anyone has any experience in that area from Cherrystone to the concrete ships on around to Wachapreague, please let me know. I was told that there are door mat sized flattie and a red drum and striper half as long as me waiting for me there. Oh, and a cooler full of 'tog too!
I'll let you know how it goes..., .

frazoo

Frazoo good luck on your trip, it sounds like it will be a lot of fun. I wish I was going with ya and catchin some of those flatties. Yum, Yum, Yum.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:26 pm

by Bowmovement

Had to run down to my buddies boat this morning to pick something and up and the women started bumpin thier gumbs so we took hs digny out for an hour and got a hook wet. Didnt catch anything but a baby lingcod. Still a good morning. And home in time to catch the race and the Tarheel game

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:16 pm

by peter-curacao

Last weekend there was a Bleu Marlin catch and release tournament over here, this was our catch, believe it or not but the Wahoo was a winner (25 kg) in its category.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:11 pm

by Mad Dog

Nice fish, and congratulations!

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 11:12 am

by cape man

Little Tarpon caught Monday afternoon on Grand Cayman. Lots of fun to stalk and great to watch as they start flying!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 1:55 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Peter,

is that you holding the fish?

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 3:09 pm

by TomW

Capeman what is that a minnow

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 11:12 am

by cape man

That my friend is a 1 lb Tarpon! Not many people get to catch them, as you got to find them first. Fish sizes come in more than large. They taste just as good as the big ones

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 12:13 pm

by gk108

My unofficial survey reveals that big fish prefer small fish 100% of the time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 2:28 pm

by tobolamr

Speaking of little fish... Yesterday was our fishing season opener in our central wisconsin neck of the woods. I had a splashy strike and one landed in the boat - an 8" largemouth. Can anyone else say "musky bait?"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 3:13 pm

by Spokaloo

First Largemouth of the season last week. 4lb 14oz, pretty decent for a river impoundment that freezes every year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 9:42 pm

by plumbertuck

I went fishing last night on Lake Wedowee in east Alabama, my brother has a place there and it needed a water heater........ after the water heater we did a bit of fishing, he had told me a few months ago that there were lights submerged off a couple of points and that the fishing was excellent, I have no idea what kind of lights they were except that they were covered with fish ! we caught some very nice crappie and some nice white bass. we had about 20 fish in the boat in an hour, lightning sent us back to the dock.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 1:04 am

by TomW

Nice fish Eric! Sounds like you had fun to Tuck!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 1:21 pm

by Mad Dog

Thought I would share with you guys a charter trip that went out on May 5. This was a group of members of a fishing forum who chat all the time on the forum but never had the chance meet (sort of like the builder's meet). It was all bottom fishing about 40 miles out of Port Aransas, Tx. The keepers were vermillion snapper, amberjack, dorado, african pompano, cobia, and a hammer head shark. We caught lots of red snapper too, but the season does not open until June 1, so those were all catch and release. Here a pic of the haul. On the ground are 300 vermillion snapper (aka B-liners).

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 1:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a nice catch of B-Liners

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 1:58 pm

by TomW

Nice catch MD!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 11:27 am

by tobolamr

Last night I took our new to us used bass boat out and again watched the outboard do a perfect impersonation of useless dead weight...

Can't WAIT to build the PH22....

So we just cruised the shoreline and fished. Caught a few largemouth bass. The best one was my father-in-law who caught a 13 incher while his line was over a tree branch about 8-10 feet off the water. And yes, he got the fish into the boat!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 10:24 am

by tech_support

mothers day snook, in about 18" of water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 10:52 am

by Mad Dog

Nice one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:57 am

by TomW

Was it dinner?

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 1:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Beautiful fish Joel

Artificial bait or a livey

Tom, I would guess the fish is still swimming. It looks oversize of the slot, at least on this coast.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 1:58 pm

by tech_support

Thanks

she was way oversize, I didnt get a measurement but that was the biggest one I have caught in at least a couple years (or ever). We use only topwater lures this time of year. Mostly topdog poppers (mirolure) and skitterwalks (rapala).

The only camera on the boat was a 2 year old disposable in my tackle bag, so I have some fun fishing pictures from the last 2 years (all on topwater)...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 6:04 pm

by TomW

I have to remember the laws have changed the last time I was snook fishing was in the early 80's. Max size limits didn't apply back then. But very nice fish Joel, definately worth catch and release.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 10:12 pm

by Dougster

Good to see a beautiful fish like that released, and good to know they're still out there. Good to hear you scored on topwater,
and in 18" at that

Says the whole thing makes me happy Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:29 am

by Fonda@kauai

NICE fish!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 3:03 pm

by Bowmovement

Nice Fish!! I really want to make to Fl. fishing one day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 3:42 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice snook, Joel

I really want to make to Fl. fishing one day.

BM, this is your chance, make your plans, right now, today

The next SE builders meet will be one year from this week, in Boca Grande FL.

Brian, Joe and I came across a channel down there last week that had 100+ snook that size and larger, stacked up like firewood

Snapper and sheepshead swimming all around the snook. Like fishing in the Sea World aquarium

May 13- until, 2010. http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19240

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 3:50 pm

by tech_support

snook holding in inlets/passes are almost impossible to predict. One night is mullet on the out going and nothing else, the next its croakers on the outgoing, and the wont touch anything else. Very frustrating to see them sitting there ignoring everything you toss at them. Thats one of the reasons I only fish the flats, the fish are there for one reason EAT MULLET

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 4:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

We sure found that to be so! I'm used to fishing in murky waters inshore, we seldom get to see the fish in GA and SC. You have to know where the fish are, and when, and what they will bite. If they don't bite fairly quick you move somewhere else.

Down there you can ride around until you see fish, then try to get them to bite. Which is frustrating as heck when you can watch them not biting

Joe, Brian and I made about 20 drifts down that cut using a variety of live pinfish, grunts, and whiting. We'd pull 3 different live baits through a pod of 15 fish and nobody turned a head. Pod after pod of fish, not a strike.

Later in the afternoon, Richard, Joe and I went back. This time armed with live shrimp and white bait, along with our other offerings. Bradley and Andrew followed us to the honey hole. We drifted our new arsenal of live baits down the channel, with the seal team drifting about 200 yards behind us, them using fly rods. Guess who caught a snook? Wasn't us. We did catch a good mess of small snapper and assorted fish, but the dang snook ate a fly. Go figure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:59 am

by Bowmovement

Cracker Larry wrote:Nice snook, Joel

I really want to make to Fl. fishing one day.
BM, this is your chance, make your plans, right now, today The next SE builders meet will be one year from this week, in Boca Grande FL.

Brian, Joe and I came across a channel down there last week that had 100+ snook that size and larger, stacked up like firewood Snapper and sheepshead swimming all around the snook. Like fishing in the Sea World aquarium

May 13- until, 2010. http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19240

No can do next year

Paying for a wedding coming up next month and using all my vacation time in advance. Maybe 2011

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 12:09 pm

by Spokaloo

Went out to Neah bay off the tip of the Olympic peninsula for the halibut opener with a few buddies last weekend. Got skunked the first day (thought he knew what he was doing, turns out one should never expect too much), but redeemed ourselves over the next two days.

My neighbor Sean with his Cabezon:

Picked up 6 of these ugly green suckers, GREAT fighters at 5-10 lbs. These were part of just shy of our 100 rockfish over the 3 days.

Finally, on the last day of the trip, I managed to get hooked up to some decent fish. 25 miles offshore I latch onto a decent headshake and some weight:

28 lbs after being bled on the way home, not bad, and tastes fantastic. Actually reeled him up as a matched set. Two hook setup with herring on one and octopus on the other, I ended up with a smaller 18lb fish getting interested in the action and latching onto the other hook. I had the camera and the other jerks didn't want to take photos, so not much for bragging rights.

Saw some 6-8ft seas the first day offshore, with a 1-2 ft wind chop. Running in a 23 foot Campion sportfisher, we were getting beaten to death and the boat refused to stay on plane below 20mph, so rough, rough going. Day 2 was 3-5ft swell and 2 ft windchop. I puked my guts out 3 times even with a Scopolamine patch on. Good times! Day 3 was the most incredible thing Ive ever seen on the pacific. Here is a photo 25 miles out in water that upwells from 1150ft deep to 400ft deep on the edge of a deep canyon:

Unbelievable as it stayed that flat all day. No puke, lots of fish in the boat, fantastic day.

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 2:35 pm

by Mad Dog

Way to go Spook.

That last pic looks like you could reach up to touch the cloud deck.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 5:48 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Sandi, my friend Don and I went out grouper digging on Sunday. We have had a week or more of terrible weather down here. The trip out to our first stop was a little rough with 3-5 foot seas. The seas calmed down as the sun came up and it turned out to be a great day. This is me working a small fish to the boat....

This is one of Sandi's fish on the way to the fish box...

And finally a pic of our catch back at my house...

The fish on the left that Don is holding up weighed 17 lbs. He is clowning around with a smaller fish trying to hide Sandi's 15 lb. fish. I caught the dinks that were 8-12 lbs.

I lost a HUGE fish on 100 lb. test. No idea what it was but I need to check the drag washers on my reel

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:18 pm

by Dog Fish

Richard, good job

Nice catch, looks like you guys had a fun day. My oh my how I miss going Grouper digging when I see pics of nice fish like that.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 1:39 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks Brian, it was a great trip

It was one of those days that I was sure would be rough all day, but the seas got flatter as the day wore on. It was also one of those days that the fish didn't nibble and peck, they just slammed and blasted anything you sent to the bottom

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 5:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice catch Richard, I wish my wife liked to fish

We've had nothing but rain and wind up here. Haven't been able to get out at all in the last month.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 9:22 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks Larry. Sandi does love to fish and is a pretty good Captain

I hear you on the weather as it has been terrible down here for about two weeks now. We did need the rain though. If yall get the hankering to come down and fish give me a call. They are biting pretty good now....

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 8:02 pm

by peter-curacao

Doc_Dyer wrote:Peter,

is that you holding the fish?

Bradley

Yes that's me why? wait got a other one for you

Without me

WTW?????

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 8:31 pm

by Doc_Dyer

wow Peter,

26 days and 4 pages later, you answered me

just wonderin what you looked like and was wonderin if that was you.

havent seen any posts from your CS-25 lately ????????????

is you camera broken???????? lets see some boat PORN

sorry no good emotiocons like you have ////

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 8:36 pm

by peter-curacao

Doc_Dyer wrote:wow Peter,

26 days and 4 pages later, you answered me

just wonderin what you looked like and was wonderin if that was you.

havent seen any posts from your CS-25 lately ????????????

is you camera broken???????? lets see some boat PORN

sorry no good emotiocons like you have ////

Bradley

Sorry! , but the porn is there oke oke late too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 10:14 pm

by Dog Fish

That's one big ass Scalloped Ribbonfish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 8:47 am

by peter-curacao

Dog Fish wrote:That's one big ass Scalloped Ribbonfish.

In the article they called it a King haring (freely translated)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 9:41 am

by Dog Fish

Your right Peter, Its a King of Herring ( oarfish ). Wikipedia says they can reach 41' and 600lbs, its really a beautiful fish. Thanks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 9:47 am

by peter-curacao

Dog Fish wrote: its really a beautiful fish. Thanks

Looks more like a snake with a little feminine touch (who wants pink hair?) to me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 10:03 am

by Dog Fish

Its the Punk Rocker of fish with its pink mohawk.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 10:14 am

by peter-curacao

Dog Fish wrote:Its the Punk Rocker of fish with its pink mohawk.

And he's already having 3 groupies!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 4:37 pm

by Bowmovement

peter-curacao wrote:
Doc_Dyer wrote:Peter,

is that you holding the fish?

Bradley
Yes that's me why? wait got a other one for you Without me

WTW?????

WoW!! I have never seen that fish. Damn big

Any good to eat

Where do they live?
Going fishing Saturday with work. Boss chartered a cattle call for us. Usually hate the cattle calls but its free and for work. Hope the capt. puts us on a nice yellow tail bite or maybe some Dorado.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 4:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Brian is also right, one of it's local names is ribbonfish. Not technically correct but often used

Damn big Any good to eat Where do they live?

They are the longest true fish in the sea, reported up to 60'

No good to eat, the flesh is described as gelatineous. They live in all tropical and temperate seas and are deep water species, usually living between 600 and 3,000 feet

Fairly common washed up on beaches in tropical waters, live sightings are rare but do occur. I've seen a couple and heard of them being caught on swordfish boats.

They are attributed to reported sightings of sea monsters and the Loch Ness monster, according to some

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 5:01 pm

by Bowmovement

Cracker Larry wrote:Brian is also right, one of it's local names is ribbonfish. Not technically correct but often used

Damn big Any good to eat Where do they live?
They are the longest true fish in the sea, reported up to 60' No good to eat, the flesh is described as gelatineous. They live in all tropical and temperate seas and are deep water species, usually living between 600 and 3,000 feet Fairly common washed up on beaches in tropical waters, live sightings are rare but do occur. I've seen a couple and heard of them being caught on swordfish boats.

They are attributed to reported sightings of sea monsters and the Loch Ness monster, according to some

600-3000 feet

They live deep. Only sea monster I worry about around here are the whales during thier migratory period. Like to keep my distance. Worries me when they breach. Would hate for that to happen right underneah me.

60' Viking that hit a whale.
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/vikin ... whale.html

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:47 pm

by Cracker Larry

I finally had a chance to take my son Chris fishing again today

He's 20 and a busy man with college and work, so it's not often our schedules and the weather all co-operate, especially since we've had a month of terrible weather. Today it all came together for a change and we had a great day cobia fishing in Port Royal sound, between Beaufort and Hilton Head SC. I even remembered the camera, and the gaffs

But at the end of the day we had lost both gaffs

, but still had the camera. Man these fish are tough, I hurt from my hair to my toenails. Using live whiting for bait, which we caught with dead shrimp, we hooked 7 cobia, boated 5, released 4 and kept 1 for eating. The smallest fish was about 40 pounds, the largest about 80. We also caught 11 sharks, mostly blacktip, 1 bonnet head, 1 small Bull, up to about 100 pounds and 6', and 20-30 1 lb. whiting which all got used for bait and ate by something

I'd pay $1,000 to spend a day like this fishing with my son, but we are blessed, it only cost $5 in boat gas and $5 for bait

Here's a fine one....

And another.....

One being released....

One small one in the box for 8 or 10 meals...

Sam really likes fish too. For perspective, Sam weighs 94 pounds

So, all I got to say is take your kids fishing, every chance you get. Life's too short.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:27 pm

by Dog Fish

That's nice Larry, and you guys sure did have a good day. I used to take my daughter and her friends fishing all the time, now I take my two granddaughters every chance I get. They both love to fish and eat them as well. You can't rewind life, ya gotta capture all the precious moments you can because were not hear that long . Nice trip

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

we are blessed, it only cost $5 in boat gas and $5 for bait

I did forget the price of 2 gaffs. One wasn't worth much to start with, but the good one got slung all the way to Parris Island.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:37 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Thats what it is all about.

any day spent with father and son is a memory for a lifetime....

fish on

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 12:12 am

by Fonda@kauai

Memories in the making

My earliest and fondest memories are fishing with my dad. I wouldn't trade em for the world. Good on ya Larry.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 12:34 am

by TomW

Larry that is great can still remember fishing with my granddad and dad, times like you and your son had won't be forgotten.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:05 am

by Aripeka Angler

Nice

Glad you had a nice day, they have been scarce around here lately as well. Were you freelining the whiting? How deep is the water there? I am going to be up your way pretty regularly over the next few years. I need to start gathering intel

it only cost $5 in boat gas and $5 for bait

Sweet, those are the best kind of trips

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:10 am

by tech_support

great day in the Broad river! I never caught that many in one day. I talked to a captain at Palmetto Bluff who said a new state record was caught about a week ago out a Betsy Ross, he said is was over 90 lbs. I think I would like a harpoon for one that big

Once at the broad river bridge I saw a couple guys in bow rider loose a gaff and a dip net on the same cobia - then they lost the fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:28 am

by Cracker Larry

That's the best day I've ever had with them too Joel. I don't bother with the bridge this time of year, too many people

There were over 100 boats at the bridge yesterday, on a Monday! I heard there were 250 on Sunday. The Parris Island rip and the Turtle was almost as bad. We fished a little un-named bar out close to the ocean and had it all to ourselves. Broad River has developed a reputation for cobia that rivals Boca Grande tarpon. This year is the worse I've seen for crowds.

Yes, a new state record was set, 92 pounds. The angler caught it in a tournament too

Here's a link to the story
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/ ... 56849.html

Were you freelining the whiting? How deep is the water there? I am going to be up your way pretty regularly over the next few years. I need to start gathering intel

Richard, I think I owe you a fishing trip or 2

The river is about 40' in most areas of the channel, but there are sand bars scattered around that are about 12', depending on the tide. We have a 9' tide here with real strong currents. The current moving over the bars form rips that trap bait fish, and the cobia feed along the rips on the down current edges of the bars. We position the boat right in the rip and put out a chum bag. I fish 4-6 baits, staggered from the surface to the bottom. Rigs are just like you use for grouper, knocker rig with a sliding 4 oz egg sinker, 6' of 80 lb. for leader and a 7/0 circle hook. The surface baits are rigged the same but no weight.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:34 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote: we hooked 7 cobia, boated 5, released 4 and kept 1 for eating. The smallest fish was about 40 pounds, the largest about 80. We also caught 11 sharks, mostly blacktip, 1 bonnet head, 1 small Bull, up to about 100 pounds and 6', and 20-30 1 lb. whiting which all got used for bait and ate by something

Jeez did you guys had time to take a zip of your beer once in a while?

Congrats on that great trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 11:25 am

by tech_support

theres another rip/bar on the south side of Daws island and also where Macay creek exist into the sound. Ive caught them there and never much traffic. Thats where I used to take jet ski tourists when I was in school/summer job. I would give the jet ski renters their limits (marker to marker) then go cruise the sound scouting fish. Those were the days!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 11:48 am

by Cracker Larry

That bar has now become famous, mostly thanks to Bill Dance Saltwater TV. It is called the "Turtle" rip. Don't know who named it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:34 pm

by Dog Fish

Here's a cool cobia web site, some good recipes yum yum

http://www.marinefarmsbelize.com
The biggest cobia we ever caught on my charter boat was a little over 102lb, it would have beat the FL record of 103 something. It was so fat that we decided to gut it after it died, there was about a quart of smaller purple leg crabs, two small eels, a really decayed sand perch and some unidentifiable glop. And the glutton still ate our sand perch we where using for bait. I would say there was about 3 or 4lbs of guts at least, so it could of been around 106lbs or so. I have a few pics somewhere and I will post them If I can find them. We didn't care about getting credit for a record fish anyway, to much BS to go through, we knew we caught it and that's all that counts. One of my regular customers, a judge from Ft Myers caught it. We caught it at a spring in 90ft of water off Boca Grande, the spring bottoms out at about 185ft and the opening is 125ft across. A very fishy place

That's my fish storie for this week.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:34 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a neat website, good looking recipes too! Thanks Brian, I needed some recipes. Got about 50 pounds of filets to experiment with

I think Cape Man did some work with that cobia farm in Belize.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:48 am

by cape man

Too cool. Days like that are never forgotten by anyone involved. Have maybe one or two like that with my father and brother that are great to think of on a night when sleep is avoiding me. Always get a good night's sleep with those memories running through my head. No Excuse is certainly getting some good use.

Cobia are currently the hot aquaculture species for off shore net pens in warm water, growing up to 10 lbs in their first year. Gluttonous is a perfect describer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:33 am

by smilinmatt

The cobia are still down our way as well. I got this one last weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:03 am

by tech_support

Matt, did you shoot that one?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:18 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice Matt

It takes a man to tackle one of those with a speargun

Craig, I've got a question for you. Is there an easy way to tell a male from a female (cobia) at boatside? The fish we kept was a female and she had at least 2 gallons of roe in her. I would have released her if I'd known that. Any way to tell, before you stick a gaff in them?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:45 am

by cape man

Nothing real easy while they are still in the water, except that the big ones are almost always females. I'll check with some friends that are spawning and raising them and get back.

However, if you have one in the boat that is calmed down and unhurt you can use the following.

I helped a friend in Louisiana catch brood stock several years ago. During the warm months, April - September, cobia are spawning (the females will release several million eggs several times), so the males are almost always "flowing". If you squeeze the fish along its sides toward the vent, just like squeezing a really big tube of toothpaste, you should see semen coming out if it is a male. No semen...girl. We checked each fish as they came in, but he knew they were males or females just based on size. We brought back 4 males that were punched out a cookie cutter...~25lbs each, a 40lb female, and this girl that was too big to work with in the hatchery, but fed the researchers well.

Currently, there is no research that has shown any problems with the cobia fisheries throughout the world as they are almost always found in small groups, so there is no commercial fishery to speak of. Follow size and bag limits, and don't worry too much if you kill a female. There are plenty of them out there (for now

). It is sometimes very hard for the average person to get a nice one in the boat without hurting them, so catch and release almost has to occur alongside the boat.

Thought I would add this from NOAA's site:

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/species/cobia.htm

Sustainability Status
Biomass: Cobia biomass is 33% above the biomass level needed to support maximum sustainable yield (BMSY).
Overfishing: No
Overfished: No
Fishing and habitat: Cobia are incidentally caught in fisheries for other pelagic species. These fisheries typically fish in surface waters and have minimal, if any, impact on habitat.
Bycatch: Cobia are not directly targeted by commercial fishermen and are caught as bycatch themselves in fisheries for other pelagic species and in shrimp trawls.
Aquaculture: Research efforts are ongoing to enhance commercial aquaculture of cobia and to demonstrate its technical and economic feasibility.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:00 am

by Cracker Larry

Good information, thanks. Makes me feel a little better, there was sure a lot of roe in her. She was one of the smaller ones we caught, so I assume the others we released were probably females too. A couple we brought to the boat had a smaller fish following it, so I'd guess the followers were the male mates?

It is sometimes very hard for the average person to get a nice one in the boat without hurting them, so catch and release almost has to occur alongside the boat.

Exactly the reason for my question

Thanks!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:33 pm

by cape man

Actually one very fascinating fish. Single species genus, circumnavigates the globe in warm waters (absent from the eastern Pacific

), eats anything it can get in its mouth, grows really fast (max age is probably 12 years), tastes fantastic, great on the end of a line, and the fishery is still intact. Sounds kinda like our friend the dolfin (that would be Mahi Mahi to Richard

)...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:48 pm

by gk108

One thing that I know about cobia is that where there is one, there are almost always a few more and catching one doesn't seem to spook the others at all.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:29 am

by Arm&Hammer

After seeing all of those great pics, I wanted to get in on the fun. I live in MI, but make it down to FL atleast once a year to fish the IRL flats, mostly out of a canoe. This pic is from last year, but it is amazing what you can catch in 12-18" of water down there on your bass gear:

http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pos=-25170

And this is what I am building the GF12 for:

http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pos=-25171

All of these pics make me want to get back on the water...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 9:43 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a nice redfish there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:13 am

by Dog Fish

A & H whats the IRL flats. Nice fish pics

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:45 am

by Cracker Larry

Brian I think that's the Indian River Lagoon

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:53 am

by Arm&Hammer

IRL = Indian River Lagoon, in east central Florida. It is an amazing place, probably the only place in the world where the redfish are relatively landlocked, so the big ones like this chase mullet in very skinny water. My brother and I were fishing primarily for seatrout. I was using a 6'-6" baitcasting rod, and a Shimano Calcutta 150, 12lb. test, throwing a super spook jr. Basically what I use in the rivers up north for smallmouth bass. This guy nailed it, and about 30min. later, I was able to get him to the canoe for a quick photo and release. It was a great day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 2:28 pm

by Dog Fish

I got ya there A & H, the old IR Lagoon. There was just a TV fishing show on the other day that they filmed at IR, it was a good show and they caught some nice big Reds. I have been over there a few times but not for fishing. Over on the west coast around Charlotte Harbor we have lakes and canals with land locked Tarpon, Reds, Snook and some Trout in them and even Blue claw crabs. Its really crazy to see a Snook swimming past a fresh water Bass bed. We fish with fresh water shiners.There is actually places like that all over FL. The fish are really gold in color, stained.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 8:38 pm

by tech_support

Vero Beach is on the IRL, but a little south of the mosquito lagoon area where your picture is taken. Big redfish in the IRL LOVE mullet, and we catch a lot of big ones on topwater lures

Just got back in from a good day off offshore fishing. 2 cobia, 2 dolphin, 7 kingfish, several remoras, 2 shark, and more bonita than we wanted. Nothing really big, just good meat size fish. No pictures though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 8:44 pm

by Arm&Hammer

Dog fish, Shine, CL, etc., - that is what makes me jealous. Almost all of the pics on here are from down south. I love to fish for walleye, pike, muskie, bass, crappie, salmon, trout, etc., but for me, nothing takes the place of saltwater fishing. I hope to be living down there full time... someday...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 8:56 pm

by Cracker Larry

AH, make your plans now for the builders meet at Boca Grande next year. http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19240

I'll take you fishing

Joe and Janet Hayes live in Michigan, and they've come 2 years in a row, and will be back next year

Or if you're ever near Savannah, let me know. That goes for everybody else too. Will, Tuck, yall are close to me. If you want to fish the salt, just say when

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 9:03 pm

by wegcagle

Appreciate the offer CL. I may take you up on that one day

I sent the offer to Tuck earlier, but if you want to troll for stripers/hybrids on Clarks Hill, come on.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 9:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

Cobia are biting great now Will, but they'll be gone in a few weeks. You ought to take a day next week and come down, I'm only 2 hours from Augusta.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 9:14 pm

by wegcagle

I would absolutely love to come down

But, I can see my wife's response now....,"You work 80 hours a week and 27 days a month, you spend the night every 4 days in the hospital, you have a newborn child, you spend half your time building a boat, you finally have a day off, and you think you are going to do WHAT with it

" Then again it never hurts TOO much to ask

Sometimes I can butter her up with a present or two

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:40 am

by Cracker Larry

Try for a pass, Will. Would 50 pounds of cobia fillets help butter her up? My schedule is open, just need a few hours notice, or less

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:26 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Sorry for the late post but that is a sweet redfish

I need to get over their someday and try the IRL for reds.

We left the dock at 1AM this morning. We planned to fish some ledges and rocks about 30 miles out in the GOM for red and mangrove snapper. The snapper bite was really good on the full moon and my 3 man crew was plenty ready

It was drizzeling rain as we left so we had to run radar all the way out. Here are some fish pics from last nights trip....

The small fish are mangrove snapper, the slightly bigger fish are grouper...

The bigger fish are cobia. The little one weighed just under 38 lbs. The pig didn't get weighed because the scales stopped at 60. I am guessing 75-80 lbs. I caught them both. The baby was caught on a 20 lb. snapper rig and the pig was caught with an 80 lb. grouper rig....

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:46 pm

by Arm&Hammer

Great job on the cobes. I bet those were some tasty fillets!

I love this thread. I can't wait to get back out on the water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 9:14 pm

by Dog Fish

Nice catch Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 9:42 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks AH and Brian.We work hard every year for the opening of red snapper season. We usually run 80-100 miles offshore to get the fish. We didn't get any red snapper last night but I was very happy with the trip....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 9:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

Awesome Richard

That big one is 80, easy. They're a trial to get in the boat though, aren't they

But they eat so good. Fine catch of fish there. No American Reds? The Gulf is open now isn't it?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 9:46 pm

by Cracker Larry

That answers the reds

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:03 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Larry, red snapper season is open in the gulf. The clouds screwed us up last night, they turned the snaps off a bit. The grouper was bite was so-so but he cobia were on fire. The pig had a couple of fish with it but my crew was scared to chunk to them for fear of breaking me off. Fishing is hot here now as it is at your place as well....

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 1:09 am

by TomW

Nice fish Richard. Glad to see your getting out after them.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 2:00 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks, Tom. Larry, I was whipped last night and missed this comment...

They're a trial to get in the boat though, aren't they

The big fish in the picture took two guys on the gaff to swing the fish over the gunnel

The gaff came out of the fish just short of the fishbox. The fish was pissed off

It was determined to break a leg or three before we could get it in the box.

I primed the gaff men up with the broken rib story while I was still fighting the fish. They did real good getting the fish in the boat. It sure would have been nice to have a baseball bat onboard though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 2:14 pm

by Dog Fish

Richard I always keep a Shakespeare fish billy on board, very handy. I also keep a billy under the front seat of my truck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:36 pm

by topwater

nice cobia......

A 45 would work to subdue that fish...amongst other things.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:41 pm

by Aripeka Angler

topwater wrote:nice cobia...... A 45 would work to subdue that fish...amongst other things.

Thanks topwater, he was a good fish

A 13,000 dollar fish if I had entered the local fishing tournament last weekend. Oh well, we had a good and safe day anyway......

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:08 pm

by topwater

Whats that old saying... a week late and................

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:47 pm

by Lucky_Louis

Finally some action on the 'other' coast

We took 'Oddysey' out to west coast of Vancouver Island this weekend and had a ball despite one day of serious rain. Sunday was one of those perfect days on the water click pics for larger

click pics for larger
Got her bloodied good. I caught a nice 35lb and change Chinook which capped off a great weekend of boating

The OB had her first taste of the Pacific and thought is was just fine. Swells running 1.5 to 2 metres. (The boat is a big whaler or grady white i think)

Simply breathtaking area, awesome boating and fishing opportunities.

.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:51 pm

by TomW

Nice LL, good to hear from that side with some good fish.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:34 pm

by Mad Dog

WOW! What a beautiful place. Nice catch too.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:50 am

by Spokaloo

Lou, looks like a blast! Nice work on the early 'Nook.

How did halibut season go? Pick up any big flatties?

So do you just throw on the Grundens for the big rains or are you thinking a top is in the works?

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:06 pm

by Lucky_Louis

Tx Eric, it was a hoot - took 25 minutes to get him in on a brand new rod and reel. We missed the season for hali's by a few weeks in this area, they've gone offshore 10 miles or so and I'd be pretty nervous taking a single engine OB17 out that far when a high pressure is building.

After spending 12 hours in the rain, a bimini is looking REAL good right now. Usually we wear Mustang Floater suits but I put mine away wet last year

and phewee! were they ever funky

so they stayed in the truck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:19 pm

by Spokaloo

Ever thought about a doghouse for that like the Black Lab 21?

Just thought that would be a sweet setup for a boat in your area.

Seen any humpies running around yet?

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:59 pm

by Lucky_Louis

IMHO the 17' is just too small for that type of shelter. It would be sweet on a C21 for sure! I would want room for side by side seating (cozy but doable) and some type of HEAT so you can come in to warm up after being out in the weather. For my area it could easily double the usual boating season.

No sign of the pinks yet, I wouldn't expect to see many anyway - it's an odd numbered year and the big runs go in two year cycles on the even years. They are a blast to fly fish for but I always catch and release. I find the flesh a bit too oily and soft.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:02 pm

by TomW

Eric love that type of doghouse. Trying to figure a way to use it on my boat but I think LL is right you need something bigger more like a c19 or21 to get the 8+ foot width.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:41 pm

by Spokaloo

Tom, its definitely doable if the beam is 8'+, but I think the smaller boats are definitely too narrow.

LL, the funny part about Humpies here is they are ONLY on odd numbered years. We have zero returns on even years. This year is our big year, with more than 3 million due back.

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:04 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Finally some action on the 'other' coast

I'll say

That sure is a purdy fish Louis. I would love to catch one someday, they sure are tasty.

I am supposed to go to Alaska next year. Not sure about the fish and the seasons out your way

I guess I got some research to do....

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:20 pm

by Lucky_Louis

Interesting point on the humpies... I though you may have it right and I got it wrong ( I'm old enough to know what I don't know

) so I searched a bit and came up with this book excerpt

I was right and of course so were you! On the North Coast (Queen Charlotte Islands, Alaska i.e.), pink (humpie) returns are higher in even years and as we go south along the BC coast the trend flips so by the time we're in Wa., the Snohomish is the only river with any kind of even year return.

The things we learn at bateau2, boggles the mind

One of these days, you'll have to get up here and we'll do some touring and some serious fishin'!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:54 pm

by Lucky_Louis

Richard, the way it works around here is that there's always some fishing to be done somewhere on the coast. Here's a little snapshot... year round oysters, crabs, and prawns. Tuna and Mackerel are also here but offhsore and not generally targeted

January - Winter Springs (kings, chinook,tyee) in most coastal protected areas and Steelhead trout (sea run Rainbow trout, actually the 7th salmon species) in some rivers.
February - same as January
March - same as January and now some Cutthroat action too. Halibut season! The herring are spawning so the big halibut and salmon follow them in close to shore.
April - Early coho showing up (catch and release only), lingcod opportunies in some areas
May - Migratory chinook numbers improving, more coho, more halibut. Cod fishing peaking.
June - Solid trout fishing in all freshwater areas, peak season for chinook starting, coho retention (hatchery only)
July and August same as June, some Sockeye showing up, 30+ lb chinook more common
September - the salmon are all running for the rivers, except for Sockeye which all long up the river. Lingcod closing
October - late runs of coho showing up, BIG fish. If it's a dry year this can extend into November while the salmon wait for water in the rivers and creeks
November - Cutthroat, early Steelhead, winter springs but fairly quiet
December - Winter Springs

Well, you get the idea. Every area has some time and species specific closures so the above is just meant to give the flavour of what's available, not a comprehensive guide, but this link is

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks LL

I appreciate the info. My friends' daughter is studying marine science in Alaska so he has been after me to go out west for awhile now. I am thinking next Spring or early Summer will be the time to go. I have never been west of Montana so I am looking forward to the trip. Again many thanks for taking time to post the fishing information

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:37 pm

by Spokaloo

Richard you have a place to stay in Spokane.

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:31 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Spokaloo wrote:Richard you have a place to stay in Spokane.

E

I appreciate the kind offer Eric. I will have to take you up on that. As soon as I come up with a date, I will send you an email.

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:34 pm

by plumbertuck

A quick update from Cape San Blas.
I have filled the boat with sharks, sea trout, croaker, ladyfish, pinfish, catfish, and a couple of spanish mackerel.
We have put quite a few miles on the boat crossing the bay and running its length.
I had it about a mile and a half out in the gulf trying to make it to an artificial reef off of Mexico beach but the swells were higher than the boat with a nasty wind chop in between the rollers, I never doubted the boat, I didn't take much water over the sides my gut said It was time to turn around, I did not want to let off of the throttle and loose momentum,anchoring was definately scary, I am not much of a sailor and the boat was compensating for my lack of skill.

anyhoo more later

Tuck

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:11 pm

by JimW

Not me personally but the tarpon are all over the pogy pods off our beaches right now. A kayaker got a 3 mile sleigh ride this morning.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:57 pm

by ks8

Heading to Beaver Dam Lake now for bass, or maybe just some casting practice...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:14 pm

by gk108

I went scalloping off of St. Marks Saturday and got skunked.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:40 pm

by Aripeka Angler

gk108 wrote:I went scalloping off of St. Marks Saturday and got skunked.

I guess we did a little better than you

We got one scallop

For some reason I made an executive decision to release the critter. Sorry no pics.

Heading to Beaver Dam Lake now for bass, or maybe just some casting practice...

Sounds like fun, good luck

Not me personally but the tarpon are all over the pogy pods off our beaches right now. A kayaker got a 3 mile sleigh ride this morning.

That sounds like even more fun. I gotta try that sometime.

We caught some dinner on the 4th. Nothing big, just a bunch of good eating fish. I took Mrs. AA offshore for the celebration of our July 4th wedding several years ago. We finished with a night on the town and a movie. Sorry about the I phone pic, it was all we had...

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:13 pm

by Mad Dog

Yum. That's all good eat'n right there! Good catch AA.

So you gave up your independence on Independence day? Congrats on the aniversary.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

Congrats on the aniversary.

Yep, and congrats on a wife who's willing to go fishing on her anniversary

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:50 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks Mad Dog and Larry

We did celebrate our 29th anniversary on the 4th as well as the holiday. Got to go fishing also

So you gave up your independence on Independence day?

It has been easy for me. Got a good woman who puts up with my fishing and boating addiction

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 3:41 pm

by Mad Dog

Aripeka Angler wrote:
It has been easy for me. Got a good woman who puts up with my fishing and boating addiction

Richard

You obviously figured that out a long time ago. I married a good woman 26 years ago. Going to try to keep her as long as the Lord will me have her.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:21 pm

by TomW

Same here she'll go fishing with me anythime. Been 37 years now and she still puts up with me. Just found her a new car.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:08 pm

by ks8

Well... on the 7th, mostly casting practice, but also hooked about an 8 inch largemouth. Flipped him out of the water and aimed him for the bucket... he fell off the hook halfway there... and landed right in the bucket.

Then let him go to grow up for dinner at a later date.

Also caught the earth once on the 7th with an 8 dollar lure. Thanks to Matt who walked out there with his new waders and saved the lure... and spared the earth...

Some of these spots are beautiful at sunrise and sunset. I think next time I go with the kayak for access to the larger jumpers out among the stumps.

Sunset... July 3rd

7516

and moonrise... when they jump here, they jump big...

7526

And sunrise the next morning... July 4th

7551

The week previous we did some exploring for hot spots. Here's Matt helping spot us through the mine field stumps and rocks north of the Purnell Rd bridge.

7502

And some relaxing and exploring without the weapons...

7498

And here's Ahnuld... I mean Paul... pondering how much work it was in a 12 hr day on the water to finally snag this... probably by accident...

But he felt the burn of the workout with all the casting, and knew that the pain was just weakness leaving the body...

7506

The local flying fishing friend watches us go by and wishes us a good evening...

7507

Unofficial trolling on the way to the next spot.

7501

No keepers, but an occasional youngin...

7497

Not exactly big catches like some other postings, but then the fish are just one part of the good things that happen on the water with friends and relatives.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 4:54 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice pics KS, beautiful place

Messin about in boats, with kids, is always a great thing.

As long as you aren't related to Michael J, that is

You sure have a lot of stuff in that cockpit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:46 pm

by TomW

Beautiful KS, it's not what you catch it's what you enjoy with the time on the water. Many more days that are more fruitful but none more gorgeous.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 2:01 pm

by ks8

Cracker Larry wrote:Nice pics KS, beautiful place Messin about in boats, with kids, is always a great thing.

You sure have a lot of stuff in that cockpit

You betcha... and... you betcha...

Once the deck platforms are in place, you won't see most of it, except the ladder, until I build the permanent ladder. Got more pictures from last night. Towed the Kayak with MoF and learned a very publically entertaining lesson about not rigging for the tow until you've left the dock and are about 100 yards out.

But then I'm sure nobody wants to hear about that misadventure...

The gouges didn't get past the glass on the bottom.

But there will be some touchup to do.

Last night, shoved off at about 6pm and might not have returned until 10 am. Beautiful night. The guys started dozing at 3am though. Clouds parted to the full moon. Four to six knot breeze kept all the bugs away, and the few that were persistent, the bats got, swopping within a few feet of the end of the poles. Barn swallows have them beat for aerial acrobatics, but the bats come close considering they don't look nearly as made for such flying. The moon was covered until the last two hours. It was a tricky navigation in the dark to the spot seen in the earlier pictures. Headlamps with the red LED option are soooooo convenient. My old GPS charts stink, showed us on land most of the time. So I'd stop, note the lat lon, translate it to a good paper chart and get a bearing for the next mile or so. Good fun! The bass weren't taking lures anywhere (we tried all sorts at all depths), but they were taking live bait or freshly dead chunks on plain hooks right on the bottom. We stuck with lures and did not get that intel until we spoke with others who had three 17 inchers in the bucket already. Looks like a bait well is a future project, after the tabernacle is done. I would have enjoyed ghosting to that spot last night in the moonlight on the light air.

About 10 hours and near a half gallon of gas, towing the kayak half that distance. Works for me!

You don't really want to hear about the misadventure at the ramp, right? Good.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 2:54 pm

by Cracker Larry

Only if you want to share it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 3:32 pm

by ks8

Video would have done a good job of saying it all.... but maybe I'll give it a try tonight... or not...

Bottom line.... rig your tow out away from the ramp, in the clear, even if its only a kayak. The story has nothing to do with props and rope, sort of... well... they never met... but rocks and prop had a fond greeting in the process of keeping the rope clear of the prop, even using a bridle, in the tight turn away from the dock... but that will have to wait til later. I need to go trailer shopping again.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:00 pm

by Spokaloo

Got out this weekend for a slightly rareified trip, sport caught private boat albacore on the Wa Coast:

About 45 miles offshore, got a ride in a buddies 28 foot Albemarle. She plowed through most anything without hesitation, though I was thinking a CS or the LB26 sure would be great at that as well.

22 kills, 30 hookups in around 10 hrs of lines-in. Managed to dredge up a thresher shark as well, which they estimated between 200 and 300 lbs.

MAN IM HOOKED!

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:12 pm

by Lucky_Louis

Awesome! Great looking bag Eric. I often regret having not gone out for those beauties when I lived on the Queen Charlottes for 10years. What kind of tackle? Big fighters?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:41 pm

by TomW

Beautiful Eric must have been a lot of fun. Glad you were able to get away and enjoy with what you do day to day. What size tackle did you use. How will you preserve it, canning, freezing, smoking, etc.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:44 pm

by Spokaloo

Sorta like a very angry salmon fight. They don't roll as much, but if you don't turn them toward the boat they can put some serious depth on and take a ton of line very quickly. We worked them on 30W and 50W reels, so the 30s gave them a bit more of a chance, the 50s were more like a tractor hauling it in. Id say take a salmon, add 5 lbs, and have him run down instead of up and you have a good comparison. 15lb salmon will fight like a 10 lb tuna.

Too much fun...

LL, how are those coho and nooks comin?

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:00 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Eric

Two fish an hour is perfect. Keeps you pumped and busy.

Did you drag lures, chunk 'em or troll dead bait

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:11 pm

by Lucky_Louis

Got out at 04:30 am Saturday, no coho, no chinook landed (broke off two) and one honkin' big dogfish. Other than that, pretty quiet in our area.

Thanks for the description, that's sorta how I figured they would behave. Not sure about Wa. but up here there's no slot size or posession limit for albacore because no one targets them. They started showing up off the West coast of Vancouver Island and the QC Islands during El Nino years. The nice thing about the Charlottes is the continental shelf is very close to land so the boys only have to head out 5-10 miles to fish 'em. I concur that a CS or AB would be a great for that type of fishing in those kinds of seas. So would my TW34....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:27 pm

by Mad Dog

WOW!

That's a nice day of fishing Spook. Congrats

I'm only a LITTLE envious.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:45 pm

by peter-curacao

Nice Sushi time!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:20 pm

by Spokaloo

Early season here is an all-troll show, using zucchini or mexican flag colors. They tend to bite more on those, but one boat out last sat was tossing some bait with mixed results. 4 bait stops during the day, but the very last one was the only stop that produced. Produce it did, sometimes getting tripled up on fish, after which I think they headed for home with over 30.

No limits on the fish because they are abundant and the pressure is extremely low out there. Busy weekends will result in maybe 25 boats tops.

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:25 pm

by peter-curacao

Erik is it my eyesight, or is that Chuck Norris next to you?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I get how you catch them now. Sounds similar to our dolphin trolling or as Capeman would say that I call them mahi

Eric, is the meat of your tuna white or is it dark like our blackfin and yellowfin tuna

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:05 pm

by Cracker Larry

If it's a true albacore, I think it's the only tuna species allowed to be marketed as white meat tuna in the US.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:18 pm

by Spokaloo

Its a very pale grey flesh with a little bit of pink. The steaks have a pinker core than the outside, but once cooked its a white meat fish. The meat is fairly firm, but is different in texture and color compared to blue fin, yellow fin, ahi, etc. Your tuna have those ultra-dense dark colored steaks that are so popular for the seared ahi plates at restaurants. Later in the year we might see some of those come up, esp during El Nino years (this one is shaping up to be a decent El Nino... good for fishing, bad for skiing). They are expecting a big pelagic move this year, possibly seeing some marlin, yellow tail, dolphin (mahi), dorado, etc etc.

Now if only I had a boat big enough to run out regularly...

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:33 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Eric and CL, I was thinking that tuna might be of the white meat type. I have never had any sushi from white meat tuna. We sometimes eat the red meat tuna right on the boat with wasabi. I can eat a FRESH tuna tail first without even cleaning it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 8:08 pm

by dustin1

I was in Madeira earlier this month. Fishing had been very good prior to my arrival but for most of my stay the conditions in the traditional fishing grounds weren't right and we had to travel quite a bit to where the fish were. Still a good learning experience though. Some snapshots:

Blue marlin we released on the charter boat OUR MARY run by captain Jose Serrao:

Jose preparing to release the fish:

A pair of half-grown sperm whales just logging out in calm water - the island used to be one of the last places where traditional whaling with hand thrown harpoons took place but since the late 1980s has been a marine mammal sanctuary:

Trolling the beautiful waters at the western end of the island aboard the BALANCAL skippered by captain Anibal Fernandes:

The Gavina family in action on the big Hatteras, HAWK EYE. Hooked up to a blue marlin on the Funchal Harbour grounds the morning of 4th July:

Blue marlin coming to the leader

We had some good luck with this el-cheapo straight runner - you sure don't need a hundred dollar billfish lure to catch them!

The KATHERINE B skippered by Captain Peter Bristow trolling for blue marlin close to shore:

Best regards
patudo

ps. I don't know if Oliver has been around here recently but his visit several days before mine was fantastic. Maybe he'll put up some photos. With a bit of luck, maybe in the not too distant future one of these alongside a CX25. (this photo from 2007, one of the fish Oliver and myself caught together):

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:41 am

by cape man

thought it appropriate after the big fish pics...last week took the canoes down the river with some visitors from Penn. Caught two nice channel cats on bream hooks and bread balls. Filleted them up on the bank and cooked them up in some corn meal and oil. Very nice lunch!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:34 am

by peter-curacao

cape man wrote:thought it appropriate after the big fish pics...last week took the canoes down the river with some visitors from Penn. Caught two nice channel cats on bream hooks and bread balls. Filleted them up on the bank and cooked them up in some corn meal and oil. Very nice lunch!

Food is food

big fish are nice but you don't have much if something like this happens

Giant black marlin

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:26 pm

by Joe H

Dustin1, that looks like the fishing trip of a lifetime!
Caught these walleye at night in the St.Clair River, same fate as Craig's catfish except I use Italian Bread crumbs, I'll have to try the corn meal.

My Grandson taunting his monster Bluegill!

And Janet with her first Smallmouth, she wouldn't let me through him back, he went into the fry pan with the walleye.

Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 5:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish yall! Joe thats a pretty place you've got there, in the summer time anyway

I promised a Gulf Stream fishing report. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures

I'm bad about that when I'm fishing, and unfortunately we didn't make it to the Gulf Stream either

.

I was invited to go out with a new aquaintence who doesn't have a lot of offshore experience, and 3 other guys who also didn't have any, so I was sort of acting as Captain, guide and mate. He's got a real nice boat, an Ocean Master 27 with twin 250 Evinrudes, and a waterfront home to keep it

The plan was to meet at his dock Thursday afternoon, load up and leave about 4 pm. So we were all there and the afternoon thunderstorms were kicking butt, just like right now, and we decided to wait awhile. Then some more people showed up, and it was still raining, so we started playing poker in the dockhouse. By dark, it was still storming so we decided to put some food on the grill, keep playing poker and wait for morning. Had a few drinks and played poker until 0100. I won $7, and slept on the dock

We finally got underway at 0630 Friday morning and there were still heavy storms over the gulfstream, and 3-4 foot seas. The stream is about 75 miles offshore from here, so we decided to shorten the trip and stop at what we call the Snapper Banks, an area of limestone ledges and live bottom about 40 miles out and 110' feet of water, and watch the weather. Mainly because the fuel gauge was acting crazy and only reading 1/4 tank. The owner thought there was plenty of fuel, but he admitted that he hadn't completely filled the tanks

Didn't give me any warm fuzzy feelings anyway.

Fishing was medium slow and I was a little out of practice, running a strange boat, with electronics I wasn't familiar with, it took me a little while to find some fish and keep the boat on them, while tieing rigs, untangling lines, removing fish, reminded me of the old days

Every time we got on a good drop and started catching some fish, the sharks would find us and then we couldn't catch anything but sharks until we moved again. so we moved, and moved, and moved, catch a few nice fish and move. Lucky I have about 200 numbers out there. The highlight of the day was a huge grouper, over 50 pounds. One of the guys hooked it on my 80 lb. International rod with a 2 speed reel, using a whole vermillion snapper for bait, and it took him 30 minutes to get it close to the boat. It was almost in gaff reach, and a monster tiger shark came up and took it in one bite

Gone

He said that was the fish he had been dreaming about all his life, I told him that's what keep you coming back

We ended up the day with a good mess of mixed snappers, reds, silvers and vermillions, a limit of big black Sea Bass, a few nice red porgys, a small cobia about 25 pounds, a lot of undersized fish of all descriptions, and 50 sharks released. We fished until about 6 pm and the weather still wasn't looking great, so we headed back to shore. Discretion is the better part of valor, and all that

Was hoping for dolphin, tuna and sails, but we managed a good catch of bottom fish anyway. A short trip home, 60 miles to the dock in 1 1/2 hours. Got to love a boat that can run 45 in 4 foot seas

Although I'm still sore from hanging on

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:50 pm

by TomW

Joe those are some nice fish. Hope the eatin' was as good as the catchin'. I also put some cornmeal in the batter/breading adds a nice little crunch.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:55 pm

by gk108

For frying freshwater fish, cornmeal is good. For frying saltwater fish, I like the drench and dredge method. Prepare drench of 3 eggs and 6 tbsp. condensed milk beaten together lightly. Empty a box of cracker meal into another bowl. Drench the filet in the egg mixture, dredge it through the cracker meal to fully coat, then drop in hot grease. Then you can save your cornmeal for the hushpuppies.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:17 pm

by cape man

The owner thought there was plenty of fuel, but he admitted that he hadn't completely filled the tanks Didn't give me any warm fuzzy feelings anyway.

Don't you love it! Sounds like a good trip anyways! Sleeping on the dock sounds fun!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:26 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Larry, sounds like you had a fine trip. Did you encounter any RORO'S

The sharks we can deal with but the RORO'S are a bit scary....

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:11 am

by Joe H

Fishing was medium slow and I was a little out of practice, running a strange boat, with electronics I wasn't familiar with, it took me a little while to find some fish and keep the boat on them, while tieing rigs, untangling lines, removing fish, reminded me of the old days

I'll bet you were loving every minute of it!

Hey Richard.

Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:44 am

by Doc_Dyer

RORO'S

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:24 pm

by Cracker Larry

RORO'S

Roll on roll off cargo ships. Richard and I almost got run down by one in the middle of the night, about 80 miles out in the Gulf. It was scary. No ROROs this trip

I'll bet you were loving every minute of it

!

You better believe it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:25 pm

by cape man

Roll On Roll Off...

Larry and Richard were almost run over by one of them out in the Gulf last year in the middle of the night.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:26 pm

by cape man

Dang!!! 1 minute apart!!! Too cool. I had a picture with mine though...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:27 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yeah, that's it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:10 pm

by cape man

Last year my brother digitized about 600 slides my father took in the 50's and 60's. That's me on the left with my other brother and sister. Tamiami park in Miami (It's now Florida International University). We would go there and fish a small canal. They don't have to be big fish to make little kids happy!!

Just thought I'd share...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:53 am

by Cracker Larry

I wonder how many kids first fish was a bluegill? Mine was. Still love to catch the little things

Nice haircuts

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:01 am

by Dougster

Mine too, and on a cane pole with a worm. Nothing like bobber fishing, seeing it dance a moment, then sink hard.

Reminded of simple pleasures Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:09 am

by peter-curacao

As a kid in Holland, a fish like this was my first catch (don't know the name in English

)

I catched a lot of those, very tasty with a slice of lemon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:19 am

by Cracker Larry

Flounder or fluke. Excellent eating!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 11:01 am

by cape man

Dougster et al...If you liked that last one, here's a couple more that kind of define me... Back in the 60's you could still pull a trailer around the state of Florida and just park on the side of the road when you found a place that was what you were looking for. We spent a lot of time fishing and camping out of this rig in the Glades and down in the Keys. Nice 55 Chevy! Had a HUGE back seat, perfect for long trips with three kids. This is on Tamiami Trail, the first road between Miami and Naples that runs through the Everglades. Was my Mother's favorite destination...

My Father loved this place on Turner River, further west, as there were snook and snapper mixed with the freshwater regulars. This is my earliest fishing memory. I was 4 yrs old. Caught a toad fish just before we left after long hours of standing there watching the line. That's my older sister trying to gig something under the dock.

And here was my main fishing coach, my Mother Clara. She's the namesake for the boat I am building. She could fish all day and all night, and could take them from the water to the plate in record time. She could use a reel but always preferred a cane pole. She also could out shoot all of us...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 5:28 pm

by nort

We took our granddaughter, Madison, and her friend, Emily, to Davis Bayou campground this weekend. This is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. We took the girls to the beach, crabbed and I fished. No luck fishing, two croaker and a stingray, but the girls caught 23 crabs in two days. I'm sure everyone on the pier appreciated the ear splitting shrieks everytime they pulled up a net with a crab in it. Meme or Papa would then have to come get the crab out and put it in the bucket. It was great fun.

Emily is on the left and Madison is on the right for those who like to put faces to names.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 5:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

I guess they showed you how to put food on the table, Nort

Love the old pics Craig!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:13 am

by cape man

Crabbing with the kids is a GREAT way to spend the day (or two!) and they don't taste better than when you net them yourself. Those are two very happy and proud faces. Good on you for taking them.

Larry I thought for years that all those old slides were lost...fried in the attic in Miami. My younger brother took them when they moved out of that house, and had them all these years. They have lots to tell... I am pleased that a great deal of them are pictures of us outside fishing and camping. Not a single one of us watching TV.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:33 am

by peter-curacao

For others thinking about digitalizing their old 35 mm photo's, I bumped to this on the net, maybe it's worth a try ?
It has good reviews (for what's it worth)

http://www.firebox.com/product/2234/USB ... ve-Scanner

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:52 am

by Cracker Larry

Larry I thought for years that all those old slides were lost

I need to go through my parents old photos and digitize them. The older I get, the more important they become. Since you showed me yours, I'll show a couple of mine. I must be older than you, ours aren't in color

I took these 2 pics of my Dad in 1958, on St. Catherines Island, GA. I was 5 years old. He loved to fly as much as he loved to fish, and we would fly out to the barrier islands in his J3 Piper, land on the beaches and surf fish. Sure can't do that today! Thanks to him I could fly a plane or run a boat long before I could drive a car. We caught a lot of fish back then. To Dad, a limit meant the plane couldn't carry any more.

He sure looks young, but he was an old young man, 4 years in the Phillipines and 2 in Korea with the USMC.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:01 pm

by cape man

AWESOME!!! A little more exciting for a kid than the 55 Chevy and a trailer! Too cool.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 5:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nothing wrong with the 55 Chevy and a camping trailer

My Dad wasn't in to camping, said he slept in a tent enough in the Marines to last him forever

He didn't mind standing out in the rain for days fishing, but even the sight of a tent made him testy.

We had a 53 Buick that was a tank. Dad would drive up and down the beach at Tybee Island looking for the best rips to fish and crab. This was when Mom wanted to go, she loved to crab and surf fish but she wasn't getting in that airplane and she wasn't big on boats either. She's since learned boats, but she still won't get on a plane. He didn't argue with her much, just like me, so we'd bounce the Buick all over every beach we could drive to if Mom wanted to crab. Hilton Head, Tybee, Jekyll, St. Simons, Fernandina, and get stuck in the sand every time. We'd catch thousands of crabs in the trawler, but that wasn't the same to her as using a chicken back and a string, catching crabs one at a time while wading in the surf

Another old one....This pic was labeled "Going Crabbing at Tybee 1957". My Mom with croaker sacks in her lap, Dad behind on the right and my uncle coming down the steps.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:21 pm

by frazoo

all the old pics make me homesick for the "olden days". A summer day lasted forever as a kid, now watching my last at-home kid, they just fly by. Took Heather and her mom camping last week on the eastern shore of VA. WE converted the old van into a camper complete with A/C. Heather saw her first, real world dolphins feeding at dusk, caught her first flounder, first whiting (mullet), and went fishing on the bay at night with a sky full of stars for the first time. I don't know who was grinning more, Heather, or us. Thanks for sharing the old pics and memories guys.

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:44 pm

by TomW

Oh'man those old black&whites remind me of Grandpa Steiner, Dad, me and my brother with some old 8' cane poles. I must have been all of 6 or 7. But those that know me big for my age as was my brother. Dad was 6'3" also , Gramp's Steiner was 5'6"

These would have been taken in 57-58 and I hope they are still around. Granpa Steiner was Menonite and we always had to take his black 55Chevy. My Grandma still had that car when she died in perfect running condition in 1985

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:11 pm

by Bowmovement

Here are a few I found of some old fishing pictures.

They are in color. I think yall may have a few years on me

This we are about to head out fishing. My dad in the boat and my Uncle Gene at the bow.

And here is one of me and Uncle Gene fishing.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:59 pm

by Cracker Larry

Very nice photos Matt. The old ones are better than the new

That's not in San Diego is it? The dory looks Chesapeake Bay or NC?

Heather saw her first, real world dolphins feeding at dusk, caught her first flounder, first whiting (mullet), and went fishing on the bay at night with a sky full of stars for the first time. I don't know who was grinning more,

Life doen't get any better than that

She'll remember it forever. But it can get worse if you mistake a mullet for a whiting

Mullet, not real great to eat unless fresh and smoked, then still not real great, although prized by some folks who don't know much better

A very good bait fish.

Whiting (Southern Kingfish, Pollock, Silver Hake) very good eating no matter how you cook them. Also a good bait.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:11 pm

by Bowmovement

Cracker Larry wrote:Very nice photos Matt. The old ones are better than the new That's not in San Diego is it? The dory looks Chesapeake Bay or NC?

That is on The Neuse River in N.C.

Here.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... cc6d2c2e6c

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:19 pm

by Bowmovement

That was my Grandfathers place at Dawsons Creek. He also had a travel trailer he kept a a marina on Harkers Island. He kept a 24 Chapparal at the marina also.

Theres alot of things that I dont remember from my childhood.

But I remember those like it was yesterday.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:57 pm

by cape man

although prized by some folks who don't know much better

Careful now big fellow.... man could get in trouble down this way talkin' that kinda smack...

I grew up as a kid in Miami. Mullet was strictly bait, never eaten by civilized man. We did get smoked mullet every year when we visited the grand parents in Tampa, but even that was looked on as a quirk when spoken of around the neighborhood. Then in college in the panhandle had fresh, deep fried (in lard), winter mullet. WOW!!! In North Africa it is one of the most expensive fish in the market. I like fish and have had a lot of different kinds, but fresh fried mullet is real hard to beat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:00 pm

by Bowmovement

cape man wrote:
although prized by some folks who don't know much better
Careful now big fellow.... man could get in trouble down this way talkin' that kinda smack...

I grew up as a kid in Miami. Mullet was strictly bait, never eaten by civilized man. We did get smoked mullet every year when we visited the grand parents in Tampa, but even that was looked on as a quirk when spoken of around the neighborhood. Then in college in the panhandle had fresh, deep fried (in lard), winter mullet. WOW!!! In North Africa it is one of the most expensive fish in the market. I like fish and have had a lot of different kinds, but fresh fried mullet is real hard to beat.

As far as I know, Mullet are good for 2 things:

1:Bait
2:Tossin
If ya have never been to a "Mullet Toss", its good times.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:09 am

by cape man

As far as I know,

exactly...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:14 am

by flatpicker

Mullet?? Well, you old fellows never met Papa, my Dad's Dad. I'm sure all of my pictures of my child hood at Spring Creek, Fl are in color so most of you probably have a few years on me, but mullet?? Prized by some? Yep, that was us. Most weekends growing up, we would be at the coast fishing from Papa's mullet boat that he built himself. Anytime a good school of mullet was sighted, Papa would say "get'em in ya'll, let's go strike'em!" Then he'd put on feast. We loved mullet then, and we love mullet now. In fact, I took the wife and kids down to Spring Creek just last weekend to show them where it all happened, and stopped and ate Spring Creek restaurant. Guess what I ordered, that's right Fried Mullet. It was good!! Ya'll should try it sometime. Be sure it's fresh. Like CL said, just as good smoked. Cheers!!

Marty

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:25 am

by Cracker Larry

Ya'll should try it sometime. Be sure it's fresh. Like CL said, just as good smoked. Cheers!!

Yep, I've had it many times. It's certified Cracker food, just not one of my favorites. But then I don't usually eat possum or chitterlings either

Whiting is a much better tasting fish than a mullet. To each their own

My Dad and I used to do some commercial fishing for mullet, not that you could really call it fishing. We called it Mullet jumping.
We'd take 2 bateaus out in the marsh at night, one towing the other. In the back boat we'd rig 2 stout poles, one in the bow, one in the stern, and stretch a big white bedsheet between the poles. Then hang a Coleman lantern at the top of a pole. The mullet jump at the light, hit the sheet and fall in the boat. It's a hoot. You can sink the boat with fish in a few minutes.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:43 am

by flatpicker

Cracker Larry wrote:
We'd take 2 bateaus out in the marsh at night, one towing the other. In the back boat we'd rig 2 stout poles, one in the bow, one in the stern, and stretch a big white bedsheet between the poles. Then hang a Coleman lantern at the top of a pole. The mullet jump at the light, hit the sheet and fall in the boat. It's a hoot. You can sink the boat with fish in a few minutes.

That's awesome

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:50 am

by tech_support

great pictures and stories

I have eaten mullet a few times and at best it was OK, sort of a novelty and an interesting change in flavor. I would eat it again, but as an appetizer. I put king mackerel fish spread in the same category, fun taste.

Right now (in the river) I can turn one 8oz. mullet into 6 pounds of fresh Mangrove snapper in about 30 minutes. Did it twice last week and did not have to even use a mullet, just a few pinfish. Hard to get hungry for mullet when fresh snapper is the other option

If I ever have to provide my family's daily protein consumption by fishing, then I will go back to one of my grandfathersfathers source of protein - mullet. Until that point, mullet is for bait, or most of the time its something to cast my mullet looking plug towards

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:42 am

by frazoo

Thanks for posting the mullet and whiting pics CL, what we were catching was just whiting then. My handy-dandy fish species of the chesapeake chart has a pic of the whiting, with it's "aka" listed as mullet. Don't know what the mullet tastes like, but I'll take those whiting anytime, anyday!

Now blues, that's one nasty tasting fish, though I've read that some really like them. My favorite bluefish recipe is the one about a pound of bluefish in frying pan with a pound of horse manure, cook until done throw out bluefish and eat the manure.
But, again, some people like them smoked and pickled from what I understand..., . I used to trade a friend mine from up north all the crappie he caught for all the blues I caught. He thought the crappie tasted like toilet paper.

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:52 pm

by Mad Dog

Just got home from the five day trip to the Upper Laguna Madre. This was the first saltwater trip for my "just restored" Aquasport. Two years of hard work finally paying off.

The GPS/Sonar up and running.

The engine warming up and ready to go (I know. Its ugly).

A light breeze blowing over the laguna.

So I make a short run down the ICW and spot some bait moving around a spoil so I stop and promptly land the first trout to slime my new deck. 15" Speck.

That was nice so I gave it another shot and hooked up this 16 incher.

Changed the lure and landed a nice 24" red.

Got tired of the easy stuff so I ran offshore just to see how the hull would handle light seas. It did great, next time I'll have to take someone along who knows how to fish out there.

It was hot and not much going on so I headed back to the ULM. Picked up some finger mullet with a castnet and went looking for this guy. 27.5" and 7 lbs. CPR. The wind was wipping by this time and I was too tired fight it, so I called it Miller Time.

Day 2 was spent chasing my my girls around Corpus Christi. "We need this"..., "we need that"..., a long nap (the best part of the day) and a trip to the beach. No fish that day.

Day three I take my girls out for their first fishing trip on the new boat. I'm not much of a guide and looked like a one armed paper hanger but they caught some fish.

Leah with the first catch. She was pretty proud.

Rebecca with her first Red Drum ever. I quote, "THAT WAS FUN

Sarah came through with a big Ladyfish. This fish stripped 150 yards off that little 2000. She hung in there and brought it to the boat.

Fished until they got hungry so we called it a day around 1. The heat was tough and they were happy to watch TV in the AC the rest of the day.

Day Three started out a little slower. I promised them a trip to the local museum in the afternoon so I knew the time on the water would be short. I tried them out on artificials only, gulps and DOA. The first cast turned out to be a hook in my shirt sleeve. Didn't get much better after that. We got our act together and picked up a few dinks. By 9 we were heading in to stay in front of a thunder storm. They watch too much Discovery Channel and noted the "wall cloud."

Ended the trip with an early departure on Wednesday. Its just too hot for my little white girls. But they had a good time and are bragging about dad's boat. What more could I ask for?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:11 am

by Mad Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:Mullet, not real great to eat unless fresh and smoked, then still not real great, although prized by some folks who don't know much better A very good bait fish.

Don't know about Florida, but in these parts, mullet is just bait. As table fair they are mushy and have an acrid odor. Red drum like them hooked mid way under the dorsal fin though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:31 am

by cape man

SWEET!!! The girls look happy!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:39 am

by Bowmovement

Nice job. Looks like yall had fun. Seems like a nice payoff for 2 years of hard work. Nice fish and good job on the CPR.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:24 am

by Cracker Larry

Great report MD, sounds like a family memory maker

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:52 am

by TomW

Looks like the girls had fun, along with Dad. The boat is a success and has been well bloodied now. May you have many more memories like this.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:58 am

by tech_support

great first report

That laguna madre looks a lot like our Indian river (claimed to be the most diverse estuary in N America). I would like to fish there and in lower Louisiana and least once. Its nice to see the boat being used.

i like that engine too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:06 am

by Mad Dog

shine wrote:great first report That laguna madre looks a lot like our Indian river (claimed to be the most diverse estuary in N America). I would like to fish there and in lower Louisiana and least once. Its nice to see the boat being used.

i like that engine too

I really don't know anything about the Indian River area. The Laguna Madre is having a resurgence due to the reopening of Packery Channel (named after an original settler) between the laguna and the Gulf. Before the channel was dredged the whole Upper Lagoona cut off from the Gulf between Port Aransas and Port Mansfield, about 80 miles apart. With the fresh flow we are seeing snook, tarpon, tripletail, etc coming into the laguna and near shore we are seeing a lot more King and Spanish Mackerel due to the baitfish drawn into the surf. Fishing is getting better but we have a long way to go.

Joel, you have a open ended offer to come fish the ULM if you get the chance. My other dream spot is Venice, La. I have fished the Chandeluers (sp?) but Venice has to be 100 Xs better.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:02 pm

by Spokaloo

We certainly picked the most volatile part of the run to spend a few days based in Ilwaco to fish.

Friday panned out with a limit and a half in the boat. Ran out to the CR on reports of good ocean fish stockpiles, and the river being clogged up with the normal assortment of mania. Fished around 225 feet of water, with 24-30 feet of line out. We also happened to get into that big bait ball that seemed to look really fishy (cmon, we were all dreaming of picking up that fabled tuna bite 2 miles offshore). Came up the with the same results as others:

Doubled up on the humbolt, but tossed it back because we had 4 days of cooler filling ahead of us and that thing needed to be processed too soon for us Spokanites to deal with.

Sat we had just what everyone else had. NADA... Worked the low slack at the can, lost interest in fighting the crowds, and heard from an outbound Osprey 26 that they were sniffing outside for better fishing. Tucked in behind them for the bash out to the CR. Fished an area from 2 to CR, south a couple miles, and back up inside the channel. ONE coho, ONE nate for the day, so one fish in the coolers and sore egos.

Sunday picked up a little, as we heard the report for 2-4' swells in the middle grounds, 6-8' elsewhere, and breakers off Clatsop. At the end of the report the kid on the radio says restriction to 1-3 feet length boats, and repeats 1-3 feet. We think "hm, strange, but lets have a look". Around 1/2 mile past 10, we get into solid 7-9 footers right on the edge of breaking, extremely steep seas for a 21 foot boat. We make the call to turn and run back in, just as USCG towboats start hailing and heading toward us. Im sure if you were out on Sunday, you heard us getting berated. 5 minutes after the turn, they give a bar report, reiterating a restriction to 3-0 feet. Yeah, THIRTY feet, not 13. Took our time fishing the flood between the 10 can and the yellow, hooked up to 7, only 3 had the right number of fins. Had one exceptional fight with a 'nook that not only had us fighting in the crowd, but the fish actually jumped on the opposite side of some jerk who was not paying attention. Boats all around us were yelling at him to shut his motor off (thanks all). Got him to the side of the boat, where the net hung up on the rod holder cap. The Thumb (fishing partner extraordinaire) decides to keep him near the surface on the trick bar right beside the motor platform and POP! No fish... I had ZERO takedowns on my rod that day, which I can attribute to a swivel being added to the leader between the diver and flasher on a quick gear change. Fixed that for Monday...

Monday morning we headed out about an hour before the low slack, and had the boat full in 2 hrs, limited with a 'nook and coho a piece. Picked up our gear, cleaned fish, scrubbed the boat, and headed for Spokane with a total of 11 for the weekend.

Apparently, he doesn't know how to take photos, as I was the only one shooting them.

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:19 pm

by Lucky_Louis

Great report, sounds like you had to work hard but were well rewarded. SWMBO and I are heading for the same place sans boat on Friday. We're camping at Cape Disappointment State Park for 5 days before heading down to Harris Beach, Crescent City, and the Redwood Forest. Too bad we missed you, I would have taken your picture. You get inked too?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:26 pm

by cape man

Just turned down a trip to your part of the world - Gig Harbor for a few days and then Vancouver Island for a few more... airline and lodging paid... What an idiot I am!!! Your pictures have me kicking myself! Love the fishing out there. Gotta work hard sometimes, but 11 for the weekend aint bad.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:34 pm

by TomW

Some nice fish there Eric! It is sometimes the prize that makes the work worth the effort.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:02 pm

by Spokaloo

Lou, there are a handful of charters and you will be in the middle of the run, so it would be well worth it. If you are really lucky, there are occasional cancellations on the tuna charters. GET ON ONE!

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:34 pm

by peter-curacao

Looks good Eric, in the second pic is that line going of while showing the fish at the cam?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Fantastic fishing Eric. Wow, I'd have a hard time releasing the Humbolts, I like calamari better than fish

That's cool. I've never been to that part of the world. Never had a reason to go, until now! Dang what a squid

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:55 pm

by Mad Dog

Nice fish! That squid sure made a mess on your deck. Time for fresh beverages too, I bet.

9 footers in a 21? Yea, time to head for shore. Glad you didn't need the help from that CG boat.

You guys have some nice fish up there.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:51 pm

by Lucky_Louis

Good to know we'll be there when there's lots of action. Me go fishing when WE are on vacation?

I want to live until retirement man

We may go hang around the docks at dinner time and see what comes in. I'm praying for no fog.

That Humboldt makes GREAT hali-bait. Lasts forever on a jig and they can't get enough of it. Second only to octopus.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:17 pm

by peter-curacao

speaking of octopus, this is so cool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwAqhThd_EQ&NR=1

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:55 pm

by Spokaloo

Peter, we use divers in that fishery, they are tied in line with a flasher and your bait/lure. The diver takes the line down at a 45 degree angle, making that steep line angle and bending the rod. When a fish hits it, it doubles over MUCH deeper than that.

We wanted to keep the humbolt, but it was day 2 of 5, and we didn't have the facilities to keep it cold enough for 3 days in the truck plus a drive out here to the desert.

Larry, come up next summer, bring Doug, have Louis come meet us, and we will all go fish somewhere. Sound like a plan?

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:48 am

by Cracker Larry

Larry, come up next summer,

How warm is it in the summer? Which month is summer up there?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 11:33 am

by Lucky_Louis

Larry, come up next summer,
How warm is it in the summer? Which month is summer up there?

It can be July or August or neither... that's why the fish fight so hard, they're in a bad mood because of the weather.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:21 pm

by Spokaloo

July is HOT, August is very warm, and September is glorious. Sept is the best time of year because its usually stable weather, coastal communities are getting sunny and 65, and the fish are in the area.

Salmon peaks the 3rd week of August, and tuna typically are in the neighborhood around the same time. Halibut is a spring show, generally in May on this coast, though the season is longer in Canadur.

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:27 pm

by Cracker Larry

That isn't too bad at all, I can handle those temps just fine. In fact that would feel real good right now

it's been a hot summer down here this year.

I haven't been further north on that coast than San Francisco Bay, except I spent a week years ago at a windsurfing school at the Columbia River gorge. Didn't do any fishing, but the sailing was incredible! Man that place was rough and windy

I do need to head up that coast sometime and check it out. I've always wanted to fish in Alaska too, but haven't made it yet. Maybe next summer

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:31 pm

by Spokaloo

You have a place to stay in Spokane anytime.

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:53 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thank you very much

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 1:56 pm

by Joe H

MD, looks like your girls really enjoyed their time out fishing with Dad, I used to enjoy bringing my girls out when the were younger, now it's their kids I take out fishing, just to the back yard for Bluegill until their a lttle older.

Eric, nice fishing trip, where are the pics of you holding the fish?

Went out for Walleye this morning but to windy for river fishing so I headed out to open water a picked up a few Smallies.

Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 2:19 pm

by Spokaloo

Nice lookin smallies!

My neighbor doesn't believe in operating the camera. It might be due to the level of alcohol he consumes daily.

Here is Eric holding a fish:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:56 pm

by Cracker Larry

Someone has nice tastes in reels

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 8:09 pm

by fishin'

went out for just a quick trip last week in the afternoon and got lucky with this.

27" 8.5lbs

and since I can't just post one picture for yall, We caught these a couple falls ago.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 8:26 pm

by peter-curacao

fishin' wrote:went out for just a quick trip last week in the afternoon and got lucky with this.

You're family of Eric (Spokaloo) ?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 8:34 pm

by fishin'

No, I'm not

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:17 pm

by Mad Dog

peter-curacao wrote:
fishin' wrote:went out for just a quick trip last week in the afternoon and got lucky with this.
You're family of Eric (Spokaloo) ?

Brothers of a different mother and opposite coasts.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 11:34 pm

by Spokaloo

Brothers in bloody decks and well fed families!

E

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:26 pm

by Fonda@kauai

Well I've been outta the water for a while because of work and boat building, but snuck in a dive yesterday. This is an Uku, or green jobfish.

Shot him at 60 feet at the end of my breath hold. My really locked up and he tried to drown me, but I got the last laugh. The sashimi is killer

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:07 pm

by peter-curacao

Fonda@kauai wrote:Well I've been outta the water for a while because of work and boat building, but snuck in a dive yesterday. This is an Uku, or green jobfish.

Shot him at 60 feet at the end of my breath hold. My really locked up and he tried to drown me, but I got the last laugh. The sashimi is killer

The fish oke, but you I imagined completely different

to bad spearfishing is prohibited over here looks cool

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:12 pm

by Joe H

Fonda,
That's a fantastic looking fish, nothing like that in these parts but I did manage to graduate my Grandson from Bluegill to a nice 21" Smallmouth Bass, in between him playing with his toy's on the boat and Holiday traffic out on the water.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:19 pm

by Fonda@kauai

Nice fish Joe

And my beauty is on the inside Peter

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:25 pm

by peter-curacao

Fonda@kauai wrote: And my beauty is on the inside Peter

Didn't say you were ugly! just imagined a different face with your nick name and island, someone like this

guess you're a lucky one, just kidding you

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:14 am

by peter-curacao

Yesterday here at the south coast not a everyday phenomenon, never the less beautiful

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 1:54 pm

by Joe H

Man that looks like a postcard Peter, it was 44 degress here last night!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 2:36 pm

by Bowmovement

Joe H wrote:Man that looks like a postcard Peter, it was 44 degress here last night!

Joe H

Thats a little cold for me.
Was around 70 here last night.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:39 am

by smilinmatt

After kicking off cobia season with Joel at the rendez-vous, it's been nonstop this year. I just can't keep the things away from my boat.

I shot this one freediving in 60' off the west end of a east bound bull shark.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:53 am

by tech_support

nice!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:02 am

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Matt

The cobes are hanging around later this year for some reason

I have caught more this year than ever before. How much did it weigh?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:32 pm

by smilinmatt

I didn't weigh it, but it was an upper 30's fish. It has been a really good year for them, and most of the ones I'm seeing are 35-45#. Unfortunately, one or two cold fronts and it'll be mostly over till spring. Of course, I'm going to the Keys in November, so I'll catch up to them at the end of their migration.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:06 pm

by Fonda@kauai

Nice fish. What do they taste like?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:06 pm

by smilinmatt

Cobia meat has the same texture/density as swordfish and a pretty similar taste. It's firm enough you can cook it on the grill just like a steak.

It's a nice change from most of the fish we target around here (grouper, hogfish and snapper), which are all mild, white meat fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:18 pm

by peter-curacao

Smoke it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

Smoke it

Isn't it hard to keep them lit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:39 pm

by cape man

Nice fish. What do they taste like?

Unfortunately they are lacking from the Eastern Pacific, including the Hawaiian islands. However, they are rapidly becoming the species de jour for aquaculture, so I bet they start showing up in your restaurants there soon. Excellent eating fish, and they grow 10 lbs their first year. Single species genus...in fact a single genus family. They are out there all by themselves in evolution.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:04 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:
Smoke it
Isn't it hard to keep them lit

Yes but it's worth the taste

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:06 pm

by Cracker Larry

Single species genus...in fact a single genus family. They are out there all by themselves in evolution.

And here I thought that a lonely catfish was cornered by a needsome shark, then they invited in an unattached remora for a threesome

It's a strange looking fish, but excellent eating.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:49 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish. What do they taste like?

I call them chicken of the sea. They don't taste like chicken, but they don't taste like fish either. The meat is firm and white like chicken breast. I agree they taste alot like swordfish, except much fresher. I have only had homeboy caught sword once and it was as good as fresh cobia. The store bought cobia from Belize is a little fishey tasting to me and most of the sword I have purchased is also not very good. I caught 4 pretty nice Cobia in June which is unusual for me at least. One was very nice

Richard

A couple of fish from back in June....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:24 am

by cape man

Richard, the store bought cobia are aquacultured in Belize. There is no true commercial fishery for them which is why very few people have tasted them unless they caught one or know someone who has. Aquaculture is going to change that soon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 5:43 pm

by nort

Here's a link to my stepdaughter with the 11lb 15 oz bass she caught. She out did her husband that day. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3 ... 1048609588

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:51 am

by smilinmatt

I went to the Middle Grounds this past weekend. We arrived Friday night and set up a chum line and caught some good-sized mangrove snapper. The smallest were around 3# and the biggest around 8#. One of my snapper turned into a 7' Dusky on the way up. He managed to somehow get hooked in the corner of the mouth, and I had to fight it for half an hour before we could get it boatside and cut the leader.

Saturday we did some freediving. We found a mound that was 85' on top and 125' to the sand. I shot a couple more mangrove snapper and a scamp, but didn't see any of the Middle Ground hogs. I also shot about a 30# AJ that was cruising down the ledge. He was my deepest freediving fish. I didn't look at my watch after I took the shot, but after I already turned to head up, it was reading 90'.

On the way back in, we stopped at a wreck in 120', but didn't see anything but a huge school of 5' long cuda. When we were about to leave, I dropped down and saw a couple fish swimming under the cuda. As I kept dropping, I saw they were cobia, but they looked small with all the big cuda swimming around. When I got to their depth, I realized they were well over keeper sized. I shot the bigger of the two, and he was 45".

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:05 pm

by Lon

Matt, you're good at what you do.
Say a few words about shooting a fish in the presence of 'cuda. I thought that was a risky thing to do.
Only saw one once at Gitmo in '61 and I very slowly left the water (not even close to your experience level).
Now, my exciting thing is when a frantic, high speed Kokanee turns out my Coleman lantern with his tail.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice report Matt. Did you take your OB19 to the Middle grounds?

Those cudas won't bother ya Lon, they just look mean

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:13 pm

by smilinmatt

Cudas are very timid around people in the water, but they are curious which makes them look scary. If you swim away from them, they'll follow you, but if you swim towards them they'll take off. It's a good thing they're not aware of the damage they could do. The wrecks and artificial reefs in this area of the Gulf typically have schools of adult cuda on them. Even shooting 2 and 3 pound snapper, they won't go after them as long as you keep the fish close and don't leave it struggling 20' away.

When you're fishing is when they become a pain. I think one of the funniest things we see, is when you anchor on the reef in the Keys, within minutes you'll have a big cuda hanging out 20' down staring up at the boat. They're so programmed towards stealing fish that they zero in on the boat expecting struggling yellowtail to be drawn towards it.

No, I didn't take the OB19 to the Middle Grounds. Although, it would have been nice to burn 30 gallons of fuel instead of 220.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

No, I didn't take the OB19 to the Middle Grounds.

I was wondering, but wouldn't be surprised, knowing you. Maybe the GF12 and a spare can of gas

That's a long fishing trip for most any boat. For those who don't know, the middle grounds are about 100 miles offshore from Tampa, FL.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:37 pm

by Mad Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:For those who don't know, the middle grounds are about 100 miles offshore from Tampa, FL.

So, it gets it name from being out in the middle of nowhere?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:59 am

by Dog Fish

A friend of mine was diving in the Keys about 15 years ago and shot two grouper, he had them on a wire loop stringer and slung them over his shoulder on the way up. A big cuda decided he wanted them and came up from behind and bit down a couple times on the top of his shoulder and under his arm pit. 214 stitches.

Lots of green blood.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:32 pm

by JimW

Cracker Larry wrote:Nice report Matt. Did you take your OB19 to the Middle grounds?

My first thought also! Knowing Matt.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 12:38 am

by Cracker Larry

I took an old friend out today and we had the best day redfishing I've ever seen. Full moon and real big, and real small tides, I didn't expect much but you go when you can. Started out shrimping on the falling tide, hoping to get enough shrimp for a few meals and bait, but the shrimp were thin and we had to cast about an hour to get a gallon, so we gave up on eating shrimp and went fishing.

Dori and I had found a spot by accident while exploring in the GF16 a couple of years ago that I always wanted to come back to and fish. It looked like a natural fish trap, a small pond created by huge oyster mounds, between a million acres of marsh and the mile wide Broad River above Port Royal Sound. The creek at the inlet mouth is only about 20' wide and 2' deep, less than that in spots, twisting and surrounded by oyster mounds as big as houses. Any fish coming or going to the marshes for a couple of miles has to pass through it and they get trapped at low water. I've dreamed of coming back and fishing that spot, and today was the day. It took me about an hour to find it again, winding through a dozen different creeks that aren't even on the GPS charts, taking some paint off the skeg and the prop, glad for a flat bottom, plenty of fiberglass and a stainless prop. Never would have got a V hull in here.

Finally found the right creek and bumped our way out to the mouth on falling water, knowing we weren't getting out of there again until the tide came back in. You could see dozens of tailing reds and the first cast hooked up a 10 pounder, and the second and the third and the fourth and the fifth. In SC redfish have a narrow slot, 15" min. and 23" max. Our first 10 fish were oversized, most of them going about 32". By the time we had caught 50 fish, we finally had our keeper limit of 6 inside the slot, with maybe 2 undersized and the rest over. We stayed in there about 4 hours, almost to dark. Used the entire gallon of live shrimp, and every cast produced an instant strike. We probably released 100-125 reds, lost more than that, not many below 16", most of them well over 30", and about 25 ladyfish about 1-2 pounds. Ladyfish are always a hoot on light tackle

Speaking of light tackle, my fishing partner today was not a salt water fisherman ( he is now), barely a freshwater fisheman either. He's from Minnesota. When I invited him to go last week he went to Walmart and bought a rod and reel. He paid $7 for the rod, and the reel, with line

I kid you not, a Zebco 202 would have been heavy tackle compared to this rig

It was spooled with 6 lb. which lasted exactly one fish, then we loaded it up with some Trilene 20. He lost a lot of fish, but he caught a lot of fish too. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. Reminded me of Richard catching amberjack on a bream rod

At least Richard had a quality bream rod

He was the photographer today, so when he emails me some pictures I'll add them.

If anyone wants to go give it a try, let me know. Should be good until it really gets cold.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:36 am

by tech_support

We probably released 100-125 reds

Wow, that's incredible. A day of life time for sure.

I will be up there for a week around thanksgiving. Maybe we could work out a trade of some sort, fishing trip for materials

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:12 am

by TomW

Great fishing Larry!

Got back yesterday, nice and relaxing two weeks building cabinets.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:28 am

by Cracker Larry

Welcome back Tom, hope you had a good trip!

I will be up there for a week around thanksgiving. Maybe we could work out a trade of some sort, fishing trip for materials

No trade Joel, I'd be proud to take you fishing any time you want to go. This spot is in your home turf, within sight of the Broad River bridge.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:34 am

by tech_support

TomW wrote:Great fishing Larry! Got back yesterday, nice and relaxing two weeks building cabinets.

Tom

nice to see you back tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:57 am

by tech_support

Cracker Larry wrote: This spot is in your home turf, within sight of the Broad River bridge.

There is similar but smaller spot on the north side of Pinkney island, we never could get in there with our deep v boat. Several times we anchored up on the outside and walked over the oyster mounds, but trying to wade in pluff mud makes is about as pointless as it gets. Wish I had FS17 skiff up there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:22 am

by tech_support

judging by the tide charts, looks like new moon tides may be lower than this past weekend's. Though, I suppose once its low enough to cut off the redfishs' egress, thats all that matters

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:25 am

by Cracker Larry

This is a couple of miles upriver from the bridge on the N side of Buzzard Island. I think they call it Buzzard Island for all the people who get lost and starve to death in there

I don't mind posting the location because not many folks could ever get in or out, even knowing where it is.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:00 pm

by Fonda@kauai

That musta been one hell of a boat ride, coordinates landed me in china

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

That would be 32N and 80W

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:52 pm

by tech_support

wouldnt you know they took the google earth image at high tide, darn

A button to show low/high tide images, wouldn't that be useful

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:04 am

by Mad Dog

To follow up on Joel's post, I was searching Google Earth for offshore images looking for rigs & platforms and any bottom/depth detail they might have. When offshore, the image resolution is much less than onshore, so as you zoom in the images fade out before you can make out any structures. Does any one have a reliable source for either images of maps that would help an offshore novice (me) find some places target when I get the chance?

Thanks

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:04 am

by smilinmatt

Larry, those holes are great. We had one in St. Augustine that would stack up with flounder in the winter. It was about 20 feet long and 10 feet wide. First time we found it, we drifted through it without a bite, but as I was reeling in I saw a flounder follow it up. We went back and anchored and caught over 40 flounder.

This weekend I took my camera with me. I got a video of a school of cobia swimming around a wreck. There were two "bigger" ones in the school, and one looked like it was exactly 32#.

Unfortunately, my camera butchered the spearing video into about a dozen short video clips.

http://www.vimeo.com/6916222

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:43 am

by tech_support

Matt that video is great, at 1:14 is that a manta ray at the top right of screen? How deep?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:07 pm

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:Matt that video is great, at 1:14 is that a manta ray at the top right of screen? How deep?

Grin

I thought it was a turtle.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:22 pm

by D2Maine

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:27 pm

by Cracker Larry

I can't get the video to play, do I have to join or something?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:51 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:I can't get the video to play, do I have to join or something?

That's strange when I click the play button it plays

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:35 pm

by Doc_Dyer

played for me also,

did you shoot anything?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:07 pm

by JimW

Cracker Larry wrote:I can't get the video to play, do I have to join or something?

I wondered the same. It takes a long, L O N G time to load. Worth a look. Brings back memories. Matt, what wreck is that?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:46 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice video Matt

You are an absolute animal with a snorkel. How deep was that wreck?

Matt, what wreck is that?

I was wondering the same thing

A LORAN or GPS number would be helpful too

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:02 pm

by tech_support

D2Maine wrote:shine go to view and check historical images, then you will get a scroll bar on the screen go back to the image from 1994 it is in black and white and is much higher resolution.

The 1994 image is great. I can see the trap. The reds must have been up on the hardpack flats around the island hunting fiddler crabs on the flood. Ive seen this only a couple times personally but I know thats where a lot of people target them with flyrods. Then I guess the oyster rake traps them at dead low.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:12 pm

by smilinmatt

That was an old, decrepit barge we stumbled upon while looking for a different shipwreck. It probably only has a few more years before the rest collapses and is covered in sand. But we'll put it to good use until that happens. We also found the other shipwreck. It didn't have any cobia, but there was a school of larger AJs - up to 35-40#. I still have a ton of smoked AJ from last weekend, so I'm saving them for later. The AJ's in the video were small - 24 to 30 inches.

That was in 80' of water. That seems to be typical for the cobia this year, they're always swimming along the bottom. How would you like to be on that wreck with a livewell full of pinfish.

The "turtle/manta" was one of my dive buddies, that's why I turned the gun away as he was swimming by.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dang Matt, you are an animal. It takes brass balls to shoot a cobia with a speargun, free diving in 80'

D2Maine wrote:
shine go to view and check historical images, then you will get a scroll bar on the screen go back to the image from 1994 it is in black and white and is much higher resolution.

The 1994 image is great. I can see the trap.

Thanks for that tip D2

That's a much better image. Google Earth is an amazing thing!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

I know we aren't supposed to discuss politics here but this is important. If we don't do something, none of us will be fishing. Our Nobel Peace prize winner and his band of thieves just don't quit. Everyone, please write your senators and congressmen and raise some hell. Soon

Feds to 60 Million American Anglers: We don't need you!!!!

IRVINE, Calif. USA – October 5, 2009 – A recently published administration document outlines a structure that could result in closures of sport fishing in salt and freshwater areas across America. The White House created an Interagency Oceans Policy Task Force in June and gave them only 90 days to develop a comprehensive federal policy for all U.S. coastal, ocean and Great Lakes waters. Under the guise of ‘protecting’ these areas, the current second phase of the Task Force direction is to develop zoning which may permanently close vast areas of fishing waters nationwide. This is to be completed by December 9, 2009.

Dave Pfeiffer, President of Shimano American Corporation explained, “In spite of extensive submissions from the recreational fishing community to the Task Force in person and in writing, they failed to include any mention of the over one million jobs or the 6o million anglers which may be affected by the new policies coast to coast. Input from the environmental groups who want to put us off the water was adopted into the report verbatim – the key points we submitted as an industry were ignored.”

Recreational fishing generates a $125 billion annual economy in the United States and supports jobs in every state according to government figures. Through the Sport Fish Restoration program, anglers have provided more than $5 billion through excise taxes on fishing tackle to fishery conservation and education for decades.

In addition to the economic aspects, anglers lead the nation in volunteer conservation efforts on behalf of improving fish habitat, water quality and related environmental areas. “There was no mention of the fishery conservation efforts which anglers have led for over 50 years in every state – an environmental success story that has no equal in the world”, said Phil Morlock, Director, Environmental Affairs for Shimano. “The Task Force did not make any distinction between the dramatic differences between harmful commercial fishing harvest methods and recreational fishing, even though we spelled it out for them in detail,” added Morlock.

Claiming to be the result of a public consultation process the report states, “Having considered a broad range of public comments, this report reflects the requests and concerns of all interested parties.”

The original White House memo and not surprisingly the Task Force report contains multiple references to developing a national policy where Great Lakes and coastal regions are managed, “consistent with international law, including customary international law as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” - a 300-page treaty the U.S. has never ratified.

“We question what implications there will be for state authority and jurisdiction in the Great Lakes and coastal regions if the U.S. adopts the U.N. Treaty,” said Pfeiffer.

The report makes it clear that future authority for implementing the policy for coastal and inland waters will fall under White House jurisdiction with a new National Ocean Council comprised of over 20 federal agencies at Cabinet Secretary or Deputy Secretary level. No reference to Congressional jurisdiction is indicated.

“This significant change in U.S. policy direction is the result of a 90-day fire drill process as ordered by the President that, not surprisingly, lacks balance, clarity and quality in the end product,” said Morlock. “People who simply want to take their kids fishing on public waters deserve better from their government,” he added.

Shimano is joining with other members of the recreational fishing industry to urge anglers to contact their members of Congress and the administration to request this process be required to adopt the economic, conservation and social contributions of recreational fishing as key elements of the policy. It is critical that we ensure Congressional oversight and state jurisdiction and management continues.

E-letters can be sent to the administration and members of Congress by visiting http://keepamericafishing.org/

The future of fishing is in your hands.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:46 pm

by michaelwpayton

It's time to wake the sleeping giant... that's us, "the people." On this, and many other issues, it's time to act... rather than just whine, moan, complain, etc. among ourselves. WAKE UP GIANT!

Thanks Larry,

Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

You won't see this in your mainstream news. They aren't even telling us what they are doing to us anymore. It's all smoke and mirrors.

The is the new Messiah's new job creation plan..

http://www.news-journalonline.com/Ne...VOUT100609.htm

October 06, 2009

Possible ban on snapper, grouper fishing would be large-scale
By JORDAN KAHN
Outdoors writer

Editor's note: The Fishing Rights Alliance was misidentified in an earlier version of this report.

Deep-sea bottom fishing in the southeast is in deep trouble.

A months-long fight between fishermen and federal fisheries managers has come to this:

By late October a decision is expected from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on whether to ban red snapper fishing for at least six months.

By spring, a final decision is expected on an indefinite ban on recreational and commercial fishing from Cape Canaveral to Charleston, S.C., for any kind of snapper or grouper.

That's 73 of the 88 species managed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

For Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas -- the states managed by the council -- this fishery management plan could have a very real human price.

In these states, fishing represents 4 to 6 million anglers, more than 100,000 jobs and a multi-billion dollar economic impact.

With so much at stake, the debate between fishermen and the council about the science used to manage fish stocks is boiling into a political fight to change the laws governing fishery management.

Lawsuits to stop the council have been filed in federal court. A bill that would block the council's proposals has been sent to Congress.

More than 100 fishermen attended council public hearings in Stuart in June and Charleston in September.

Capt. Jimmy Hull from Ormond Beach, who was at both meetings, said fishermen walked away feeling "totally disregarded."

'CONTENTIOUS,' 'UNPRECEDENTED'

The National Marine Fisheries Service's southeast regional administrator, Dr. Roy Crabtree, said the situation in the South Atlantic is "the most contentious" he's ever seen.

Bob Jones, who has been executive director of commercial fishing's Southeastern Fisheries Association since 1967, said the stakes have never been more serious.

"The only thing this reminds me of is the Florida net ban," Jones said, referring to a 1994 state vote to ban gill nets in inshore waters.

"But this is broader than that," Jones said, "because this is a ban for everybody -- commercial, recreational, charters, divers. It's unprecedented."

To understand how the situation got to this point, you have to go back to 2006 when the Magnuson-Stevens Act governing fishery management came before Congress for reauthorization.

During that process, the act's flexible time frames for ending overfishing were removed. Now any overfishing identified before July 12, 2009, must be stopped within one year. Overfishing identified after that must be stopped in two years.

The council's stock assessment for red snapper was completed in 2008, putting it in the one-year time frame.

The assessment determined that red snapper have been fished for several decades at eight to 14 times the sustainable level and that the population has been fished down to just 3 percent of the historic virgin stock levels existing in 1945.

The reason the council decided that rebuilding red snapper stocks requires shutting down all bottom fishing is its estimation of how many red snapper die after release -- 90 percent for commercial boats and 40 percent for recreational.

Allowing bottom fishing to continue and just releasing red snapper would still kill too many red snapper to end overfishing, the council said.

POINT, COUNTERPOINT

Fishermen argue the council's science isn't sound.

They say the council hasn't provided any substantive studies on release mortality rates for red snapper.

Fishermen also dispute council estimates that older red snapper are missing from today's populations. The stock assessment indicates there haven't been any red snapper over the age of 13 in the South Atlantic since 2004. Yet, fishermen sending samples to state labs for age testing caught six fish older than 13 years in just eight days.

The council counters that 75 percent of the 237 red snapper the fishermen submitted were age 4 or younger. That just confirms the assessment's findings, the council said.

The fishing advocacy group Southeastern Fisheries Association hired a scientist to review the council's stock assessment.

That scientist says no real recreational catch data has ever existed. And that catch, according to the stock assessment, represents 66 to 75 percent of the red snapper catch since the 1980s. Since the late '70s, recreational catches have predominantly been based on the Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey.

That survey calls random households to estimate the number of fishing trips per household and combines that with surveys at fishing locations about the quantity and variety of fish caught to estimate the recreational catch.

In 2006, Dr. Patrick Sullivan of the National Academy of Sciences gave a report to Congress about that survey and called it "fatally flawed."

As a result, the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act mandated that the survey be updated by January 2009. That didn't happen, although an update is in progress.

LAWSUITS NOW, LAWSUITS LATER

The continued use of a survey Congress wants replaced is part of the legal basis for two Fishing Rights Alliance lawsuits against the fisheries service being heard in federal court.

Dennis O'Hern, the alliance's executive director, said as soon as the fisheries service publishes a final rule banning red snapper fishing, they'll sue them for that, too.

"It's a numbers game," O'Hern said. "We need to build a new system. They don't have anything on recreational fishing, even today. It's guesswork and speculative at best."

Crabtree of the fisheries service said they ran the snapper models 40 different ways and "it didn't make a whole lot of difference . . . every single run still shows that they're overfishing and overfished."

Capt. David Nelson of Port Orange said he has serious doubts about the council's commercial fishing data.

Nelson spearheaded the fishermen's independent aging study. He wrote a letter to Crabtree telling him when he went to Safe Harbor Seafood in Atlantic Beach to cut the ear bones out of fish needed for the study, no one there had ever seen that before. And Safe Harbor Seafood is "the red snapper capital of the South Atlantic," Nelson said.

Jones of the Southeastern Fisheries Association said this back and forth with the council has been useless.

"I'm not sure there is anything that can change the government's mind once the process gets as far as this one has," he said.

So fishermen are pursuing the possibility of amending the Magnuson Act to restore its flexible time frames.

U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, who represents parts of Volusia and Flagler counties, and 10 co-signers have introduced a bill (HR 3307) that would "direct the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study of the population of red snapper in the south Atlantic" and obtain accurate information before imposing a ban.

jordan.kahn@news-jrnl.com

Previous coverage:
· Snapper Wars: Facing a ban across 4 states, fishermen fight for their livelihoods

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:38 pm

by TomW

Thanks Larry for both.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 8:11 pm

by gk108

This supposedly secret document is readily available right here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/docume ... FINAL2.pdf
Rather than rely upon some "not in the regular news" interpretation, I'll read it myself and develop my own opinion.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 8:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

I didn't say it was a secret GK, I just said we aren't hearing about it on the 6 oclock news. Have you?

Consider the source. Smoke and mirrors

Here's more...

Reference http://www.safmc.net/News/NewsReleases/ ... fault.aspx

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council
News Release
September 21, 2009 CONTACT: Kim Iverson
Public Information Officer
(843) 571-4366

Management Alternatives to End Overfishing Approved for Public Hearings
Options include large area closures for snapper grouper fishing, plus new alternative for special permits

Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council considered recommendations received from its advisory panel members and others concerned about proposed management measures to end overfishing for 10 species in the snapper grouper management complex. The Council is considering options to close large areas of federal waters extending from portions of South Carolina through north/central Florida to all snapper grouper fishing in order to end overfishing of red snapper through Amendment 17A to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan. “We know these alternatives are going to have significant economic impacts, but the Council must end overfishing – and long-term, that’s a good thing,” said Council Chairman Duane Harris. “But there will certainly be huge consequences to recreational and commercial fishing communities. There doesn’t appear to be any way to avoid these consequences while ending overfishing for red snapper.”
During its meeting last week in Charleston, South Carolina the Council discussed at length the list of recommendations provided by the advisory panels and fishermen, and formulated an additional management alternative that may allow designated “fishing zones” for snapper grouper species within the proposed closed areas. These fishing zones would have stringent requirements, including special permits for both commercial and recreational fishermen, and may require the use of Vessel Monitoring Systems to track fishermen’s movements, electronic logbook reporting, text message reporting for recreational fishermen and other requirements. Fishing for red snapper would still be prohibited within the areas, but some fishermen may be selected to harvest red snapper for biological sampling. The zones would close after a specified amount of red snapper discards have been recorded. “The Council is exploring options to allow some harvest of snapper grouper species to benefit the fishermen as well as the collection of data from these fishermen,” said Chairman Harris.
The 2008 stock assessment for red snapper in the South Atlantic region shows the stock to be overfished and undergoing overfishing at eight times the sustainable level. In March, the Council requested an interim rule to close the red snapper fishery for both commercial and recreational fishermen in order to help meet the mandates of the Magnuson-Stevens Act to end overfishing within one year. The request for a closure is currently being reviewed by NOAA Fisheries Service (NMFS) and according to Dr. Roy Crabtree, Regional Administrator for NMFS’s Southeast Regional Office, if approved, a closure is not likely until after the end of October this year. Meanwhile, the red snapper fishery remains open with a current recreational bag limit of 2 fish per person/day included in a 10 snapper aggregate bag limit, and a 20” Total Length size limit for both commercial and recreational fishermen.
Because of the high mortality associated with discarded red snapper, a closure of the fishery will not be sufficient to end overfishing. Long-term measures are being developed through Amendment 17A. Measures to address the remaining species listed as undergoing overfishing: speckled hind, warsaw grouper, golden tilefish, snowy grouper, black grouper, black sea bass, gag, red grouper, and vermilion snapper, are being
addressed through Amendment 17B. Alternatives include a deepwater closure, specified quotas, and
allocations for some species. Additional measures for snapper grouper species are being considered in Amendment 18, including expanding the management unit northward (from North Carolina), limiting access for the commercial golden tilefish fishery and black sea bass pot fishery, and use of electronic logbooks.
A series of public hearings will be scheduled the first two weeks in November for members of the public to comment on the proposed management measures within Amendments 17A, 17B, and Amendment 18. “We encourage the public to review the alternatives and attend the public hearings,” stated Chairman Harris. “Bring your recommendations with the understanding that the Council has to end overfishing as mandated by the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act.” Details regarding the dates and locations of the hearings will be publicized as soon as they become available. Public hearing documents will also be posted online once they become available.
The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for December 7-11, 2009 in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. For additional information regarding Council meetings, including briefing book materials and summary motions, visit http://www.safmc.net or contact the Council office.

The problem with all this, as anyone who snapper and grouper fishes knows, is that there are more snapper and grouper now than there have been in the last 30 years.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:48 pm

by gk108

The link I posted is the source document that Shimano guy is commenting on. I learned a long time ago that a corporate stooge will lie to you faster than a gov't stooge will, simply because the corporate lie pays more. After telling me what my opinion is, Shimano guy wants me to go to a page with 3 DONATE NOW links. To Suite 420??? OK, I think I get it.

After reading the document twice, it looks like NOAA may be getting a little more help with managing our fisheries. Obviously, they are not capable of coming up with a reasonable program on their own. They are pretty much bound by the Magnuson-(run out of office for corruption)Stevens Act, signed into law by the previous administration. I'm going to be optimistic and point out the possibility that this might be an end run around Magnuson-(run out of office for corruption)Stevens in order to straighten things out a little bit. Realize that tightening existing sport restrictions doesn't require any end run or any studies at all. Loosening them does, especially when it requires anything like limits for commercial fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

Let's pay attention and speak up

I don't think he knows any more about fishing than he does building cars

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Obama Administration Officials to Hold Gulf Coast Regional Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting on October 19, 2009

NEW ORLEANS, LA – Obama Administration officials will hold a Gulf Coast Regional Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting in New Orleans on Monday, October 19, 2009. The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, consists of senior-level officials from Administration agencies, departments, and offices.

The Task Force, established by President Obama via presidential memorandum on June 12, is charged with developing a recommendation for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes. It will also recommend a framework for improved stewardship, and effective coastal and marine spatial planning. The meeting in New Orleans will be the fifth regional public meeting held since the Task Force was created. The public is encouraged to attend and an opportunity for public comment will be provided.

Members of the public can access the meeting in three ways: by attending in person at one of the sites listed below; by calling into the listen-only phone line (800-369-1897; participant code: 2495142); or via live webstream at http://www.whitehouse.gov/oceans.

Who: Chair Nancy Sutley, White House Council on Environmental Quality

Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Peter Silva, Assistant Administrator for Water, Environmental Protection Agency

Associate Deputy Secretary Laura Davis, Department of Interior

Admiral Thad Allen, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant

What: Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting

When: Monday, October 19, 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. (CDT)

Where: Audubon Aquarium of the Americas & Entergy IMAX Theater

1 Canal Street

New Orleans, LA 70130

Live video-connections will be used at the following locations:

Texas State Aquarium

2710 North Shoreline Boulevard.

Corpus Christi, TX 78402

RSVP Contact: Rosanna Gossett

361-881-1204

rgossett@txstateaq.org

Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Wiese Marine Science Hall, Room 102W

101 Bienville Blvd.

Dauphin Island, AL 36528

RSVP Contact: Ms Lori Angelo

251-861-7507

langelo@disl.org

National Marine Fisheries Service (4:30-7:30 p.m. EDT)
Southeast Regional Office
263 13th Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701

RSVP Contact: Michael Henderson

727-824-5396

Michael.Henderson@noaa.gov

J. L. Scott Marine Education Center

703 East Beach Drive

Ocean Springs, MS 39564

RSVP Contact: Johnette Bosarge

228-818-8893

johnette.bosarge@usm.edu

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:45 pm

by jaydillyo@yahoo.com

gk108 wrote:The link I posted is the source document that Shimano guy is commenting on. I learned a long time ago that a corporate stooge will lie to you faster than a gov't stooge will, simply because the corporate lie pays more. After telling me what my opinion is, Shimano guy wants me to go to a page with 3 DONATE NOW links. To Suite 420??? OK, I think I get it.

At least you know what the corporate stooge's motive is.

The way I look at it though, is that the government is *always* trying to accumulate power. When have they ever given power up? Wether or not you might agree with the intentions I can say with near 100% certainty is that this is indeed another power grab by the feds. I'm not necessarily against the intentions, but I am definitely against the concentration of power.

-- jaydillyo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Their only intention is power. They don't care about fish, or cars, or healthcare. It's all about the power.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:44 pm

by jaydillyo@yahoo.com

I believe that you are correct for the bureaucrats, but not those outside of government who are in favor. Unfortunately it's impossible to win an argument or convince somebody that they are wrong by questioning their motives. In fact it's probably the quickest way to get them to stop listening to you altogether.

-- jaydillyo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:47 pm

by michaelwpayton

As he was leaving one of the final debates, re our Constitution... Ben Franklin was asked;

“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”

He replied;

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Most Americans are not even paying attention... much less "keeping" our Republic. Hell, most don't even know what our "Republic" is/means.

-Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:57 pm

by jaydillyo@yahoo.com

Unfortunately we lost the Republic in 1913 with the ratification of the 17th amendment. With this change the states became agents of the federal government instead of the other way around.

I hope we're not getting too far off track.

-- jaydillyo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

I hope we're not getting too far off track

Nah, the track is Anyone Fishing. We won't be soon if we don't fire these clowns.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:18 pm

by michaelwpayton

My State (Virginia) didn't... ratify the 17th, or the 16th

Regardless,I agree, the 17th (combined with the 16th) pretty much put us on the road to ruin. BUT, it's not too late... repealing both would be a good start back to the Republic we should all concerned with "keeping."

-Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:20 pm

by michaelwpayton

I agree with Larry... perfectly on track... hell, the 16th amendment is why most of us don't build bigger/more boats and fish a whole lot more

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:44 pm

by gk108

Really, in the overall scheme, easing sport fishing restrictions is low hanging political fruit. Why do you think the White House is giving any attention at all to this subject?

Instead of going off all willy-nilly and demanding someone gets fired, it seems more logical to give the White House intelligent input that actually addresses the subject of changing unpopular sport fishing restrictions. Otherwise, they may see you as an individual who knows nothing about fish, but simply wishes to express disdain for another individual.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:10 am

by Cracker Larry

it seems more logical to give the White House intelligent input that actually addresses the subject of changing unpopular sport fishing restrictions.

Everyone, please write your senators and congressmen

Let's pay attention and speak up

Isn't that what I said

they may see you as an individual who knows nothing about fish, but simply wishes to express disdain for another individual.

They will portray me as that anyway. That's another problem I have with this administration, anyone who speaks up against them is labeled as a racist, or a militant nutcase. Like the 20 million plus who attended the town hall meetings recently, nothing but a few fringe militants who don't represent mainstream America. Those were the words of our President and his news media.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:20 am

by gk108

Yep. We sure need some information flowing. A good visual demonstration of what is going on would have a lot of impact, too. Unfortunately, you can't just follow behind a longliner and pick up his dead bycatch for a picture.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:24 am

by michaelwpayton

gk108 wrote:... Unfortunately, you can't just follow behind a longliner and pick up his dead bycatch for a picture.

I don't know about that... after hearing about Larry's recent pleasure cruise, I think he may be able to follow behind one of those big boys, take some pics and enjoy an adult beverage at the same time.

What do you say Larry... you up for it?

-Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 12:56 pm

by gk108

I don't know, Mike. The boat would get full so quickly that the trip would be really short. But a bigger boat is already on his list.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 1:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sure you can follow a longliner. Why not. Richard and I fished next to one for hours, about 80 miles out in the Gulf. Stole some of his GPS numbers too

Agencies do a lot of studies on by-catches of fishing boats. Longliners have very little, actually. Shrimp trawlers probably have the highest bycatch, along with purse seiners. But neither of them are grouper/snapper fishing.
Nets are much worse than any hook and line methods.

After the episode with purse seiners in Costa Rica last year, I would not follow them too closely

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:05 pm

by gk108

I dug a little more and found out about HR1584, a bill currently buried in committee. It was originally introduced in 2008, but never made it out of committee before the end of the session. Its official title is Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009.

Here's a summary:

Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to require fishery management plans, amendments, or regulations for overfished fisheries to specify a time period for ending overfishing and rebuilding the fishery that is as short as practicable (currently, as short as possible). Modifies the exceptions to the requirement that such period not exceed ten years. Requires consideration, in evaluating progress to end overfishing and rebuild overfished stocks, of factors other than commercial and recreational fishing. Requires, when the Secretary of Commerce extends the period under specified provisions, that the maximum rebuilding time not exceed the sum of the initial ten-year period, the expected time to rebuild the stock absent any fishing mortality and under prevailing environmental conditions, and the mean generation time of the stock.

This is the one that appears to give some relief by bringing in factors such as total economic impact, overpopulation of top predators destroying diversity and stuff like that which was not accounted for in the original act. It's currently stuck in the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife. This is the specific legislation that we need to write to Congress about and urge them to get it on the floor and pass it. The detail that makes it important is the part "specify a time period for ending overfishing and rebuilding the fishery that is as short as practicable (currently, as short as possible)". "As short as possible" is what makes them place such extreme limits on sport fishing. This calls for a more practical approach.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:53 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thanks GK

The detail that makes it important is the part "specify a time period for ending overfishing

The bigger detail is what they define as overfishing and how they reach their conclusions. It's not by surveying the people who are actually fishing. I fish a lot, and have fished a lot for 50 years. Commercially, charter and recreation. There is more fish now than there have ever been in my lifetime.

If they shut down bottom fishing in the SE US for 10 years, it would take the coastal economy 25 years more to recover.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:50 pm

by gk108

If they shut down bottom fishing in the SE US for 10 years, it would take the coastal economy 25 years more to recover.

Very true. That's why this bill puts the practicality language in. This gives them leeway to develop a less restrictive plan that may take longer than 10 years with far less impact on the coastal economy and still get satisfactory fish populations. I think it can be done. Somehow, Magnuson-Stevens currently only allows a very small slice of the economic pie to be considered as economic impact. I read that, under the guidelines of that act, Florida suffered a 62 million dollar loss due to the extra restrictions. The actual amount, considering fishing tourism, bait shops, boat shops and the whole pie is somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 times that amount. If you take all of the coastal state losses and add them up, you are getting close to a 100 billion dollars that has been taken from our economy over the last couple of years by this one poorly crafted act of Congress.

Some of those dollars are mine and I'm keeping them until a snapper fishing trip is worth the money. Haven't been in a long time, at first because time and money wouldn't allow it, now it's just a money thing. I won't spend it if all that I get is 2 reds.

This is the spin on HR1584 from the Pew Environment Group:

Despite MSA’s inherent flexibility, H.R. 1584 adds loopholes and exceptions that undermine rebuilding. Some of its troubling provisions include:
•
Allowing fishery managers to delay rebuilding deadlines by attributing declines in fish populations to causes other than overfishing. This will result in continued fishing for already depleted populations.
•
Permitting fishery managers to delay rebuilding deadlines if they can point to a “positive rebuilding trend.” This could indefinitely extend rebuilding deadlines for a majority of fisheries.
•
Delaying rebuilding of fisheries containing mixed stocks managed together. If one of these populations is on a “positive rebuilding trend,” the bill allows for an extension of the deadline and continued exploitation of healthier populations at the expense of more vulnerable ones in the fishery.
•
Rewriting the existing law by deleting the mandate requiring rebuilding to be “as short as possible” and replacing it with “as short as practicable.” This undercuts the Congressional intent to make federal fisheries managers responsible for rebuilding depleted fish populations as quickly as possible.

OK, one bullet point at a time...
First one points the regulators up the river to the polluters that are killing off some vital part of the food chain.
Second one, well I could live with 8 or 10 reds a day for 20 years a lot better than 2 reds a day for any length of time.
Third one is just another reason why flexibility is needed. They are painting with too broad of a brush. It's possible to be more selective.
Fourth one makes you wonder if it was the Congressional intent to make federal fisheries managers responsible for quickly bankrupting a segment of the population.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

may take longer than 10 years with far less impact on the coastal economy and still get satisfactory fish populations

What I'm saying, and most fishermen also, is that the fish populations are better than satisfactory, they are excellent. No need for a closure at all.

I read that, under the guidelines of that act, Florida suffered a 62 million dollar loss due to the extra restrictions. The actual amount, considering fishing tourism, bait shops, boat shops and the whole pie is somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 times that amount.

Exactly, those fishermen also stay in hotels, eat in restaraunts, shop at Walmart, buy gas, take the kids to Disneyworld.... and that was just a 6 month closure on the Gulf coast only. This new closure will encompass the entire east coast of FL, GA and the Carolinas. And instead of it just being one species, it will be an entire closure of bottom fishing. Think what that will do to the economy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:24 pm

by gk108

I already know what it has done to the economy because they used to buy my product, too.

Now, here's an interesting few planks from Obama's campaign platform:

Avoid an automatic preference for no-take marine protected areas over other effective and appropriate conservation measures, whose use and design must be based on an assessment of impacts and balanced by a strong respect for the ability of recreational anglers to practice their sport.

Establish marine protected areas only if it has been determined that less restrictive options won't achieve critical goals such as rebuilding fish stocks. Such a decision should be made as a result of a transparent, science-based process, and be the least intrusive possible to get the job done.

We'll see about that...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:30 pm

by Cracker Larry

I could quote a lot of planks from his campaign platform that have been far less than truthful. Hence my disgruntledness.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:47 pm

by cape man

Guys,

I made some inquiries today based on what I was reading here and elsewhere. The Gulf of Mexico closure for grouper appears to be a real and disturbing possibility (and based on some questionable analysis of the data, IMHO), but the other suggestions (no bottom fishing in the Atlantic and Gulf) is not out there other than rumor and suggestion. The lack of input from recreational fisheries in the written synopsis of the public input is a legitimate concern for all of us that enjoy that pastime/activity, but someone said here not to trust everything you read. I've asked for more info from several other sources but right now I am not in a panic. There is certainly a new sheriff in town and we all need to be vigiliant. I'll let you know if I hear anything different, but right now it seems there's not anything substantial to some of the suggested options.

Don't get me wrong...I agree there are more fish in some fisheries than in my life time, and there are young scientists out there who want a perfect world...without humans...and they both anger and scare me. But right now I don't see the writing on the wall on this one. If someone has something more than the letter from the president of Shimano to indicate there is an eminant closure of bottom fishing let us see it. Otherwise I'm launching a boat soon and going to put as much blood on her as possible! Heck, I'm going to do it anyway!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:18 pm

by Bowmovement

Over here in Southern California we aree having the same issues. Facing alot of closures. Its all talk right now so we will see what happens. Yall think yall got some people over there that like fish more than humans. Some of the people out here blow my mind. Check out some of these videos. "Maniac Of The Week"
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... type=&aq=f
They are trying to protect seals from a place called The Childrens Pool in La Jolla Ca.
Heres a little bit about the Childrens Pool.

Children's Pool in La Jolla, a region of the city of San Diego, was once a coastal bluff called Seal Rock Point. Its features included a shallow water plus a large offshore rock called Seal Rock. La Jolla philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps donated the funds in 1931 to build a sea wall was in an attempt to close off the channel and create a safe bathing area for children. Seals began using the beach as a winter haul-out site during the 1970s. Seals and people shared the beach until 1997 when high bacteria levels from the seals' excrement deemed this beach unsafe for human use. It was roped off and seals have dramatically increased in numbers, dashing any hope of people gaining access to their once beloved Children's Pool and play beach. Children's Pool Beach offers the closest look at wild harbor seals anywhere on the west coast of North America. The only mainland California rookery south of Carpinteria is the southernmost harbor seal rookery in the United States. It offers the harbor seals their only high and low tide sheltered pupping and nursing haul out area. The harbor seal population has dropped slightly in California with one count around 27,500. Places such as Seal Beach 100 miles north of La Jolla in Orange County have tried to attract seals back to a place that even honored the seals by naming its city after the seals, cannot get them back again. Up to 100,000 visitors per month flock to Children's Pool Beach in the summer months, walking along the causeway with its vantage point to study the seal behavior up close.

As Billy Currington says,

God is great, beer is good and people are crazy

Great song by the way.
Here ya go if you havent heard it. I am sure most people here have though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqrogegV1lw

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

As Billy Currington says,
God is great, beer is good and people are crazy

Billy would know beer and crazy, he's a local. Lives right down the road when he's home. Only person I've ever seen who needs 2 body guards with him to go deer hunting, and all of them forget to bring a shotgun

Fame hasn't done him any favors.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:49 pm

by Aripeka Angler

The Gulf of Mexico closure for grouper appears to be a real and disturbing possibility (and based on some questionable analysis of the data, IMHO), but the other suggestions (no bottom fishing in the Atlantic and Gulf) is not out there other than rumor and suggestion.

Craig, the Feds closed all grouper fishing during the last couple of springs due to the data on Gag grouper. I think their thought was that if they closed the harvest of Gags, Red and Black grouper they would deter fishermen from bottom fishing offshore. I would not rule out the total closure of all bottom fishing based on the idiots that are now in charge

Heck, I have even heard that the feds want to hire lawyers to represent the fish....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:51 pm

by Bowmovement

feds want to hire lawyers to represent the fish....

Where does it end

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 10:28 pm

by michaelwpayton

Bowmovement wrote:

Where does it end

Eventually... in bondage, at one level or another. Then, eventually... in revolution, of one kind or another.

Maybe some of us will not have to live to see it... but, certainly, our kids, and theirs, and theirs... will have to deal with it.

"Dad/Granddad --- how/why did you let this happen?" How will we answer?

It's not 'just' about fish guys... wake up, stand up, speak up!

-Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:42 pm

by Cracker Larry

"Dad/Granddad --- how/why did you let this happen?" How will we answer?

I'm glad you asked. Tell them we got what we deserved. This answer is by Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred Senators, 435 Congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices -- 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red .

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ .

If they do not receive Social Security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power..

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

So, back to fishing

Joel's dad and I were going redfishing tomorrow, but the weather forecast is awful. We've rescheduled for Friday. Got a good window on that fish trap hole, hope to catch a many, way more than our limits

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:44 am

by TomW

What do you want. I have a fu**** local hero football player as a congressman who played at the worst educational SEC school in the worst Major educational conference in the NCAA that couldn't debate his way out of a paper bag.

I want Congress and the Senate back to where in was in Jefferson's time. They will live on nothing but there salaries and expense reports. They cannot accept any funds from anyone but constituents in there districts and those funds are limited to $100. The federal goverernment will make funds availble equalably availble for any candidate with at certain periods of time. Say preliminarys and final election and adjusted as people drop out. This will have to be monitered on a state by state basis. The candidates cannot buy there own seat with there own money. This is only an issues oriented election money is not in effect.

There should be an amendment to the Constitution that if the President or the Senate does not follow up on or varies from any one of his campaign policies after 1 year that a recall is automatically in voked and a new election is called for in year two.

This will put them on the same term as a Congressman and make sure they know what they are talking about before they start spiting one thing out of there mouths and later out the other.

I've written my Congresman and Senator on these fishing points and I'll write them again.

To cut off recreational fishing is totally bizarre considering the fish we caught with Richard that day.

Set some solid limits and stick to them. Require certain technicques, we can all learn.

But don't tell us we can't catch a certain type of fish. You will have to put all that species off limit as they all inhabit the same areas.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:20 am

by Cracker Larry

Anyone ever seen a puffer fish this big

It was caught Sunday on an artificial reef off Savannah.

Can anyone identify the species of puffer? Craig? I've never seen one quite like it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:36 am

by gk108

I've never seen one more than about hand size. Had no idea that they get much bigger than that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:51 am

by peter-curacao

I think so if it's the same fish I saw people make lamps of them

I'm glad taste differs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 2:39 pm

by Mad Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:Anyone ever seen a puffer fish this big It was caught Sunday on an artificial reef off Savannah.

Can anyone identify the species of puffer? Craig? I've never seen one quite like it.

Never seen one that large, in person.

I'm glad someone is fishing. This thread was taking a turn for the worst...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 2:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sorry, we've got to make sure we can keep on fishin' MD

Yall try to attend a meeting if there is one near you....

SAFMC PUBLIC HEARINGS

November 2-16, 2009

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a series of public hearings in November regarding proposed management measures within Amendments 17A, 17B, and Amendment 18 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan. The Council will accept written comments regarding the amendments from October 19, 2009 until 5:00 PM November 25, 2009. Specific instructions regarding the submission of written comments will be included in the Public Hearing documents.

Meeting Postcard Announcement (PDF) (posted 10/9/09)

September 2009 Council meeting follow-up news release

Public Hearing summaries and documents will be posted as they become available.

We're going live! Live video of the Public Hearings will be available. Type "SAFMCtv" in the search block on USTREAM to view the hearings as they occur.

Amendment Highlights

(A complete list of management actions and alternatives will be included in the Public Hearing documents.)

Snapper Grouper Amendment 17A - Red snapper are currently undergoing overfishing and are overfished. Amendment 17A establishes Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Accountability Measures (AMs) for red snapper, long term management measures to rebuild the red snapper stock, and a monitoring program for red snapper. Management options include closure of the red snapper fishery plus alternatives for area closures for all snapper grouper fishing to address bycatch of red snapper, permitted fishing zone, and various monitoring program alternatives.

Snapper Grouper Amendment 17B - Establishment of ACLs and AMs for 9 remaining species in the snapper-grouper complex currently listed as undergoing overfishing. Alternatives include a proposed deepwater closure, allocations for golden tilefish, aggregate ACLs for gag, black grouper and red grouper, and AMs to close fisheries once the ACL is met.

Snapper Grouper Amendment 18 - Additional measures are being considered for the snapper-grouper complex, including expansion of the management unit northward, limiting access for the golden tilefish fishery, measures for the black sea bass pot fishery, change in fishing year for golden tilefish, improvements in fisheries statistics, and designation of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) as necessary.

Public Hearing schedule:

Note! All Public Hearings are scheduled from 3:00 pm until 7:00 pm with the exception of the Newport News, Virginia Public Hearing on November 16 scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm.

Monday, 11/2/09
Hilton Garden Inn Charleston Airport
5265 International Boulevard
North Charleston, South Carolina 29418
Phone: 843/308-9330

Tuesday, 11/3/09
Hilton New Bern Riverfront
100 Middle Street
New Bern, North Carolina 28562
Phone: 252/638-3585

Thursday, 11/5/09
Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum
175 Bourne Avenue
Pooler, Georgia 31322
Phone: 912/748-8888

Tuesday, 11/10/09
Key Largo Grande
97000 Overseas Highway
Key Largo, Florida 33037
Phone: 305/852-5553

Wednesday, 11/11/09
Radisson Resort at the Port
8701 Astronaut Boulevard
Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920
Phone: 321/784-0000

Thursday, 11/12/09
Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront
1201 Riverplace Boulevard
Jacksonville, Florida 32207
Phone: 904/398-8800

Monday, 11/16/09 (*scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm)
Virginia Marine Resources Commission office
2600 Washington Avenue, 3rd Floor
Newport News, VA 23607
Phone: 757/247-2200

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 4:00 pm

by TomW

Man Larry I wished I lived closer to New Bern I'd be there. Maybe some of my fellow North Carolinians will see this and attend but a 10 hr drive there and back ain't in the cards right now for various reasons.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:50 pm

by Lucky_Louis

Based on where you caught him, the depth and the size - I'm guessing he's Lagocephalus lagocephalus lagocephalus or Ocean Puffer. I couldn't see any dorsal or anal spines which helpd nail him down.

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Species ... hp?id=4292 Warning: slow to load

They top out at 24" so your's is good size one.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:06 pm

by Cracker Larry

Quoting Capeman

but the other suggestions (no bottom fishing in the Atlantic and Gulf) is not out there other than rumor and suggestion.

Craig, if that is the case, why are these public hearings scheduled along the east coast next month by the SAFMC? That would have to be more than rumor and suggestion? Did your sources comment on ammendments 17A and 17B?

From my earlier post..bold print is mine.

SAFMC PUBLIC HEARINGS

Amendment Highlights

(A complete list of management actions and alternatives will be included in the Public Hearing documents.)

Snapper Grouper Amendment 17A - Red snapper are currently undergoing overfishing and are overfished. Amendment 17A establishes Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Accountability Measures (AMs) for red snapper, long term management measures to rebuild the red snapper stock, and a monitoring program for red snapper. Management options include closure of the red snapper fishery plus alternatives for area closures for all snapper grouper fishing to address bycatch of red snapper, permitted fishing zone, and various monitoring program alternatives.

Snapper Grouper Amendment 17B - Establishment of ACLs and AMs for 9 remaining species in the snapper-grouper complex currently listed as undergoing overfishing. Alternatives include a proposed deepwater closure, allocations for golden tilefish, aggregate ACLs for gag, black grouper and red grouper, and AMs to close fisheries once the ACL is met.

Sure hope you're coming fishing with Richard and I on the full moon. We're going to see how many fish are still out there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

LL, I think that's it

Thanks! That's at least the closest thing to it I've seen yet. Lot of strange fish out there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:26 pm

by peter-curacao

Lamps for sale!!! lamps for sale!!!! who wanna buy a lamp cheap????

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

How bad do those lamps smell when they get hot

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:37 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:How bad do those lamps smell when they get hot

Why do you think they are cheap?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Like the straw hats that turn your hair and face brown, and smell awful the first time it rains. I think they are made of seaweed and tobacco

Everybody's got to make a living

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:55 pm

by Bowmovement

TomW wrote:Man Larry I wished I lived closer to New Bern I'd be there. Maybe some of my fellow North Carolinians will see this and attend but a 10 hr drive there and back ain't in the cards right now for various reasons.

Tom

Tom,
I will dispatch some people for the New Bern meeting. Thats where I was born and raised

Still have alot of friends there and alot of them are avid fishermen.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:01 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Like the straw hats that turn your hair and face brown, and smell awful the first time it rains. I think they are made of seaweed and tobacco Everybody's got to make a living

Correct ! better buy 10 heats instead of one Serviche on the beach

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

It's still raining but we're going fishing in the morning, rain or not

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:14 am

by TomW

Thanks Matt, this thing has really got my dander up. Fishing is a multi-billion industry in this state as you well know and to start to take a part of it away is like saying let's take another and another and another. Restrictions are one thing but to close a fishery means we'll never see it again.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:35 am

by Knottybuoyz

TomW wrote:Thanks Matt, this thing has really got my dander up. Fishing is a multi-billion industry in this state as you well know and to start to take a part of it away is like saying let's take another and another and another. Restrictions are one thing but to close a fishery means we'll never see it again.

This what you're talkin' about Tom?

http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content ... llion.html

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:49 am

by cape man

Larry,

Agree with Lucky Louis' ID ... Lagocephalus lagocephalus. They are pelagic puffers. DO NOT EAT!!! Unless you want to be made into a lamp

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:11 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Larry, did you catch any fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

Larry, did you catch any fish

Well, we caught a few, but nothing to brag about. It was another ugly rainy day, cold too. We ain't used to cold. Neither are our fish

The forecast called for the rain to be ending before 1000, clearing skies, sunshine. Launched at 1000 in fog and drizzle, went to catch bait and there almost wasn't any. Been raining for 4 days and there's too much fresh water in the creeks. Threw the cast net 2 hours for about 4 dozen shrimp, half dozen pogies and 1 crab. Still raining, we rode out to the fishing hole, slow, freezing. Learned that the T-top will hold about 6 gallons of water before it dumps it all down the back of your neck, the crack of your @ss, down both legs and then it fills up both rubber boots

It's sized perfectly to get both hiding occupants at the same time

Got to the drop at the perfect tide. It quit raining, we dried off and dumped our boots, I changed into my last dry shirt. Started fishing and caught 3 nice reds fairly quick, then it began pouring rain again and the bite slowed. Rained the rest of the day, but we fished on. Teeth chattering and knees knocking, dawg gone we ain't been this cold since last March.

Ended up with about 7 decent reds, no big ones though, a couple of black drum, too many pinfish. Trip, (that's Joel's Dad ) caught a bonnethead about 4' and 30 pounds, on 12 pound tackle and got it to the boat

That was a heck of a fight in that skinny creek

All in all, we had a ball

Time well spent, in good company and bad conditions. I believe Trip likes to fish as much as I do, so we'll be getting together again soon, when the sun comes back out

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:18 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Sounds like some tough fishing for sure. Most folks would have went home. Glad you got some fish anyhow

I left Derrick a messsage today about the offshore trip. I told him he could come with us if he hasn't fixed his big boat. I am over at the fishing shack getting the boat ready for the trip. We are going to try to fish in the morning if the wind stays below 20 kts

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 1:45 pm

by tech_support

Larry, thank you for taking my Dad out. I checked the radar a few times while you guys were out and the rain looked pretty much nonstop. Sounds like I need to get my Dad some rain gear for Christmas

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yep! Ask your Dad about his rain gear, he had a raincoat folded in a plastic container and when he opened it up, it turned into orange corn flake crumbs, millions of them

Just got finished washing them all off the boat.

No need to thank me, I thoroughly enjoyed his company. Not many people will fish all day in the rain and cold, and still be able to laugh about it. We'll go again soon

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 3:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

A few Redfishing pictures as promised. My photographer needs some lessons

But these are what he took. I really need to start bringing my camera when I go fishing.

Getting ready to launch, Euhaw Creek, SC

This one's just under slot, he goes in the box..

This one goes back, limit is reached..trying not to handle it.

A limit plus 1, my photographer can't count either

Heading home. This is a strange reflection in the lense, might need KS to interpret this

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 3:44 pm

by flatpicker

Nice mess of fishees there CL. Wish we could keep more than one over here in the gulf. What's the limit on the EC, 5 a piece??
Thanks for posting/sharing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thanks FP. The limit varies state to state. In SC where these were caught the limit is 3 per person, slot is over 15" and under 23". Right across the river in GA, it's 5 a person and the slot is 14-23. In FL, 90 miles away, it's 1 keeper, slot is 18-27. To confuse this either further, just 3 miles offshore in federal waters, possession is illegal. We catch a lot of these on the near shore, state built artificial reefs, but can't keep any under federal law. It's the same fish. They swim back and forth

Not only that, but if I were now to decide to make a quick 20 minute run out to the reef, I'd be in violation of federal law for possessing these fish. The feds have me worried about the future of fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:27 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Larry

Redfish sure are pretty fish

Did you use live bait?

Heading home. This is a strange reflection in the lense, might need KS to interpret this

Maybe a fish scale or a blood spot

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:04 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:
Heading home. This is a strange reflection in the lense, might need KS to interpret this

Looks to me like one of the black spots came off the fishes tail and landed on the sun

Or maybe thats how you can tell the fishing is going to be good for Redfish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:54 am

by Fonda@kauai

Well, not exactly fishing, but I managed to grab some bugs night diving last night

Got 12 altogether, caught in about 15-20 feet of water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 1:47 am

by TomW

Nice!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 7:11 am

by cape man

You guys are making me even more anxious to launch!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:12 am

by Cracker Larry

Well, not exactly fishing, but I managed to grab some bugs night diving last night

Nice! I'll trade some fish for some bugs

Did you use live bait?

Yes, live shrimp, a few finger mullet, a couple of small crabs. Reds are not picky eaters.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:22 am

by JimW

Took the kayak out yesterday in the creek. VERY high tides today and lots of wind. Dink trout everywhere, one keeper. One rat red. Never seen the creek that full of water before.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:10 pm

by daydrmr999

Hey Fonda, I'm jealous of the bugs, season has just started here in Cali, but I haven't had a chance to get out and hoop for any yet...

Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:11 am

by Bowmovement

daydrmr999 wrote:Hey Fonda, I'm jealous of the bugs, season has just started here in Cali, but I haven't had a chance to get out and hoop for any yet...

Mike

Same here. Just been to busy. Can't go this weekend either. The SWMBO and I are moving.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:19 am

by peter-curacao

Is this fishing

Don't remember if I or an other put on this video earlier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_fUmx-HI0Q

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:36 am

by gk108

peter-curacao wrote:Is this fishing

It qualifies in my book. It's all in what you call bait. Some folks use a shrimp or a plug or a spoon, others use a whole boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:10 am

by Cracker Larry

Yep, that's fishing. We call it mullet jumping down here.

More fish closures to report, this time Amberjack

Makes no sense at all, as usual with the Feds. There won't be a charter boat left in FL if they keep it up.

Beginning at 12:01 a.m., local time, on October 24, 2009, the recreational fishery for greater amberjack in federal waters is closed. The recreational harvest and possession of greater amberjack in or from federal waters will be prohibited through the end of the current fishing year, December 31, 2009. A person aboard a vessel for which a federal charter
vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish has been issued must also abide by this provision in state waters.

If despite the closure, recreational landings exceed the quota, NOAA Fisheries Service will file a notification with the Office of the Federal Register, at or near the beginning of the 2010 fishing year, to reduce the length of the recreational fishing season for the 2010 fishing year by the amount necessary to recover the overage from the prior fishing year. This action is required by regulations implemented under the Fishery Management Plan for Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:17 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:There won't be a charter boat left in FL if they keep it up.

Never would have thought there wouldn't be enough charter boats in Florida, could this still be a profitable business in Miami ?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:37 am

by Cracker Larry

Never would have thought there wouldn't be enough charter boats in Florida, could this still be a profitable business in Miami ?

Charter boats are barely profitable in the best of times. Miami is a unique market, it's not a fishing destination, more of a tourist (I sure don't know why) and business/convention destination. Most of the charter boats are based out of the large hotels and cater to conventioneers and business clients, running 4-6 hour trips and trolling for dolphin, wahoo and billfish. Nobody expects to catch much and the corporations foot the bill. The majority of the boats are privately owned and leased to the hotels or charter companies. The owner gets a small income and large tax writeoffs. The captains get a salary and the mates work for tips. I ran a charter boat for a year out of the Ft. Lauderdale Marriott. It was much more like babysitting tourists than it was fishing.

The price of dockage, housing and costs of living in the Miami area would be prohibitive to try to establish a charter business, unless you have some good contacts.

The real fishing destinations, where people travel with the intentions of catching fish and bringing some meat home, focus on bottom fishing, snapper, grouper, amberjack. The boats are mostly owner operated with a much tighter budget than the Miami Diplomat, and without the captive audience. If they can't produce fish people won't come. With snapper and amberjack now both closed in the gulf, and the grouper limits so tight, who's going to spend $1,000 to catch 3 fish?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:41 am

by peter-curacao

Sorry

when I wrote Miami I meant Florida (I know huge difference )

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 9:19 am

by peter-curacao

Not the best way to begin my free Saturday morning, I know I posted this link earlier long time ago, just thought to post it again to bring it under attention again, it's important, at least I think so, please correct me if I'm wrong!

http://www.sharkwater.com/

Edit: Synopsis
Sharkwater – The Story

“An eye-opening film…visually stunning… this movie will change the way you see our oceans.”
Bonnie Laufer,Tribute Magazine

For filmmaker Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure. What it
turned into was a beautiful and dangerous life journey into the balance of life on earth.

Driven by passion fed from a life-long fascination with sharks, Stewart debunks historical
stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and
reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas.

Filmed in visually stunning, high definition video, Sharkwater takes you into the most
shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the
world’s shark populations in the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

In an effort to protect sharks, Stewart teams up with renegade conservationist Paul
Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Their unbelievable adventure together
starts with a battle between the Sea Shepherd and shark poachers in Guatemala, resulting
in pirate boat rammings, gunboat chases, mafia espionage, corrupt court systems and
attempted murder charges, forcing them to flee for their lives.

Through it all, Stewart discovers these magnificent creatures have gone from predator to
prey, and how despite surviving the earth’s history of mass extinctions, they could easily
be wiped out within a few years due to human greed.

Stewart’s remarkable journey of courage and determination changes from a mission to
save the world’s sharks, into a fight for his life, and that of humankind.

http://www.sharkwater.com/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 9:26 am

by Cracker Larry

Yes, it is important. I'd like to get that DVD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:10 am

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:Yes, it is important. I'd like to get that DVD

Lots of them on Ebay $.01 and UP.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 2:46 pm

by peter-curacao

Larry B wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:Yes, it is important. I'd like to get that DVD
Lots of them on Ebay $.01 and UP.

Larry I have a better idea, if you want I sent it over for free by Email (or msn if your mailbox is to small 720 MB), hoping after seeing it you will make a (small) donation to save them .Just let me know.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 5:00 pm

by Larry B

peter-curacao wrote:
Larry B wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:Yes, it is important. I'd like to get that DVD
Lots of them on Ebay $.01 and UP.
Larry I have a better idea, if you want I sent it over for free by Email (or msn if your mailbox is to small 720 MB), hoping after seeing it you will make a (small) donation to save them .Just let me know.

Peter, you can also use http://www.yousendit.com/ It's free. Just zip the files in 100mb or less and send them. Then CL can download them. It works great for sending very large files.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:57 pm

by peter-curacao

Larry B wrote:Peter, you can also use http://www.yousendit.com/ It's free. Just zip the files in 100mb or less and send them. Then CL can download them. It works great for sending very large files.

Thanks Larry that's a good link, but I don't think I can zip 720 mb down to under 100 mb or can I ?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:04 pm

by Larry B

You can do it with winrar. I believe they have a free download, or try Winzip. If you need any help with this email me and I'm sure we can get it done.
Actually you don't zip it down from 720 to 100, you break it up into 8 files, 7-100mb and one 20mb. the program does it for you

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:39 am

by fmiles

I ran into this problem a long while back. Tried everything; this is a very good online fileshare service I have found. 2GB free limit, you can easily control the sharing of files to subscribed users.
https://www.sugarsync.com/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:46 am

by peter-curacao

Tanks guys but I don't think there is really any interest, in me shooting this movie over.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 3:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

More fisheries closure

Now Vermillion Snapper will be closed from Nov 1 until at least March 1 for the whole southeast coast. There goes the charter boats. There isn't anything left to fish for

Craig, you never answered my question about Ammendment 16 and 17 and what your source had to say about that. It seems these closures are happening almost weekly now, the ones yall said wouldn't happen.

Yall laughed at the Shimano guy, but he was right.

As a further hindrance to offshore fishing, all of our offshore weather buoys were shut down on Oct.1, supposedly due to Federal budget constraints. Now we can't get real time weather data

Seems a working buoy would not cost a whole lot to keep running, less than buying GM for sure. But they went out to them and just turned them off

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 3:56 pm

by flatpicker

Cracker Larry wrote:More fisheries closure Now Vermillion Snapper will be closed from Nov 1 until at least March 1 for the whole southeast coast. There goes the charter boats. There isn't anything left to fish for

Craig, you never answered my question about Ammendment 16 and 17 and what your source had to say about that. It seems these closures are happening almost weekly now, the ones yall said wouldn't happen

Yall laughed at the Shimano guy, but he was right.

As a further hindrance to offshore fishing, all of our offshore weather buoys were shut down on Oct.1, supposedly due to Federal budget constraints. Now we can't get real time weather data Seems a working buoy would not cost a whole lot to keep running, less than buying GM for sure. But they went out to them and just turned them off

Hot a mighty dayum! No weather buoys? Now NOAA doesn't even have a CHANCE at getting it right. I'm so sick of government right now I could puke!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:08 pm

by tech_support

Cracker Larry wrote:all of our offshore weather buoys were shut down on Oct.1, supposedly due to Federal budget constraints. Now we can't get real time weather data Seems a working buoy would not cost a whole lot to keep running, less than buying GM for sure. But they went out to them and just turned them off

i was just at the NOAA site the other day and the buoy data seemed to work, are the closures just off GA?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:13 pm

by Cracker Larry

I just read a report that said it costs $68,000 a year to maintain the weather station, and they can't afford it. That won't even pay for one day of an Obama vacation

Here's our weather buoy, it hasn't said a word since 10/1

http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/buoy/SPAG1.html

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

are the closures just off GA?

It's more extensive than that, but I don't know how much so. I know they also shut down the station off Frying Pan Shoals in NC. Seems to be all the ones operated by the Navy and they aren't very forthcoming with information.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:39 pm

by tech_support

they took the link to R8 off the NOAA site

Instead of keeping it up and showing that data is no longer available (more honest)

Im trying to remember if R8 was the one we fished when I was in high school, but I thought it was R9

which one is about 35 miles from Sav. ship channel ? The picture of R8 looks the same, but the towers look alike.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:57 pm

by Cracker Larry

There is not an R9, so you were probably fishing R7 or R8. Both are east of Tybee. R7 is a little closer inshore, maybe 30 miles out, R8 is about 40 miles.

R2 was our main weather site, it's about 35 miles east of Sapelo Island. Here is a list of them

Navy Tower “R7” 45388.0/61069.1 31°49.000'/80°16.500'
Navy Tower “R8” 45220.4/60955.5 31°38.000'/79°55.500'
Navy Tower “M2R6” 45284.1/61143.6 31°32.000'/80°14.000'
Navy Tower “R2” 45342.3/61365.7 31°22.500'/80°34.000'
Navy Tower “R3” 45137.2/61189.4 31°13.000'/80°07.000'
Navy Tower “M1R1” 45186.3/61406.8 31°03.000'/80°27.000'
Navy Tower “R5” 45251.7/61589.8 30°56.500'/80°45.000'
Navy Tower “R4” 45045.1/61414.2 30°48.000'/80°19.000'

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:44 am

by tech_support

think it was R7. For young/strong/dumb kids like us, those AJ's on the tower were a blast.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:25 am

by cape man

Craig, you never answered my question about Ammendment 16 and 17 and what your source had to say about that. It seems these closures are happening almost weekly now, the ones yall said wouldn't happen.

Sorry Larry. Missed that one. Looks bleak at this point for all of this. Should have built a secret hatch and insulated locker in the boat...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:24 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm loading up now for Florida. Richard and I are going to catch the last 20 grouper in the Gulf of Mexico, then it will be over with

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:35 pm

by peter-curacao

Larry here's an affordable weather station

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:00 pm

by wegcagle

I'm loading up now for Florida. Richard and I are going to catch the last 20 grouper in the Gulf of Mexico, then it will be over with

If that's the case then they deserve to be slow cooked over the Big Green Egg and marinated for a few days in some the finest BBB known to man

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:03 pm

by Cracker Larry

I've been thinkin about trying one those Green Eggs. Do you have one?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:19 pm

by wegcagle

Brother in law has one. Cooks GREAT, with wonderful flavor and very juicy meats, but it's a whole new learning curve. Gone are the days of grilling everything around 350-400 F. Those suckers can crank out 650 F

. The first few pieces of meat we tried were AWEFUL

As soon as you get the hang of it, I don't think you can cook a better chunk of meat. I've been asking for one around the birthday/Christmas time frame. I do too much outdoor cooking to have inferior equipment

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:19 pm

by Bowmovement

Cracker Larry wrote:I've been thinkin about trying one those Green Eggs. Do you have one?

Same here. I like to hear some user reviews on the thing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:22 pm

by Bowmovement

wegcagle wrote:Brother in law has one. Cooks GREAT, with wonderful flavor and very juicy meats, but it's a whole new learning curve. Gone are the days of grilling everything around 350-400 F. Those suckers can crank out 650 F . The first few pieces of meat we tried were AWEFUL As soon as you get the hang of it, I don't think you can cook a better chunk of meat. I've been asking for one around the birthday/Christmas time frame. I do too much outdoor cooking to have inferior equipment

Will

Thanks Will.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:38 pm

by Cracker Larry

I do too much outdoor cooking to have inferior equipment

Me too. We cook outdoors every day it isn't raining, sometimes when it is.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:50 pm

by topwater

Whats a big green egg

Do you guys have a web site to look at one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:21 pm

by D2Maine

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:24 pm

by wegcagle

Whats a big green egg Do you guys have a web site to look at one

Yep, it's http://www.biggreenegg.com (Easy enough to remember

)

They are a ceramic cooker that is like grilling the only difference is that the ceramic is MUCH more insulated, therefore only a little charcoal goes a REALLY long way. They also get MUCH hotter, cook very evenly throughout the whole grill (b/c of the insulation) and when you do it right, they lock in flavor well without drying everything out. The only downside is that they are expensive and you have a smaller window of error, because you are cooking at such higher temps. Not a big deal if you are a medium well/ well done kinda person, but I like my meat bloody and mooing.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:26 pm

by wegcagle

Just saw D2 replied

Correct, you can only use lump coal, no kingsford/matchlight/etc. The upside to the lump coal is that once you are done cooking you smother the flames by covering the holes, and you can use one round of lump coal multiple times.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Larry here's an affordable weather station

I love the weather steen

It's certainly more accurate than any forecasts I've heard in months.

Crazy weather here, almost freezing last week, 90 today with a low of 78

And still raining regularly, 2" again last night

Got to get me a weersteen

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:17 pm

by gk108

Sooner or later, you'll have to buy your weather information. It will be similar to buying other services like cable or satellite TV. One senator already tried to get it going in 2005. Under his proposal, the National Weather Service would be replaced by a corporation and you'll buy weather reports by subscription. Capitalism at its finest! NWS is, after all, one of the oldest gov't funded social programs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

Well, they can't leave a stone unturned, now they are banning raw oysters. Many more people die every year from peanuts. There goes more fishing businesses....and restaraunts, and wholesalers...

Anybody see any jobs created here? I do, for a small select handful of high tech oyster sterilizers, that paid their proper dues...

And every Cracker knows you only eat raw oysters in months that have an "R" in them

By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer Cain Burdeau, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 27, 4:18 pm ET
NEW ORLEANS – Federal officials plan to ban sales of raw oysters harvested from the Gulf of Mexico unless the shellfish are treated to destroy potentially deadly bacteria — a requirement that opponents say could deprive diners of a delicacy cherished for generations.

The plan has also raised concern among oystermen that they could be pushed out of business.

The Gulf region supplies about two-thirds of U.S. oysters, and some people in the $500 million industry argue that the anti-bacterial procedures are too costly. They insist adequate measures are already being taken to battle germs, including increased refrigeration on oyster boats and warnings posted in restaurants.

About 15 people die each year in the United States from raw oysters infected with Vibrio vulnificus, which typically is found in warm coastal waters between April and October. Most of the deaths occur among people with weak immune systems caused by health problems like liver or kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, or AIDS.

"Seldom is the evidence on a food-safety problem and solution so unambiguous," Michael Taylor, a senior adviser at the Food and Drug Administration, told a shellfish conference in Manchester, N.H., earlier this month in announcing the policy change.

Some oyster sellers say the FDA rule smacks of government meddling. The sales ban would take effect in 2011 for oysters harvested in the Gulf during warm months.

"We have one man who's 97 years old, and he comes in here every week and gets his oyster fix, no matter what month it is," said Mark DeFelice, head chef at Pascal's Manale Restaurant in New Orleans. "There comes a time when we need to be responsible. Government doesn't need to be involved in this."

The anti-bacterial process treats oysters with a method similar to pasteurization, using mild heat, freezing temperatures, high pressure and low-dose gamma radiation.

But doing so "kills the taste, the texture," DeFelice said. "For our local connoisseurs, people who've grown up eating oysters all their lives, there's no comparison" between salty raw oysters and the treated kind.

A Gulf Coast oyster — or better still, a plate of a dozen oysters on the half-shell — is a delicacy savored for its salty, refreshing, slightly slimy taste. Some people add a drop of horseradish, lemon or hot sauce on top for extra zest.

Treated oysters are "not as bright, the texture seems different," said Donald Link, head chef and owner of the Herbsaint Bar and Restaurant in New Orleans.

"This is an area the government shouldn't meddle in," Link said. "What's next? They're going to tell us we can't eat our beef rare?"

Until the 1960s, raw oysters were rarely eaten in the summertime. (The old adage was never eat oysters in the months without an R in them.) But changes in harvest patterns and advances in refrigeration and post-harvest treatment have made the industry a year-round business. About three-fifths of the Gulf's oysters are harvested during the warm months.

The FDA is promoting a ban because high-risk groups are not heeding warnings about raw oysters, and millions of other people may not know they are vulnerable.

If federal officials require post-harvest treatment, they "will be ruining an industry that has been around for centuries," said Sal Sunseri, co-owner of P&J Oyster Co., a French Quarter oyster wholesaler.

"We've been doing this the same way since the 1920s," said his brother, Al Sunseri, as shuckers in rubber gloves worked their way through piles of raw oysters destined for oyster bars and restaurants. "We're located in the French Quarter. We're not going to get the permits we need to do post-harvest processing. We don't have the space for it."

In Plaquemines Parish, the Louisiana "boot" that juts into the Gulf south of New Orleans, 49-year-old oyster harvester Peter Vujnovich Jr. said the FDA was "totally out of its mind."

Croatian-Americans like him have been harvesting oysters for decades in the area's brackish bays and lakes. He said the ban added insult to injury after he spent tens of thousands of dollars upgrading his boats to meet recent refrigeration regulations.

The FDA contends treating oysters would not affect the taste and would save lives.

"Oysters that undergo post-harvest processing treatment will rarely pose a problem," Taylor said, "while those left untreated can have deadly consequences."

The FDA cited California as the best example. In 2003, California banned untreated Gulf Coast oysters and since then "the number of deaths dropped to zero." By comparison, between 1991 and 2001, 40 people died in California from the infection.

The rule would not affect oysters harvested outside the Gulf. Oysters are harvested up and down the West and East coasts, but the bacteria is not found in such high concentrations there.

Some in the industry, especially the handful of companies that have invested in high-tech treatment technology, praise the FDA plan.

John Tesvich of AmeriPure Processing Co. in Franklin, La., said the industry has "suffered from all the negative publicity" associated with Vibrio vulnificus. He said his oysters, which are treated in a warm bath, taste as good as any others. "We have thousands and thousands of satisfied customers."

But most of the oyster industry is worried.

Anita Grove, executive director of the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce in Florida, said a ban would be crushing. She said oyster harvesters, shuckers, truckers and dealers are "the backbone to our economy. It's always been that way."

Avery Bates, vice president of the Organized Seafood Association-Alabama, predicted two-thirds of Alabama's 50 "mom-and-pop oyster shops" would close, mostly because of the cost of treating oysters.

"We see more people die each year from peanuts, chicken, E. coli, beef," he said. "It's like singling out a certain section of the food industry."

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:28 pm

by Larry B

You'll be out in the middle of nowhere, waves are coming overboard, You call May Day, May Day, you get an answer back, Could we get your credit card information sir?:help: I'm sorry sir, your card was denied, do you have another one you could use? the minium ammout for rescue is $50,000.00 and we need to be paid before we can go out. Would you like to be transfered to our billing dept. in Nigeria? I'm sorry sir your breaking up?? Could you repeat that??? You get the point

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:30 pm

by wegcagle

Sounds like we need to start an illegal raw oyster ring

I bet I could become the next Al Capone

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:15 pm

by Bowmovement

I love Oysters. East coast oysters!! The oysters out here SUCK!!! I can get east coast and gulf oysters at the seafood market for.......wait for it.......wait for it......are you sitting down? $.99/each

The last time I asked the owner if I bought ALOT if he would cut me a deal. He said if I bought at least 100 he would LET the go for $.75/each. He said that was the best DEAL he could make, I promptly told him 100 was an appetizer and where to stick his deal.

Good luck with the oysters. I dont eat them raw but love them steamed.

One thing I always look forward to when I go back to N.C. is an oyster roast. Myself and my parents have been buying oysters from the same man selling from an old blue Jeep Grand Cherokee in Morehead City N.C. ever since Moby Dick was a minnow.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:52 pm

by Mad Dog

Well this will be a huge pickle here in San Antonio. The third week of April each year we hold a 10 day festival called Fiesta Week. The kick-off event is the "Oyster Bake"! Friday evening and all day Saturday, beer, bands, and oysters - baked, steamed, fried, soup (no raw - health concerns). It's been going on for as long as I can remember (50 yrs). What are we going to do if there are no oysters? No one is going to fork out $2 for one oyster. You mention lost jobs, the Oyster Bake is a huge fund raising event. Small potatoes I know but what else are the regulators going to take away?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:53 pm

by fishingdude#1

God wy do they have to bring New Orleans into this they even say that the risks of anything caused by eating raw oysters are minimal

And wegcagle has the right idea

wegcagle wrote:Sounds like we need to start an illegal raw oyster ring I bet I could become the next Al Capone

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:13 pm

by wegcagle

Fishin' dude,

I'm an Appalachacola Bay guy. I grew up at St. George Is bouncing boats and MANY red fish rigs off of the oyster beds all of us have come to love. Our old boat Cpt. used to be more excited when we pulled in a chunk of oysters off the bottom than a 26" Red

He'd scream, "Don't let them git away Willie B. (my nickname). That's the best damn meal I reckon' I'll git this week!" I knew he wasn't lying to me. Then he'd whip out a pocket knife and start going to town on those oysters. Gotta admit after I gave it a try, I would get just as excited with the next batch brought in

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:15 pm

by Bowmovement

wegcagle wrote:Sounds like we need to start an illegal raw oyster ring I bet I could become the next Al Capone

Whenever you are ready to extend your operation, I will be more than happy to run it over here on the left coast.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:37 pm

by gk108

Bowmovement wrote:
wegcagle wrote:Sounds like we need to start an illegal raw oyster ring I bet I could become the next Al Capone
Whenever you are ready to extend your operation, I will be more than happy to run it over here on the left coast.

Matt

I'm in. We're going to need some tongs and a fast oyster boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:51 am

by cape man

15 people die per year. 15...and they are almost all imunocompromised in some way. Thank goodness our federal government is there to protect us once again from ourselves. Good God if we just lived like a bunch of free people we would all die...wait a minute...I guess we are all going to die anyway.

In Florida we have VERY stringent law on designating shellfish waters. Any question, no shellfish harvest allowed. Tampa Bay, especially towards the mouth is cleaner than ever, but still can't be used for shellfish. Waters that have harvest are constantly monitored for bacterial levels, and closed in a flash whenever there's a question. Besides that there are also very stringent HACCP standards to insure that the product is handled and stored properly after harvest. The US shellfish industry is already the tightest regulated fishery in the world, and because of it's renewable nature, is one of the last that supports a thriving waterfront industry. I too grew up with the don't eat them in a month without an "R", but since the current regulations have been instituted, if they are available I'm slurping them.

15/300,000,000. About the same odds as the lottery. Glad the FDA is on top of this!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 6:21 am

by wadestep

Hey Cape Man - (and to get back semi on-topic)

We went down to the Shark River fishing for 2 nights last Thurs and Fri nights. It was a blast, and we have some numbers for a rockpile about 8 miles offshore. The fishing was ON out there: cobia, jacks, and a LOT of sharks. We had a hard time getting the cobia in before loosing them to the sharks.

The big fish of the trip was a nice tarpon - 6'11" long, about 150-160 LBS - a personal best!

We also fished quite a bit up in the Shark and Little Shark Rivers, up through Oyster Bay and Whitewater Bays. No dice. It's some of the best looking inshore area I have seen, but we didn't even see a mullet jump. Nada.

Ran offshore on the way back to Cape Coral and picked up 2 more Cobia and some nice red grouper.

NOAA was saying 10-15 knots all day, but the water was glass calm. I'm glad we took the gamble!

wade

PS - yes, that's a plastic boat. I'm just getting under construction.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:17 am

by cape man

Wade,

Did you stay on one of the Chickees or at Everglades City? Bet the bugs were horrible if you camped!!! I'm heading down to Cape Sable with the new boat in January (maybe December too). Email me the numbers for the rockpile

If the weather permits I want to take the boat out this year. I used to live at Flamingo and fished offshore on some rocks that one of the charter captains knew. Before Loran... Same story...lots of cobia and sharks. Nice Tarpon!!! What did you catch it on? I have found a dead mullet or lady fish on the bottom to be deadly down there. You pick up other stuff (sharks, sawfish, big rays) but Tarpon love a dead fish.

Whitewater Bay and associated waters can be almost sterile at times, and then turn on like crazy with trout, reds, and mangrove snapper. Before the rules on trout we caught over 100 in a canoe one day on the south end of whitewater bay. Cleaned fish for hours! It is one of the most beautiful places in the world though. I try and run the loop from Flamingo to Shark River and then down around the Cape each year I go. Usually run through Joe River on the western edge. Almost a guarantee to see lots of bottle nose dolfin and manatees which is always a treat for the passengers, young or old.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice job on the fishing Wade. Awesome tarpon

I just got in this evening from a Gulf of Mexico fishing trip with Aripeka Angler Richard and a couple of his friends. Richard is a first class serious fisherman and as always with him, we caught a serious amount of fish. There is no danger of the GOM running out of grouper any time soon, we released over 100 gags and reds and brought home a full fishbox of grouper, snapper and a cobia.

Most of the first day the sea was almost flat calm, but it started chopping up about midnight and the rest of the trip was a sloppy 3-6 sea. Had a long night after that, took one wave over the bow about 4 am that dowsed 3 sleeping fisherman, while Richard fished on

Was going to move to another drop about 5AM and got the anchor hung up and couldn't retrieve it. After a lot of effort we finally had to cut it loose and donate it to Neptune, along with about 30' of chain and a lot of line

Neptune always gets his due.

As usual when I'm fishing I didn't take many pictures, but did get a few. Sunset over the Gulf was beautiful, worth the trip by itself..

30 miles offshore and calm as a pond

Don fighting a cobia in the dark,

Richard gaffing..

Bloody decks....

Fishbox of snapper and such...

Fishbox of grouper, some of them..

More fish..

Unloading at the dock...

Thanks Richard, for another great trip and fabulous hospitality

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:30 pm

by Bowmovement

Looks like a great trip!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:41 am

by cape man

Sure does

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:45 am

by TomW

Nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:04 pm

by Joe H

Nice fishing trip, wish i were there, yeah I'm jealous, getting colder here in Michigan.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

Wish yall could have been there. I added a couple more pictures to the last post, should have taken more. But when the fishing was hot, I was fishing, not photographing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 7:00 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote: I was fishing, not photographing

Good choice

seems like you guys had a ball great pics

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 7:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
Thanks Richard, for another great trip and fabulous hospitality

You are welcome and have an invite to fish with us anytime

It is nice to fish with a great fisherman, good guy and first class Captain

The grouper bite was very, very good. We left alot of big fish swimming with jewelry in their mouth

I think Jim will think long and hard before dropping a 2 lb. bait into the Bayport rocks with 20 lb. test

We will have to do it again. Maybe next time in the daylight....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:31 pm

by Cracker Larry

I think Jim will think long and hard before dropping a 2 lb. bait into the Bayport rocks with 20 lb. test

Yeah, that was funny. I didn't mention our baits, but Richard and I stayed up until 0200 the night before catching bait, then got up the next morning and caught a lot more. We left with at least 120 live baits, maybe more, some of them big enough to fillet and eat. Used every one of them

We will have to do it again. Maybe next time in the daylight....

I'll do it again daylight, or dark. That weird weather front was the only problem with the dark. And heck, we got to hear grown men scream like litte girls twice in one night

Can't get that kind of action at home

If you ever quit your day job, I think you'd make as fine a charter boat captain as there is anywhere

I loved your last statement about the stuck anchor. "Anybody got any more ideas before we cut it loose, and I don't even want to hear about tieing it to the *#$^&*# stern

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:24 pm

by wadestep

I'll try to get those numbers - they're on the GPS at home. It was an easy run from the mouth of the Shark River.
The ONLY fish we caught inshore was a lizardfish... which we put back out and used to catch a sailcat. We then chopped it's head off and used the back 2/3 for bait. It caught the tarpon. Estimated weight 150-180 lbs.

The next night we had some dead bait (ie jacks, cobia carcasses, etc...) and we basically caught sharks until our arms were sore and we fell asleep.

We also caught 2 nice cobias from the radar tower 8.3 NM at a 201 deg heading from the Cape Romano shoal marker - it's on the charts.

We stayed on a friend's boat anchored about 1/4 mile from shore between the little and big shark rivers. I was expecting a mosquito swarm, but we were pleasantly surprised - some no-seeums but few mosquitoes.

In all we caught about 1,000 lbs of fish, most of the weight in sharks and the tarpon which we released them all. Kept the Cobia and grouper though!!!

cape man wrote:Wade,

Did you stay on one of the Chickees or at Everglades City? Bet the bugs were horrible if you camped!!! I'm heading down to Cape Sable with the new boat in January (maybe December too). Email me the numbers for the rockpile If the weather permits I want to take the boat out this year. I used to live at Flamingo and fished offshore on some rocks that one of the charter captains knew. Before Loran... Same story...lots of cobia and sharks. Nice Tarpon!!! What did you catch it on? I have found a dead mullet or lady fish on the bottom to be deadly down there. You pick up other stuff (sharks, sawfish, big rays) but Tarpon love a dead fish.

Whitewater Bay and associated waters can be almost sterile at times, and then turn on like crazy with trout, reds, and mangrove snapper. Before the rules on trout we caught over 100 in a canoe one day on the south end of whitewater bay. Cleaned fish for hours! It is one of the most beautiful places in the world though. I try and run the loop from Flamingo to Shark River and then down around the Cape each year I go. Usually run through Joe River on the western edge. Almost a guarantee to see lots of bottle nose dolfin and manatees which is always a treat for the passengers, young or old.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:14 am

by Doc_Dyer

what depth was the anchor lost at?

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:18 am

by Cracker Larry

35 feet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:54 pm

by Doc_Dyer

35 feet >>>>>????????
why didnt someone swim down and unfoul it???

I would guess that you have a GPS location for said anchor???

looks like a Great way for me to get another dive in

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:12 pm

by gk108

If an anchor is anchored, can you still claim salvage rights?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

35 feet >>>>>????????
why didnt someone swim down and unfoul it???

Yeah. Uh-huh. That theory sounds real good, if you're pondering it from a comfy desk on a nice day. But, being as it was pitch black dark, with a strong current, a 4-6 ft. sloppy sea, nobody on the boat was under 50, nobody on the boat had slept in 24 hours, and we didn't have a mask or fins....well...let's just say that we were at least one short on volunteers. I probably would have gave it a try with mask and fins, but it would be stupid to get in that water without them. If the swimmer got separated from the boat he would be gone, gone. An anchor isn't worth that.

I would guess that you have a GPS location for said anchor???

Of course, but after we spent an hour snatching on it from every direction with 400 HP, I doubt it would be worth more than scrap metal anyway. Probably looks like a pretzel, and our thoughts were, it would be similar to biting yourself in the nuts to get it back

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:34 am

by Doc_Dyer

ummm, I guess I forgot my wink icon

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:54 am

by Cracker Larry

Oh, I thought you were serious

Now, if we had the seal team aboard things might have been different

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:46 pm

by Doc_Dyer

ahhh we would have tried it, because I wouldn't go to sea with out my dive gear, and at least my pony bottle and light

ohh and my spear gun

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:43 pm

by cape man

[quoteBut, being as it was pitch black dark, with a strong current, a 4-6 ft. sloppy sea, nobody on the boat was under 50, nobody on the boat had slept in 24 hours, and we didn't have a mask or fins....well...let's just say that we were at least one short on volunteers.][/quote]

If I could have gone with you I would have...agreed with the decision and offered my knife. Smart move.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

I would have...agreed with the decision and offered my knife. Smart move.

That's one reason I'm always happy to fish with Richard. He makes smart decisions. Not the easiest decisions, but the smartest ones. Nobody wants to lose a $200 anchor, but he was ready to cut it long before the other 3 of us were, and it was his anchor

Good seamanship involves a lot more than good boat handling, it's all about risk management and knowing when to cut your losses, before they escalate

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:46 am

by Aripeka Angler

That's one reason I'm always happy to fish with Richard. He makes smart decisions. Not the easiest decisions, but the smartest ones. Nobody wants to lose a $200 anchor, but he was ready to cut it long before the other 3 of us were, and it was his anchor

I appreciate the kind words Larry

No anchor is worth getting killed over. It was not coming out of that crap that was holding the fish

Good seamanship involves a lot more than good boat handling, it's all about risk management and knowing when to cut your losses, before they escalate

Yes it does. I have a very healthy respect for the sea. Know the limits of your boat and crew and chances are that you will get back home alive.

I have been gone from home every day since we fished and have not kept up with this thread. I am currently in Miami, wish I was home. Good thing we went fishing last week because it is really windy now. When the storm Ida passes next week the GOM will really be rocking and rolling....

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:47 am

by Aripeka Angler

edit, double post for some reason

Must be my cell card

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:00 am

by Cracker Larry

Yeah, it's late in the season for a storm but it looks like this one will be right over you about Thursday or Friday. Here is a good site for storm tracking if you don't have it..

http://www.stormpulse.com/fullscreen/current

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:49 am

by cape man

Larry, opened that site and they have Ida in the Atlantic?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:54 pm

by Cracker Larry

Not for me

Try it again

Edit: I think that link might be relying on my cookies ( can't believe I said that) Uh, the cookies on my PC, try this link

http://www.stormpulse.com/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:49 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Larry, looks like Ida is heading to the Panhandle

Gulf storms are not good for the fishing shack as you know. The slab is only 44 inches above the sea wall. Hopefully, the storm will peter out and not hurt anyone. Still in Miami, I will be glad to get back to the real world in the morning....

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:30 am

by TomW

Good luck Richard let's hope Ida dies a slow death like they are forecasting and the fishin' shack stays safe and dry and only slightly wet.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:09 pm

by Cracker Larry

The deadline for the fishery closure is getting near. I know most of yall don't fish offshore, but a note to your representatives to support those of us who do would be appreciated. Look at the list of fish that will be closed, this is for up to 15 years, or forever for us older guys

This is all about control, nothing to do with fish

It appears this is the last round of public comment on these amendments that will permanently change our harvest of fish.
Time is running short with the comment period ending on Nov 25.
Here are some pertinent web sites-
Summary docs-
Public Hearing 2009 Documents

South Atlantic update- This shows the proposed closed areas-
http://www.safmc.net/Portals/6/Newsl...ll09Update.pdf

Summary of 17A, 17B, & 18
Amendment Highlights

(A complete list of management actions and alternatives will be included in the Public Hearing documents.)

Snapper Grouper Amendment 17A - Red snapper are currently undergoing overfishing and are overfished. Amendment 17A establishes Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Accountability Measures (AMs) for red snapper, long term management measures to rebuild the red snapper stock, and a monitoring program for red snapper. Management options include closure of the red snapper fishery plus alternatives for area closures for all snapper grouper fishing to address bycatch of red snapper, permitted fishing zone, and various monitoring program alternatives.

Snapper Grouper Amendment 17B - Establishment of ACLs and AMs for 9 remaining species in the snapper-grouper complex currently listed as undergoing overfishing. Alternatives include a proposed deepwater closure, allocations for golden tilefish, aggregate ACLs for gag, black grouper and red grouper, and AMs to close fisheries once the ACL is met.

Snapper Grouper Amendment 18 - Additional measures are being considered for the snapper-grouper complex, including expansion of the management unit northward, limiting access for the golden tilefish fishery, measures for the black sea bass pot fishery, change in fishing year for golden tilefish, improvements in fisheries statistics, and designation of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) as necessary.

Electronic comments are being received at-
SGAmend17APH@safmc.net
SGAmend17BPH@safmc.net
SGAmend18PH@safmc.net

List of SAFMC members- It takes time, but isn't it worth it to preserve our rights? Send a note to EVERY one of them!
Council Members2

List of fish in the Snapper/Grouper Management Group- These are the fish that will be prohibited to harvest in the closed areas-
Snappers
Lane Snapper
Yellowtail Snapper
Gray Snapper
Mutton Snapper
Vermilion Snapper
Red Snapper
Black Snapper
Queen Snapper
Schoolmaster
Blackfi n Snapper
Cubera Snapper
Mahogany Snapper
Dog Snapper
Silk Snapper
Groupers
Gag
Scamp
Red Grouper
Black Grouper
Speckled Hind
Snowy Grouper
Warsaw Grouper
Wreckfi sh
Rock Hind
Graysby
Yellowedge Grouper
Coney
Red Hind
Goliath Grouper
Misty Grouper
Nassau Grouper
Yellowmouth Grouper
Tiger Grouper
Yellowfi n Grouper
Porgys
Red
Sheepshead
Grass
Jolthead
Saucereye
Whitebone
Knobbed
Longspine
Scup
Triggerfi sh
Gray
Queen
Ocean
Jacks
Greater Amberjack
Yellow Jack
Blue Runner
Crevalle Jack
Bar Jack
Almaco Jack
Lesser Amberjack
Banded Rudderfi sh
Tilefi shes
Golden Tilefi sh
Blueline Tilefi sh
Sand Tilefi sh
Grunts
White Grunt
Black Margate
Porkfi sh
Margate
Tomtate
Smallmouth Grunt
French Grunt
Spanish Grunt
Cottonwick
Sailors Choice
Blue Stripe Grunt
Spadefi shes
Spadefi sh
Wrasses
Hogfi sh
Puddingwife
Sea Basses
Black Sea Bass
Bank Sea Bass
Rock Sea Bass

Sec of State Gary Locke will have final say over these measures-
TheSec@doc.gov

NOAA is the driving force behind this with PEW Charitable Trust, Oceana & the Ocean Conservancy steering the boat. Send a note to them all!-
Jane Lubchenco-
Jane Lubchenco Info | Facebook
jane.lubchenco@noaa.gov

I will add links as I find them.
WAKE UP AMERICA!

Fishing will be outlawed for recreational fishermen.
Do you want to install a VMS on your recreational boat?
The Law of the Sea Treaty was never signed by the US. Obama is trying to get it signed before the end of the year. Bet you didn't hear about that!
LOST and Found: Senate Moves Toward Ratification of U.N.'s 'Law of the Sea Treaty' - FOXNews.com

Get involved!
Get educated!
Get motivated!
Don't be invisible!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:51 pm

by tech_support

the link to the proposed closures is not working ?

Management options include closure of the red snapper fishery plus alternatives for area closures for all snapper grouper fishing to address bycatch of red snapper, permitted fishing zone, and various monitoring program alternatives.

you cant wet a line with your family because there is an off chance you may catch the wrong species of snapper

Completely asinine

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:09 pm

by Cracker Larry

Try this one

http://www.safmc.net/Portals/6/Meetings ... sOct09.pdf

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:30 pm

by TomW

Some of those areas are HUGE.

Let's hope some restraint is shown and they only implement parts of this ridiculous plan. It sounds like they are going through with it no matter what the meetings do and say.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:40 pm

by tech_support

I REALLY do not like those maps!!! Every guy from NC to Daytona is going to be at "my" boat ramp on the weekend - most of those closure maps have a southern limit around Sebastian Inlet

My quick email. I encourage everyone else to voice their opinions to these non-elected folks who will determine if we get to fish or not....

http://www.safmc.net/Meetings/PublicHea ... fault.aspx

Hello,

I am writing to express my concern over the proposed Snapper Grouper Amendment 17 A.

I am a recreational fisherman and boater, I keep for food less then 10 pounds of fish per year despite catching many hundreds of pounds. In this endeavor, I spend quite a bit of money on boating and fishing related products. If this measure passes it will certainly change that pattern of spending. Why own/pay taxes on a boat that I can no longer use?

If the council wishes to do something productive to the management of the specie in question, simply eliminate all commercial harvest and sale of that specie. Its quite simple. It is well established that a fish caught by a recreational fisherman has many multiple times the economic benefit vs. the same fish caught commercially. Commercial fishing is long term unsustainable, I have no doubt. Please do not keep this dying industry on life support at the expense of the recreational/family sportsman.

Do the right thing,

Joel Shine
Vero Beach, FL

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:38 pm

by Cracker Larry

Some of those areas are HUGE.

I REALLY do not like those maps!!!

That's what I've been saying, and it's going to happen in about 10 days

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:28 pm

by myvoodoo

would that area include parts of louisiana specifically lake pontchatrain

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:49 pm

by gk108

It looks like the FDA has clarified the raw oyster ban proposition:

In a victory for Florida agriculture officials and Apalachicola oyster businesses, the Food and Drug Administration today backed down from a plan that might have banned raw oyster sales by the spring of 2011. FDA spokeswoman Megan Scott in Washington said the agency will work with the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference to prevent bacteria infections, which she said cause about 15 deaths per year. The FDA had proposed rules requiring "post-harvest processing" -- such as flash freezing, pressure treatment or warm-water pasteurization -- for oysters sold in the warm months.

U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., had proposed legislation to stop the new rules from taking effect. State Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson also sent a letter to the FDA, protesting that Gulf Coast fisheries are already having a tough time financially and that the added regulations would threaten a way of life in the Panhandle.

"While it's a victory, the FDA stepped back from implementing the new policy, we still have to be careful because they've yet to altogether rule out a ban on raw oysters from the Gulf Coast," said Nelson.

In Washington, Scott said no "ban" had been proposed by the FDA. She said the agency wanted an education campaign on prevention of the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria and, if a 60 percent reduction in illness was not achieved in seven years, it would then mandate post-harvest treatment methods.

60% is getting down to splitting some fine hairs. I can think of several other ways for the gov't to prevent 10 people from dying each year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:45 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Ok Larry, here is my email that I sent to the link that was provided. Hope I did not hurt the cause...

To whom it may concern,
I have read with great interest the proposed closure of large areas of the Atlantic seaboard to grouper and snapper fishing. I live on the Gulf of Mexico and we have also faced many issues such as closed seasons on several species of bottom dwelling fish due to overfishing concerns. In most cases, the overfishing is due to uncontrolled commercial fishing. I suspect that is the case on the Atlantic side of our state as well. The closure of all bottom fishing due to red snapper being overfished seems to me to be a drastic remedy to a problem that could easily be solved by strict limits on the problem species.
Recreational fishermen are by and large a very law abiding group that will adhere to regulations if they are reasonable. The total closure of all bottom fishing is not reasonable and will result in untold pain and suffering among many workers at marinas, baithouses, boat dealers as well as the fishermen themselves that did not cause the overfishing.
Recreational fishermen are very good stewards of the environment and will adapt to catch regulations that are specific to the species that are perceived to be overfished.
Please reconsider the total closure of bottom fishing due to the issue of red snapper overfishing.

Richard Grimes
Dade City, Fl. USA

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:53 am

by TomW

Larry used there 17A address to send my 2 cents and cc:'d you.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:02 am

by Cracker Larry

Gone fishing, while I still can

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 8:44 am

by Bowmovement

Cracker Larry wrote:Gone fishing, while I still can

Be safe and have fun!

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:51 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Gone fishing

Funny movie

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 1:59 am

by Cracker Larry

A beautiful day fishing today, uh, yesterday now. No Excuse was used hard and put up dirty tonight. This is the way fall is supposed to be in the low country

Calm wind, blue sky, low in the 50s and high of 78 degrees. We fished until dark in my new favorite redfish hole/fish trap. Caught about 2 dozen slot sized redfish, none over, none under

a few spotted sea trout, a couple of nice flounder, and a couple of whiting

We don't count 8 stingrays and about the same amount of puffer fish

I had a new fishing partner today and he fished entirely with Berkley Gulp baits, while I used only fresh shrimp. I was amazed, but he beat me by a couple of redfish, and he caught both of the flounder. And the largest fish! I caught the trout and whiting. The Gulp baits were pretty impressive

I've never used them much, but will give them more credibility now.

I won't bore you with more pics of dead fish, but I'll show you my fishing hole. You'll see why No Excuse has a graphite bottom and metal shoe on the skeg. The oysters have no mercy, but the OD18 runs real skinny. These pics are just below half tide. The water was covering the grass 3 hours earlier, and it will fall another 2 feet before it starts back in. A 7.5 foot swing today, in 6 hours. When the tide is high all of the oyster and some of the grass is covered with water. Barely.

This is the creek leading in...

And a look around the fishing hole. In the background across the oysters is Broad River, it's over a mile wide there and we're about 6 miles up river from the ocean. On the far side of the river is Parris Island (USMC)

The oysters are food grade, certified clean and legal to pick with a fishing license. This week.

I do love fall

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:07 am

by Bobg

You can't ask for a better day than that!

Oyster harvesting's hard work, if your back's not into it. Those oyster beds look untouched.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:23 pm

by TomW

Great day to be out on the boat Larry. Sure was prettttttttttttty.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 4:28 pm

by cape man

Another OD18 joins the ranks of fish killers... First blood on Clara this morning. Picked her up trolling the edge of the channel coming into Port Manatee (Tampa Bay) in about 30' of water using a stretch 25 diving plug (blue). Not bad for the first fish in!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 4:32 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice kingfish

Perfect for first blood.

Smoked fish dip for a month

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 4:37 pm

by cape man

And I make the best smoked fish dip in the world...if I don't mind saying so myself!

Just in time for Thanksgiving!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 4:39 pm

by peter-curacao

cape man wrote:And I make the best smoked fish dip in the world...if I don't mind saying so myself! Just in time for Thanksgiving!

Where did you live you said? or better the exact address to pound in my gps

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:34 am

by Bobg

Nice king for sure.

I thought, until now, I was the only one that knew how to make a smoked fish dip. That stuff's addicting

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:07 am

by Cracker Larry

Bob, I think anywhere there are kings, there is smoked fish dip

What else are you gonna do with them

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:52 am

by Mad Dog

Bobg wrote:Nice king for sure.

I thought, until now, I was the only one that knew how to make a smoked fish dip. That stuff's addicting

Well I confess I have nevered heard of smoked fish dip. Would one of you please tell me how to make it? The kings have left town but we are still catching spanish mackerel off the beaches.

Thanks,

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:08 am

by tech_support

Nice first fish!

I do like smoked fish dip, its about the best (least bad) way to eat king macks

We have quite few commercial fishermen in Sebastian who only catch kigfish, unload them by the wheel barrel full. The local restaurants use some of it to make dip, and they ship out a lot too. Its tasty with a cold beer.

This summer we made chowder from some kingfish and it was very good. I normally use fish that is a little freezer burned or otherwise not grilling material for chowder, and I think the kingfish was the best chowder fish I have used. My wife makes a healthy version of chowder and to me its better than the heavy cream version. I think she uses a little milk and substitutes cauliflower for some of the potatoes

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:23 am

by Aripeka Angler

Mad Dog, here is how I make fish dip. Getting the proper flavor from the fish is very important.I rub the filets down with GOPPS (Garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, pepper, salt) Be sure to use red pepper.I smoke the fish using orange wood. I guess oak or mesquite will work but I don't use charcoal. Oh yeah, leave the skin on the kingfish while smoking

When the fish is done allow it to cool off. Remove all of the skin, bones and the dark meat. Crumble the remaining meat into a mixture of whipped cream cheese, finely chopped green onions or chives and add a little bit of crushed garlic. No need to add anymore seasoning, it is all in the smoked meat. Serve on a cracker with tobasco and finish with a cold beer. That's how I do it. Sorry, I never measure anything when I make the stuff...

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:23 am

by smilinmatt

Spanish mackeral are my favorite fish to smoke. I leave the little ones in longest. They come out like beef jerky, but they're still moist from all the oil in the meat.

Larry, those pictures remind me of where I used to fish in St. Augustine. I built the GF-12 because I couldn't get my 13' whaler to a lot of my spots at low tide.

Everyone's smoked fish dip recipes are a little different. It's as simple as mixing the fish with sour cream (or milk and cream cheese) and spices. Pretty much add anything you think will taste good - garlic, onion, celery, hot sauce, chopped pickles, mustard, etc. Consistency varies too with preference, you can mash it to a paste, or just mix it enough to blend everything together.

I have a funny story of fish chivalry (or lack of) from last weekend. I was spearfishing on a ledge, and a male and female hogfish swam up. The male ducked under the ledge, leaving the female in the open. I made a couple drops looking for him under the ledge, but couldn't find him. The female stayed above the ledge waiting for him the entire time. She was keeper sized, but I left her alone, figuring she had enough problems with her choice of mate.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:15 am

by Cracker Larry

That funny right there, Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 5:50 pm

by Bobg

Aripeka Angler wrote:Mad Dog, here is how I make fish dip. Getting the proper flavor from the fish is very important.I rub the filets down with GOPPS (Garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, pepper, salt) Be sure to use red pepper.I smoke the fish using orange wood. I guess oak or mesquite will work but I don't use charcoal. Oh yeah, leave the skin on the kingfish while smoking When the fish is done allow it to cool off. Remove all of the skin, bones and the dark meat. Crumble the remaining meat into a mixture of whipped cream cheese, finely chopped green onions or chives and add a little bit of crushed garlic. No need to add anymore seasoning, it is all in the smoked meat. Serve on a cracker with tobasco and finish with a cold beer. That's how I do it. Sorry, I never measure anything when I make the stuff...

Richard

I use mayonaise and add a few drops of liquid smoke to the batch. The mayo is the last thing I add. I season the fish similarly as Mad Dog and remove skin and bones after smoking, I also add black pepper to the flaked/chopped fish, in a quantity that turns the suface dark, then mix it in, more pepper and mix, salt to taste, then add the mayo until it feels right and can be spread on a cracker without breaking it.

I made this for some Cuban friends, his mother that walks with a cane, got up crossed the room to get more. All the compliment I needed.

One more thing, for some reason it always tastes better on those captains crackers, or Keebler club crackers

It's always better the next day.

When I moved here from Fl , nobody around here ever heard of it, so I had to show these folks how I made it. I get all the kings I want, as long as I share the dip. Just like the folks in Fl i knew, they could buy it but it seems, nobody knew how to make it.

Like CL says, there's not much else you can do with them

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:58 pm

by peter-curacao

Hellmann's Mayo

Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery on May 5th in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.
This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.

The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.
The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko De Mayo.

And now you know where the name originated!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:28 pm

by wegcagle

That's a great one Peter. You always have a great joke available. Did you google it? If you did that's cheating

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:51 am

by cape man

Similar to other recipes given, but here's mine. Works with any smoked fish. Have made it from Jack Crevalle and no one knew thay were eating a "trash fish"...

Split the fish down the middle (butterfly like) and cook meat side up. I smoke the fish with hickory (oak works as well, but I really prefer hickory and have several trees on the property. You can also use the nuts, which I am collecting right now for cooking this coming year). I rub salt, black pepper, and red pepper on the meat. I like to smoke it for about 8 hours minimum at low temp preserving as much of the oils as possible. Afterwards let it cool so you can work it by hand and remove skin and bones. I shred the meat as fine as possible, again all by hand. In a large bowl I add:

garlic
Mayonaise
garlic
hard boiled eggs (extends the spread significantly and adds a really nice texture)
garlic
finely chopped celantro (not too much!)
garlic
finely chopped celery
garlic
finely chopped onions
garlic
salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste (usually there's enough from the initial rub at cooking)

I like mine spicier than some, so I always make a separate bowl with extra red pepper.

Serve with any good cracker (or even bad cracker), hot sauce and a cold beverage of choice (I think you all know mine by now). It freezes well if you put it in ziplocks with all the air removed, and only gets better with age.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:37 am

by Dougster

Nice looking recipe, though I might kick up the garlic

What temp do you smoke?

Cares about these important things Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:56 am

by Mad Dog

So let me see, you take some spinich dip (without the spinich) add EXTRA garlic and smoked mackerel, garnish with tobasco sauce and a Corona? Uh huh, sounds good to me.

I'm fresh out of mackerel and jacks but I've got some B-liners in the freezer. May be a surprise dish at the dinner table on Turkey day. I'll tell the kids what it is after they finish it off.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:11 am

by cape man

What temp do you smoke?

Nothing above 200 degree F. 150 seems the sweet spot for me. Takes longer to get all the way through, especially on a thick piece of fish like a big Kingfish, but it keeps the moisture in.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:42 am

by tech_support

im getting hungry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

im getting hungry

Me too!

Joel, are you coming home for Thanksgiving? The weather is great (right now) and the redfish are biting. I'd love to take you and your Dad out, if you have time. The tides will be perfect next week, from Thursday until the following Tuesday, and I can go any day except turkey day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:25 pm

by TomW

im getting hungry

Me to, guess I'll have to smoke some trout.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:58 pm

by tech_support

Cracker Larry wrote: Joel, are you coming home for Thanksgiving? The weather is great (right now) and the redfish are biting. I'd love to take you and your Dad out, if you have time. The tides will be perfect next week, from Thursday until the following Tuesday, and I can go any day except turkey day.

You bet we would

I will check with the Wife and my Mom to see what days we can get away, but most likely Friday or Saturday would be best.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:00 pm

by tech_support

Oh yeah, I have little bucket full of those nasty gulp shrimp

they smell like the formaldehyde soaked shark I dissected in elementary school science class - but the do work I have to admit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Friday or Sat would be best for me and the tides too

Let's do it. There is almost no live bait left in the creeks and the gulps seem to work as well as dead bait. I was outfished by gulps on Monday. I'm still bringing real shrimp though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:14 pm

by Bobg

Peter, that's funny.

All those recipes work well, and just goes to show how many different ways to make a smoked fish dip.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:41 pm

by Bowmovement

Went out Friday and got some bugs..

Quality is not great. All I had was my phone.
These were caught from a FS14. My buddy picked it up on craigslist for $250. No motor and no trailer. It is a work boat finish but it was purchased just for lobstering. The boat is built a little heavy. It is very stable and extremely solid!

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:44 pm

by cape man

Those would go good with my dip! NICE!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:47 pm

by Cracker Larry

That IS NICE

They would go great on the grill, in my fireplace. Cold and raining here today, that would be just the thing to go with our grouper steaks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:03 pm

by Bowmovement

cape man wrote:Those would go good with my dip! NICE!

Yes sir

Do you think Barracuda would work ok for smoked fish dip? We dont have king mackeral out here. Theres an abundance of Cuda though.

Cracker Larry wrote:That IS NICE They would go great on the grill, in my fireplace. Cold and raining here today, that would be just the thing to go with our grouper steaks

They are planned for the grill. Maybe turkey day.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:31 pm

by cape man

Do you think Barracuda would work ok for smoked fish dip?

Don't see why not. Never smoked a cuda, but haven't had a smoked fish I didn't like yet. Give it a shot and report back. Sitting here watching the Bucs game eating dip and washing it down with a cold beer. Proud of myself, and the fact that the new boat provided this fine food is even better!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:39 pm

by Bowmovement

cape man wrote:
Do you think Barracuda would work ok for smoked fish dip?
Don't see why not. Never smoked a cuda, but haven't had a smoked fish I didn't like yet. Give it a shot and report back. Sitting here watching the Bucs game eating dip and washing it down with a cold beer. Proud of myself, and the fact that the new boat provided this fine food is even better!

It must feel good. Good luck to you Bucs. I hate the Saints. Brees more than anything.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 5:43 pm

by Bobg

I was warned many years ago about eating large cuda's. As I recall it had something to do with the larger cuda's eating the coral eating smaller fish and that 's what carried a organism that caused a nuerological disorder. I was also told the smaller cuda's were ok to eat, as they hadn't had time to collect this organism in their systems.

My first fish caught in Fl waters was a monster of a barracuda

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 5:52 pm

by Bowmovement

Bobg wrote:I was warned many years ago about eating large cuda's. As I recall it had something to do with the larger cuda's eating the coral eating smaller fish and that 's what carried a organism that caused a nuerological disorder. I was also told the smaller cuda's were ok to eat, as they hadn't had time to collect this organism in their systems.

My first fish caught in Fl waters was a monster of a barracuda

Its called Ciguatera poisoning. Not so much an issue in So Cal due to the fact we dont have alot of coral reefs.

Ciguatera is a foodborne illness caused by eating certain reef fishes whose flesh is contaminated with toxins originally produced by dinoflagellates such as Gambierdiscus toxicus which lives in tropical and sub-tropical waters. These dinoflagellates adhere to coral, algae and seaweed where they are eaten by herbivorous fish who in turn are eaten by larger carnivorous fish. In this way the toxins move up the foodchain and bioaccumulate. Gambierdiscus toxicus is the primary dinoflagellate responsible for the production of a number of similar but distinct toxins that cause ciguatera. These toxins include ciguatoxin, maitotoxin, scaritoxin and palytoxin. Predator species near the top of the food chain in tropical and sub-tropical waters, such as barracudas, snapper, moray eels, parrotfishes, groupers, triggerfishes and amberjacks, are most likely to cause ciguatera poisoning, although many other species have been found to cause occasional outbreaks of toxicity. Ciguatoxin is very heat-resistant, so ciguatoxin-laden fish cannot be detoxified by conventional cooking.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 6:02 pm

by cape man

Here's a good extension pub from UF on Ciguatera. Worth the read if you are eating fish in waters where it occurs. We always had a 5 lb cutoff for eating cudas in south Florida.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN742

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:59 am

by cape man

And here's how we do it down here...

Bunch of Mullet on top two shelves...

And the King underneath...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:53 am

by Bowmovement

cape man wrote:And here's how we do it down here...

Bunch of Mullet on top two shelves...

And the King underneath...

Looks outstanding!!

Nice smoker too.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice bugs Matt! I had to chuckle that yall call them bugs out there too

On the cuda thing, I ate some last summer and I thought it tasted awful. I didn't cook it, maybe it was a bad batch

BTW, they make a test kit to check for ciguatera. Based on my cuda meal, I don't think I will be needing one.

Hey Craig, that smoked fish is making me hungry

I may have to go get me a king this weekend to smoke....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:16 pm

by smilinmatt

I don't think cuda would come out very good smoked. The great barracuda that we get in the Atlantic are a lean, white meat fish - not typically good for smoking. I think it tastes good fresh. Real mild like a grouper, but dense like an amberjack. I don't know if you have to worry about ciguatera in California.

Last weekend, I got my first cubera snapper on the OB19. Not a big one, but still 8 pounds. I forgot to take a picture before filleting it, but I did do a rubbing. I'm still working on my Gyotaku skills - the color was a bit off.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:20 pm

by cape man

I'm still working on my Gyotaku skills - the color was a bit off.

You get much better and we're going to hire you out! Nice job. I used to make T shirts out of fish I caught. Nice skill to have and looks like you have it down.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:36 pm

by frazoo

anyone ever smoked a bluefish for dip? I'd like to find a way to use them, if that's possible.

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:51 pm

by TomW

Frazoo, I love Bluefish smoked both as a fish and as a dip. The small ones are great just smoked and eaten with a tartar sauce, the bigger ones make a great dip. I love a mayo horseradish capers and mustard base maybe some thyme marjoram and other herbs if I feel lie it.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'd rather eat a cuda

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:10 pm

by TomW

Larry haven't tried southern Bluefish out of pondwater

but ones out of cold water can be very good.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:03 pm

by Cracker Larry

We catch our blues in saltwater, the big ones about 20 miles offshore. Bigger pond than in the Smoky mountains. They fight good and bloody the boat like no other fish can. A lot of my charter customers liked to eat them, but I never did. We get a lot of small choppers year around inshore while fishing for trout and redfish, we consider them trash fish, like a toadfish or a puffer. But the big ones (about 15 pounds) come through twice a year near shore, early spring and late fall, when the water is cold. Neither are fit to eat in my opinion. Why in the world would anybody eat a bloody bluefish, when there are redfish, trout, flounder, whiting, sheepshead, grouper, snapper, sea bass, dolphin, tuna, wahoo, cobia, even mullet and kingfish and cuda, not to mention shrimp, crabs, oysters or clams. Ya got to be one poor fisherman to eat a bluefish

They do make good crab bait though. Most fish won't eat them

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:52 pm

by smilinmatt

I remember my first blue. We very rarely got them in the Keys. I wanted to keep it since I'd never seen one, but my dad (we lived in the northeast before) said if we kept it I had to eat it. How was it? I still remember it to this day.

I have to disagree with Larry about fish eating them. I'd cut fillets into strips and bounce jigheads tipped with a strip along the bottom for reds and flounder. It was good, oily bait.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:17 pm

by TomW

You do make a point Larry there are a lot of better fish down here than there are up North to catch.

Rock bass and blues are about the only inshore fish up there some flounder and other flatfish. You have to get 20 miles or more offshore to get anything else. But a small 2-3lb blue caught in the cold 40 degree water up there is not bad eating properly prepared.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:00 am

by cape man

Grilled fresh over a campfire bluefish are wonderful...but so is racoon and Opossum.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 8:02 am

by Bobg

frazoo wrote:anyone ever smoked a bluefish for dip? I'd like to find a way to use them, if that's possible.

frazoo

Yup, bluefish work just fine.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 8:11 am

by Bobg

If all your catching are bluefish, and you're determined to eat them, then you'd better blead them to get a better flavor.
I won't even smoke a bluefish if it wasn't bled first.

Just a gash forward of the tail fin and onto the ice will do it. Sure does mess up a cooler, though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 8:52 am

by peter-curacao

smilinmatt wrote:The great barracuda that we get in the Atlantic are a lean, white meat fish - not typically good for smoking. I think it tastes good fresh.

True but the one's we catch over here taste also great smoked, and is very doable, I have a stainless steel pipe standing in my garden where I hang those in whole but cleaned, when smoking I close the pipe on top with a old wet T shirt, works great.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:29 am

by cape man

Just a gash forward of the tail fin and onto the ice will do it.

Cut the last gill arch (closest to the tail) at the top where it connects to the fish as well and they'll drain from both ends.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:28 pm

by Cracker Larry

Joel came up to Hilton Head for the holiday, and he and his Dad, Trip, and I went fishing this morning. It was cold, in the 40's when we launched, and windy too. Got windier all day and not much warmer. It was the sort of day that you leave with 10 pounds of ice and come home with 11. But we were dressed for it, and the fishing and the company were both great

We had a ball

I took them to one of my super secret spots, one that I only take out of towners, and people who don't own boats to

As soon as we got there and threw in a line, this is what happened.. Joel hooked up....

And that pretty much continued for the next 4 hours. The bite started with redfish and it was steady for a while. They were mixed in size from about 15" to 25". Joels gulp shrimp outfished our live shimp, hands down.

We caught a good many of those..

And a good few more...

I think I caught the biggest redfish on a live shrimp, but I sure didn't catch the most

Those Gulp baits are impressive.

And then the bite switched to trout, and we caught a large many of those...Some of them tournament size, some of them not

For a while we all were switching back and forth, catching redfish from the stern of the boat and trout from the bow. What a spot

This is a real pretty one..It was somewhere about this time, that I quit with the live shrimp and switched to the Gulp baits myself

This was a good one too!

And so was this one. We could have put together a limit of fish today that would have won any Carolina trout tournament

If I told you how many fish we caught in 5 hours, you probably wouldn't believe me. I'll let Joel tell you that

It was great company, good fishing and a beautiful day to be alive. Speaking of alive, we released every fish except 2, which were both gut hooked

They will have to go to the frying pan.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:01 pm

by Bowmovement

Excellent fishing Larry. Looks like yall had fun.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:27 pm

by Joe H

Looks like you guys had a great day Larry, it's a shame about the 2 trout that didn't make it, where did you say you where???

Hope ya all had a great Thanksgiving.
Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 3:09 am

by TomW

Pretty day, good fishing, good company and good health, can't ask for much more than that!

Glad you guys had a good time.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 7:04 am

by Bobg

Outstanding day of fishing.

I'll be on the oysters this morning. Pictures of oysters aren't near as good as those fish you caught

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:51 am

by tech_support

thanks again Larry for taking us out. It was cold for this group of guys, our northern friends would probably think it was a brisk fall day.

Larry's spot was full of fish and we had a lot of fun. I think that was the most number of fish I have caught in SC since I was in high school. Between the three of us we probably caught 70 trout and 20+ redfish

I have a few pictures I will upload when we get back to Vero.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:23 am

by Larry B

That looks like a nice fishing trip. Can't complain about the cold when you can be thankful for so many other things in life.
Hey Larry how about some GPS coordinates

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:44 pm

by tech_support

here is another of the many redfish in Larry's spot...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:32 pm

by Cracker Larry

We wore them out again yesterday, Joel

Tried to get your Dad to go but he couldn't get free. Caught and released about 75 redfish and trout in 3 hours. Didn't keep any

Men, I'm angry and going to say so. This is politics, yep, but it's also boats. You don't like it, delete it. I won't.

I've been talking about the proposed bottom fishing closures for a few months. GK, you told me it was hype from the tackle dealers. Craig, you told me all your contacts said it wouldn't happen. Well, it happened. As of Jan 4, 2010 (3 weeks away) the entire bottom fishery from north of Charleston SC to south of Melbourne FL is CLOSED to ALL bottom fishing from a water depth of 98 to 300 feet. That's the water depth that holds bottom fish on our coast. This encompasses a hundred thousand square miles of ocean off the SE coast, and all the bottom that could possible hold a snapper, grouper, or any other fish. This doesn't mean catch and release only, I could live with that. This means no fishing, period, in this zone. This closure could last as long as 16 years. Since I'm closing in on 60 years old, that means the rest of my life. I've supported all catch and size limits ever established in the past. I've been fishing this coast professionally and recreationally all my life. The fishing is better today than it has ever been in my lifetime. Now it's completely closed because some fool with an agenda says it's over fished, and no science to back it up. Just like global warming.

Have you heard about any of this on the government controlled national news networks? I doubt it

The Council continued to work on Amendment 17A to end overfishing of red snapper and rebuild the stock. At the Council’s request, an interim rule to close the red snapper fishery for both commercial and recreational fishermen becomes effective January 4, 2010. Amendment 17A includes a provision to extend the red snapper closure plus alternatives for large closed areas where fishing for all snapper grouper species would be prohibited to address the high mortality associated with discards. A 2008 stock assessment for red snapper in the South Atlantic region shows the stock to be overfished and undergoing overfishing at eight times the sustainable level. The controversial closures target areas where red snapper are most commonly landed. Concern about the proposed closures resulted in several hundred fishermen attending public hearings held in Cape Canaveral and Jacksonville, FL in November. After reviewing public comments, and after much discussion, the Council chose a preferred alternative for a closure encompassing a depth of 98 feet to 300 feet beginning just north of Charleston, SC and extending slightly southward of Melbourne, FL.

This is not just for grouper/snapper, it's closed to every bottom fish out there. Over 20 species. Sea bass, trigger fish, porgies, grunts, tilefish, all. No fishing in this zone, period. No catch, no species, period.

There are 100,000s of offshore fishing boats that are now useless. There are thousands of charter boats that will be out of business in a month. There is $ billions in lost revenue to coastal motels, restaraunts, tackle dealers, bait shops, marinas, fuel dealers, boat manufacturers, boat dealers, companies who sell boat plans, kits and materials, who depend on recreational fishery income to survive .If we can't fish, we ain't buying nothing else and we can't even sell what we've got. Does this sound like it's helping economic or job recovery?

I know this doesn't affect most of you. But yall in the NE, and on the West Coast, don't worry, you're next in line. Halibut, ling cod, stripers, blues, it's all going if we don't change our political system. They take it one intrusive bite at a time.

To make things worse, I just attended a meeting by the GA DNR on proposals to close trout and redfish in inshore state waters

The state is being forced by the Feds, who say we are over fishing them and we have to fall in line

The state is threatened with a termination of federal funds if they don't follow the party line. Trout limits reduced from 15 to 1. Joel, do you think our local trout and redfish population is in trouble?

I'm friggin sick of this administration and it's agenda. This new generation of politicians pee on our feet and tell us it's raining, and the new generation of Americans run for their raincoats. But as PT Barnum said a long time ago, nobody ever lost money under estimating the intelligence of the American public.

If this is OK with yall, just continue doing nothing. Your grandchildren will never have the pleasure of catching a fish. There won't be a boat manufacturer or dealer, tackle or bait shop left in the SE in a year. Jacques, you better start designing ski boats and jet skis, you won't sell many more fishing boat plans.

Merry Christmas.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:03 pm

by TomW

Yep Larry I here you loud and CLEAR they did tha same d*** thing to the cod fishermen in the NE back in the 70-80's for 5 yrs. It about ruined the fleet. They switched to lobster and wiped out the lobster population so that was banned under a certain size. GD when will they quit with this reaction and start doing some planning. This is just a reaction to their inactivity in the past and the lack of knowledge of what there brain is doing from there a**h***. It is not just this administration but the past ones and the general lack of knowledge of the Fisheries Management of this country that has caused this. There is no way that with proper management that this should have ever happened. Steps should have been taken years ago. Do they even know where the the snapper family breed, migrate from, after all they are cold water, deep water fish.

I went through the same thing on Lake Erie with the Perch and Walleye fisheries. They finally figured out the breeding and migration areas and now it is one of the best fisheries in the upper Mid-West.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:03 am

by Cracker Larry

Tom, the sad thing is, it's not the politicians fault. We elected these people. We, the people, put these self serving idiots in office, and it is us who allows them to do this to us. They have no concept that they work for and are accountable to us. It's our fault

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:56 am

by kdog

Oh I hear you Larry, it is really getting out of hand with the closures. Up here they are thinking about closing our weakfish (I think you call em trout down south) fishery completely as well as drastically shortening most of all the fisheries seasons. They have been lowering limits every year and upping the minimal keeper sizes on just about every species. It's gotten to the point where you have a tough time bringing home a keeper legally, I feel bad for my old man when I tell him you have to realese that 17 1/2" flounder. Poor guy he just wants to bring home a fish every now and then. Our local economy is so heavily dependent on recreational fishing these laws are really starting to have an impact.

The following is from a local fishing blog that I frequent, you may find it interesting. Hopefully something will get done or at least make some noise.

"December 16, 2009 - In a historic show of solidarity, recreational and commercial fishermen will gather together on the steps of the Capitol on February 24, 2010 from noon until 3 p.m. in an organized demonstration against the unintended negative impacts of the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the federal fisheries law which was revised in January of 2007. Coordinating the march under the flag of United We Fish, rally organizers are hoping to see a large show of force in defense of coastal communities.

"The closures keep coming and it's good to see the collective fishing communities and industries, both recreational and commercial, calling for scientific based Magnuson reform," said Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA). "We are all in this together." Donofrio cited recent closures of amberjack, black sea bass and red snapper fisheries as examples of what he calls a "broken" federal fisheries law.

The groups organized through United We Fish are hoping to prove to legislators just how many American anglers and business owners are truly being impacted by the overly restrictive management requirements created by MSA based on non scientific arbitrary deadlines. According to Bob Zales of the Conservation Cooperative of Gulf Fishermen (CCGF), the time-specific deadlines mandated by MSA coupled with flawed data collection methods are forcing anglers off the water. "We fully support real science based management and the conservation of our marine resources while also being able to sustain recreational and commercial fishing activities, providing locally caught seafood, sustaining small family businesses, and supporting our coastal communities."

This effort is being coordinated by many organizations and individuals including but not limited to the RFA, CCGF, United Boatmen of New York, United Boatmen of New Jersey, New York Sportfishing Federation, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen's Association and the Fishing Rights Alliance. "Some people have asked 'why, it's winter'," said Donofrio who said he's gotten the required permits and expects a large crowd in DC on February 24th, regardless of weather. "We can't let seasons stop the momentum, and if we wait any longer none of us will be fishing. Many members of Congress will be standing shoulder to shoulder with us," Donofrio said.

Nils Stolpe, a consultant to the commercial fishing industry and columnist for SavingSeafood.org said that over the past three decades since the original Magnuson Act was established, fishermen have been gradually phased out of the fisheries management process, regardless of sector. "The scientists have been put in charge, and as the list of closures and restrictions up above painfully demonstrates, the Act has been turned into a weapon that is now being used against fishermen and fishing communities."

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) first introduced the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 in the 110th Congress to incorporate "limited flexibility" into federal fisheries management. More than 100 fishing groups and industry members from around the country pledged their support for the legislation and the bill's 19 bipartisan coastal cosponsors, but the bill languished during the volatile economic climate in advance of the presidential elections in November of 2008. "

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:15 am

by TomW

Cracker Larry wrote:Tom, the sad thing is, it's not the politicians fault. We elected these people. We, the people, put these self serving idiots in office, and it is us who allows them to do this to us. They have no concept that they work for and are accountable to us. It's our fault

Unfortunately Larry it is the GD "pseudo scientists" that they listen to that end up become the laws. The idiots that are the "pseudo scientists" are the ones we should be attacking and forcing to shut up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then we need to get our congressional members to look at the real numbers from real people like Craig at USF and the other Universities. After that lets put into place a workable plan that will if neccessary replenish the stock or allow sustainable recreationable fishing or minimal commercial fishing.

But to totally ban a stretch of fishing which by my mind is 30-70miles wide x 4-500miles long is bizarre. I obviosly hav'nt looked at a chart so the wide ass guess. I do know where Charleston and Melbourne is so the 4-500 is fairly accurate. The continental shelf varies so much that it could be up to 100 miles offshore in places for the 300' limit.

What it's also going to do is force the boats up into NC for the limited fishery that we have here for these species. Especially the SC & GA boats. Don't know how viable that is but I know it will happen if it is. They will also change over to other species if they can. They after all have to make a living. You know this better than anyone.

John sited a Congressman who was willing to work to get things changed, maybe it's time to contact him again if he's still in office.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:01 am

by TomW

kdog wrote:U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) first introduced the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 in the 110th Congress to incorporate "limited flexibility" into federal fisheries management. More than 100 fishing groups and industry members from around the country pledged their support for the legislation and the bill's 19 bipartisan coastal cosponsors, but the bill languished during the volatile economic climate in advance of the presidential elections in November of 2008. "

John can you contact his office and see if he would reintroduce the amendment. I think since you are from NJ it would be best coming from you.

Thanks, If he will I'll get my congressman on board. He hates anyone putting over the little guy.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:29 am

by gk108

I wonder how they intend to fund the enforcement of this ban? We know that 90% of the fishermen never see a wildlife officer during a fishing trip, so existing enforcement relies heavily on voluntary compliance. It looks like it might be time to draw a line in the sand. Fishing as an act of civil disobediance, anyone.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:35 am

by Cracker Larry

I wonder how they intend to fund the enforcement of this ban?

Especially since fishing license revenue is what pays the salary of local law enforcement

After that lets put into place a workable plan that will if neccessary replenish the stock or allow sustainable recreationable fishing or minimal commercial fishing

The fishery doesn't need replenishment, it's better than it's ever been in my lifetime.

it is the GD "pseudo scientists" that they listen to that end up become the laws

These scientist are employed by the federal government, they aren't independents. And I doubt they've ever been fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:13 am

by gk108

And I doubt they've ever been fishing.

Not what you and I call fishing, anyway. If I understand it right, they ride along on commercial boats and count the snapper in the nets. I'm not sure how those numbers relate to recreational hook and line fishing, though.

Rep. Pallone's bill, H.R. 1584, never made it out of committee, so there's some stalling going on. He and the other sponsors need to step up the pressure and get that thing to the floor for a vote.
Since Mar. 18th the bill is in the House Committee on Natural Resources. Here are the committee members:
Don Young, Alaska
Elton Gallegly, California
John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee
Jeff Flake, Arizona
Henry E. Brown, Jr., South Carolina
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington
Louie Gohmert, Texas
Rob Bishop, Utah
Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania
Doug Lamborn, Colorado
Adrian Smith, Nebraska
Robert J. Wittman, Virginia
Paul C. Broun, Georgia
John Fleming, Louisiana
Mike Coffman, Colorado
Jason Chaffetz, Utah
Cynthia M. Lummis, Wyoming
Tom McClintock, California
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
Dale E. Kildee, Michigan
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa
Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii
Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey
Grace F. Napolitano, California
Rush D. Holt, New Jersey
Raúl M. Grijalva, Arizona
Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam
Jim Costa, California
Dan Boren, Oklahoma
Gregorio "Kilili" Sablan, Mariana Islands
Martin Heinrich, New Mexico
George Miller, California
Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts
Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon
Maurice D. Hinchey, New York
Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands
Diana DeGette, Colorado
Ron Kind, Wisconsin
Lois Capps, California
Jay Inslee, Washington
Joe Baca, California
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, South Dakota
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland
Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts
Frank Kratovil, Jr., Maryland
Pedro R. Pierluisi, Puerto Rico

Let them know that it's time to make a move. I like to explain to them that this is a critical issue and if they don't vote the way I want them to, I'll donate, campaign and vote for every opponent they will face for the rest of their political careers.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:14 am

by cape man

Good synopsis of the situation...
http://www.thesunnews.com/sports/story/1221473.html

to look at the real numbers from real people like Craig at USF and the other Universities.

Need to clarify...I work with aquaculture...farming for UF (Gators) not USF. I am not a fisheries scientist, but we have them in our program. Some of them are extremely reasonable and work closely with our commercial and recreational fisheries, and some of them are pretty far out there and seem to work only in a computerized data analysis world. Essentially, more and natural resource management scientists today use advanced computer models to predict what is happening, often using a limited data set, and assumptions that can be plugged into the equations. What assumptions you plug in will dictate what the model spits out the other end. This is where I argue that the "science" is flawed, as it allows for management to base their decisions on worst case assumptions, and often where there is an initial lack of data to begin with.

However, and this is key to my clarifying things, I am not a fisheries scientist and therefore incapable of countering the arguments in a credible manner (within the science community). I can stand my ground in an aquaculture forum (and have), but within the fisheries management crowd I am an annoying gnat. Unfortunately, and this is where I am most concerned, there appears to be very little dissent within that crowd, with fairly strong consensus that most if not all fisheries are over fished, and closures are the ultimate answer to fixing things. My opinion on all of this should not be given any more weight than anyone else simply because I work with a university. I am extremely biased as a fisherman, which should also be taken into account. Like Larry I am angered by what is happening, as it is counter to many of the things I have seen.

Larry is also right that ultimately regulations of fisheries...and other natural resources (timber, minerals, wildlife, water, etc) are decided by politicians, who can decide to agree or disagree with what the "science" recommends. Instead of arguing against the "science" (an argument I think most of us will lose before it starts given we are not published, PhD fisheries scientists), this proposed ban will live or die based on politicians and their appointed representatives on the councils that establish these rules.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:33 am

by kdog

TomW wrote:
kdog wrote:U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) first introduced the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 in the 110th Congress to incorporate "limited flexibility" into federal fisheries management. More than 100 fishing groups and industry members from around the country pledged their support for the legislation and the bill's 19 bipartisan coastal cosponsors, but the bill languished during the volatile economic climate in advance of the presidential elections in November of 2008. "
John can you contact his office and see if he would reintroduce the amendment. I think since you are from NJ it would be best coming from you.

Thanks, If he will I'll get my congressman on board. He hates anyone putting over the little guy.

Tom

Will do Tom, I'll let you guys know when and if he has any response.

I quickly scanned through the link Cape Man posted and it mentioned something about a meeting on Jekyll island. Hmmm anyone remember a little ol meeting they had back in 1913?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:15 pm

by TomW

Sorry Craig knew you were a GATOR and don't know why I put the S in.

Go GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also think you may be selling yourself short on how you or your brethren can influence these discussions. Replenishing the stock would greatly help in reducing or eliminating the need for the bans. Show the goverment that it is feasible to aquaculture a species and they would listen to that option.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:46 pm

by cape man

Show the goverment that it is feasible to aquaculture a species and they would listen to that option.

Now you are talking in my realm, and like Larry I am pissed! We have been working for the past decade to develop a national permiting process to allow marine aquaculture in waters off the coast of the US only to be continuously blocked by the same groups supporting closures of fisheries. We are a nation determined to buy our seafood from foreign fisherman and farmers.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 5:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

At the DNR meeting on Dec14 in Midway, GA, it was explained that in the spring of last year GA spent $450,000 on a program of restocking redfish (which aren't hurting anyway). They released all the fingerlings in the spring, when the gamefish are starving, and the survival rate was almost nil. According to our "state scientist" the price of each surviving fish worked out to $37,500 PER FISH

Our tax dollars at work

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

Today I received and email from the South Carolina DNR. They have their sh@t together when it comes to wildlife and fishery management, and they keep us informed, but they are being made to follow the party line too. I'll copy and paste the entire email...

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is seeking public comment on the management of three popular saltwater recreational species: spot, Spanish mackerel, and spotted seatrout.

The ASMFC intends to update the management plans for these three species and move from the current voluntary compliance by its 15 member states, to mandatory compliance including collection and reporting of pertinent fishery data. The Commission is interested in getting input from the public on changes they may have observed in these fisheries over time, on suggestions for potential management measures, and on other issues citizens wish to comment regarding these fishery resources.

Interested parties can view the ASMFC's public information document (PID) for an omnibus amendment to the spot, Spanish mackerel, and spotted seatrout fishery management plans at http://www.asmfc.org/ or by contacting Nichola Meserve at 202-289-6400 or nmeserve@asmfc.org (subject line: Omnibus Amendment). ASMFC will accept public comment through January 15, 2010 at 5pm.

If you have any questions about these fishery resources in South Carolina, please contact SCDNR Biologist Wallace Jenkins at 843-953-9835 or Jenkinsw@dnr.sc.gov.

Although like GA they are asking for public comments, what the meetings are is a dog and pony show where they tell us what they are being forced to do and it really doesn't make a rat's @ass of difference what we think about it. But we should still let them know what we think about it.

On a positive note, the Right to Fish Alliance has filed suit today against the NMFS over the grouper snapper closure off the SE coast. This group is based out of Florida, where the effects of the closure will be devestating to the coastal economy. They have a lot of backing, but could use yours too

R.F.A. Files Suit Against Red Snapper Closure
Case filed in U.S. District Court of Jacksonville.
By David Conway

The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and attorney Dave Heil of Orlando filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) today, the same day the interim rule to close red snapper fishing in Southeast U.S. Atlantic waters was published in the Federal Register, volume 74, number 232. The red snapper closure will take effect January 4, 2010, as the R.F.A.’s lawsuit begins to move through the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville.

Please read entire article at

http://www.floridasportsman.com/casts/091204/index.html

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 2:53 am

by TomW

Let's hope Larry that we can keep them from following the FED rules and allow the states to manage there own fisheries, even if it is mandatory that they have a plan in place. NC updates limits and sizes twice a year now so don't know how much more watchful they can get. They have there own staff on Cape Cod that does it through NC State. But our coast line is so long compared to GA, or SC if the sampling is only done in one area it could throw the whole thing off.

When is it going to end. I don't mind size and quantity limits as long as they are based on Science but not just saying things are bad and we have to do something.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 11:30 am

by kdog

Heres a little update per my local fishing blog, looks like some things may be moving forward.

"12/21/09 New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone and twenty-four co-sponsors reintroduced the Flexibility in Rebuilding America's Fisheries Act. New York's Charles Schumer introduced corresponding legislation in the Senate.

Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank announced a caucus of East Coast legislators to discuss the modifying the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Congressman Frank said 'the effort was justified because of the unrequired harm being done to the fishing communities along the Atlantic coast by regulators who misinterpret the legal principle imbedded in the Magnuson-Stevens Act to balance ecological with economic and sociological interests.'

Fourteen House Members and twelve Senators sent letters to the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior objecting to the CITES listing of spiny dogfish.

Thirteen House members and five Senators sent a letter to the Secretary of Commerce expressing 'extreme disappointment' in the New England Council's decision to severely cut back sea scallop landings.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee unanimously approved Maine Senator Olympia Snowe's International Fisheries Agreement Clarification Act (S. 2856), relieving the management of trans-boundary groundfish stocks in U.S. waters from the irrationality of what the Magnuson management regime has become. Companion legislation has been introduced in the House.

Florida Congressman John Mica and 16 cosponsors introduced legislation to prevent the Secretary of Commerce from closing the red snapper fishery without further analysis.

There is a core group of federal legislators from Texas to Maine who now realize that things are far from well in fisheries management, and that the problems don't lie with the fishermen but rather with what the Magnuson-Stevens Act has been turned into by foundation funded activists and how it is being interpreted by NOAA/NMFS.

It's up to all of us to capitalize on that.

Inspired in part by the successful fishermen's demonstration at NOAA/NMFS Northeast Regional Office that was organized by Amanda Odlin, a fisherman's wife and business partner in Scarborough, Maine, a number of fishermen's groups from both sides of the recreational/commercial fence are organizing a demonstration on the steps of the Capitol on February 24. With fishermen of every stripe participating, the message to Congress will be straightforward; put the original flexibility back in the Magnuson Act that will allow the needs of the fish to be balanced with the needs of the fishermen.

And make no mistake; this is a result of grass roots activism at its most pure. No massive corporations, no 'charitable' trusts, no foundation funded ENGOs are behind it, just commercial and recreational fishermen, the businesses that they support and the trade organizations that support them.

But what's the other side up to?

They're sure not about to enter into a public discourse, seek acceptable compromises with the aggrieved fishermen or find some middle ground that will let fishermen fish and let fishing-supported businesses remain viable while stocks continue to rebuild. That's not what their billions are for. Instead those organizations that have made life so miserable for so many fishing dependent people for so long are going to respond as they have since they became involved in 'saving the oceans from fishermen.' They're going to throw even more money at what they perceive as a growing problem; the increasing awareness in Washington that fisheries can be and should be rebuilt in a manner that is consistent with maintaining viable fishing communities."

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

The fishing closure on the east coast stinks. Based on the reports I have heard, the snapper and grouper bite is good. Maybe the experts need fishing lessons

If I lived over there and wanted to go fishing, I would go.

Here are some pics from a couple of my last few trips offshore

Sunrise on the Gulf of Mexico, my favorite place....

Nice fish, caught by a friend of my sister (several weeks ago)....

The ride out this morning: windy, cold and wet...

Hey Larry, we got an anchor again

More fish....

Finally, on the way to the table....

Anyone hungry?

Merry Christmas, Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 11:15 pm

by Joe H

How can we not be hungry for fishing and fish after those pictures, very nice Richard.
Man that looks so good.

Marry Christmas.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:49 am

by Cracker Larry

Very nice Richard

We're still enjoying the grouper and snapper steaks from my last trip with you. That sure is some good eating fish!

Merry Christmas to all!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:38 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Very nice Richard We're still enjoying the grouper and snapper steaks from my last trip with you. That sure is some good eating fish!

CL, we will go and get more when you run out. Plenty more out there

Joe, let me know if you are coming down again in the Spring. We will plan a grouper trip!

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 3:08 pm

by TomW

Richard they look great. The ones we brought back last spring got eaten in a hurry. Merry Christmas

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:03 am

by smilinmatt

Somehow I was lucky enough to find the rare gag grouper on my last trip. Oddly enough, it took all of 15 minutes to get a limit.

And don't tell anyone that we're getting these, or they'll be the next thing they want to shut down.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:00 pm

by Arm&Hammer

Nice fish Matt. I would love to have one of those hogfish up here for dinner!

A little late, but a pick from my short trip to FL over Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to teaching my daughter how to use a baitcaster. She's already asking when she can go out fishing.

Looking forward to the spring thaw...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:10 am

by TomW

Arm & Hammer Zebco has a Zebco 33SW saltwater baitcaster reel that you can get for her that will be good for either fresh or salt water. Or get here an Ultralight combo with 6lb line for perch and bluegills. It works great. It is so great to see the kids grow up. Nice red by the way. I found this new website near Cincinnati that has prices as good or better than the big stores you might be interested. http://www.castawaylakes.com/index.html I know I like to support the smaller guys when I can. I got Deb a reel from them for less than any place else for Christmas.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:11 am

by frazoo

makes me hate the winter here all the more. 30" snow two weeks ago, hasn't hardly hit 30f since, but drops down into the wee teens every night. WHERE'S SPRING

.

Cracker Larry mentioned the Right To Fish Alliance, several years ago the hunters in VA united and had a "right to hunt by heritage" law passed here in VA. It has done wonders for our hunting cause here. Now the liberals leave us the hell alone and DGIF doesn't even make us bring our big game in to be checked, we can do it by phone or internet. Maybe it's time for the fishermen to get stirred up as well. It's funny, they are letting the commercial fishing industry around the chesapeake bay ruin our fishery by killing off the bait fish through by-catch, and then want to punish the recreational fishermen instead of curtailing the actions of the commercial industry. I kinda of wonder if they aren't using the commercial industry to ruin our fishery so they can close it down altogether. "just because your paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't out to getcha!"

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:04 am

by Cracker Larry

As of this past Monday the bottom fishing has been closed completely, from north of Charleston SC to south of Melbourne, FL, 99 to 300' of water, which is where all the bottom fish live. Note that it is only closed to recreational anglers, not commercial

I think the new administration is deliberately sabatoging the economy. So much for the Right to Fish

No need for me to build an offshore fishing boat now, there are a lot of them for sale real cheap. No need to buy one either. Anybody need some grouper fishing rods and reels? Doesn't look like I'll be needing them again in my lifetime.

Zebco has a Zebco 33SW saltwater baitcaster reel that you can get for her that will be good for either fresh or salt water.

No, that's actually a spincaster or closed face spinning reel, not a baitcaster. And it's also only rated for 10 lb. line

It won't last 30 seconds against most saltwater fish

Good for catching bait though. They also make a 733 and an 808SW. The 808 is rated for up to 25 lb line.

This is a baitcaster reel...Zebco doesn't make one, this is a Diawa..

For saltwater and young anglers I'd recommend a conventional open faced spinning reel rated for 12-20 lb test line. It's all I and most saltwater anglers use inshore and offshore, for everything except heavy bottom fishing. Some people even use them for that. I've got them from 6 lb outfits all the way to 50, but mostly use 12 and 20.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 12:51 pm

by TomW

Did it again Larry. It was late when I wrote that and didn't catch my error. Sorry A & H. But the spincast isn't a bad idea to get her started early. The 33SW can take 20lb braid with it's drag. I used 33's for a long time in freshwater.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:32 pm

by Mad Dog

I taught my girls on spinning reels. First, brecause that's what I use most so no mistakes while demostrating proper techniques. Second, I think it take less coordination to let the line go from the index finger than to pull the thumb off the button. Last, I got better things to do than pull the backlash out of a baitcaster. I wanted to give my kids as much chance as possible to catch something with as little frustration as possible for them and for me. And, I was careful to size the rod and reel to their stature. Last summer I handed my 17 year old my popping rod with the 4000 series reel for the first time. She did great, only hooked me twice the whole weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:39 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote: Anybody need some grouper fishing rods and reels? Doesn't look like I'll be needing them again in my lifetime.

Larry, I'm going to assume here that you are joking, but just in case your not shoot me a email, I plan to do some bottom fishing in the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) when I get my OD18 finished. Need to get more fishing gear.
Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:43 pm

by frazoo

Cracker Larry wrote: Doesn't look like I'll be needing them again in my lifetime.

dang, CL, I hope that ain't so.

If yall already did it, we are soon to follow.

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 3:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

Cracker Larry wrote:
Anybody need some grouper fishing rods and reels? Doesn't look like I'll be needing them again in my lifetime.

Larry, I'm going to assume here that you are joking,

Yeah, I'm not ready to sell them yet

I can still grouper fish in the GOM and south Florida, just can't do it within 300 miles of home anymore

They are also good rods for Cobia and billfish. And I'll get some use out of them when we move to Costa Rica

If yall already did it, we are soon to follow.

You better believe it, and the west coast too! One little chunk at a time, so they don't make too many people mad at once, knowing people don't give a rat's ass about anything if it doesn't affect them directly.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:12 am

by frazoo

Well, the title of this thread is "anyone fishing", I ain't exactly fishing yet, but on the advise of Cracker Larry I just bought a used shimano 15/30s tld reel on ebay. Hope it's as nice as the seller described it to be.

hope to soon be fishing,

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 7:20 pm

by TomW

This just came to my attention in one of my news letters and based on Larry's earlier posts thought I would follow up.

Angler Protest Set for February 24 at US Capitol
Saturday January 9, 2010
According to Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), organizations representing recreational and commercial fishers will stage a "United We Fish" march on the U.S. Capitol on February 24, 2010, to protest new bans on fishing for red snapper, grouper, amberjack, sea bass, and other saltwater fishes. Donofrio said fishery science is weak and management is broken. The event is designed to get the attention of legislators so they can address the unintended, negative consequences of the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act, the federal fisheries law.
The event is sponsored by individuals and groups that include but are not limited to RFA, Conservation Cooperative of Gulf Fishermen (CCGF), United Boatmen of New York, United Boatmen of New Jersey, New York Sportfishing Federation, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen's Association and the Fishing Rights Alliance.

To participate or become involved, go to the RFA website and sign up for their newsletter. It will keep you informed and provide information on how you can be involved.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 5:49 am

by LeeFitz

Does this count?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:29 am

by Cracker Larry

That looks like a fish

We chased redfish for 7 hours yesterday. It was a beautiful day for a change, sunny, calm, almost 60, but the water was red from rain and water temp was 41F when we launched

and 49 by late afternoon. Fished hard, spotted 3 fish tailing. Didn't get a bite all day. Skunked.

Got the boat trailer bogged down in my driveway coming home, had to get the neighbor's tractor to pull it out. More rain coming tonight

I'm ready for spring.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:45 am

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:That looks like a fish

We chased redfish for 7 hours yesterday. It was a beautiful day for a change, sunny, calm, almost 60, but the water was red from rain and water temp was 41F when we launched and 49 by late afternoon. Fished hard, spotted 3 fish tailing. Didn't get a bite all day. Skunked.

Got the boat trailer bogged down in my driveway coming home, had to get the neighbor's tractor to pull it out. More rain coming tonight I'm ready for spring.

Hey Larry, You want to run out and get me a measurement real quick

Just Kidding. Yea sounds like you guys got a killer winter

One of the lakes I fish here rose 13' in 24 hrs during our rains last week

If I would have gone out and parked where I normally do, When I got back my truck would have been under water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 12:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

Forwarded from Central Florida www.deep-blue-sea.org

In a cooperative effort The FSFA, CFOA, HSFC (Daytona) and SISA (Sebastian) have teamed up with the FRA, the RFA and the Deep Blue Sea forum and have prepared a petition drive to fight the closures as well as demand the science used to affect those closures be examined and fixed. While Pew was able to get 31,000 signatures supporting the closures- we feel that we can do much better than that. With over 1.1 million saltwater license holders and all the other people affected by what is going on there is no reason we cannot top 300,000 and more.
The petition summaries will be used to make our case. They will also be made available to FRA, RFA, Dave's law suit and anyone else that supports our agenda to support their cases. We will compile an electronic copy of the signatures and sort by political district and also use these in face to face meetings with our politicians to provide them a constituency list within their own districts that feel we need to fix this situation.
If you have your own place of business or you would be willing to drop some of these off to particular places that you know and frequent and have a relationship with- please email me at WinnTerry@msn.com and I will get a batch of flyers to you or email an original and a petition sign up sheet that can be duplicated.

The petition is up
http://petition.deep-blue-sea.org
The flyer is downloadable at
http://www.deep-blue-sea.org/images/flyer.pdf

We can all work together up and down the East Coast to stand up for our rights.

Thanks

John Carney
Secretary
Central Florida Offshore Anglers
BCarney@cfl.rr.com

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:11 pm

by cape man

Posted this on my thread as well. Here's a nice Baramundi!

Fishing was easy...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:00 pm

by Cracker Larry

Craig, you have the coolest job

Can we come fish with you? It's going to be one of the last places left

Our administration of change has delivered again, they are a busy bunch. Published, yesterday, we have until Friday to comment, not that they give a rats ass what we think about it

Feds plan ocean zoning, replacing 'open seas'
By Richard Gaines
Staff Writer

February 08, 2010 05:50 am

Well below the low-water line for news, the White House is moving to create a system for managing the space — surface and depth — of federal waters that amounts to ocean zoning and is known as "marine spatial planning."
If adopted by Congress and imposed, the new approach would force radical alteration of the historic American understanding of the "open seas" — by purpose, they would no longer be open and instead zoned for pre- and proscribed uses.
Gov. Deval Patrick has a state task force at work drafting a parallel zoning program for the three mile ribbon of state water inside the 200 mile federal water frame.
A simple model cited by the White House task force to exemplify the nature of marine spacial planning is how the main shipping channel through the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary was shifted slightly to the south about four years ago to reduce collisions with whales.
The approach would impose a super bureaucracy over the many already operating with authority over aspects of federal waters — "a leviathan of a regulatory structure," in the phrase of David Frulla and Shaun Gehan, Washington lawyers who write a column for National Fisherman.
A near synonym for "marine spatial planning," is "ecosystem based management," a phase often used by Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to describe how she believes the fisheries should be managed.
The vehicle for the first phase of the process of extending the concept of land use planning, essentially zoning, to the 200 ocean-mile "exclusive economic zone," established by the 1976 Magnuson Act, and the Great Lakes, is what is called the "Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and Marine Spacial Planning."
The product of a six-month study by an Interagency Task Force of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the interim report was filed Dec. 14. The comment period closes on Friday. Comments can be filed on line.
"It envisages nine new regional planning councils, comprised of high federal, state and tribal officials," wrote Frulla and Gehan, who represent the Fisheries Survival Fund, the wideflung organization of scallop interests based in Fairhaven. These councils would be "empowered to make binding ... decisions...."
In their March column, Frulla and Gehan wonder whether there now exists authority for the federal government to create an entirely new regulatory structure for planning and directing marine uses, at least not the way its "buzzword-laden jargon" suggests.
Lubchenco for so long has been an advocate of "ecosystem based management," she could be considered its political den mistress if not mother. Indeed, she wrote the forward to the book, "Ecosystem based management for the Oceans," a compendium of "expert" thinking edited by two academic scientists in Lubchenco's orbit, Brown University's Heather Leslie and Karen McLeod, director of COMPASS, which is an acronym for the organization Lubchenco created at Oregon State University for bringing together scientists and journalists.
The book explains that ecosystem based management differs from current approaches that "usually focus on a single species or type of activity. Instead, ecosystem based management plans and strategies incorporate the cumulative impacts of multiple activities on entire ecosystems."
Marine spatial planning "would use an ecosystem-based management approach that addresses cumulative effects to ensure the protection, integrity, maintenance, resilience, and restoration of ocean, coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems, while promoting multiple sustainable uses," the task force wrote.
The framework for marine spatial planning or ocean zoning grows from the work of the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy in which Lubchenco was a major influence.
Frulla and Gehan found "ominous" suggestions that prior to the issuance of final plans — zoning maps — of the ocean, the planning councils would evaluate "alternative future use scenarios and tradeoffs.
"In a battle of tradeoffs as between oil and mineral extraction, transportation, recreational use, national security, aquaculture, renewable-energy development and most significantly 'sustained, ecosystem functions and services,'" they wrote, "it seems unlikely that commercial fishermen will walk away from the table with greater fishing opportunities."
Richard Gaines can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3464, or via e-mail at rgaines@gloucestertimes.com
Copyright © 1999-2010 cnhi, inc.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:13 pm

by cape man

Can we come fish with you?

Anytime!

You don't believe in the current trends in science based management? What about all the global warming...strike that...I mean climate change we saw this winter... This picture alone should convince you to learn to live with ethanol messing up your outboard if we can just stop Mother nature from messing with us...strike that...I mean us messing with mother nature.

I'm just so confused.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

You didn't think they were finished with us yet, did you

Federal regulators Tuesday set the 2010 red snapper at the shortest length of time ever -- between 51 and 60 days -- due the 2009 quota being exceeded by 1.7 million pounds.MOBILE, Ala. -- In December, the National Marine Fisheries Service official in charge of red snapper regulations warned that, despite a seemingly robust population, the 2010 season may be shortened because recreational anglers exceeded their quota by 1.7 million pounds in 2009.

Roy Crabtree's warning proved prophetic Tuesday, during the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in Mobile. The Reef Fish Management Committee voted to increase the total allowable catch to 6.945 million pounds, but cut the season to between 51 and 60 days -- making for the shortest snapper season ever.

Last year's season was 65 days, with a 5 million pound quota.

Commercial fishermen get 51 percent of the total catch. The full council will vote on the committee's recommendation today.

"Yes, we've increased the quota this year, but we had such an overrun last year that we've got to take steps to make sure that doesn't happen again," Crabtree said.

"The ability to raise the quota for next year (2011) is contingent on not exceeding it this year."

The bag limit will remain two fish per person per day. The 2010 season will likely open in early June.

The last several years have seen progressively shorter seasons and reduced bag limits as fisheries managers try to comply with new requirements under the federal Magnuson Stevens Fishery Management Act. The law requires that overfishing of red snapper end by 2011 and the population be fully rebuilt by 2032.

Crabtree said it remains unclear exactly how long the recreational season will be in 2010.

Preliminary data show an unexpected increase in the average size of fish caught in 2009. If that trend holds up during the final analysis -- with snapper averaging about 5 pounds -- the season would be 60 days. If the remaining data shows the average size of fish caught was even larger, the season would end up being 51 days, he said.

Federal scientists said recreational anglers exceeded their quota partly because of the increased size of the snapper being caught.

The 2010 recreational season closing date would not be determined until after the fisheries service analyzes all remaining data, Crabtree said, adding that this likely would not happen until May. Usually, such determinations are made by March.

Alabama marine resources director and Gulf Council member Vernon Minton said that because of the way the federal law is written, neither the council nor federal officials had any choice but to shorten the season.

"Based on the harvest rate in 2009, federal law requires (the fisheries service) to shorten the season like this in order to keep the recreational guys within their quota," Minton said, noting that short seasons and tight limits have already hurt charter captains and fishing-related businesses along the Alabama coast.

Orange Beach charter captain and fishery council member Johnny Greene said the delay in announcing the recreational season closing date would make it hard for captains to book trips with potential customers.

"It's tough on everybody because we have the law beating everybody over the head," he said. "Sometimes common sense doesn't fit in with it."

(This report was written by Press-Register Staff Reporters Jeff Dute and Ben Raines.)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:22 pm

by cape man

Why can't we all speak "fisherman"...

"Sometimes common sense doesn't fit in with it."

We can't catch more fish because they are getting bigger...hmmm, I'm just more and more confused.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:32 pm

by TomW

cape man wrote:Why can't we all speak "fisherman"...

"Sometimes common sense doesn't fit in with it."
We can't catch more fish because they are getting bigger...hmmm, I'm just more and more confused.

Ye Craig, somethin, somethin don't make no sense here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 8:11 pm

by TomW

Would someone please let me know if it warms up to 60-70 somewhere in GA, FL, MS, AL where I can drive 6-7 hrs to get warm and do some fishing. I'm freezing up here and need to wet a line!

I'd go ice fishing Joe but there isn't any ice.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 8:47 pm

by majorgator

Tom, when FL gets back up to 60 degrees, I'll let you know

I mean, this is FL right? I was even as far south as Bradenton today, and still freezing (with the wind chill).

Hardly anything surprises me anymore with the fishery regulations. Maybe they should re-open Jewfish...seems to be plenty of those out there

But I'm sure some outsourced research agency would conclude that they too are highly endangered.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 9:18 pm

by michaelwpayton

Years ago I caught an 85LB Jewfish off Sanibel. I didn't have any idea what it was... the Captain looked down and said "get that damn thing off my boat," so the Mate took a picture of us and tossed it over, LOL.

I only mention it because... I seldom have the opportunity to

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 9:48 pm

by Cracker Larry

Tom, we haven't seen 70 degrees since October. It hasn't been this cold in the south in my lifetime

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 10:47 pm

by TomW

I know Larry, I remember playing golf in Charleston on New Years with my brother in law in the late 70's in shorts.

It was 30 degrees below the normal high here today. 23 degrees and snowing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:04 pm

by Dog Fish

I hope things change and we have a warm spring so the Tarpon show up in time for the meet in Boca. Its been way to cold for me here in SW FL, I have no idea how some of you can survive where you live, I hope things warm up for y'all.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:35 pm

by Joe H

Hey Tom, plenty of ice up here, you can come up and catch your limit of perch or walleye through the ice on a good day.
I can only go by the fishing report though because I have been out of commision for 2 1/2 weeks, I hurt my back of all things coming off the ice with my ATV and flipped it going over the rocky shoreline, no fishin no boatbuilding for now.

I really hope it warms up for you guys soon.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 5:33 pm

by TomW

Bummer Joe aren't you to old to be doing things like that.

Get well soon and take care of yourself.

I'll be honest I'd almost, I say almost

rather be back up there right now than down here at least I know the roads would be cleared, the power would be on and a little snow blower would clear the driveway and sidewalk. What a strange winter!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:44 am

by Cracker Larry

Bradley, Andrew, Craig, or any other experienced saltwater fly fishermen, give me some advice please. I've decided on a Lamson fly reel and will be building a custom rod, mainly for redfish on the flats. The reels come in a 7/8 size or a 9/10 size. This is the typical target fish..

Which reel and rod size would you choose for multi-purpose saltwater use? The above fish being about average, but some being twice that size. Thanks for your thoughts

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:12 pm

by cape man

My opinion...others may differ considerably.

I would go for the 9/10. Smaller fish will still give you a good time on a larger fly rod, but a smaller rod won't handle the big stuff very well at all. Pick a nice graphite blank, and I would recommend one with a fast tip (easier to cast for those of us fly-fishing-challenged-grew up with a handline or open-face spinning reel guys).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thanks Craig, that's about what I was thinking. My current POS 7 weight is overwhelmed. Would you match that 9/10 reel with a 9 or 10 wt. rod?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:36 pm

by tech_support

I used to fly fish quite a bit, maybe 10 years ago. I had an 8 and 9, the nine was extremely fast and i could toss a forward weight line with heavy fly into the wind, the with 8 wt I could not. The nine was plenty fun with 2 pound fish, but could handle more. Right now I have a 8 wt SAGE outfit and its good for small/light flys for beach fishing, but I cant use bigger seaducers or mullet flys (at least my casting abilities will not allow it) for snook and reds.

you could a lot of fun throwing flys into that hole of yours.

I only had a few fish big enough to get far into the backing, i caught a nice black tip once and that was fun.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thanks Joel, that helps

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:54 pm

by cape man

Larry, again I would go for the larger reel. I found a nice 8/9 reel in the surf on Cape Sable several years ago and a friend made me a nice 8wt rod. Wish both were bigger, as I really want to use it on Tarpon and large snook. The larger reels usually come with a stronger and more durable drag system designed to take the heat a big fish will produce. Especially if you only plan on one fly combo, I would go 9/10 for both rod and reel.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

OK, so would you load it with 9 or 10 wt. line? Or maybe I should get 2 spools? Yes, this will be my only flyrod, and cobia are also a possible target.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:14 pm

by tech_support

Cracker Larry wrote: cobia are also a possible target.

doubt you would need a long cast for the cobia

I think the only reason you would need a 10 wt line is if your tossing some really big flys. The bigger reel does not hurt at all, its extra line capacity and it will pick up line faster when your reeling in.

If I were in the market for setup for low country inshore it would be 9 or 10 weight reel (big arbor) with 9wt rod (fast), forward weight line.

The most fun I had with the long rod was catching blues/lady fish/spanish mackerel between Calabouge and Sav. ship channel during dog days of summer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:17 pm

by cape man

I think the only reason you would need a 10 wt line is if your tossing some really big flys.

Exactly my thoughts. 9 wt forward weighted line.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

Excellent, thanks to both of yall

This is the reel I'm about settled on, maybe, could be persuaded otherwise

Looks OK without breaking the bank

http://www.flydepot.com/flyfishing/wate ... pid--1287/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:12 pm

by cape man

Those are very nice reels and that's a decent price.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:48 pm

by steve292

I'll qualify this statement............I am not a warmwater salt fly fisherman, But I have fished a lot for UK pike in freshwater & bass in salt.It is invariably windy when I go

.
The heavier line will be quicker to work out to a decent length, with less false casting & will turn a heavy fly over into the wind better. I can use a 10wt line on a 9wt rod & with a bit of care it will load the rod faster.
Even here in the UK you need a decent drag on the reel.
Hope thats of some use to you

I'm off to take cover in the sandpit

Steve

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 5:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thank you Steve and Craig

OK, the reel is a done deal, I just pulled the trigger on it along with this line WF9F http://flydepot.com/flyfishing/scientif ... pid--1157/

Now to work up these rod components

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:42 am

by cape man

Get a reel seat that will take a fighting butt, either permanent or detachable. Your gonna want one when that cobia is on! Something like this

http://www.mudhole.com/Shop-Our-Catalog ... g-Butt-Cap

The reel seats that match that are on the same page.

If you need a drying motor, I'll loan you mine. You can make the supports for wrapping and drying yourself. I glued some strips of felt in the Vee of each support.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:27 am

by Cracker Larry

Yes on the fighting butt. I think I'm just going to buy the complete kit from Mudhole, that way I'm sure everything will fit. What do you think of this..

http://www.mudhole.com/Shop-Our-Catalog ... y-Rod-Kits

Thanks for the offer

I've already got a V block stand for wrapping, I've got an old grill rotisserie motor I can probably adapt, if not I'll take you up on that. I appreciate the help

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:38 am

by cape man

I was looking at the exact same kit! Was going to suggest it! Let me know on the motor. It's small and could easily be shipped. You can bring it back in April or May. Not building anything soon and I just repaired the guides on all my old rods.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:37 pm

by cape man

Hey Larry,

Make sure you get your free hat for ordering over $150 from Mudhole.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:00 pm

by Cracker Larry

Will do

Weather is beautiful, I've been out all day. I'll probably order the kit tonight, want to finish it before Boca Grande

Supposed to rain some more and get back in the 20s this week

I sure was hoping that was over with.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:14 pm

by SmokyMountain

Larry didn't see this posting till now.

Yes on the fighting butt. I think I'm just going to buy the complete kit from Mudhole, that way I'm sure everything will fit. What do you think of this..

http://www.mudhole.com/Shop-Our-Catalog ... y-Rod-Kits

p

TFO is a good inexpensive rod, I might get one of those for myself

You reel selection looks good. The main thing about a reel and salt water is having a decent drag system... Other than that it just holds the line. Orvis large arbor also has a more economical reel too, that has a good drag.

A 9wt weight forwad will work great. DO NOT GET A Quad tip line. They sound grea, but the loop is always hitting the guides and driving me crazy!!

If you get two spool you could get a sinking line or sink tip for deeper applications.

Also, if yo want I can lend you all of my rod building stuff and get it back in Boca. Let me know and I'll mail it.

Andrew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

TFO is a good inexpensive rod

Inexpensive? Two hundred bucks for a fly rod and I've got to build it myself

Seems a little pricey to me, but some of those Sage blanks cost $500, just for the blank

I think I'll remain at an entry level in this SW fly fishing thing. Jeez I can buy 80 lb. Internationals for less money than a fly outfit

Seems a little dear just to catch a redfish, but I do enjoy fishing with nice equipment

I can lend you all of my rod building stuff and get it back in Boca.

I appreciate the generous offer Andrew

I should have about everything I need. I used to build most of the rods on my charter boats, but it's been 10 years since I've built a rod, and I've never built a fly rod. Never used one very much either, but I've learned that they will catch fish sometimes when other tactics won't

I'm all about what works, so I need a good fly rod

One at a time, I'd like to eventually build a matched set of about 8 rods for the OD18, so I'll probably just go ahead and get what I'll be needing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:52 pm

by SmokyMountain

Inexpensive? Two hundred bucks for a fly rod and I've got to build it myself Seems a little pricey to me, but some of those Sage blanks cost $500, just for the blank

Yeah, your right. Inexpensive is a relative term with fly fishing tackle, but I think its a lot more fun

then conventional tackle. (but fun doesn't always catch the fish.... especially in the salt.) One of the reasons for the high rod costs is most of the manufacture have a life time guarantee. Atleast that's what hear

I've only heard good things about the TFO's. I considering building / buying a TFO tarpon rod. I'll probably buy because I don't want to take away from boat building.

Andrew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:17 am

by Bobg

Talk about entry level fly fishing. I'm looking at the first redfish I caught on fly equipment, 26" mounted with two spots on the tail. A 10.00 flea market 9W Orvise reel and an Orvise rod as a present. I've had a blast with it.

Oh, and it was caught on a yellow/white Clouser, in those Kennedy Space Center waters I mentioned in other posts.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:48 am

by SmokyMountain

Here's somthing that may impress you saltwater fishermen..... This 22 lb Brown trout was caught in local cold water lake by some guys at my work trolling about 3 weeks ago. I've caught a lot of big fish with a fly rod on this lake, but not that big. The blood on the fish is not the fishes

Tom - you might be able to guess the name of the lake....

Andrew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:48 am

by cape man

One at a time, I'd like to eventually build a matched set of about 8 rods for the OD18

Man we think alike sometimes. I have been looking at building 2 bait caster/trolling (6'), one large spinning (7'), two or three medium light spinners (8' -9'), and a 10wt fly for mine. Problem is getting them all to match

The best deals are to buy the kits, but the same manufacturers don't make good kits for all my desires. Guess if I keep the blanks similar and all the wraps the same color and pattern it will do. One day....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:47 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a fine trout there

I didn't know they got that big. I've done a little (very little) fly fishing in some of the streams in NC and GA, my personal best trout is about 10" and maybe 12 ounces

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:53 am

by SmokyMountain

That's a fine trout there I didn't know they got that big. I've done a little (very little) fly fishing in some of the streams in NC and GA, my personal best trout is about 10" and maybe 12 ounces

A 10" trout in a wild stream is a good fish...but in the some of the lakes and tailwaters around here it can be a different story....if any boat builders are up this way, I can put them on fish....

That trout is a once in a lifetime or atleast once every 10 year monster...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:18 am

by smilinmatt

My dad has a funny story about fishing in the Georgia streams for trout. At the time, we lived in Wyoming, and most of the trout he'd catch were around 2-5 pounds. He took a business trip to Georgia, and after talking fishing with one of his co-workers, he offered to take him to a stream after work.

When they got to the stream, my dad went one way and his co-worker went the other way. My dad caught nothing but a bunch of 6-8" trout. When they met back up a couple hours later, my dad told the guy he didn't have any luck. The co-worker said his fishing was great and showed my dad his creel of 6-8" trout.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:47 am

by Dog Fish

I had no idea trout got that big either, I looked up brown trout world record and its a 41lb 7oz whopper.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:11 pm

by TomW

Andrew that has to be on your side of the mountains all my lakes are drawn down right now, I couldn't begin to guess.

Georgeous fish.

We have a fairly well know Outdoors Writer over here Andrew that just came out with a new book called Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He did about 3 months of excerpts in in our local paper since he came from here and writes a weekly column. You might be interested in it. It not only describes the fishing and types of fish but a little of the history of the stream. http://www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com/ He also listed the streams where it was possible to do the triple in one day. For you guys not familiar with the Smokeys that would be the imported rainbow and brown and the native brook trout.

Found this excerpt from the book a little while ago. http://www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com/Books/ ... ersion.pdf

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:22 pm

by cape man

Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis by Howell Raines. Good read if you like to fish and are over 40.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 5:23 pm

by gstanfield

smilinmatt wrote:My dad has a funny story about fishing in the Georgia streams for trout. At the time, we lived in Wyoming, and most of the trout he'd catch were around 2-5 pounds. He took a business trip to Georgia, and after talking fishing with one of his co-workers, he offered to take him to a stream after work.

When they got to the stream, my dad went one way and his co-worker went the other way. My dad caught nothing but a bunch of 6-8" trout. When they met back up a couple hours later, my dad told the guy he didn't have any luck. The co-worker said his fishing was great and showed my dad his creel of 6-8" trout.

That's funny and true. I moved out here to Wyoming from northeast Georgia so I know exactly what you are talking about. The trout are really nice out here, but man I miss fighting a big ol bass. A coworker took me out fishing for walleye in Pathfinder reservoir and we're trolling along and I said "dang, I got some more weeds stuck on my lure" I casually reeled it in and there was a walleye on the line that he said was a decent sized one. I asked if it was common for fish to fall asleep on the line out here cause I was used to a largemouth that you actually have to fight to get in the boat.

Funny how GA has such tiny trout yet massive bass and WY is the complete opposite. I think the record bass here in WY is something like 3 lbs

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:50 pm

by SmokyMountain

Andrew that has to be on your side of the mountains all my lakes are drawn down right now, I couldn't begin to guess.

Tom,

I'm very confident that you live within its watershed and the lake is on the TN-NC line. It doesn't have enough storage to draw down more than a few feet. It's at the mercy of upstream reservoirs... Care to take a guess

and it's COLD even at the end of the lake its probably in the mid 50's a few feet deep in the middle of August. It's probably no more than 30 min for where you live.

Andrew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:09 pm

by Cracker Larry

George, Wyoming doesn't have salt water though

A state record Amberjack was caught off Brunswick/Kingsland last weekend, official weight 101.4 lbs

And a wahoo that went 121.7

The redfishing ain't bad either, Feb. 7, Brunswick. This guy is tougher than me, I'd be in 4 layers of clothes

Come on down to GA coast, I'll make you forget all about trout and largemouth bass

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:46 pm

by TomW

Andrew the only one I could think of would be Calderwood, Cheoaha maybe? All the dang lakes are cold in the mountains in the summertime.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:49 pm

by gstanfield

Believe me, my intended destination is somewhere in those golden isles. In fact, my wife and pretty much every deputy at work is tired of hearing me talk about moving and having me force them to watch youtube videos of redfishing and ICW and pretty much everything else I think about from down there. Currently it's a matter of finishing up a few projects so we can sell the house then head east

We are hoping it will happen this fall or next spring, possible later in the summer, but time will tell. When the time comes though you can bet I'll be hitting you up for some tips of fishing the coast.

Thanks,
George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:39 am

by SmokyMountain

Andrew the only one I could think of would be Calderwood, Cheoaha maybe? All the dang lakes are cold in the mountains in the summertime.

Tom,

Calderwood is correct. Cheoah has some hogs in it too.... don't fish it as much because it a pain to get to a ramp. I'm mostly on Chilhowee... a jewel that most folks don't realize the quality of the cold water fishery...

I have to admit the pics Larry posted don't compare to around here... that redfish would be fun on a fly rod!!!!

Andrew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:54 am

by TomW

Can't disagree with you there. Or the light tackle I like to use!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:15 am

by JimW

gstanfield wrote:
smilinmatt wrote:My dad has a funny story about fishing in the Georgia streams for trout. At the time, we lived in Wyoming, and most of the trout he'd catch were around 2-5 pounds. He took a business trip to Georgia, and after talking fishing with one of his co-workers, he offered to take him to a stream after work.

When they got to the stream, my dad went one way and his co-worker went the other way. My dad caught nothing but a bunch of 6-8" trout. When they met back up a couple hours later, my dad told the guy he didn't have any luck. The co-worker said his fishing was great and showed my dad his creel of 6-8" trout.
That's funny and true. I moved out here to Wyoming from northeast Georgia so I know exactly what you are talking about. The trout are really nice out here, but man I miss fighting a big ol bass. A coworker took me out fishing for walleye in Pathfinder reservoir and we're trolling along and I said "dang, I got some more weeds stuck on my lure" I casually reeled it in and there was a walleye on the line that he said was a decent sized one. I asked if it was common for fish to fall asleep on the line out here cause I was used to a largemouth that you actually have to fight to get in the boat.

Funny how GA has such tiny trout yet massive bass and WY is the complete opposite. I think the record bass here in WY is something like 3 lbs

George

One man's dinner is another man's bait.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:54 am

by cape man

Exactly what I've been saying!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

Mullet.

While waiting for my new mullet rod components to arrive, I decided to build a new rod wrapping jig. Couldn't find the pieces to my old one, so started over. Too cold and nasty to do anything else, and they want $150 for one of these things online

Using some scrap wood and some misc hardware from my coffee cans, I was able to put one together in a few hours that does everything a store bought jig does and more, for free

Almost free, I had to buy some wing nuts.

It has a fixed support on one end, 2 adjustable V blocks sliding on a track, and a 4 spool thread carrier and tensioner, also sliding on the track. All the sliding parts are interchangeable and adjustable in height and position. Left some room for mounting a drying motor behind the fixed support.

Ready to build some rods now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:41 pm

by Bowmovement

Looks better than store bought ones to me. I looked into rod building once. Had a thread here about it. Or maybe hijacked a thread for a few pages.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 12:11 am

by Cracker Larry

Yeah, I think Craig started a rod building thread several months ago, but I was too lazy to look for it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 5:50 am

by cape man

Yeah, I think Craig started a rod building thread several months ago, but I was too lazy to look for it

As Matt said, I think it was a lengthy hijack instead...kinda like this one

But who cares

we're having fun!

That is one very purdy rod building rack you got there Cracker. They are very proud of the premade ones. Love your thread tensioners! Smart.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:22 am

by Joe H

Cracker, that is one nice jig!

Take from someone who designs jigs for a living.
Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:26 am

by Dog Fish

Good job Larry, Its got to be that green Rum that's helping you and Peter come up with these good ideas. NICE

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:48 am

by Cracker Larry

Thanks yall

I think it was a lengthy hijack instead...kinda like this one

This is sort of about fishing

Its got to be that green Rum that's helping you and Peter come up with these good ideas.

There is a lot of wisdom stored in a bottle in green rum, if I could just remember what it was

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:04 am

by Dog Fish

There is a lot of wisdom stored in a bottle in green rum, if I could just remember what it was

[/quote]

Isn't that the truth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:36 pm

by sitandfish

One of our local (South Carolina) fishing guides posted pictures of a recent fishing trip. Cold, wind blowing... but they caught fish. But, of course that's not the end of the story. While taking pictures of his fishing clients, he gets a picture of a bald eagle snatching a 'marsh mink' off of the oyster rakes at low tide and hauling it off back to the nest. CRAZY! Notice the minks tail hanging down?

.
I'll post the link to the site if anyone wants to see it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:29 pm

by Bowmovement

sitandfish wrote:One of our local (South Carolina) fishing guides posted pictures of a recent fishing trip. Cold, wind blowing... but they caught fish. But, of course that's not the end of the story. While taking pictures of his fishing clients, he gets a picture of a bald eagle snatching a 'marsh mink' off of the oyster rakes at low tide and hauling it off back to the nest. CRAZY! Notice the minks tail hanging down?
.
I'll post the link to the site if anyone wants to see it.

Thats cool

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sweet, I do love the low country

Please post the link, I'd like to see it

Not certain, but I think that's an otter, rather than a mink. Looks too big and heavy for a mink.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 9:19 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:Sweet, I do love the low country Please post the link, I'd like to see it

Not certain, but I think that's an otter, rather than a mink. Looks too big and heavy for a mink.

These Edisto Island fishing guides are very accurate about what lives in their water (minks included). Mink are rare but, I have seen (positive sightings) of two different species of weasels in our local waters. And yes... we also have otters. But, our otters are SO FAT that the eagles have a hard time with them.

Here is the report.
http://www.charlestonfishing.com/forum/ ... C_ID=95674

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 9:35 pm

by sitandfish

Larry, I read his report one more time. He said he saw the eagle catch the mink and ALSO saw an otter catch a trout. He didn't get a picture of the otter catching the trout though! I think he did good enough with the eagle/mink picture (and the fishing pictures) though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 11:12 pm

by gstanfield

I'll have to dig around a bit and scan the picture in, but I was drift fishing the north platte river west of Casper Wy and as I came around a bend there was a moma and baby deer swimming the river with a bald eagle sitting on a stump right behind them (the way the river turned it put them all in frame together) That with the Russian olive trees on the bank and the beauty of the river made for one of the best wildlife shots I've ever taken.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:50 am

by Cracker Larry

Certainly not arguing, I wasn't there

Biggest dang mink I've ever seen

We've got a lot of minks, and otters here too.

These Edisto Island fishing guides are very accurate about what lives in their water (minks included).

Yep, I've been a low country fishing guide for 30 years myself, usually know what I'm looking at

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:15 pm

by Dog Fish

http://moldychum.typepad.com/moldy_chum ... _grab.html

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:06 pm

by Mad Dog

Since fly fishing has been a hot topic of late I thought I would see if anyone is interested in an assortment of flies and acccessories. I don't know much about flies so... Here is one pic as an example (there's lots more).

I know Batuea doesn't want the site turned into a classified page so if anyone is interested send me a PM and I'll share all the pics. These are just sitting around looking for a home.

MD

PS Well, it's a pretty picture but the owner thinks he lost them in a change of address.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:30 pm

by Dog Fish

MD, They are some good looking flys for sure, I see some that would be good for snook.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:31 pm

by Cracker Larry

Email sent

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:09 pm

by tech_support

lower left box, middle compartment..... thats my favorite for snook and bass

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

Do those imitate the little fish yall call white bait in Florida? And by bass, do you mean freshwater bass or spottails (redfish)?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 5:14 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:Do those imitate the little fish yall call white bait in Florida? And by bass, do you mean freshwater bass or spottails (redfish)?

The red and white flies Shine mentioned will work for fresh water AND salt water (reds) bass. I don't know from white bait though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 5:30 pm

by sitandfish

Larry, here is my working assortment for our SC waters. The big flies (the 4 or so on the left with a bunch of feathers) are for the trout. Everything else is for reds (spottail bass). Notice the red and white? I used dear hair instead of feathers for the tail. It's an older version. And I am an older version of a fisherman.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 5:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thanks for that, could you do me a big favor and take a pic with a ruler or something behind them so I can get a sense of scale? I'm getting to be an older version myself, and I didn't know white bait from squat until we went to Boca Grande last year

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 5:48 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:Thanks for that, could you do me a big favor and take a pic with a ruler or something behind them so I can get a sense of scale? I'm getting to be an older version myself, and I didn't know white bait from squat until we went to Boca Grande last year

I'll get a picture with a scale or a US coin or something. For now, most of the flies are all tied with size 1/0 hooks. The big one in front is a 2/0 hook.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:26 pm

by Dog Fish

What a crappie picture................................ and a happy fisherman, he did good

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 12:08 am

by TomW

That's a nice size Crappie Brian!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 8:31 am

by peter-curacao

COOL

http://video.nl.msn.com/watch/video/div ... e/8t9n61ti

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:30 am

by Dog Fish

[quote="TomW"]That's a nice size Crappie Brian!

Tom[/quote

It really is Tom, I posted the pic because I thought it was a nice shot of that proud fisherman and a beautiful fish

The last time I caught one close to that was 30 years ago

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:53 am

by Cracker Larry

I've never caught one that large, don't think I've ever seen one that large

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:43 pm

by tech_support

Im not really sure what the seaducer is supposed to look like. It suspends and when you strip the front hackle body pulses and the twin tails fluf out. Its large and has a lot of action, I think that's the appeal. I suppose it looks like a squid and frog at the same time

i have caught a lot of black bass in golf course the ponds on HHI with them.

for "white bait" or pilchards a chartreuse/white clouser is good, you can catch anything on the flats with a clouser. I think I have a clouser rusted to my hook holder right now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 4:17 pm

by Dog Fish

Some good Snook, Reds, Trout and around saltwater flies.
Bottom pic is a white- green deceiver, sweet fly

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 4:38 pm

by Dog Fish

clouser deep water minnow

I like this Bonita Bunny too

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:29 pm

by SmokyMountain

Since were talking about fly fishing here's a 18-19 brown I caught on the Litter River today on a dry fly. The early spring hatches are starting (blue quills, little stones, olives and other mayfly's). The next three weeks will be some of the best dry fly fishing of the year... every trout will be looking up.

Worked on the boat and had to take a mental health break and go fishing... today was the warmest and nicest day of the year so far.

Andrew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:59 pm

by Dog Fish

Nice fish Andrew, getting warmer down here too. I am going to wet a fly tomorrow and see if I can find some reds or snook, any fish will be fine though.
Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:03 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Wow

nice fish Andrew

I am not a very good flyfisherman but I can appreciate a great fish..

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 1:45 am

by TomW

Nice Brown, Andrew.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:21 am

by Cracker Larry

Beautiful fish Andrew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:02 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yall want to keep fishing? Better be careful who you vote for next time.

ESPN today...

Obama administration will accept no more public input for federal fishery strategy

By Robert Montgomery
ESPNOutdoors.com

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.
Anglering for access united we fish rally capitol washington fishing
AP/Luis M. AlvarezOne sign at the United We Fish rally at the Capital summed up the feelings of recreational and commercial fishermen.
This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is "fluid" and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn't issued its final report on zoning uses of these waters.

That's a disappointment, but not really a surprise for fishing industry insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a charade from the beginning.

"When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) completed their successful campaign to convince the Ontario government to end one of the best scientifically managed big game hunts in North America (spring bear), the results of their agenda had severe economic impacts on small family businesses and the tourism economy of communities across northern and central Ontario," said Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs for Shimano.

"Now we see NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the administration planning the future of recreational fishing access in America based on a similar agenda of these same groups and other Big Green anti-use organizations, through an Executive Order by the President. The current U.S. direction with fishing is a direct parallel to what happened in Canada with hunting: The negative economic impacts on hard working American families and small businesses are being ignored.

"In spite of what we hear daily in the press about the President's concern for jobs and the economy and contrary to what he stated in the June order creating this process, we have seen no evidence from NOAA or the task force that recreational fishing and related jobs are receiving any priority."

PHOTO GALLERY
Fisheries In Danger

Consequently, unless anglers speak up and convince their Congressional representatives to stop this bureaucratic freight train, it appears that the task force will issue a final report for "marine spatial planning" by late March, with President Barack Obama then issuing an Executive Order to implement its recommendations — whatever they may be.

Led by NOAA's Jane Lubchenco, the task force has shown no overt dislike of recreational angling, but its indifference to the economic, social and biological value of the sport has been deafening.

Additionally, Lubchenco and others in the administration have close ties to environmental groups who would like nothing better than to ban recreational angling. And evidence suggests that these organizations have been the engine behind the task force since before Obama issued a memo creating it last June.

As ESPN previously reported, WWF, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, Pew Environment Group and others produced a document entitled "Transition Green" shortly after Obama was elected in 2008. What has happened since suggests that the task force has been in lockstep with that position paper.

Then in late summer, just after he created the task force, these groups produced "Recommendations for the Adoption and Implementation of an Oceans, Coasts, and Great Lakes National Policy." This document makes repeated references to "overfishing," but doesn't once reference recreational angling, its importance, and its benefits, both to participants and the resource.

Additionally, some of these same organizations have revealed their anti-fishing bias by playing fast and loose with "facts," in attempts to ban tackle containing lead in the United States and Canada.

That same tunnel vision, in which recreational angling and commercial fishing are indiscriminately lumped together as harmful to the resource, has persisted with the task force, despite protests by the angling industry.

As more evidence of collusion, the green groups began clamoring for an Executive Order to implement the task force's recommendations even before the public comment period ended in February. Fishing advocates had no idea that this was coming.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the New York Times reported on Feb. 12 that "President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities."
Anglering for access
Click here for archive
Morlock fears that "what we're seeing coming at us is an attempted dismantling of the science-based fish and wildlife model that has served us so well. There's no basis in science for the agendas of these groups who are trying to push the public out of being able to fish and recreate.

"Conflicts (user) are overstated and problems are manufactured. It's all just an excuse to put us off the water."

In the wake of the task force's framework document, the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) and its partners in the U.S. Recreational Fishing & Boating Coalition against voiced their concerns to the administration.

"Some of the potential policy implications of this interim framework have the potential to be a real threat to recreational anglers who not only contribute billions of dollars to the economy and millions of dollars in tax revenues to support fisheries conservation, but who are also the backbone of the American fish and wildlife conservation ethic," said CSF President Jeff Crane.

Morlock, a member of the CSF board, added, "There are over one million jobs in America supported coast to coast by recreational fishing. The task force has not included any accountability requirements in their reports for evaluating or mitigating how the new policies they are drafting will impact the fishing industry or related economies.

"Given that the scope of this process appears to include a new set of policies for all coastal and inland waters of the United States, the omission of economic considerations is inexcusable."

This is not the only access issue threatening the public's right to fish, but it definitely is the most serious, according to Chris Horton, national conservation director for BASS.

"With what's being created, the same principles could apply inland as apply to the oceans," he said. "Under the guise of 'marine spatial planning' entire watersheds could be shut down, even 2,000 miles up a river drainage from the ocean.

"Every angler needs to be aware because if it's not happening in your backyard today or tomorrow, it will be eventually.

"We have one of the largest voting blocks in the country and we need to use it. We must not sit idly by.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:37 pm

by Larry B

Yep, just heard it on Fox, WTF

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

I bet you won't hear it on CBS, NBC, ABC or MSNBC either. They are bought and paid for.
It's part of his economic disaster plan

Yeah, no politics. Without fishing I don't need or want a boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:43 pm

by gstanfield

Cracker Larry wrote:Yall want to keep fishing? Better be careful who you vote for next time...

Let me just go on record as saying I didn't vote for that idiot.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:47 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:I bet you won't hear it on CBS, NBC, ABC or MSNBC. They are bought and paid for.
It's part of his economic disaster plan Yeah, no politics. Without fishing I don't need or want a boat.

Anyone want to buy a OD18 Hull??? I'll even finish it for you, material cost and free labor.
I'm with Larry if I can't fish I don't need no boat. think I'll go ahead and put a gun turret on the bow just in case

Wont need any rod holders

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:08 pm

by Dog Fish

We need to get about 2 million people to drag old piece of crap boats and dump them in front of the White House.

I would say I can't believe it but I do.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Glad I bought my new fly rod and reel before the ban. I wonder what a pre-ban fly rod will be worth in a few years

I wonder if there will be any manufacturers left building them too

And whatinhell is Marine Spatial Planning

I'm with Larry if I can't fish I don't need no boat.

To take that one step further, we won't need boating forums either. There's going to be a lot of people out of work

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:26 pm

by Dog Fish

And whatinhell is Marine Spatial Planning

Yea I didn't get that either, but I understood the rest and it = screwd

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:32 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:And whatinhell is Marine Spatial Planning

http://www.msp.noaa.gov/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:44 pm

by Dog Fish

I don't like spatial planing. This will shock a hole lot of people that don't know the hole scope of what could happen.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

Cracker Larry wrote:And whatinhell is Marine Spatial Planning

http://www.msp.noaa.gov/

Glad I asked I still don't know what it is

What is marine spatial planning?

There are a number of definitions for marine spatial planning. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, marine spatial planning is a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that usually have been specified through a political process.

I do understand the social objectives and political process part. Don't like it either. Yep, we're screwed. I knew that a while back though. When they shut down all our weather buoys in January. When they shut down LORAN in February. When they closed all our bottom fishing off the entire SE US coast. Yall told me I was crazy when I said they were going to do that a few months ago

They did it, and they ain't finished with us yet.

My apologies to all our international friends who don't have a dog in this fight yet, but you might soon. Our economy extends well beyond our borders. When they take away our Internet, maybe Peter will host this site from Curacao

I'll be down there with him.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:51 pm

by Dog Fish

Larry you might not be alone going to Curacao.

In search of fish and Green Rum

.......

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:15 pm

by Dog Fish

Our fearless leader is going to snuff some of the Nasa program too after saying he wouldn't during his campaign.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:36 pm

by steve292

Cracker Larry wrote:
My apologies to all our international friends who don't have a dog in this fight yet, but you might soon. Our economy extends well beyond our borders. When they take away our Internet, maybe Peter will host this site from Curacao I'll be down there with him.

We have got a very similar fight going on over here with the EU common fisheries policy,with the madness that allows dumping of fish at sea because the commercial boats have exceeded the quota of one species, but are allowed to fish for a different species on the same ground,whilst dumping back dead breeding size fish.
I realise that the commercials have a living to make,& don't begrude it to them but to kill the breeding stock of tomorrow for todays profit is madness & in no ones interest.
It seems to me in this country anyway, that the recreational angler is the first to cry foul, when overfishing, pollution ect rears its head, & various organisations seek to marginalise us & our views.
What strikes me, as an outsider is why they are picking on the anglers, when the recreational anglers impact is, if properly & responsibly managed( I hate that word but it is the only one I can think that fits) nothing compared to the commercial fleet & brings huge amounts of cash into coastal economies.
FWIW, we've got a government that is hellbent into inserting itself into every aspect of our lives as well. Ask Craig he's seen the cameras everywhere.
Steve

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:49 pm

by Aripeka Angler

gstanfield wrote:
Let me just go on record as saying I didn't vote for that idiot.

George

Ditto. He doesn't have the experience to run a day school for infants. Why would we trust him to make decisions affecting our lives or our fishing? I don't care about political parties, I want elected officials with balls that make sound decisions.

We had a Republican Governor in charge of our state several years ago. He was an idiot like Obama. He decided that he needed to slap a luxury tax on expensive cars and boats. He put thousands of people out of work and the buyers of those products just went to other states to make their purchases. He lasted one term in office. I am pretty sure that will be same case now....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:29 am

by Cracker Larry

That damage was recoverable. I don't think this damage will be, in more ways than just fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:26 am

by kdog

Ughh!!!! I just read the ESPN article Larry posted and got ill, actually I don't know what to say.

There is no emoticon to express how extremely pissed off and frustrated I am!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:41 am

by gstanfield

I may end up having to stay in Wyoming. At least for now we can still fish in the lakes and rivers out here, even if the fish as small and erfuse to put up a fight.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:45 am

by Dog Fish

[quote]Atlanta – The Obama administration has proposed using United Nations-guided principles to expand a type of zoning to coastal and even some inland waters. That’s raising concerns among fishermen that their favorite fishing holes may soon be off-limits for bait-casting. In the battle of incremental change that epitomizes the American conservation movement, many weekend anglers fear that the Obama administration’s promise to “fundamentally change” water management in the US will erode what they call the public’s “right to fish,” in turn creating economic losses for the $82 billion recreational fishing industry and a further deterioration of the American outdoorsman’s legacy. Proponents say the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force established by President Obama last June will ultimately benefit the fishing public by managing ecosystems in their entirety rather than by individual uses such as fishing, shipping, or oil exploration. “It’s not an environmentalist manifesto,” says Larry Crowder, a marine biologist at Duke University in North Carolina. “It’s multiple-use planning for the environment, and making sure various uses … are sustainable.” (Amateur outdoorsmen have been fighting for their rights for years, as the Monitor reports here.)

New way to manage marine resourcesFaced with the prospect of further industrialization along America's coasts and the Great Lakes (wind turbines and natural-gas exploration, for example), the task force is charged with putting in place a new ecosystem management process called marine spatial planning. Marine spatial planning (MSP), according to the United Nations, is “a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that usually have been specified through a political process." That kind of government-speak scares Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs at the reel-and-rod maker Shimano. Mr. Morlock points to references by the ocean task force to “one global sea” as evidence that what’s really being proposed are broad changes to America's user-funded conservation strategy, potentially affecting even inland waters. “I suggest that the task force recommend our model to the United Nations rather than us adopting the United Nations model,” he says in a phone interview. “The American model is the best in the world, so our question is: Why seek the lowest common denominator?”

Protections for recreational fishermenMr. Obama has said he will not override protections put in place by Presidents Clinton and Bush that established recreational fishermen as a special class.

But critics still worry about the Obama administration’s ties to environmental groups that espouse “anti-use” policies that put some habitats out of reach even for rod and reel fishermen, who take only 3 percent of America’s landed catch every year. “Angling advocates point out that senior policy officials on the task force seem inclined to ally themselves with preservationists and environmental extremists who want to create ‘no fishing’ preserves, with no scientific justification,” writes ESPN.com’s Robert Montgomery. On the other hand, nonpartisan experts say the task force has already made strides in better recognizing various stakeholder groups, including recreational fishermen, and that it doesn’t intend to undermine the ability of states to manage their natural resources, as many fishermen fear. “There’s been huge progress by the task force in terms of being more inclusive in thinking about economic, ecological, social, and political concerns,” says Mr. Crowder at Duke. “The paranoia – and there is paranoia on all sides – is that the process will be captured. My hope is that mutual concern gets people to the table.” The final report of the task force is expected in late March. Congress will decide its fate, unless Obama issues an executive order establishing MSP as the law of the water[quote]

That just came up on my home page, more of the same. "BS"

Rules to getting into public office = Biggest liar wins

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:41 pm

by gk108

MSP=a plan to coordinate conflicting interests in the development of our coastline. That means figuring out where to put the offshore wind farm or the aquaculture facility so that it won't interfere with other users of the same areas. For example, it keeps industrial and corporate interests from setting up their pollution machines next door to the sensitive estuary. You know, like the sugar mill on Lake Okeechobee. Our politicians get mad about Castro, so their plan to get even with him is to screw up the ecology in the tip of Florida? That's a good example of "(human activities in marine areas) that usually have been specified through a political process" overriding "human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives". And it is "affecting even inland waters". If that "model is the best in the world", it needs improvement. Wouldn't it have been nice to be able to point to an approved plan and say "Wait a minute, we already said we can't do that down there"?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:47 pm

by Dog Fish

Booze Bait

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

What a load of crap. It looks like ESPN has been put under some serious pressure for telling us peons the truth, another one bought and paid for

I bet Fox won't print a retraction.

Updated: March 10, 2010, 4:51 PM ET
From the editorEmail Print Comments 8Share12retweet3 By Steve Bowman
Executive Editor ESPNOutdoors.com
Archive
Firestorms get started in a variety of ways, especially on politicized issues.

ESPNOutdoors.com inadvertently contributed to a flare-up Tuesday when we posted the latest article in a series of stories on President Barack Obama's newly created Ocean Policy Task Force, a column written by Robert Montgomery, a conservation writer for BASS since 1985. Regrettably, we made several errors in the editing and presentation of this installment. Though our series has included numerous news stories on the topic, this was not one of them -- it was an opinion piece, and should have been clearly labeled as commentary.

And while our series overall has examined several sides of the topic, this particular column was not properly balanced and failed to represent contrary points of view. We have reached out to people on every side of the issue and reported their points of view -- if they chose to respond -- throughout the series, but failed to do so in this specific column.

This series started in October and has included several updates on how the creation of the task force and its actions could impact recreational anglers. ESPNOutdoors.com should have made it clear to all readers that this was part of a larger series, and -- even though this was Montgomery's opinion, and those of the sources quoted in the column -- we should have taken more care to fairly represent opposing arguments.

We do feel it is our duty to cover issues surrounding outdoor sports to the best of our abilities, and given the nature of this task force and the potential impact on all fisherman, this was an appropriate topic to address for our audience. We take seriously the tenets of journalism that require we take an unbiased approach, and when we make mistakes in the presentation of a story or a column, it is our responsibility to admit them.

Any confusion on that part rests entirely on my shoulders as the executive editor of this site.

We have appended the original column to note that it was in fact a commentary, and we will institute more rigorous editing safeguards in order to prevent such issues in the future.

-------

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:07 pm

by TomW

Yep Larry I've given up I wrote my Congressman and got a bunch of BS back so have given up on it. There talking about doing something about the Great Smoky NP and naming it a wilderness area, it would be so retrictive that we would have to close the docks up here now although they say it won't happen though it has in other areas Hah! It's all a bunch of political bs and the little guy get's it in the you know where.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:08 pm

by gstanfield

You guys just don't get that he is helping the economy. What is better for a suffering economy than putting more people out of work and cutting spending by the people who still have a little money left

Next we need to find another little niche in our economy that is still alive and put a bullet in it's head as well.

Hmmm, maybe we could ban milk and put the dairy farmers out of buisness? No, don't think that will work.

Or maybe we can ban computers and put tech guys out of work? No, the gov needs computers.

Oh wait, I got the best idea yet. We can ban liars and put washington out of buisness

(mumbling under breath) stupid *(&)%%&^% politician &*^(*%^% idiots with their ^&*(*&^9 ideas on how to %$@&)@# ruin my #()*&@#$*(& life.

Oh well, maybe after he completely bankrupts the country it'll be easier for his muslim brothers to take over the USA.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:36 pm

by wadestep

It's a Brave New World, for sure. I'm not an Obama fan at all, but we did almost get sideswipped by Bush and Islands in the Stream. That was quite a bit less far-reaching however. They're all a bunch of rejects in Washington.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:05 am

by Mad Dog

TomW wrote:Yep Larry I've given up I wrote my Congressman and got a bunch of BS back so have given up on it. There talking about doing something about the Great Smoky NP and naming it a wilderness area, it would be so retrictive that we would have to close the docks up here now although they say it won't happen though it has in other areas Hah! It's all a bunch of political bs and the little guy get's it in the you know where.

Tom

I wrote my congressmen and got nothing. A friend of mine found this link. http://mediamatters.org/research/201003100014 Now while it may be true that President Obama isn't saying no more recreational fishing, the proposals seem to give them the opportunity to say where we cannot fish. We all know the issue with that. Close off all the spatial habitats that hold fish and leave the ones that don't. There are, as they say, more than one way to skin a cat. I guess that statement will get me in trouble too.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:13 pm

by Mad Dog

F.Y.I.

Just picked this up from ESPNOutdoors.COM

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following statement from Eric Schwaab, assistant administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service, is in response to a recent ESPNOutdoors.com column by Robert Montgomery about a federal task force's potential impact on recreational fishing. There will more on this issue in the coming days, including a Q&A between Schwaab and BASS Conservation Director Chris Horton, as a part of ESPNOutdoors.com's continued full coverage of the Ocean Policy Task Force.)

The Ocean Policy Task Force has not recommended a ban on recreational fishing.

The draft reports by the Ocean Policy Task Force do not contain a zoning map and do not establish any restrictions on recreational fishing, nor make any judgments about whether one ocean activity or use is better than another. Instead, the reports set up a policy and framework for effectively managing the many sustainable uses of the ocean while upholding our responsibility to be stewards of our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes.

As a member of the task force, NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco, has said, and I echo her on this, that saltwater recreational fishing is vital to this nation and NOAA is committed to building a strong partnership with America's saltwater anglers to ensure that Americans have opportunities to fish sustainably for generations to come.

Saltwater recreational fishing matters to me on a personal level as a recreational fisherman, it matters to millions of Americans who enjoy this great sport and it matters to our economy. Our most recent economic report shows it supports a half million jobs and generates $82 billion in sales each year.

NOAA is committed to adopting policies that will ensure that current and future generations have the opportunity to enjoy the great tradition of recreational fishing.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:42 pm

by TomW

Our most recent economic report shows it supports a half million jobs and generates $82 billion in sales each year.

What a bunch of horse shit. 500,000 jobs ludicrous.

I don't know where there economic report comes from but I bet just the Gulf coast and around to GA supports that many and mucho dinaro. I mean you have to include the Walmarts, BassPro etc. in the gulf towns and all the other areas, including research and stocking programs, licence fees, marinas, bait shops, fishery reporting, etc. If someone was really serious about challenging this they could get an MBA group project to do a full blown project to take a sample survey and disprove it. It would probably cost less than a $100k. I did something similar when I got mine.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:11 pm

by Dog Fish

According to a 2008 University of South Carolina study, coastal tourism had a total economic impact of over $7 billion, employed nearly 81,000 South Carolinians, and generated over $2 billion in salary and wages.

The same study found that commercial fishing had a total economic impact of nearly $34 million, employed nearly 700 South Carolinians, and generated nearly $13 million in salary and wages.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

Horse shit for sure. Another news agency supporting the agenda is what it is. They sure turned around fast. They like their FCC license I suppose.

The draft reports by the Ocean Policy Task Force do not contain a zoning map and do not establish any restrictions on recreational fishing

If it doesn't, how did I get copies of the zoning maps

I posted the map links here earlier. And if there are no restrictions established, why is all of the SE coast closed to bottom fishing

What a load of lies. Just like everything else in this "yes we can" administration

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:34 pm

by Dog Fish

What a load of lies. Just like everything else in this "yes we can" administration

It sure is, and gets worse every day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:42 pm

by TomW

What a load of lies. Just like everything else in this "yes we can" administration

You have it Larry and it goes in one end and comes out runny the other so that neither they or any one else knows what is going on.

I'll come down Larry and we'll go out and see if we get chased out then see what they say.

Make sure we have all these articles with us though.

Hell even my cat knows what's going on she just jumped up on my lap while I'm typing this.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 4:57 pm

by Dog Fish

Obama isn’t stopping with his task-force. Surfacing is a 21-page document, marked “Internal Draft — NOT FOR RELEASE,” leaked by Rep. Robert Bishop (R- UT) in his effort to shed light on an upcoming preservationist takeover. The document names 14 different lands Mr. Obama would completely close to development by unilaterally designating them as “monuments” under the 1906 Antiquities Act.

Health care is at the front of discussions and would take over much of the US economy by the government. Add cap and trade to the mix the government would then own 56-percent of the US economy.

As you see, Obama and his ilk are attempting to take over more than your health care decisions, they are working behind the scenes, in every agency, to take over your life, your family’s life and the entire United States of America as our framers intended and reasonable people know it. Indeed!

The proposed designations and acquisitions would lock-up at least 13 million acres of land in 11 Western states, cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and be done without Congressional approval. It would also have huge ramifications on our nation's energy, restricting access to immense oil, gas, and mineral deposits, as well as blocking pipelines and transmission corridors.

This is the link to the proposed closers that's not for release.

http://republicans.resourcescommittee.h ... cument.pdf

Has Obama Gone Fishing or Gone Mad?

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Well ya see, he can still fish, because"yes he can" do anything he wants. He's made that clear. He will still have good health care too, so will his family, and so will the senate and house members who are deciding what kind of health care us peons will have. It won't be as good as theirs, but it's good enough for the sheep

"Yes they can" do anything they want. So what if it's against the law, unconstitutional or immoral

They are above all that and know what's best for us. What can the sheeple do about it anyway

Ain't nobody but Obama and his Secret Service going to be fishing soon, them and the Chinese who will own our fishing rights, along with all our debts. If they ever call the debt, we are really screwed. And they will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:17 pm

by majorgator

The funny thing is thing is that I've avoided this thread because I thought it was just about fishing, and it ballooned into 70 or 80 pages overnight. Now that I've read the last 3 pages, I'm pissed that I've missed the conversation

I'll have to pay attention to this one now. Very interesting, very depressing

I've been reading about these issues for quite some time now.

The Florida legislature alone could drum up enough reasoning and support to bring this nonsense to an end, but not the current group of bozo's. Our local clowns (Gainesville) have decided that there's nothing else more important to do than to focus on bringing an end to "Ladies Night" specials at bars...discrimination of course. And just about every local group of politicians are focused on stupid little trivial crap like that. So what makes me ever believe that they'll put any REAL attention on the things that REALLY matter. Its said to me, as I'm sure many its been said to many of you, "why don't you run for public office". The truth is that in this society, by the standards established on terms of political correctness, I am truly unelectable based upon my views.

Europeans are famous for thinking that Americans are ignorant, and who can blame them for thinking that? Our current state of affairs didn't begin yesterday or in 2008 or in 2000 or in 1992...we've been on a consistent slide that WE THE PEOPLE have unfortunately not had a desire to stop. It begs us to reflect on the following quote which so many of us know (has been quoted since 1700's yet no one can determine who actually said/wrote it

):"The historical cycle seems to be: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to apathy; from apathy to dependency; and from dependency back to bondage once more."

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:30 pm

by Dog Fish

Sorry Seth, You see we have been hiding behind the "scenes", using the Anyone Fishing as a cover-up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:23 am

by cape man

Again, here's why we aren't seeing a lot of fishing pictures from south florida...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:52 pm

by tech_support

i going tomorrow for the first time in at least a month, the wind is calming down.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:54 pm

by cape man

Me too!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:51 pm

by Dog Fish

Looks like someone else is going again too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 5:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

Me too! Weather is finally beautiful here, 75 degrees. Just made my quarterly trip to Bass Pro Shop, all stocked up again

Certainly would have been cheaper to go to the seafood market

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:28 pm

by Dog Fish

Certainly would have been cheaper to go to the seafood market

But Larry, all the fun you would be missing out on. I sure hope the warming trend continues so the Tarpon make it to Boca Grande in time for the Meet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:38 pm

by Cracker Larry

But Larry, all the fun you would be missing out on.

Agreed, that's why I do it. I usually release the fish anyway unless they are gut hooked and never bring home more than a meals worth on an inshore trip, no matter how many we catch. But offshore grouper/snapper fishing, that's another matter

Fill the freezer whenever possible

I sure hope the warming trend continues so the Tarpon make it to Boca Grande in time for the Meet.

I hope so too, but no real matter. Something will bite, or not, and we'll have a good time either way. I don't have to catch fish to be happy, I just have to fish. But I'm happier if I'm catching something

I know a good pin fish bed that a guide showed me down there

News Alert: Mrs. Cracker just called and told me she wanted to go fishing tomorrow

This has never happened

I'm concerned

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:45 pm

by Dog Fish

Agreed, that's why I do it. I usually release the fish anyway unless they are gut hooked and never bring home more than a meals worth on an inshore trip, no matter how many we catch. But offshore grouper/snapper fishing, that's another matter Fill the freezer whenever possible

Ditto

I hope so too, but no real matter. Something will bite, or not, and we'll have a good time either way. I don't have to catch fish to be happy, I just have to fish. But I'm happier if I'm catching something I know a good pin fish bed that a guide showed me down there

Your funny.

News Alert: Mrs. Cracker just called and told me she wanted to go fishing tomorrow This has never happened I'm concerned

Oh know, somethings up, tread lightly.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:54 pm

by TomW

News Alert: Mrs. Cracker just called and told me she wanted to go fishing tomorrow This has never happened I'm concerned

I'd be concerned to you told me she didn't like to fish!

Next thing you know she'll be wanting to go to Boca with you and you'll have to behave!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:55 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:
News Alert: Mrs. Cracker just called and told me she wanted to go fishing tomorrow This has never happened I'm concerned

Do you have a large life insurance policy

Is she asking for you to bring more rope

is she checking to see that you have plenty of anchors

Maybe you should call in sick

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:03 pm

by gstanfield

Call a friend every 30 minutes and let them know where you are. It really helps search and rescue if they know an approximate location of the body.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:10 pm

by Bluefish2

While my wife and I were on vacation They were serving a lot of grouper and other southern bottom fish. I tried it a couple of time and it seemed tough to me. Was the cook doing something wrong? Is grouper and others tougher or is this just poor cooking by the chef? I have never caught a grouper but am looking to on the next vacation.
BF2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:26 pm

by Dog Fish

Right now you cant keep grouper in the US so your Grouper most likely came from South America at this time, I don't know where you had it at but it should not have been tough, I would blame the chef.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

I tried it a couple of time and it seemed tough to me. Was the cook doing something wrong? Is grouper and others tougher or is this just poor cooking by the chef?

Over cooked

It is firm, compared to most fresh water fish, but it's not tough.

Yall got me worried now for sure

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

Right now you cant keep grouper in the US so your Grouper most likely came from South America at this time,

Probably old too

Grouper season opens in the GOM the first of April and we're going to tear them up. Catchem while we can

It remains closed on my coast until further notice from the HMFWIC.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:35 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:Yall got me worried now for sure

You might want to make a big dent in your Honeydew-list before the trip.

Couldn't hurt.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:24 am

by TomW

Good fishing to everybody this Saturday.

Oh and Larry make sure you let her outfish you!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:58 am

by majorgator

They were serving a lot of grouper and other southern bottom fish. I tried it a couple of time and it seemed tough to me. Was the cook doing something wrong? Is grouper and others tougher or is this just poor cooking by the chef?

Not to be discouraging, but there are numerous articles in respectable magazines about the high likelihood that you weren't even eating grouper. There was a great article written in Sport Fishing Magazine several months ago that included a study detailing the high incidences of "false" fishes being served at restaurants. Since I'm a magazine hoarder

I'll see if I can find that article.

Typically when I go out to eat at a seafood joint, I'm careful about my menu selection. Shrimp is hard to confuse with anything else, but avoid the "fresh fish" gimmick at very inland locales

And tilapia is always out. I know too much about how they are raised on the farms

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:22 am

by cape man

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... uper_x.htm

http://www.tampabay.com/news/article795409.ece

Just a couple of the hundreds of cases if you search. Major problem in the seafood industry. Most people really can't tell the difference simply because they don't have personal experience with the real thing. Anyone who has caught, cleaned, cooked, and eating a grouper (or any other fish for that matter) can usually tell the difference when they go out to eat. This is how I know fresh fried mulklet is soooo good!!

My crew (wife and daughter) are horrible!! It's 9:20 and we are still waiting to take the boat out! There's an air fest in Tampa today and tomorow so the plan is to be out on the bay to watch it. The water is still in the low 60's, grouper are still closed, so don't expect it to be great fishing day anyway....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:38 pm

by Cracker Larry

Mrs. Cracker and I fished today, it was a nice day for the first day of spring, but cool and real windy on the water. Hopes of getting some sun turned into 3 long sleeve shirts and a jacket, after a trip back to the truck for more clothes

Tried out the flyrod a little, we launched at high tide and tried to find some redfish in the marsh grass flats. Saw only 3 fish I could possibly cast to, and did, but between the wind and the grass

let's say I need some more practice with that. And this boat only poles in one direction, downwind

Gave that up for a calmer day and switched to spinning tackle, fished some creek mouths and points with popping corks and gulp shrimp, it was slow fishing but we ended up with a triple inshore slam, 3 redfish, 3 trout and 3 flounder

Nothing on my new fly rod. Fished with a variety of jigs and plugs, and fresh shrimp. We caught every fish on the Gulp Alive. Didn't get a bite with real shrimp

Water temp is still cold, 59F this morning warmed to 62 this afternoon on the flats.

Also tried our new Wang stake out pole. It's great, easy, and held the boat in at least 15Kts wind. Didn't break it either

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:52 pm

by gstanfield

Sounds like fun even if conditions were pretty much the same as June in Wyoming.

I gave up trying to fly fish in the winds out here, heck it's hard enough to cast a heavy lure in 50knot winds

a bad day fishing is not a waste of time.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:14 pm

by Dog Fish

Fly fishing in high winds can be tricky, care must be taken at all times, theirs always the possibility of hooking a trouser trout.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:14 am

by Bowmovement

Dog Fish wrote:Fly fishing in high winds can be tricky, care must be taken at all times, theirs always the possibility of hooking a trouser trout.

^^What he Said^^

A fly at full speed to the back of the head will make you see stars also.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:00 am

by sitandfish

Bowmovement wrote:
Dog Fish wrote:Fly fishing in high winds can be tricky, care must be taken at all times, theirs always the possibility of hooking a trouser trout.
^^What he Said^^

A fly at full speed to the back of the head will make you see stars also.

Matt

And on a very serious note, after I saw pictures of a large fly/hook being surgically removed from an EYE... I never throw a hook (or let anyone else throw a hook) without eye protection. I needs my eyes!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:01 am

by Bowmovement

sitandfish wrote:
Bowmovement wrote:
Dog Fish wrote:Fly fishing in high winds can be tricky, care must be taken at all times, theirs always the possibility of hooking a trouser trout.
^^What he Said^^

A fly at full speed to the back of the head will make you see stars also.

Matt
And on a very serious note, after I saw pictures of a large fly/hook being surgically removed from an EYE... I never throw a hook (or let anyone else throw a hook) without eye protection. I needs my eyes!

Always wear sunglasses while fly fishing.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:23 am

by tech_support

We caught fish on Saturday, finally

Nothing special, maybe 10 trout, bigger ones up to 26", a million baby jacks, one small red fish. Mid 70's, very light wind, it was perfect; sunburned feet. A couple of the trout came home for fish tacos. Cant wait for spring mullet run and topwater fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:27 am

by Cracker Larry

When does that mullet run start Joel? I'd like to try some of that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:36 am

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:When does that mullet run start Joel? I'd like to try some of that

Do they still have mullet Runs???

You guys must be talking about a different mullet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:16 pm

by Dog Fish

And on a very serious note, after I saw pictures of a large fly/hook being surgically removed from an EYE... I never throw a hook (or let anyone else throw a hook) without eye protection. I needs my eyes!

I see what your saying, and couldn't agree more.............KS, did ya catch that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 2:42 pm

by cape man

Finally got my crew out the door and we launched on the south east side of the Bay around noon. Went out to the shipping channel and trolled most of the way to Tampa. Saw one school of REALLY small spanish mackerel, but they sounded before we got on them and nothing hit. Anchored up on the south end of Macdill air force base and watched the air festival. The F 15 is an awesome plane when it flies over you at ~300' and hits the after burner! That is a lot of energy there! The Blue Angels performed for almost 30 minutes at the end. Those Tom cats are truly a marvel in aviation, and the pilots are just plain nuts!

By then the wind had stiffened and we ran through some pretty nasty chop to get the 9 miles back to the ramp, especially the first part with 200 boats all leaving at the same time. Clara did fine, and I am getting better about picking a speed and trim to keep everyone dry. Still want a spray rail, just need to schedule the time to make it.

We stopped along the flats coming into Cockroach Bay and threw Gulp Shrimp for the last 30-40 minutes and caught at least 12 small trout (12-14 inches). Was good to see some fish after all the losses, and the wife and daughter both enjoyed bending a rod. We had dinner planned already, so not catching a fish I had to clean was okay with me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 2:45 pm

by tech_support

Cracker Larry wrote:When does that mullet run start Joel? I'd like to try some of that

normally first half of April, just depends on the weather. It goes for at least a few weeks. This thread may be long enough that I can go back and check when I made a post about last springs run.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:53 am

by Cracker Larry

I'd like to publicly thank Mad Dog, who thoughtfully and generously sent me a very nice selection of Clousers to go with my new fly rod

Thanks much Charles, I really appreciate it

I'll be trying them out later in the week

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:29 am

by Dog Fish

Nice

.......... I wanted to go down to the bridge by my house and do some wade fly fishing the other day but couldn't find my fly box anywhere. I didn't have that many fly's worth a crap anyway, maybe 12 or so, I will keep looking. I went to a place called Cook's Sport-land about 5 miles from my house, haven't been there I a couple years. Well to my surprise, they had a complete selection of Fly tying materials and about 150 different kinds of pre-made Fly's. I talked to one of the brothers that owns the place and he said they sell lots of Fly's and materials, as saltwater Fly fishing is catching on more every day.
Yes, Mad Dog sure was nice to send you those Fly's.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 3:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

Anchored up on the south end of Macdill air force base and watched the air festival. The F 15 is an awesome plane when it flies over you at ~300' and hits the after burner! That is a lot of energy there! The Blue Angels performed for almost 30 minutes at the end. Those Tom cats are truly a marvel in aviation, and the pilots are just plain nuts!

I love watching those planes do their stuff, they make me proud to be an American

Navy pilots are the best in the world.
Back to fishing..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:33 pm

by cape man

I was fishing. Can't sit that long without a line out. Nothing bit, but I had a line out!

I think the jets scared them a little bit...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:59 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:
Anchored up on the south end of Macdill air force base and watched the air festival. The F 15 is an awesome plane when it flies over you at ~300' and hits the after burner! That is a lot of energy there! The Blue Angels performed for almost 30 minutes at the end. Those Tom cats are truly a marvel in aviation, and the pilots are just plain nuts!
I love watching those planes do their stuff, they make me proud to be an American Navy pilots are the best in the world.
Back to fishing..

Navy pilots? Probably. But, the video of our troupes on the ground seem to think that there is no sweeter music than the gatling gun of an A-10. Those pilots are shooting bullets made from depleted uranium. Depleted uranium bullets! Won't those things kill even Superman!!!

Now... back to fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:13 pm

by cape man

Our fish farm in Ruskin is right on the flight path for the A-10 Warthogs (LOVE that name) that fly out of Macdill and use Avon Park for bombing and fire practice. We see them all the time flying by at about 500' or less. That is a very scary machine to be on the wrong end of! They can fly real fast or real slow depending on the job at hand and stay right on top of the deck either way.

Okay, back to fishing... I'm serious. No more talking about amazing flying machines or skills of our pilots in service.

I wonder if you could fly low and slow enough to troll from a Warthog...would have to be for something fast, like a mako or a wahoo...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:43 pm

by sitandfish

cape man wrote:Our fish farm in Ruskin is right on the flight path for the A-10 Warthogs (LOVE that name) that fly out of Macdill and use Avon Park for bombing and fire practice. We see them all the time flying by at about 500' or less. That is a very scary machine to be on the wrong end of! They can fly real fast or real slow depending on the job at hand and stay right on top of the deck either way.

Okay, back to fishing... I'm serious. No more talking about amazing flying machines or skills of our pilots in service.

I wonder if you could fly low and slow enough to troll from a Warthog...would have to be for something fast, like a mako or a wahoo...

We have a local boy (this will be of interest to C. Larry) that has a world record fish on the fly rod from Bagdad. Funny to see him fishing with his M16 on his back with a fly rod in his hand.

So, no excuses Larry. We expect a world record!

You are not even in a war zone.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:48 pm

by Bowmovement

sitandfish wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:
Anchored up on the south end of Macdill air force base and watched the air festival. The F 15 is an awesome plane when it flies over you at ~300' and hits the after burner! That is a lot of energy there! The Blue Angels performed for almost 30 minutes at the end. Those Tom cats are truly a marvel in aviation, and the pilots are just plain nuts!
I love watching those planes do their stuff, they make me proud to be an American Navy pilots are the best in the world.
Back to fishing..
Navy pilots? Probably. But, the video of our troupes on the ground seem to think that there is no sweeter music than the gatling gun of an A-10. Those pilots are shooting bullets made from depleted uranium. Depleted uranium bullets! Won't those things kill even Superman!!!

Now... back to fishing.

Not sure how much longer they will be using the depleted uranium. There is talk of moving to tungsten. Either way its still cool

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:20 pm

by sitandfish

Just always been a personal joke with me. If someone was shooting at me with nuclear bullets, I would sh*t myself and then throw up my hands!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:40 pm

by sitandfish

I got a little inspired to find the link. Here it is. http://www.baghdadflyfishing.com/Iraq%2 ... ctures.htm

And, I am sorry to say, our local boy didn't get a world record on the fly rod in Bagdad. He got TWO!

Got to love these guys!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:10 pm

by Dog Fish

Well I am glade you took the time to find the link. That is way cool, lots of pics, and some fish I have no idea what they are. Very neat site, and nice to see the troops having some fun while fighting for our freedom. Thank you.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:28 pm

by Mad Dog

Took a couple days off during Spring Break and took one of my daughters fishing. We got a late start on Thursday getting on the water around noon, just in time for the east wind to start blowing. We were headed for the Landcut to stay the night. We stopped at a couple places without luck. Finally pulled in near Point of Rocks in Baffin Bay. After a couple casts Leah almost had her rod pulled out of her hands by this little black drum, her first.

After that the chop picked up and given the hazards in the area I decided to move on down the channel. Nothing much going on after that. We set up the lights that night but nothing showed up.

Got up the next morning winds were ripping 25+ gusts to 30. We packed and decided to work our way back to the ramp. Drifted flats along the ditch managing one red and about a dozen trout. The red was 29" and 9#,

This was the biggest trout caught.

Got back to the ramp around 2PM. We were volunteering for an annual beach clean up on Padre Island National Seashore the next day so we needed to get some rest. All in all a good time was had by all.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:33 pm

by bbuckl

The Blue Angels are flying F-18 Hornets now. Do they call these Tomcat's also?

Wish I was there to see them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:48 pm

by sitandfish

bbuckl wrote:The Blue Angels are flying F-18 Hornets now. Do they call these Tomcat's also?

Wish I was there to see them.

The "Nerd" factor can get pretty high with these conversations.

So, I'll join in. Blue Angels have flown fly FA-18's "Hornet" for a while now. The current navy fighter jet flying off aircraft carriers is the F-18 "Hornet". Tom cruse flew the F-14 "Tomcat".

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:55 pm

by Bowmovement

sitandfish wrote:
bbuckl wrote:The Blue Angels are flying F-18 Hornets now. Do they call these Tomcat's also?

Wish I was there to see them.
The "Nerd" factor can get pretty high with these conversations. So, I'll join in. Blue Angels have flown fly FA-18's "Hornet" for a while now. The current navy fighter jet flying off aircraft carriers is the F-18 "Hornet". Tom cruse flew the F-14 "Tomcat".

They also have C-130s AKA "Fat Albert"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:08 pm

by sitandfish

And lets not forget about our Thunderbirds! F-16 Fighting Falcons.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:28 am

by Cracker Larry

Beautiful fish MD

Beautiful daughter too. Great pictures

What did you catch the fish on? I see a popping cork and I think a bare hook, so I'm guessing live shrimp?

You sure have a fine float on your Boga Grip. I think everyone with a Boga Grip has a fine float on it

And lets not forget about our Thunderbirds! F-16 Fighting Falcons

A serious machine for sure, but can those Air Force jocks stick one on a carrier deck that's doing 30 kts, at night, in rough seas? That's why I say Navy pilots are the best in the world

The three best sensations in life are a good landing, a good orgasm and a good bowel movement. With a night carrier landing you can experience all 3 at once

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:18 pm

by Mad Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:Beautiful fish MD Beautiful daughter too. Great pictures What did you catch the fish on? I see a popping cork and I think a bare hook, so I'm guessing live shrimp? You sure have a fine float on your Boga Grip. I think everyone with a Boga Grip has a fine float on it

Thanks CL. Yes that was a nice red, put up a good fight too. The fish were caught on live shrimp. Drift fishing with my daughter in such rough conditions I wanted to give here he best chance to catch something. A boga with the float is a must. I got a careless with one of the trout and it slipped out of my hand. With that float it didn't get far.

I have one on my camera and handheld radio too. They're waterproof but doesn't float... would hate to loose either.

Leah get's her good looks from me... cuz her mother still has her good looks.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:20 pm

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 5:11 pm

by Dog Fish

The three best sensations in life are a good landing, a good orgasm and a good bowel movement. With a night carrier landing you can experience all 3 at once

Dammit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:24 am

by TomW

With a night carrier landing you can experience all 3 at once

You have that straight Larry, those AF boys don't know what they're missing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:43 am

by TomW

Mad Dog that's priceless.

Sounds like your boat is handling the water well!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:53 am

by Mad Dog

TomW wrote:Mad Dog that's priceless. Sounds like your boat is handling the water well!

Tom

Thanks Tom. Yea, I'm getting more familiar with it. I gave that home made bracket real workout by running the boat to shallow over a couple of worm-rock formation. Thought for sure I lost a lower unit but everything held strong.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:57 am

by Mad Dog

TomW wrote:
With a night carrier landing you can experience all 3 at once
You have that straight Larry, those AF boys don't know what they're missing.

Since I can't even land an F16 in a video game I'll just keep admiring anyone who can one for real.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:33 am

by cape man

Downloaded some pics. Here's from last Saturday watching the airfest in Tampa Bay. Those guys are awesome.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 1:11 am

by cape man

Tampa Bay still has a few fish. Cape Man junior on the right. 14 yr old boys have an interesting sense of humor. Good day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 9:53 am

by Joe H

You are very luck the kid's are still intrested in going out fishing with you at 14 Craig, my son was interested in everything but fishing by 14! He's 30 now and still not intrested in fishing, but my Grandson is a different story, he can't get enough fishing with the old man.

Speaking of fishing, I couldn't get out on the St.Clair River, see photo's, but did manage to get out on the Detroit River, it was a beautiful day but we were a little early for the Walleye and we got skunked.

Edit: Dam, it won't let me post the pictures, something to do with the size????
Oh well, check them out they are very cool.
http://gallery.bateau2.com/thumbnails.php?album=1061

Happy Easter
Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 12:17 pm

by cape man

Nice.

Both my kids like fishing. Just don't take them often enough.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:57 am

by Cracker Larry

I'm back home after a couple days of fishing with some fine Florida Crackers. The weather was beautiful, clear skies and mid 80s. Arrived at Aripeka Richard's Monday afternoon, after a 400 mile drive. Cape Man was already busy catching bait, so I went straight to fishing. Almost immediately buried a catfish spine in the base of my index finger, which made my hand swell to about twice normal size. That put me off my game a little, had to get Richard to open my beers and I couldn't hold on to a fish

Still can't quite make a fist but at least am starting to see my knuckles again

Bait fishing was slow, water temp is still 10 degrees below normal, and we only managed about 4 dozen.

Tuesday morning, MajorGator Seth showed up about 0600 and we got an early start. Ran about 20 miles offshore in almost flat seas. The grouper fishing was a little slow, the water temp is still below normal, but we caught a fair amount of small ones and a good mess of gray snappers. Tried several spots with about the same results, lots of small fish. Moved to a wreck and found a school of cobia and amberjacks on the surface, so we went into sight fishing mode. Craig showed us up by landing 3 AJs on a spinning rod. For some reason, involving old age and beer, I left my fly rod in the truck, so didn't get to try it out

The cobia were shy and wouldn't take a bait.

Back to the dock before dark, Seth and I cleaned the boat, Craig cleaned the fish. They left for home and Richard cooked us up a casada of fried amberjack, black beans and rice. Excellent

Up at 0430 on Wednesday, we re-fueled the boat, which involves hauling 70 gallons of gas in 5 gallon jugs, then went to the bait house and bought 8 dozen pinfish, most of them about minnow size, instead of the hand sized baits we prefer, and 5 lb's each of frozen squid, herring and spanish sardines. Our Wed. crew showed up about 0700 and we were off again. Planned to run south and deep to find some larger fish, but the wind got up to about 15 from the south and the sea was sloppy, so we ran west, getting a little wet. We kept working our way deeper and the bite got better. Wind and sea laid down nice about noon. Caught a lot of shorts, 50 or more, many of them just shy of the legal 22 inches. I hate throwing back 21" fish

Managed a few keepers though and ended up with some grouper steaks to take home

The fish haven't yet recovered from the cold and the offshore water temp is still only 62, where it should be in the 70s by now.

Finished up the evening with another casada, and a bottle of Fleur de Cana. Slept in till 0900 the next morning, then 400 miles home. My Cracker ass was dragging

It was a fine week of great company, good weather and decent fishing. Thanks men, I enjoyed the heck out of it.

See yall in a month at Boca Grande!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:40 pm

by gstanfield

Sounds like a great time even if things wern't quite perfect. Glad you made it home safe, rest up that hand so you can go test out the fly rod.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:50 pm

by TomW

Nasty things catfish spines. Glad you all had a good time and some decent fishing if not ideal.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:10 pm

by Dog Fish

Thanks for the report Larry. - - - - - - - CATFISH

Brian

Edit:

didn't see your post, after I did I edited this post...................

Then your post below, oh well. Sorry.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:14 pm

by Cracker Larry

Didn't take any pics at all, too busy having fun

Seth or Craig may have.

Edit:

Edit: didn't see your post, after I did I edited this post................... Then your post below, oh well. Sorry.

Oh, I thought you were dropped at birth

I'll re-edit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 7:35 pm

by cape man

Had the camera on the boat but never took it out. Was a great day and as always Richard is a great host and captain. Sandy and he cooked us up a very fine steak, baked potato, and salad Monday night.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:50 pm

by gstanfield

The weather was finally good enough to go out fishing this morning. I had to stop in and get my license seeing as how I don't ice fish there is not reason to buy them before April or May each year

Anyway, I ran down the road about 5 miles from the house where there are a few "ponds" alongside the river. The water was clear and calm as we were having one of our 3 days a year without wind so i walked around the pond with my ultralight but only saw two fries barely larger than minnows and nothing was hitting. I walked over to the river (about 15 feet from the pond) and they were flushing the river so it was running bank full, muddy and swift and I needed heavier tackle to even attempt to fish it, but I wasn't walking back to the truck to get it. In the end I spent a couple hours walking around watching ducks, minnows, gooseses and sheep then I headed home to work on the boat.

Here's the mud puddle, or "pond"

And here's the mightly Platte river flowing full force.

Have a great day,
George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:26 pm

by Cracker Larry

Looks real peaceful anyway

We've had 2 weeks of great weather, and more to come

Finally! I fished yesterday morning, it was beautiful, but windy. Too windy again for me to have any success with the fly rod, but we caught a good mess of trout, 2 flounder and a half dozen redfish, using gulp shrimp under popping corks. Thunder Chicken popping corks developed in Brunswick, GA

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:53 pm

by cape man

Went out in Tampa Bay two days ago for a few hours in the afternoon. The Mackerel are back in and we caught half a dozen or so on shrimp and a Sabiki (3 of them were on the Sabiki!). The sheephead had left the artificial reef (or had lock jaw), and was too low a tide and too windy to find any reds or trout on the flats. Anchored up, smoked a good cigar, and caught three bonnet head sharks and 3 small rays on shrimp. Dropped my engine down two holes and am running much better than before. Fishing next Monday...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:15 pm

by gstanfield

CL,
It is definately peacful here and when I do move I know I will miss being able to go just a couple miles and be where I cannot see any signs of civilization and go all day without seeing other people. If the winters weren't so God awful cold and windy Wyoming would be the perfect place. You just gotta keep bringing up Brunswick don't ya? Days like today I am able to forget there exists anyplace but Wyoming. I still miss the ocean though, but Wyoming is kinda like the ocean, with just bigger swells (still no trees though)

Cape, Glad to hear the boat is performing better. Sounds like a good day fishing even if some of them critters do have lock jaw

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:57 pm

by Cracker Larry

when I do move I know I will miss being able to go just a couple miles and be where I cannot see any signs of civilization and go all day without seeing other people.

We can do that right here in the salt marshes

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:42 pm

by Joe H

The weather is finally starting to get better here in Michigan, I went walleye fishing in the Detroit river again Tuesday after work and had much better luck, we landed 14 walleye, 1 musky and a smallmouth bass in about 2 1/2 hours, we kept a few good size eater walleye and released the rest.
I have a walleye tournament Sunday so hopefully the weather stays decent, wish me luck.
This picture is from last weekend when we got skunked.

George, Wyoming looks fantastic!

Craig, Tampa sounds so good right now, my Mom lives in Zepherhills and say's the weather has been great, man I wish I were going to be able to make Boca Grande next month but ain't gonna happen this year.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:47 pm

by cape man

Joe make sure you give me some notice when you come visit your mom and we'll make a trip out somewhere.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:56 pm

by gstanfield

Sure, Wyoming always looks fantastic from about April till September, it's the other 6 months that really suck. Then again we got caught in a Blizzard last June when on a trip across the state on motorcycles.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 7:11 pm

by Boater45

Hey, is that a Grouper......

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 7:13 pm

by sitandfish

Boater45 wrote:Hey, is that a Grouper......

What fish?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 7:14 pm

by Boater45

I swear he is checking her out!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 7:38 pm

by Cracker Larry

Can ya blame him

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 12:50 am

by TomW

Got milk

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 7:30 am

by frazoo

no skinny infants there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 12:05 pm

by cape man

I hate it when my girlfriend's picture gets posted on the web!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:01 pm

by tobolamr

... Sometimes it is best to remain silent and let people think you are dumb than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Caught 1 bluegill and 1 crappie on Sunday in the first fishing outing of the soft-water season.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:00 pm

by Cracker Larry

Soft water? As in the unfrozen form

I'm taking a boy fishing tomorrow for the "Make a Wish" foundation

I'm looking forward to it, spent all afternoon getting boat and tackle ready. Hope we can catch a fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:32 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:Soft water? As in the unfrozen form

I'm taking a boy fishing tomorrow for the "Make a Wish" foundation I'm looking forward to it, spent all afternoon getting boat and tackle ready. Hope we can catch a fish

Now thats cool right there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:58 pm

by gstanfield

Very cool

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:33 pm

by wegcagle

Hooters..........God's best invention

Will

By the way: that fish ain't too bad either

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:41 pm

by Dog Fish

Hooters..........God's best invention

2nd best

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:42 pm

by wegcagle

2nd best

True. What can I say, sometimes I just get a little over excited

It happens,

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:28 pm

by Dog Fish

sometimes I just get a little over excited

That's 3rd best.

and 1st best will get ya there. and 2nd best is for fun along the way.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:14 pm

by Cracker Larry

Back to fishing

Today was a day God made for fishing

We got a light rain all night, that stopped about 0430. Left the house at 0500 and we had the boat in the water before daylight, in a cool thick fog. Ran the river by GPS, couldn't even see the banks. Needing to get into the honey hole before the tide fell any more. We made it just as dawn was breaking, and redfish were rolling all over the surface ahead of us. I shut off the engine and let the tide and wind push us to the fish, then slid the stake down. I love this stake out system! It doesn't make a sound.

First cast with a Gulp shrimp on a jig head landed a 22" trout, and the next one a 22" redfish. Then the sun came up and the fog cleared and the fish didn't quit biting for 6 hours

. As they moved up the creek I could just pull up the stake, drift with them and plant it again. We fished it through the low and halfway back up to high. My 2 guests were wanting to take some fish home for a fish fry, so we kept a limit of slot reds, 9, and a limit of trout, 30. I don't know how many fish we released, well over 100. Back home at 1500, with some happy fishermen

Oh yeah, and I caught 3 redfish on the flyrod, my first fish on this rod. White and chartreuse clouser, still thanking ya for those Mad Dog

This rod has no trouble with a 30" red. I do tend to overbuild things

Still need a lot of practice with that thing, I'm a danger to those around me.

Water temp is up to 69 and quite a few baitfish, menhaden, mullet and small shrimp moving back in the creeks now. Spring is finally here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:21 pm

by gstanfield

Wow, that is hard for me to even fathom. I remember back when I was young we went out and caught over a hundred crappie (I think, might have been bluegills) Out here a good day is landing a couple dozen

Was this with your make-a-wish fisherman?

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

Was this with your make-a-wish fisherman?

Yes, he and his father. I'm going to take them out again next week, going to get them ready for some cobia in a few weeks. Poor kid is 15 and he's never even caught a fish until today

Neither has his Dad

Wow, that is hard for me to even fathom.

It doesn't happen often

I fish a couple times a week, and the last time it happened was Thanksgiving weekend when Shine and his Dad fished with me. We caught over 100 redfish and trout that day too. A couple dozen is a good day in anybody's book, and more my normal

Today was a once or twice a year sort of day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:56 pm

by gstanfield

Nice, I love introducing people to fishing even if I'm no expert myself. I must admit, the couple dozena day is more of my "twice a year" experience out here. My normal in WY is about a dozen on an average day. I'm just not getting the hang of this western fishing yet

(insert rant about stupid wind, cold rivers, etc)

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:17 pm

by Joe H

WOW, that's fantastic Larry, you must have been pumped up, to be able to give such a gift, that's something that will keep on giving a for a lifetime.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

That gift came from someone besides me Joe, I was just the delivery man

Unfortunately this kid's lifetime will only be a few more months, maybe a year.

We're going to catch some more fish though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 10:01 pm

by Boater45

Caught this Largemouth in Lake Overhoser in OKC:

Caught it on a crappie spinner abbout 5 ft from the shore. Then caught nothing else the rest of the day. About a 4-5lb'er

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 10:23 pm

by Mad Dog

Boater45 wrote:Caught this Largemouth in Lake Overhoser in OKC:

I know that lake. Hit my top speed in a quarter mile there. Think it was 1980-81.

I remember we could run race boats on the lake but we couldn't wade into the water to trailer the boats. Something about drinking water...

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 12:13 pm

by Joe H

Nice Bass 45.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

Beautiful bass

I probably caught more Redfish last week than I have Largemouth in my entire life, but I remember most of the largemouth I've caught. All of my best ones came out of farm ponds, but I'm still 10 pounds shy of any record

That's what's great about fishing, it's all good

Largemouths, sailfish, bream, tarpon, redfish, marlin, crappie, grouper, catfish, snapper it doesn't matter. Skip mullet. A cane pole, hand line, or Finn-Nor, run what ya brung, it's all good. If you happen to catch a couple it's even better

Like boat building, fishing is about the journey and the experience. Hope, faith, confidence, knowledge, imagination, perseverance, mixed with friends, boats, water, outdoors, maybe some beer, and a don't care if we get a bite attitude? I've got a good friend and ex-business partner (still a good friend

) Every time we go fishing, he asks if we should bring some bait or not. He's a heck of a good fisherman, enters a lot of the big dollar bill fish tournaments along the east coast, has a corporate yacht, used to be part mine, but he's still working and I ain't

If he's not tournament fishing, he can sit in a creek and put out a bare hook and fish for hours

He'll move a few times, change out a bronze hook for a gold one, change from a float rig to a bottom rig, drink 24 beers, and never bait his hook all day

He has as much fun as the rest of us and if he wanted to, he could catch more than most of us. He ain't there for the fish

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~Henry David Thoreau

Just goes to show ya..

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day. ~Author Unknown

A few more fishing quotes you may enjoy, most of you have heard some of them, a few of you might not have heard all of them. None are mine, all are appropriate to someone

One of my favorites..

Even if you've been fishing for three hours and haven't gotten anything except poison ivy and sunburn, you're still better off than the worm. ~Author Unknown

Are any of you Pat McManus fans? He will leave you rolling on the floor

We've got all his books.

There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm. ~Patrick F. McManus, Never Sniff a Gift Fish, 1979

Another of my favorites

There will be days when the fishing is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home. ~Roderick Haig-Brown, Fisherman's Spring, 1951

A few more......

There are two types of fisherman - those who fish for sport and those who fish for fish. ~Author Unknown

Fishing is the sport of drowning worms. ~Author Unknown

[T]his planet is covered with sordid men who demand that he who spends time fishing shall show returns in fish. ~Leonidas Hubbard, Jr.

A bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work. ~Author Unknown

May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing

I fish better with a lit cigar; some people fish better with talent. ~Nick Lyons, Bright Rivers, 1977

All the romance of trout fishing exists in the mind of the angler and is in no way shared by the fish. ~Harold F. Blaisdell, The Philosophical Fisherman, 1969

There is certainly something in angling that tends to produce a serenity of the mind. ~Washington Irving

Somebody just back of you while you are fishing is as bad as someone looking over your shoulder while you write a letter to your girl. ~Ernest Hemingway

The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad. ~A.K. Best

The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing. ~Babylonian Proverb

It has always been my private conviction that any man who pits his intelligence against a fish and loses has it coming. ~John Steinbeck

Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through an alley. ~Author Unknown

All fishermen are liars; it's an occupational disease with them like housemaid's knee or editor's ulcers. ~Beatrice Cook, Till Fish Do Us Part, 1949

An angler is a man who spends rainy days sitting around on the muddy banks of rivers doing nothing because his wife won't let him do it at home. ~Author Unknown

If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles. ~Doug Larson

We ask a simple question
And that is all we wish:
Are fishermen all liars?
Or do only liars fish?
~William Sherwood Fox, Silken Lines and Silver Hooks, 1954

Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting. ~Dave Barry

There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process. ~Paul O'Neil, 1965

The best way to a fisherman's heart is through his fly. ~Author Unknown

I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there. ~Robert Altman

Give a man a fish and he has food for a day; teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him for the entire weekend. ~Zenna Schaffer

There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. ~Steven Wright

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. ~John Buchan

Fishing is a... discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish. ~Herbert Hoover

Calling fishing a hobby is like calling brain surgery a job. ~Paul Schullery

...of all the liars among mankind, the fisherman is the most trustworthy. ~William Sherwood Fox, Silken Lines and Silver Hooks, 1954

...trout that doesn't think two jumps and several runs ahead of the average fisherman is mighty apt to get fried. ~Beatrice Cook, Till Fish Do Us Part, 1949

Give a man a fish, and he can eat for a day. But teach a man how to fish, and he'll be dead of mercury poisoning inside of three years. ~Charles Haas

I am not against golf, since I cannot but suspect it keeps armies of the unworthy from discovering trout... ~Paul O'Neil

Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn. ~Chuck Clark

Fishing tournaments seem a little like playing tennis with living balls... ~Jim Harrison, Just Before Dark, 1991

There's no taking trout with dry breeches. ~Miguel de Cervantes

Reading about baseball is a lot more interesting than reading about chess, but you have to wonder: Don't any of these guys ever go fishing? ~Dave Shiflett, quoted in Houston Chronicle, 29 April 1990

People who fish for food, and sport be damned, are called pot-fishermen. The more expert ones are called crack pot-fishermen. All other fishermen are called crackpot fishermen. This is confusing. ~Ed Zern, 1947

Enjoy thy stream, O harmless fish;
And when an angler for his dish,
Through gluttony's vile sin,
Attempts, the wretch, to pull thee out,
God give thee strength, O gentle trout,
To pull the rascal in!
~John Wolcot

Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish. ~Roderick Haig-Brown, about modern fishing, A River Never Sleeps, 1946

Even eminent chartered accountants are known, in their capacity as fishermen, blissfully to ignore differences between seven and ten inches, half a pound and two pounds, three fish and a dozen fish. ~William Sherwood Fox, Silken Lines and Silver Hooks, 1954

Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers. ~Herbert Hoover

Good things come to those who bait. ~Author Unknown

"Carpe Diem" does not mean "fish of the day." ~Author Unknown

Gone fishin', be back at dark-thirty! ~Author Unknown

You must lose a fly to catch a trout. ~George Herbert

If you've got short, stubby fingers and wear reading glasses, any relaxation you would normally derive from fly fishing is completely eliminated when you try to tie on a fly. ~Jack Ohman, Fear of Fly Fishing, 1988

Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish. ~Author Unknown

Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught. ~Author Unknown

My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it. ~Koos Brandt

Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher's salary. ~Patrick F. McManus

Bass fishermen watch Monday night football, drink beer, drive pickup trucks and prefer noisy women with big breasts. Trout fishermen watch MacNeil-Lehrer, drink white wine, drive foreign cars with passenger-side air bags and hardly think about women at all. This last characteristic may have something to do with the fact that trout fishermen spend most of the time immersed up to the thighs in ice-cold water. ~Author Unknown

Men and fish are alike. They both get into trouble when they open their mouths. ~Author Unknown

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:58 am

by tobolamr

Bass fishermen watch Monday night football, drink beer, drive pickup trucks and prefer noisy women with big breasts. Trout fishermen watch MacNeil-Lehrer, drink white wine, drive foreign cars with passenger-side air bags and hardly think about women at all. This last characteristic may have something to do with the fact that trout fishermen spend most of the time immersed up to the thighs in ice-cold water. ~Author Unknown

I'm a bass fisherman... I don't watch football more than 2 times a year, don't drink beer (allergic), and my wife is rather quiet and petite (aka not top-heavy).

And I prefer a car over a truck, but I do like my truck...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:50 am

by Dog Fish

Monday night football, drink beer, drive pickup trucks and prefer noisy women with big breasts.

I hope that does"t make me a bad person.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 1:25 pm

by tobolamr

It's all good!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 1:31 pm

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:04 am

by LeeFitz

I spent yesterday throwing lures (crank baits?) for the mythical Barramundi, in the beautiful, world heritage listed Hinchinbrook Channel in north Queensland!

What a disaster!

We interacted with 12 Barra in snags and drains, but only boated one. A very nice fish, but at 22", just under the legal size of 23". One way or another we blew the rest - pulled hooks and thrown or spat out lures, including at least 4 that were comfortably legal and one that I suspect would have nudged the magic metre (39") mark.

Why do I do this to myself?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:14 am

by cape man

When's the best time to catch Barras up there?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:30 am

by stickystuff

Do you ever notice how skinny ther legs are? Some body told me this. I didn;t notice myself.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:42 am

by LeeFitz

capeman

There is a closed season on Barra from midday on October 31 to midday February 1.

In my part of Nth Queensland you can catch them all year round but they are most active in the warmer months, so - February to May and September/October. From the end of the wet season is probably best - so February to May.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:04 pm

by frazoo

I know, they ain' as big or as nice as that pair of mullets above

My first fish on my CC. third time out with it, first to see if it would float, second to try fish finder, and today was for the real deal. Me and Sam Adams had a great time.

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:24 pm

by Joe H

Nice mess of Crappie there Frazoo!
Congrads on getting the stink out or is it in.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:36 pm

by Mad Dog

Fishing with the Twins;

Took my twin girls to the cabin, in the landcut, this weekend. We were counting on the moon nearing full and moderate weather to turn on the trout under the lights. We arrived about an hour before sunset on Friday and got the light set up. Just as the sun was setting a fog rolled in off the Gulf. Pretty eerie if you ask me. The wind picked up and blew the fog out. By the time I got supper started shrimp were hopping on the surface. First cast with a speck rig lands a 14 incher. That got the girls mind off food and they started catching fish every other cast. I was worn out unhooking and releasing specks. Surprisingly many of the trout were of legal length. Most nights every fish is 14" or less. The longest was 22". In two nights under the lights we caught enough legal fish for each of us to limit out. Here are few pics.

Not bad for under the lights. Most of the trout were fatties.

Note the free advertising for the Big Shell clean up.

Got a late start Saturday drift fishing around Cactus Flats. The action was pretty slow but we managed a few. One of the girls registered her largest skipjack ever and her largest red fish.

I was pretty useless at work today (worn out) but it was a great weekend with my kids. Nothing epic. Just good times together.

Thanks for looking.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:45 pm

by TomW

There can't be anything better than fishing with the kids on a boat you restored yourself.

Nice fish there. Hope you have a freezer to put them in, you'll need it with that crew you have.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:10 am

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:28 am

by Dog Fish

I like the" Walkin the Walk " Tee shirt, good looking crew MD.

Nice pics

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:31 am

by Mad Dog

Dog Fish wrote:I like the" Walkin the Walk " Tee shirt, good looking crew MD.
Nice pics

Brian

That T-shirt was from the annual beach clean up of Padre Island National Seashore in 2009. The crew hauled out 800 pounds of debre left by Ike. The old guy on the shirt is Capt. Billy Sandifer, a local legend that started the clean up 15 years ago with a hand full of volunteers. In March over 500 volunteers and 200 4X4s showed up. He has guided that beach for 30 plus years and one of those people that makes you feel like a better person just meeting him.

MD

EDIT:
Make that 800,000 pounds. I guess the accountant in me just rounds big number automatically.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:34 am

by Mad Dog

TomW wrote:There can't be anything better than fishing with the kids on a boat you restored yourself. Nice fish there. Hope you have a freezer to put them in, you'll need it with that crew you have.

Tom

Thanks! All but one fish were CPR. The crew seems to go on a diet everytime I cook fish (and its not my cooking) so I figure catch and release anything over one meal.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 11:25 am

by Dog Fish

That T-shirt was from the annual beach clean up of Padre Island National Seashore in 2009. The crew hauled out 800 pounds of debre left by Ike. The old guy on the shirt is Capt. Billy Sandifer, a local legend that started the clean up 15 years ago with a hand full of volunteers. In March over 500 volunteers and 200 4X4s showed up. He has guided that beach for 30 plus years and one of those people that makes you feel like a better person just meeting him.

That's awesome.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:16 am

by Fishwater

Dog Fish wrote:
That T-shirt was from the annual beach clean up of Padre Island National Seashore in 2009. The crew hauled out 800 pounds of debre left by Ike. The old guy on the shirt is Capt. Billy Sandifer, a local legend that started the clean up 15 years ago with a hand full of volunteers. In March over 500 volunteers and 200 4X4s showed up. He has guided that beach for 30 plus years and one of those people that makes you feel like a better person just meeting him.

That's awesome.

Brian

It's quite impressive. Sandifer is a true old salt. He has an infectious love of fishing. If you never believed in ghosts, that guy will make you a skeptic. He has some pretty spooky tales from his time on PINS.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 9:16 pm

by Joe H

Dog Fish,
Very nice, my daughters, just as beautiful as yours by the way and they too get it from there mother, are all grown up now and still love to get out with the old man and do a little fishing.
I think my Granddaughter enjoy's fishing just as much, this was earlier today fishing behind the house for some monster bluegill.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 9:41 pm

by Dog Fish

Great pic Joe, I only have one daughter and she is 34 years old,

the pics I think you are referring to are Mad Dogs girls. I think you got your Dogs mixed up

. Now I take my two granddaughters fishing every chance I get.

Brian

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 9:51 pm

by Joe H

oops, right you are Brian, from one dog to another.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:14 pm

by Mad Dog

Hey Joe, only one correction; my daughters got there good looks from ME. My wife still has her beautiful features.

I, on the other hand, ain't holdin up that well.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 8:57 am

by Cracker Larry

Coming to South East fisheries near you!
Taken from NE.com.
http://www.noreast.com/discussion/ViewT ... _ID=144914

Editorial: Catch shares' economic bloodletting solely on Lubchenco's hands

Remember all that talk from the Obama administration about creating and saving jobs?

Remember those promises to get the economy moving again?

Forget it. Not here. Not in Gloucester — not in any New England community that's economically tied to the proud fishing industry; not anywhere in the nation where small-boat fishermen go about their trade to supply the nation and the world with seafood — and protein.

Around here, and across Ocean Nation, the Obama administration, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is all about destroying jobs and driving small business into bankruptcy in the name of protecting fish stocks that, in many cases, no longer need protection.

The new regulatory regime for commercial fishing known as "catch shares" will take effect Saturday morning — even though NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco, others in her agency, fishermen, scientists and elected officials all agree that the changes — combined with absurdly tightened catch limits — will likely wipe out as many as half of the region's current commercial fishermen.

The catch limits and the new catch-share system will combine to place such draconian limits on fishing that it is expected to reduce the revenue from the groundfishery by 32 percent, according to the government's own numbers. The estimates of business failures in New England, most notably the fishing co-capitals of Gloucester and New Bedford, are being pegged at 50 percent or more.

And when the small commercial operations then have to sell their permits and equipment at pennies on the dollar to investors with enough economic strength to ride out the next few years, it will be those big investors who will reap windfall profits that will go somewhere else.

So when you start hearing about one fisherman after another going out of business, remember, this is not an accident.

This is not an unintended consequence. This is by design. This is intentional.

And it will be important to remember that, while the president and the heads of his other agencies are talking about job growth, his own rogue ocean agency, the "new" NOAA of Jane Lubchenco, could care less about our fishing businesses and fishing communities being devastated. She and her henchmen are not "allowing" it to happen — they have pressed hard to make it happen.

Lubchenco is ramming the catch share system into operation in spite of pleas from both the industry and members of Congress to delay it.

About a month ago, U.S. Sen. John Kerry and five congressmen, including John Tierney, D-Salem, petitioned the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for an emergency executive action to bring economic relief, at least through 2014, when stocks are expected to be rebuilt and the industry rebounds.

The letter also has the outspoken support of Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, and there is word that Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is hosting a meeting with fishermen in the nation's capital next month.

But the bottom line is that nothing has changed. Lubchenco, apparently adopting the attitude of the jack-booted NOAA enforcement agents cited by the Inspector General's office, apparently believes she, too, is "accountable to no one."

The most appalling thing about this is that it is not really even about saving the fish. There is no evidence that the resource will collapse if half of the fishing fleet is not eliminated. In fact, the evidence points to commercial species populations rebounding.

Yet none of that matters to Lubchenco, who is obviously bent on wreaking further devastation on an already gutted industry.

And while she loves to pawn off responsibility for the crimes of her own law enforcement agency, noting that many of those actions predated her term, NOAA's tunnel-visioned, obsessive push for catch shares is entirely on her hands. That means the economic blood of fishermen and waterfront businesses driven into bankruptcy by this flawed policy is on her hands as well.

Remember this day. It is not even that fish are more important than people to this administration. It is that power — and their political agenda — is most important of all.

That's not just unforgettable — it is unforgivable as well.

Nils Stolpe
Garden State Seafood Association

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 1:51 pm

by cape man

Took three hours of stalking but finally set the hook on this baby this morning off the northwest tip of Grand Cayman. Lost two others that the hook pulled on. The knife and lens cap are just there for a size reference. Was by myself so had to lay it down to get a pic. Blowing 15-20, but the tournament is on full blast. They released 7 marlin yesterday. Top fish are a Yellowfin @ 65lb, a wahoo @ 51lb, and a dolphin @ 56 lb.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 7:59 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice Bone

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 9:00 pm

by cape man

Laid down for a nap but was woken by a parade going by...good thing to wake up to...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 5:04 pm

by sitandfish

On those days when you can't go fishing/boating you can watch this family. They have three fat babies that love fish. The web cam is from a middle school in Naples Florida. It's live so if it's night, you aren't going to see anything!

http://katie.luther.edu/moodle/filter/m ... glecam.flv

Notice the left over fish (in the lower left corner) from a recent meal?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 5:27 pm

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 1:42 pm

by tobolamr

Game Season opener last Saturday... Hit the lake... I think we had 15 bass from 12-18" and 3 northern, the largest of which was a healthy 28". Got on the water at 11:30 or so, and left at sundown.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 2:32 pm

by cape man

Have one last afternoon on the island. Have been chasing bone fish every day and haven't been scunked yet. Landed 6 yesterday fishing three different spots. Nothing on the fly rod (too windy), but using 8lb spinning gear is a blast.

Taking pictures while wading is a challenge!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 8:21 am

by colonialc19

I've never had the chance to chase bonefish, but it looks like a blast Cape man

I did get to go fishing this past Monday evening/night, caught some nice stripers/rockfish on the 4th island of the Chesapeake bay bridge tunnel, caught em' on med weight spinning gear(14lb test), casting lures. My buddies and I caught em' from 28"-46", most in the mid 30" range, left em' biting.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 8:33 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a fine fish right there

I've never done much Striper fishing, sure never caught one that large. Nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 8:36 am

by topwater

Nice fish

I live to chase stripers, now that i live in the midwest
i dont know what to do with myself. You are killing me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:15 am

by TomW

Get after those salmon in Lake Michigan TW!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:00 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That is a nice striper! I have never caught one, but I hope to some day. I am baited up and ready to go grouper and snapper fishing in the morning. If I get anything as nice as that I will post some pics

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 8:32 pm

by Cracker Larry

Will came into town for a wedding, and we met up this morning at 0600 for a fishing trip. We didn't catch a Cobia, but it was a beautiful morning on Broad River

We saw a few, but didn't get a hook up.

Glassy smooth all morning. We launched just after daylight, tried a little cast netting for live bait, didn't catch a thing but saw some tailing Redfish in a skinny creek. We ignored the Reds, might should have fished them

and ran out to the big river. We were the first boat on the sand bar I'd picked out to fish, but within an hour there were 15 boats on the same bar. Not bad considering there were 100 at the bridge. One boat anchored close enough that I asked them to pass me a beer

We had Cobia breaking around the boat on occasion. Here's one off the starboard bow, and is that water slick, or what

I had told Will that the Cobia run was just getting started and the only thing that I guaranteed was sharks

We started out fishing with dead squid, Mullet and Whiting, and fished shrimp on the bottom to catch live bait fish. Every time we caught a live bait, mostly Whiting, we replaced a dead bait, and we kept ourselves in bait pretty much all morning with Whiting, and a Black Sea Bass. Here's Will hooked up with a bait fish....

And the guaranteed Shark that I promised

This is a Bonnethead......

And another one....

And another one...

Didn't get any big sharks today, but had some cut offs on big baits. Nothing left but a head.

This is a rare fish for us, I haven't caught more than 6 of these in my life, and we each caught one today, it's a Guitar Fish, I wish the pic was better. Cool fish, sort of half shark, half ray...

We caught a variety of sharks and bottom fish, some trash fish, 2 varieties of Puffers, discussed making Sushi,the smallest Toadfish I've ever seen in my life, that I promised Will I wouldn't mention

I lied

I had a great time fishing with Will, glad I got to meet him in person before he moves to DC

Good day, good people, new friend, caught some fish, what else can you ask for in life

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 9:36 pm

by gstanfield

As they say, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work

I'd enjoy just catching a few of those little sharks, it's been so long since I caught naything besides Trout and walleye that I forgot there's even other fish out there

Maybe sometime soon I can make it down that way and charter Capt Larry and No Excuse for a fishing trip

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 10:31 pm

by Cracker Larry

As they say, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work

It wasn't a bad day fishing, it was a good day fishing

We caught a right good many fish, just not our main target. We caught enough Whiting to feed a family of 4, or 12 sharks

You ain't got to charter "No Excuse"

Let me know when you want to come. Fishing is free to boat builders on this forum. I guarantee sharks and you get what you pay for

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 10:55 pm

by gstanfield

When I said "bad day fishing" I wasn't meaning that it was a bad day, just saying that any day on the water is a good day even if you didn't cath the Cobia that you were out there after. Sory for the miscommunication

Sometimes sleep deprivation keeps me from getting my actual point across and instead I deposit some meaningless ramblings that do nothing but waste pages of cyberspace

I'll make it down that way yet and get some fishign in with the famous CL and while I may not "pay" I always like to trade so you never know what kind of goodies will tag along with me

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 4:40 pm

by colonialc19

Larry, the weather looked perfect. Those guitar fish are pretty darn cool looking critters

. Anytime you can hang out with some friends catch a few fish is a GREAT time, even if the fish are sharks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:03 pm

by cape man

My son and I headed up to Cedar Key for the weekend and fished in a friendly tournament with the folks from my department at UF. Biggest trout, red, cobia, mackerel, and most impressive cooler. Weather was brutal early, so we hunkered down in a deep hole that usually produces some nice cobia...Like CL we just got sharks, 5 of them all this size and smaller. Spinners.

Moved to another spot and caught about 20 trout...one keeper! This little Kemp's Ridley sea turtle bit a Gulp..

The boat was a hit with all the folks from Gainesville.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:09 pm

by wegcagle

I just got back from my fishing trip/wedding weekend. Larry and I had a great time. The fish were there, but no takers on our bait

Larry is a top notch guide. He was constantly working the poles, checking the lines, jigging his Sabiki rig, grabbing a beer or two, and occassionally pulling in a fish or two

I just wished I could stayed out a few more hours. I know 15 minutes after we left the cobia would've been going crazy.
The No Excuse is even better looking boat in person

It performed BEAUTIFULLY. The 70 Yammi on the back is perfect. The boat launches out of the hole, and planes off great. It was also VERY dry ride, in fact I don't think I got wet once. It was pretty cool to see the other boats in the area running 150/200 hp burning 10 times the fuel, and not getting there any faster.

We caught a complete assortment of fish, and had a great time at it. Larry was kind not to describe the trigger fish in further detail, but I will say that I have owned goldfish bigger than that dang thing

I was suprised that it was able to get the hook in its mouth.
After the fishing I had a wedding to attend, and somehow at 2 am I found myself hanging out on the deck of 45ft Hatteras owned by someone I've never met

It was the vehicle that took the bride and groom away after the reception. The guy's wife came down to the docks where we were sitting and talking, and I helped her bring more beer up from the boat. She told us to "go play on the boat for a little while." So my wife, her cousin and his wife, and I climbed up to the roof, drank a few beers and watched the stars in Luxury

Needless to say I slept in a little today

I ain't as young as I once was.

Will

Again Larry I really appreciate you taking me out in the No Excuse. I had an absolute blast. If we're both in Augusta around Christmas time again maybe I can get you on a couple of big striper.

Edit: Craig I see you slipped your post in as I was writing mine. Looks like you both had a great time as well. Nice turtle. My question is what did you think it was while you were reeling it in

I beth there was alot of head scratching

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:13 pm

by sitandfish

Sure got yourself a rare little turtle, there. He must be pretty healthy if he snapped a hold of a 'gulp'. Never would have guess such a thing would happen. Cool.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 7:19 pm

by majorgator

Cape Man wrote:
My son and I headed up to Cedar Key for the weekend...

Clara must have stood out as one of the prettiest boats in Cedar Key

I'm sure that no one else there has seen any gunwales like that

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 7:39 pm

by cape man

Sure got yourself a rare little turtle, there.

We actually saw at least half a dozen yesterday, and I see them everytime I go to Cedar Key. Must be a prime place for them. They are real easy to ID when they surface as they have a lot of white on their face and a light ring that runs around the edge of their shell. Several years ago I caught one that was at least three feet across on a live blue crab. Fortunately both times (yesterday and before) they were hooked in the beak with no real damage done.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 8:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Again Larry I really appreciate you taking me out in the No Excuse. I had an absolute blast.

It was my pleasure, Will. I had a great time also

We'll do it again, maybe Charleston in October? I'm going to try those Cobia's again tomorrow, it's just a matter of persistence

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 9:50 pm

by sitandfish

cape man wrote:We actually saw at least half a dozen yesterday, and I see them everytime I go to Cedar Key. Must be a prime place for them. They are real easy to ID when they surface as they have a lot of white on their face and a light ring that runs around the edge of their shell. Several years ago I caught one that was at least three feet across on a live blue crab. Fortunately both times (yesterday and before) they were hooked in the beak with no real damage done.

Good to hear. I've only seen one of them here in SC. Unfortunately, it was one that had washed up. It had a tag on it's flippers so at least I got to to turn in the tag numbers to help with research.

We have mostly loggerheads around here and those big girls won't let you pull them in.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

Will and I had 2 loggerheads around the boat yesterday morning, our tackle wasn't heavy enough for turtle fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:16 pm

by wegcagle

Yeah, I can see the two of us trying to lug one of those SOBs over the side of your boat

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 3:58 am

by steve292

Cracker Larry wrote:Will and I had 2 loggerheads around the boat yesterday morning, our tackle wasn't heavy enough for turtle fishing

They wern't snarling at you were they

For those that don't get that, it's in an old fishing story thread somewhere.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 3:09 pm

by macs

We're planning a trip to perdido key in July. Any good fishing tips from you pros???

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 3:15 pm

by cape man

won't be fishing here...

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/deepwater_ ... 051710.pdf

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 3:31 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yep Macs, you're screwed, cancel now, that coast will be covered in oil by July and the fishing is already closed. Maybe Savannah will still be fishable in July, but I'm not sure of that either.

This oil situation has got me angry.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:41 pm

by cape man

This oil situation has got me angry.

You and a whole bunch of others!!!! I was odd man out for years in lots of conversations on the topic as I was convinced the industry had its crap together so that nothing like this could happen! What a chump I was! Now that its happened and you consider the logistics of dealing with something like this 5,000 feet down, makes me wonder how we could all have been so stupid!

Macs I would wait till the last minute to cancel, as if it doesn't hit, those communities are going to need the support of folks visiting. But you might want a plan B...

Fellow that works with me and is an animal for hunting and fishing grew up there, so I'll ask him for local knowledge on the fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 5:10 pm

by TomW

Now that its happened and you consider the logistics of dealing with something like this 5,000 feet down, makes me wonder how we could all have been so stupid!

Your not the only one Craig. I wonder who the idiots were that let the industry drill that deep with out any type of emergency method to close off the well if the fail safes didn't work. Man cannot handle depths much more than 500' for very long even in hard suits. Robot subs can only do so much.

I think we exceeded the technology to deal with this one this time in a timely manner. It's not going to be fixed anytime soon.

Murphy's Law says it will happen

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 8:36 pm

by majorgator

I wonder who the idiots were that let the industry drill that deep with out any type of emergency method to close off the well if the fail safes didn't work.

Actually, there are multiple valves in-line with the spewing pipeline. Unfortunately, those valves are unable to be shut, likely because they weren't exercised enough. Perhaps the real problem starts where many other industrial nightmares begin: poor maintenance program. When the fail-safes fail, there's not much you can do

Its really ashamed what's going on now, but I'm not going to abandon my advocacy for offshore drilling.

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 9:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Its really ashamed what's going on now, but I'm not going to abandon my advocacy for offshore drilling.

seth

Me either Seth, we've got to have fuel, but maybe we should confine it to depths we can work at. This is a complicated world, and I'm a simple guy, but something is wrong is here

We're smarter than this.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:09 pm

by rick berrey

They should be able to keep the oil out of the pass at Al. point, fishing in spanish river or wolf bay should be ok. If its not ok there is always brim fishing in the many parks in the area.

Help us out and come on down. rick

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:19 pm

by cedarock

Like Seth and Larry.....I am not ready to condemn off shore drilling! To be sure....in this day and time, we can drill in a manner that will have safety measures that will prevent this from happening. Oil is something that we can't do without right now or this country will suffer greatly. I feel sorry for those that are affected by this mess (all of us will be in some form or another), but I think that to abandon offshore drilling would have the same effect, just from a different angle! Hopefully, we can learn from this and move forward, whatever direction that might be!

Sorry.....this post has not a thing to do with fishing except that I would be glad to fish beside an oil rig off the coast of NC if that is what it takes to make us more energy independant in an environmentally safe way!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:49 pm

by Aripeka Angler

"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur."

Quote from Red Adair.

something is wrong is here We're smarter than this.

Amateur response by both the oil company and the government. The first party didn't know what to do and the second didn't give a crap. In about 10 days the coral reefs in the Keys will be toast. Mississippi and Louisiana are already screwed . This catastrophe should pretty much finish off our economy here and our fishery. I hope I am wrong

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 12:24 am

by TomW

Seth according to the company there are two valves they could have used to close off the pipe line once the platform sank. These were at the ocean floor. One had been converted to a test valve with the permission of the MMS and did not have the power to cut the pipeline and shut off the flow. The main valve was compromised by seawater leaks, a low back-up battery and a hydraulic leak that kept it from doing it's job, once the mini-subs reached it and activated it. This was an msmbc.com article from the Congressional hearings, I believe. This left only emergency plugging of the pipe, and this is what I was referring to not being in place in case of Mr. Muphy striking.

I hope I am wrong

So do I

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 7:50 am

by cape man

Like Seth and Larry.....I am not ready to condemn off shore drilling! To be sure....in this day and time, we can drill in a manner that will have safety measures that will prevent this from happening. Oil is something that we can't do without right now or this country will suffer greatly. I feel sorry for those that are affected by this mess (all of us will be in some form or another), but I think that to abandon offshore drilling would have the same effect, just from a different angle! Hopefully, we can learn from this and move forward, whatever direction that might be!

I am still a supporter of offshore oil drilling, just not ever going to be a sucker for the oil companies party line again. A company like BP could have and should have spent the time and money to install better fail safe equipment to avoid just such a scenario from occurring, and perhaps more importantly done a better job of maintenance and safety training/procedures. Obama lifting the moratorium on exploration on existing leases was something I and many others heralded, only to get blindsided a few days later with this crap. I assumed that the companies involved were responsible and understood the environemntal, economic, and political damage something like this would cause.

So the next time someone says we have the technology to safely drill and move oil from offshore drills, I for one would make them prove to me what they would do in a case like this. One bright side of all of this hopefully will be a tightening of safety and improvement of emergency procedures. Obviously they weren't properly in place in this situation, despite years of reassurance that they were.

Sorry.....this post has not a thing to do with fishing except that I would be glad to fish beside an oil rig off the coast of NC

Have to disagree. Wish I was wrong. Yes it brings in the discussion of oil drilling which is rife with politics, but for many it is all about fishing. NOAA has just closed one of the most productive bodies of water to all fishing, and we can certainly expect more closures. That part of our country is heavily dependent on fishing, commercial and recreational, especially this time of year. With the economy in the shape it is, a lot of them can't afford the losses.

I for one believe the GOM will recover, but there will be significant losses of fish through out the region because of this. I had a trip planned next month to help a colleague in LA collect cobia and red snapper broodstock. Did it three years ago and we fished a rig about 65 miles off. Best fishing trip I had in many, many years. We were collecting broodstock because they are spawning this time of year. The bigger fish might survive by swimming away, but a 1 mm floating pelagic egg isn't going to hatch in crude oil! Now that it appears the oil will make it into the loop current, it also may have impacts on the spawning congregations arround the Dry Tortugas, which will impact the snapper and grouper fishing all the way up to you.

But I am with you on going back to seeing posts of fish and people with big smailes on their face on this thread, especially if taken on one of the boats built here!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:02 am

by Cracker Larry

Now that it appears the oil will make it into the loop current, it also may have impacts on the spawning congregations arround the Dry Tortugas, which will impact the snapper and grouper fishing all the way up to you.

I just saw on the news that oil balls were found off Key West this morning

Here it comes

Check out this solution by some redneck non-engineers, seems valid to me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5SxX2EntEo

But I am with you on going back to seeing posts of fish and people with big smailes on their face on this thread, especially if taken on one of the boats built here!

I'm going this afternoon, will try to take a picture of a fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:43 am

by macs

Yes the oil situation sucks, but we're going to Florida anyway. We're not planning on going off shore to fish anyway. I'm not that mad at the fish and don't have the gear for it. We'll probably stay close or inland to fish. It's a vacation, not a fishing trip. Don't get me wrong, I do love to fish.

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 11:17 am

by smilinmatt

No oil yet in our area. The cold winter has finally paid off. The grouper and amberjack are still in shallow, and the cobia have already shown up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 11:45 am

by TomW

Nice to see some fish Matt!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 12:58 pm

by macs

Nice catch!

Where are you, Matt?

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 1:00 pm

by tech_support

how does that permit taste?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:28 pm

by smilinmatt

We were off Clearwater. I live in Apollo Beach, it's on the east side of Tampa Bay.

Permit are really good eating. They're similar to pompano - very dense meat and a mild flavor. For those that don't know, right now there is no limit on permit/pompano is federal waters, although the regulations are being revised. It will probably be a one per person limit.

This was the first time I got my gills wet in about 6 weeks. I missed the rendez-vous this year, because I was out of town that weekend. Next year...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:29 pm

by cape man

Thanks. Nice pics!!! Looks like a dang good day fishin'!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 6:18 pm

by cedarock

Nice pics Matt!

I am sorry if my post last night came across wrong! Sometimes a post doesn't exactly come out like you want it to. Anyway, I shouldn't have posted about the spill at all. One thing is for sure, someone has put us in a tight spot and I am deeply concerned for those effected!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:46 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish

I am quessing you were wreck diving based on the fish you captured

I am going to a wreck and spring on Memorial weekend but I will be hard pressed to top that fine catch

I am sorry if my post last night came across wrong!

Didn't bother me a bit, think nothing of it. We all pull up to the gas pump including me. The thing that pisses me off though is the response to the spill. They need to fix this NOW

The BP CEO says it's not that bad, the Gulf is a huge body of water. The Governmemt is busy holding finger pointing and holding hearings

Meanwhile, the livelyhood of millions of residents on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast is in jeopardy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish Matt, did yall spear those? The AJs must have been a lot of fun

I am sorry if my post last night came across wrong! Sometimes a post doesn't exactly come out like you want it to. Anyway, I shouldn't have posted about the spill at all. One thing is for sure, someone has put us in a tight spot and I am deeply concerned for those effected!

Nothing wrong with your post or opinion

This spill pisses me off, that's my opinion.

So does this. Our "Temporary" 6 month ban on Snapper has just been extended for another 6 months, then it will be "Re-evaluated". What a load of crap, an "extension to the interim rule" in which time nobody has done anything but spill oil and play golf. There is nothing wrong with our Snapper fishery. Our charter captains can't stand 6 more months of snapper closure. Fishing in the USA will soon be history

What's next? Kings, Cobia, and Redfish? I give it another 2 years, you won't be fishing in the USA. I would have guessed we'd lose hunting rights, but never guessed fishing

Dori and I are moving to Central America

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — NOAA Fisheries Service Announces Extension to Red Snapper Interim Rule in the South Atlantic

NOAA Fisheries Service published an extension to the interim rule which continues the current prohibition on commercial and recreational harvest of red snapper in the South Atlantic. The interim rule became effective on January 4, 2010, and remains effective through June 2, 2010. The extension to the interim rule which published in the Federal Register on May 18, 2010, will be effective on June 3, 2010, through December 5, 2010.

The extension to the interim rule will continue the current prohibition on recreational and commercial harvest of red snapper for 186 days off Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. However, provisions specified in the interim rule would also apply to a person on board a vessel for which a federal commercial or charter/headboat permit for the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery has been issued, regardless of whether the fish are harvested or possessed

in state or federal waters.

The extension to the interim rule is needed to reduce overfishing of red snapper while longer-term measures to end overfishing of this species can be developed in Amendment 17A to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region.

Addresses

Electronic copies of the interim rule or the

Environmental Assessment may be obtained from the e-Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, the

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Web site at http://www.safmc.net, or:

NOAA Fisheries Service

Southeast Regional Office

Sustainable Fisheries Division

263 13th Avenue South

St. Petersburg, Florida 33701

You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

Electronic Submissions: Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All comments

received are part of the public record and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov

without change. All personal identifying information (for example, name, address, etc.)

voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential

business information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NOAA Fisheries Service will

accept anonymous comments. Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only. Comments received through means

not specified in this bulletin or the proposed rule may not be considered.

Mail: Karla Gore

NOAA Fisheries Service

Southeast Regional Office

Sustainable Fisheries Division

263 13th Avenue South

St. Petersburg, Florida 33701

 Fax: 727-824-5308, Attention: Karla Gore

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:36 pm

by wegcagle

Did you get on the cobia yet C.L.??

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 10:28 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yeah, we got a small one about 36", and lost another one at the boat. Same spot. Going again tomorrow early, planning to get in the Redfish hole before daylight and get a mess of reds and trout, and live bait, then Cobia fish each side of high water in the afternoon. Have to leave the house at 0430 to get in the Redfish hole before the tide gets too low

I better go to bed!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 7:55 am

by cape man

Yes the oil situation sucks, but we're going to Florida anyway.

Good on you Macs! Hope you have a blast!

I am sorry if my post last night came across wrong!

No apologies needed. It's a discussion, and you gave an opinion based on your perspective. Hopefully we learn from listening to each other. It's all good.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

We had an interesting morning yesterday and I have a good story to tell yall

My fishing partners were 2 neighbor farmer friends, I trade them fishing trips for tractor work, sweet corn, peanuts, or whatever. What goes around comes around out here in the country. They are both young (to me), in their late 20's, and I've known them since they were kids. They call me Mr. Larry

Pure bred country Crackers, they wear overalls for a day of saltwater fishing and haven't had much fishing experience other than bream and catfish, except for a few trips with me. The little one, Jeremy, is about 6'4" and 250 pounds of farm muscle. The big one, Ricky, is about 6' 3" and 350 pounds of farm muscle. Handy to have around for things, like holding up the truck while you rotate the tires

We're supposed to leave at 0430, to get into the Redfish hole before the tide falls and blocks it off. Being farm boys they show up at 0400, so we get an earlier start and hit the boat ramp before 0500. It's pitch black dark with a high fog, no moon, no stars. I back down to the waters edge and we get the boat ready to launch, plugs in, straps off, gear stowed. I had turned on the battery switches, all the running lights and deck lights so we could see. Jeremy got our launching line out and tied it the amidships cleat like we always do. He knows the routine. I check the knot, triple granny, it ain't pretty, but she'll hold

The ramp has a floating finger dock alongside it, so you can tie up after you launch. It's nice, but the current runs 90 degrees to the dock on the ebb or flood, and it is either trying to throw you into the dock or wash you away from it. The tide was at peak ebb, about 3 kts of current.

I'm ready to splash and they're arguing about sorghum seeds or something, they always argue

I interrupt and tell them to hold the line, I'm backing up. "We got it, Mr Larry" they assure me. They continue arguing, I get in the truck and start backing down, I see them walking alongside the boat as I ease back, I float the boat off the trailer, drive out from under it, pull up the ramp and park the truck in the parking area, about 100 yards away. I check the truck and trailer, lock it up, walk around front to take a leak, I could still hear them arguing the entire time, but it's getting louder and more heated now

So about the time I'm shaking dew, I hear this tremendous splash down at the dock, and I can't see the dock or the river from where I am. I ponder this a moment, and figure someone either fell in the river, or someone got thrown in the river, neither a good thing in that current, in the dark. So I take off running, and got Mr. Johnson somewhat trapped in the zipper on the way

Finally got it cleared and to where I could see the water, and the first thing I see is No Excuse, lit up and floating down the river, about 1/4 mile from the dock and heading to the ocean

I can hear, but not see, someone swimming like a mad man going after it, and it's got a real good head start. I hobble down to the dock and Ricky is there and full of apologies. "I'm sorry Mr Larry, we just went stupid, we done forgot to hold the rope, we just stood there and watched the boat float away, I'm sorry Mr. Larry, Jeremy's going to get it right now, I'm sorry, now don't be mad.....

I started laughing so hard, I thought I might pass out

When I could breathe again, I assessed the situation. The boat was heading around the bend, about 1/2 mile away now and Jeremy was slowly catching up. I sure hoped he was a good swimmer! He waited too long, should have let the boat go. My cell phone, wallet, hand held radio, bug spray, flashlight and cigarettes were all in the boat, so were Ricky's. So there we sat, swatting bugs in the dark, for a right good while. Finally, about a half hour later, we see the running lights coming back around the curve

We watched him run up the river, right past the dock, and kept right on going around the next bend

We wait a while longer and here she comes again. It's starting to get light now, and Jeremy finally sees us waving and brings the boat near the dock. At which time he tells me that he left his glasses on the dock and can't see shat

So we guide him in by voice. He's dripping in his overalls, white as a ghost, out of breath "I'm sorry Mr. Larry! I know I was supposed to hold the rope, I'm real sorry, I done went stupid or something...

At which point I had another laughing fit. I've never known Jeremy to swim in saltwater, he's scared of the things that swim out there. He gets nervous in a big river, and he doesn't go out of sight of land, so I was impressed by rescue. I asked him if he wasn't scared of the sharks, he said "Yassuh I was, that's what took me so long to jump in the river, but the boat kept getting further and you were getting closer, and I figured I'd rather deal with the sharks than you....I'm really sorry Mr. Larry

And I had my 3rd laughing fit before the sun came up. Then we went fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:27 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:30 pm

by Larry B

Great story Larry, and most of all a happy ending. No one hurt and No Excuse safe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:35 pm

by sitandfish

I always have the same question after stories like this. Yes, but did you catch any fish?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:42 pm

by TomW

That's a great story.

One you or they will never forget!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:54 pm

by Boater45

shine wrote:how does that permit taste?

I have had it several times and it is quite good. Really fun fish to catch also.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:16 pm

by gstanfield

Sounds like a good lesson was "learnt" as well. I'll bet them boys don't do no fussin when they are supposed to be a holding your boat again

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'll bet them boys don't do no fussin when they are supposed to be a holding your boat again

Still laughing. I'm sure they won't, but I'll tell ya something else. That was my fault, not theirs. I'm real used to taking people fishing that have never been before, and don't know the boat ramp procedures. I make damn sure they understand any task I give them. When in doubt, I just tie the boat to the trailer with a long line, float it off and pull it up to shore with the truck. Just like in the oil rig thread, I was in charge and I made assumptions that I didn't verify. It ended well, but could have gone badly. If he had drowned and I had gone to maritime court, I would have lost and been liable, and rightly so. The Captain is the only person responsible for the ship and passengers, no matter if he is taking a leak in front of the truck when somebody goes stupid. It's mine, I own it, and it won't happen again. Still funny though

In a relieving sort of way..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:05 pm

by Joe H

All's well that ends well Larry, that's a fantastic story.

I always have the same question after stories like this. Yes, but did you catch any fish?

Well did ya?

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:15 pm

by msujmccorm

Great story Larry, Glad the "No Excuse" is back. I think your friend Mr. Buffet could make a new song out of that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:41 pm

by sitandfish

Joe H wrote:All's well that ends well Larry, that's a fantastic story.

I always have the same question after stories like this. Yes, but did you catch any fish?
Well did ya?

Joe H

I know, Joe.

I told my nephew a story about a friend's husband who lost his boat washed up on a sand bar, nearly froze, got washed off that bar barely made it to a barrier island. He had thought his fishing buddy had drown. Coast Guard gave up looking for the day but, a buddy guessed right and found him somehow. When I finished the story, my nephew says, "well, did they catch any fish"?

Kind of a family thing that lets us know we understand the severity of what the situation was and to say, 'glad we can now joke about it'. But... we honestly both (my nephew and I) wanted to know if they had caught any fish?

They didn't.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

All's well that ends well Larry, that's a fantastic story.

I always have the same question after stories like this. Yes, but did you catch any fish?

Well did ya?

Joe H

Why heck yes we caught some fish

We got to the creek mouth of my secret hole about 30 minutes too late, and it was lower than I'd ever tried it, didn't look good at all, not much wider than the boat, but I put both the big boys on the bow to raise the skeg, trimmed up the engine and blasted at the entrance, then quickly shut her off and raised the engine completely. We bumped and skidded on the shells a few times and went over the first hump with momentum. Glad for a metal shoe on the skeg

Fired her back up with the prop barely in the water and idled up to second hump. They had to get out and push her over this one, Jeremy was already wet, I wasn't

then we were in the fish trap with 4 feet of water and hundreds of redfish rolling, just as the sun was coming up. We caught a bunch of them, culled through and kept a limit of 9 upper slots, released about 50. No trout, no flounder, no trash, just a bunch of redfish. We caught them until the tide came back in enough for us to leave, about 1030, then we ran out to the Broad River for some Cobia fishing. Got on my secret sandbar out there, it's covered in ballast stones from merchant ships dumping a couple hundred years ago. There was only 7 boats ahead of us on my secret spot. Bait was everywhere over the bar and we quickly caught a bunch of greenies on a sabiki. These fellas ain't never seen a sabiki in action, and to them it was like catching bream, 6 at a time, just like Christmas

I had a hard time getting them to stop

The bait wasn't here Saturday when Will fished with me, it just showed up this week. With about 200 greenies in the tank, we anchored up, started chumming and put out the big rigs. Constant action with sharks, hooked up three Cobia in about as many hours. The sharks ate 1 near the boat, dangit, and we got 2 in the boat, one small keeper about 40" and a 30"short we released. Also caught some black sea bass, whiting, croakers and assorted bottom fish on the rocks.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 6:56 am

by Bobg

Funny story Larry. You just can't make that stuff up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 7:07 am

by cape man

I own it, and it won't happen again.

Have a couple of these myself. You always have to remember that many have little to no experience around boats and things go south real quick. Glad you caught fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:22 am

by wegcagle

That's absolutely hilarious Larry

Glad it ended okay, but I gotta say if I swam after the No Excuse for a 1/2 mile or so you'd better put me on the fish too

Glad ya'll had a safe, successful trip with a great story to tell. That's all you can ask for on a day on the ocean. Now that the baits arrived it's time to go get that 100lb beast, and don't forget to post a few pictures.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:59 am

by gstanfield

Hey Larry, You ever fish that little "hidden lake" just a bit upstream of where Ebeneezer creek runs into the Savanah river?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 10:20 am

by tech_support

thats a good story "more scared of you than the sharks" is a good line.

As I was reading, I thought they had both stepped on the boat at once and tossed themselves in the water, 600 lbs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 10:29 am

by tech_support

check out this report from FS forum in St Augustine, biggest bluefish Ive seen inshore....

http://forums.floridasportsman.com/foru ... sacre-bleu

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 10:31 am

by Cracker Larry

Hey Larry, You ever fish that little "hidden lake" just a bit upstream of where Ebeneezer creek runs into the Savanah river?

Yes, Ebenezer is one of my favorite freshwater fishing spots. When we had the canoe rental business that was the most popular trip. We'd launch at Long Bridge Landing and take out at the Savannah River. I once caught a 3 lb. Bluegill in that oxbow, only fish we caught all day

It's a beautiful place.

check out this report from FS forum in St Augustine, biggest bluefish Ive seen inshore

Wow, I've never seen one like that inshore! We used to catch them that size every spring on the artificial reefs, about 15 miles out, but never inshore

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 12:05 pm

by gstanfield

Small world Larry, I've fished that place a ton when I lived in GA. A friend of mine had a rental house in Rinkon and we'd go down and do maintanance on it and always take the boat and do at least one day of fishing for every day of work

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 12:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

I live just a few miles from both Long Bridge Landing, and Logs Landing, about a 15 minute drive to each of them, and about 20 minutes to the mouth of Ebenezer at the Savannah River. We used to do a lot of hog hunting in those swamps, getting a little old for that now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 2:41 pm

by smilinmatt

Good thing I didn't put the smoker away after last weekend's AJ. Not a bad one for the first kingfish on the OB-19.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 3:30 pm

by tech_support

did you shoot it?

They are on the beach now, within 50 yards in places. I need a bigger boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 3:42 pm

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:did you shoot it?

They are on the beach now, within 50 yards in places. I need a bigger boat.

No kidding?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 3:47 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Matt

My guess is you didn't shoot it or did

I need a bigger boat.

You know, a 33 foot cat might be just right

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice Kingfish Matt. Joel, they were jumping in Port Royal on Wednesday, above the bridge!

I'm invited on a gator hunt tonight, this ought to be fun

No, we aren't using my boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:14 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:I'm invited on a gator hunt tonight, this ought to be fun No, we aren't using my boat.

Can you eat those things? Wait let me guess taste like chicken?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

Oh yeah, they are great to eat. Taste like chicken, fried in fish grease. Slightly fishy chicken, sort of like bullfrogs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:47 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote: I'm invited on a gator hunt tonight, this ought to be fun No, we aren't using my boat.

Larry, is that with your two buddy's you took fishing??? Maybe they gonna use you for bait

JK, I really liked your story about those guys though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 7:29 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Oh yeah, they are great to eat. Taste like chicken, fried in fish grease. Slightly fishy chicken, sort of like bullfrogs

That's what I thought same as the Iguanas here

Are they also increase potency

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 8:05 pm

by smilinmatt

As far as "normal" meats go, I think gator tastes closest to veal.

I speared the kingfish. They're just as much fun in the water as they are on rod-n-reel. He made a couple fast, hard runs and then I was able to keep him close to me for a few minutes while tiring him out. I was at a wreck, and fortunately didn't draw any unwanted attention. There were some sharks cruising around, but they were smaller than the kingfish.

Too bad the boat building rendez vous isn't next weekend. I could bring the smoked fish dip. You could have your choice of wormy AJ or mercury-fortified kingfish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 9:49 pm

by cape man

You could have your choice of wormy AJ or mercury-fortified kingfish.

Won't get a no from me for either. Neither will be the thing that kills me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:30 pm

by sitandfish

smilinmatt wrote:Too bad the boat building rendez vous isn't next weekend. I could bring the smoked fish dip. You could have your choice of wormy AJ or mercury-fortified kingfish.

Mmmmmmmm... mercury.

Can't believe you speared that fish. You must be quite sneaky (but, in a good way).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 9:12 am

by Cracker Larry

Larry, is that with your two buddy's you took fishing??? Maybe they gonna use you for bait

Yep, those would be the ones

I told yall that what goes around comes around in the country. The flip side is "payback is a b@tch"

So is taking a 13', 750 lb. gator the legal way, with a bow

I'm a little sore this morning. These guys might be scared of sharks and saltwater, but they are right at home neck deep in a river swamp in the middle of the night. Go figure

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 9:41 am

by Larry B

Hey thats pretty cool Larry. For some reason I thought it might be those two guys

Thats a big gator, think I'll stick to fish that can't eat me

Are you the one that took the shot?? In my younger days I was pretty good with a bow, but got a bad elbow now and can't shoot

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 10:25 am

by smilinmatt

That's a big gator! It could have eaten the last one I got.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 10:45 am

by Cracker Larry

Yeah, it's a big one, I couldn't get these guys to settle for a smaller one. This big boy ties the state record for a legal catch

I put 3 steel arrows in him over a 2 hour period, Muzzy Gator Getters, with a 70 lb. Hoyt compound. The arrows are attached to 600 lb. braid and a float. I did the shooting and the younguns did most of the wrestling, while I made sure the boat didn't float away

For more info on GA gator hunting

http://www.gon.com/article.php?id=73&cid=94 This is the same place we hunted

http://www.gon.com/article.php?id=753&cid=94

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:17 pm

by peter-curacao

smilinmatt wrote:That's a big gator! It could have eaten the last one I got.

But where do you start on a thing like that

with his legs like a chicken ? and where do I find a beer can that big? to shove in it's a.. :doh:not to mention the oven

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:33 pm

by smilinmatt

But where do you start on a thing like that with his legs like a chicken ? and where do I find a beer can that big? to shove in it's a.. not to mention the oven

If only Foster's didn't shrink their oil can a few years back. Maybe a Heineken mini-keg?

My favorite part of the alligator hunt experience, is after it's cleaned, you end up with a headless torso the size of a human. You wrap it in newspaper (to keep the smell down) and plastic, and throw it in the trash can. I haven't had any visits from the police yet, but I always wonder what the garbage men think...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:45 pm

by peter-curacao

smilinmatt wrote: My favorite part is after it's cleaned, you end up with a headless torso the size of a human. You wrap it in newspaper and plastic, and throw it in the trash can.

You are a really scary guy!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's funny Matt. where I live in the swamp, we just take them down the driveway to the creek, and another one just like it will eat it. I could see carcass disposal being a problem in the city

We probably saw 200 gators last night, passed on 150 before we took this one. They look smaller when you can only see their eyes with a headlamp

It was fun, got a lot of good meat, just got in from eating some, but I ain't in no hurry to do it again. Getting too old for that also

The list of things I need to quit doing is getting longer

We'll just have to teach the younguns, and leave it up to them.

But where do you start on a thing like that with his legs like a chicken ?

Just like any large animal, no need for gruesome details

and we end up with it all cut into chicken finger size strips. A Milwaukee Sawzall with a 18" blade helps a lot.

You are a really scary guy!

Matt is an animal, he'd really enjoy this

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 9:02 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:
Matt is an animal, he'd really enjoy this

And you aren't?

Just two quotes out of your post!

We probably saw 200 gators last night

A Milwaukee Sawzall with a 18" blade helps a lot.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 12:29 am

by Cracker Larry

And you aren't?

Naw, not anymore. I'm about 20 years past an animal of Matt's caliber. I try to stay more in a supervisory role nowadays, somebody has to make sure the boat doesn't float away. But I can still run a sawzall. They are great for cleaning deer, hogs, large fish, gators....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 7:27 am

by cape man

Me and a friend have put our names in for the gator lottery this year. Crazy fun! If anyone wants a good read, here's a book I highly recommend. A true early Florida tale almost written in first person about a guy in south Florida. http://www.amazon.com/"canoe style skiff"-Hunters ... 0813015731 Includes pictures and instructions for a stich and glue poling skiff for getting through the Everglades. One of my favorite passages is where they shove the spline from a giant leather fern leaf through the spinal canal of a dead gator to "take the wiggle out" during skinning. If you've ever cleaned a gator you know what that means!

Once a friend of mine was cooking gator using a baked Indonesian spices recipe. Put a huge slab of tail in a glass pan, and poured soy sauce over it to start. The meat had been in the fridge for two days. As soon as the soy hit the meat it start jumping in the pan!

Somehow Larry I think you'll still be drilling gators in another 20 years.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 8:27 am

by Cracker Larry

I'll do the drilling if you handle the rope work

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 10:32 am

by Cracker Larry

A Milwaukee Sawzall with a 18" blade helps a lot.

Image

I ain't kidding about that sawzall

.....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 10:45 am

by wegcagle

But he's using a Ryobi

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 1:49 pm

by TomW

And that's no Gator, that's a big ol' HOG!

How much did that one weigh Larry.

Did you do chittlin's and head cheese

Sorry sitting here icing my knee after doing to much walking after the 10 day check up after the operation. Got to have a little fun.

Those Saws Alls sure make it easier from when Grandad and Dad butchered there stock when I was growing up.

Grandad had a 4 x 36 plank where all the butchering was done. It was very well worn. Back then it took 4-6 hrs or so to break down an animal, I guess that including hanging time. In the early-mid 60's meat processors came into being and they just took the animals to them. My sister still won't eat fish because of the guts and gore.

I raised some chickens and when my mom and I butchered them my sister said she wouldn't eat them, so mom said they were form the market.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

But he's using a Ryobi

My neighbor is cheap

And that's no Gator, that's a big ol' HOG!

Good eye

How much did that one weigh Larry.

We didn't weight it, so not sure. Probably in the 450-500 range. It's a wild hog, but we caught it at around 120 pounds and pen raised it for about 6 months. That pic was last Easter at my next door neighbors house. It fed a gang of people, not as many as the gator will though. I think we could feed everyone in my Zip Code with that gator

And we will feed most of them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 6:23 pm

by TomW

Yea that Gator will feed a lost more than that hog. Wish I was closer to you cause I love gator meat.

Soak 3x3" peices in Buttermilk, and a spice blend and left overnight, next day cover in cornmeal batter and quick fry it and o'my so good. Don't know how you do it but that's how I was taught to do it down in Mississippi coast. Everyone has there one recipe for each animal but man I have never had Gator like that.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 8:18 pm

by Larry B

Never Ate Gator

Got to eat Rattlesnake first, then I'll go South and try Gator? Like others have said I believe Chicken taste like Rattlesnake, and also Gator. But you aint' gonna feed alot of people on just one Rattler

Hey Larry can you make me a pair of boots out of that Gator

Size 12D

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 8:31 pm

by wegcagle

Both are awesome, and if you haven't eaten either then branch out and try them. I like Rattlesnake better than gator personally. I always thought a big ole' gator was a little tough and chewy. Then again, I always thought rattlesnake was bony. I guess I'm impossible to please.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 9:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

Soak 3x3" peices in Buttermilk, and a spice blend and left overnight, next day cover in cornmeal batter and quick fry it and o'my so good. Don't know how you do it but that's how I was taught to do it down in Mississippi coast. Everyone has there one recipe for each animal but man I have never had Gator like that.

About the same, but we cut them into smaller pieces, about finger size, or bite size. Before we cut it into frying size strips, we beat it out with a wood mallet or rolling pin, that takes all the tough out of it

Just like a conch, beat it into submission

Any kind of snake is pretty good eating, sometimes they need a pounding too.

Hey Larry can you make me a pair of boots out of that Gator

Nope, it's spoken for. If you want to come get your own, I can hook you up though. Can't help with the permit, they are scarce, but you can apply and hope for the best. I shoot, you rope

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 11:11 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:
Hey Larry can you make me a pair of boots out of that Gator
Nope, it's spoken for. If you want to come get your own, I can hook you up though. Can't help with the permit, they are scarce, but you can apply and hope for the best. I shoot, you rope

Was joking about the boots

Me working the rope on a Gator would be about like a Monkey trying to F&^% a Football

Might be fun though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:19 pm

by gstanfield

...Might be fun though

I guess that all depends on if you're the monkey or the football

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

LMAO

I'm going after them again in the morning, fish that is. Doc Dyers Dad, Daddy Doc and his friend, Doc Steve, are driving all the way from Tennessee, just to fish with me

Cobia and Redfish on fly rods is the plan. Sure hope that works out for them. I'll try to remember to charge the camera, unless the catch is poor

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 9:13 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:LMAO

I'm going after them again in the morning, fish that is. Doc Dyers Dad, Daddy Doc and his friend, Doc Steve, are driving all the way from Tennessee, just to fish with me Cobia and Redfish on fly rods is the plan. Sure hope that works out for them. I'll try to remember to charge the camera, unless the catch is poor

My ears just perked up! I always find that preparation is VERY important.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 9:55 pm

by gstanfield

Good fishing, I take it that you're using your bad ass custom made fly rod so I hope the catch is on par with the equipment

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 10:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

I take it that you're using your bad ass custom made fly rod so I hope the catch is on par with the equipment

Nope, I'm just the guide. When they told me they were bringing 2 fly rods each, I figured I better leave mine home

I always find that preparation is VERY important.

Yep, the 5 P's.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 11:02 pm

by Larry B

sitandfish wrote: My ears just perked up! I always find that preparation is VERY important.

I wanna fish with you

PICK ME! PICK ME!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 11:04 pm

by Larry B

gstanfield wrote:
...Might be fun though
I guess that all depends on if you're the monkey or the football

George

George never thought it that far thru

But you got a good point

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 11:45 pm

by gstanfield

Larry(B) when you come through here in a couple months you need to let me know what "accessories" you'll need in the cooler for when we fish the Platte River. I'll have the outside painted an dhull flipped (again) to final fit the interior and maybe even get some primer laid inside this weekend. The boat will be ready by mid June for sure

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 1:01 am

by Larry B

gstanfield wrote:Larry(B) when you come through here in a couple months you need to let me know what "accessories" you'll need in the cooler for when we fish the Platte River. I'll have the outside painted an dhull flipped (again) to final fit the interior and maybe even get some primer laid inside this weekend. The boat will be ready by mid June for sure

George

Heck I'm not picky, Corona in the bottle on ice, fresh lime to go with it, a nice cooler cup to keep the bottle cold, Just Kidding, I can pick up my own stuff, couple cold beers is all I need, but I'll have to bum a fishin rod

Yea I won't be by till Aug so you got plenty of time to break her in

One thing I wish I would have done with mine. I used 4 oz cloth for the bottom, wish I had gone to 12 oz biax

Sure would have helped when I went in the rocks the other day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 10:09 pm

by sitandfish

Larry B wrote:
sitandfish wrote: My ears just perked up! I always find that preparation is VERY important.

I wanna fish with you PICK ME! PICK ME!

Well LarryB. It cost me 10 Corona but, I think it was worth it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 29, 2010 12:31 am

by Cracker Larry

Beautiful photo! 10 Corona for one fish though

The sunrise was priceless

We had a beautiful morning too, but the wind got up after noon and blew like stink until dark. I spent 14 hours on the water today, loving every minute of it. Some days the fishing is better than others, this was an other, but we caught a few, saw a lot. There were plenty of fish, they just wouldn't bite.

My new friends worked liked the dickens with their fly rods, beating the water to a froth, and tried at least 432 different patterns and colors by my rough count, but in the end it was live bait over flies, about 10 to nothing

And dead bait over flies, about 10 to nothing. I admire anyone who can consistently catch redfish, or any saltwater fish on a fly. We had hundreds of reds around the boat, no go with the flies here

They weren't real interested in anything else either, but we got a few.

Bradley, I enjoyed the hell out of spending the day with your Dad, he reminded me of my Dad

I hope to fish with him again soon. He should come back in the fall, October/ November, I think the flies may work better then. Too much live bait in the creeks now. He sure can handle a fly rod. Steve was also a hoot. The two of them remind me of you and Andy

Or my wife and I

Steve caught a Blue fish about 1 1/2 pounds, and he flipped when I rigged it as a live bait and sent it back down with an 8/0 hook in it. Then he really flipped when the big rod took off

It turned out to only be a 40 pound shark, but it was fun to watch

I didn't take many pictures, but here's Steve casting to Cobia in Broad River. Shortly after this, it went from flat calm to a 3' slop, and we all got wet to the bone. Moved in to the creeks for redfishing and stayed until sunset. Great day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 29, 2010 1:14 am

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:Beautiful photo! 10 Corona for one fish though

If I would have stayed home, it would have cost me 12 Corona.

I was too busy fishing to finish the box.

That actually was tonight's sunset. The tide floods the grass only a couple times a year and it usually takes a few beers waiting for the fish to start swimming into the grass. Now I have to wait another month for the grass to flood again.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 29, 2010 7:46 am

by Cracker Larry

If I would have stayed home, it would have cost me 12 Corona.

Good point.

The tides there must lag our by a couple hours, we had high water yesterday at 1030 and 2230. Too late for sunset.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 29, 2010 8:45 am

by Doc_Dyer

Cracker Larry wrote: I spent 14 hours on the water today, loving every minute of it.

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some days the fishing is better than others, this was an other, but we caught a few, saw a lot. There were plenty of fish, they just wouldn't bite.

That's why it's called fishing NOT catching

Bradley, I enjoyed the hell out of spending the day with your Dad, he reminded me of my Dad I hope to fish with him again soon. He should come back in the fall, October/ November, I think the flies may work better then. Too much live bait in the creeks now. He sure can handle a fly rod. Steve was also a hoot. The two of them remind me of you and Andy Or my wife and I

Glad you all had a good day on the water..maybe in the fall me and dad will come

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THEM FISHING
Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 29, 2010 11:52 am

by Cracker Larry

Cracker Larry wrote:I spent 14 hours on the water today, loving every minute of it.

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bradley, I went out real early by myself, caught some live shrimp and eels and a few small fish on the early low tide, so we would have plenty of live bait when your Dad and Steve showed up. Met them at 1000 and we were out until about 8 pm

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THEM FISHING
Bradley

My pleasure, we had an enjoyable day and made some new friends

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 1:44 pm

by mechdave

We finally had a weekend with decent seas, great really, 1 to 2s. We took Mikes little brother (big brother program) and went out about 15 miles out of Port Aransas. We couldn't even lose a bait at the first rig we stopped at. So another 5 miles north and stopped at a gas well. Mike was getting ready to get wet and he said LOOK at that huge ling. Threw a pitch bait at him and the fight was on. After that we caught a few drum and will have a nice fry on Memorial Day. This is what I work all year to enjoy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 1:54 pm

by gstanfield

Nice, ugly fish

Sounds like a good time was had and it'll probably be a day remembered by that kid for a long time to come.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 5:33 pm

by Boater45

Crappie

Largemouth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:21 pm

by Larry B

I guess this is what you call a Tarpon

http://www.gofishn.com/ned/reports/4176 ... in-florida

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

This is what I work all year to enjoy.

Nice Cobia Mike, very nice

We haven't got a big one yet this year

a couple of barely keepers and a few more shorts. Strange year for weather and fish here.

I guess this is what you call a Tarpon

It's really a shame to kill a fish like that, just because it's big

I have to admire the catch for sure, especially on 12 lb tippet, that's over 10/1 and almost 20/1 ratio

but I would have released it. All those breeding tarpon in the GOM, they are soon to be rolling in oil.

Don't get me wrong, I've killed my share of fish and a few other peoples too, still do keep some eating fish, but the tarpon has no food value and is worth more to the economy in the water than out. It's future is in serious jeopardy. You can quickly measure it's length and girth, take some pics, and get a perfect reproduction made in foam and fiberglass. The older I get, the more I re-think things. When I was young, I would have killed that fish too, but we all make our own choices

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:20 pm

by gstanfield

Yeah, but what do you expect from Wyoming guy. We kill everything out here

I'm suprised that he knew how to work that fly rod without a 40mph wind

On the other hand, he might as well kill it, they'll all be swimming in oil before too much longer

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:25 pm

by Larry B

Wasn't condoning it either way, was just passing on the link

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:30 pm

by peter-curacao

gstanfield wrote:how to work that fly rod without a 40mph wind r

That's a nice calming cooling breeze!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

Wasn't condoning it either way, was just passing on the link

I know, nothing personal meant, and I can't say much myself. Very nice fish on the tackle.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:57 am

by Bobg

Caught a 3# flounder in a crab trap yesterday. Does that count?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 12:07 pm

by Boater45

Bobg wrote:Caught a 3# flounder in a crab trap yesterday. Does that count?

Any flounder counts!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 4:55 pm

by cape man

Here's one worth watching...http://www.break.com/index/man-vs-two-s ... gator.html

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:31 pm

by colonialc19

I went on a charter trip out of Hatteras yesterday to the blue water, we had a great day my 5 buddies and I boated 12 yellow fin, 50 dolphin, and I caught my first white marlin, we actually had a double hookup on whites and landed & released both, capt & mate were quite a team, my friend got a good pic of my white jumping I'll if I remember how to post a pic.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:46 pm

by TomW

Looks like a perfect day out there and quite a catch.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 10:00 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's some great fishing there Daniel

Fantastic. Good pictures too. What's for supper? Dolphin or Tuna

Both

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 6:27 am

by cape man

this pic needs to be full size! Great day there!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:04 am

by colonialc19

Thanks Capeman, had some tuna and wasibi for breakfast this a.m., it was a GREAT day on the water sea was flat, water blue, and fish everywhere, saw a school of tuna the size of a football field, all aired out chasing flying fish.
One time we had 6 rods go off at once, all yellowfin, we managed to get 5 of those in the box, we even jigged up a couple on those butterfly jigs

its fun to be holding the rod when 50 lb tuna takes off for the deep

I got the bruises to prove it

Got to get to vacuum packing

Daniel

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 1:56 am

by Cracker Larry

17A Closure passes. Imagine that. Who was it that said they wouldn't close our bottom fishing. Forever?

Well, thank you feds, our interim ban on bottom fishing has just been made permanent

We knew it would be, didn't we? They didn't even wait until December

Our commercial fishermen really need this right now. Not that it matters much, in 3 months we'll be covered with oil anyway, thank you feds. Somehow SC managed to get it pushed out of their backyard and in to ours. Not us

No more bottom fishing, period, for our coast. It's not who you know, it's who you blow. A highly scientific process. Who voted for these SOBs running this goat screw anyway

That does it, we're moving, and I won't be building an offshore fishing boat either, not in America anyway. So much for the AB23. Why bother?

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 0106100312

Close area from Savannah River to Sebastian inlet from 98' to 240'. They wouldn't even wait for the Sedar 24 in December.
I really do hate these people!
Votes against-

Hartig Fl Commercial
Merritt NC Commercial
Swatzel SC Rec
Phillips Ga Comm

Votes for closure-
Chairman
Charles Duane Harris
(GA Obligatory Seat)
105 Demere Retreat Lane
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
912/638-9430 (ph)
seageorg@bellsouth.net

Vice-Chairman
David M. Cupka
(At-Large Seat)
P.O. Box 12753
Charleston, SC 29422
843/795-8591 (hm)
843/870-5495 (cell)
palmettobooks@bellsouth.net

North Carolina

Dr. Brian Cheuvront
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries
P.O. Box 769
Morehead City, NC 28557
252/726-7021 (ext. 105) (ph)
252/762-0254 (f)
brian.cheuvront@ncdenr.gov

Benjamin M. "Mac" Currin
(At-Large Seat)
801 Westwood Drive
Raleigh, NC 27607
919/881-0049
mcurrin1@bellsouth.net

South Carolina

Robert H. Boyles, Jr.
S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources
Marine Resources Division
P.O. Box 12559
Charleston, SC 29422-2559
843/953-9304 (ph)
843/953-9159 (f)
boylesr@dnr.sc.gov

Georgia

Spud Woodward
GA Dept. of Natural Resources
Coastal Resources Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
One Conservation Way, Suite 300
Brunswick, GA 31523-8600
912/264-7218 (ph)
912/262-2318 (f)
Spud.Woodward@dnr.state.ga.us

Florida

George J. Geiger
566 Ponoka Street
Sebastian, FL 32958
772/388-3183
georgejgeiger@bellsouth.net

Mark Robson
FL Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 S. Meridian Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
850/487-0554 (ph)
850/487-4847 (f)
Mark.Robson@myfwc.com

Call these people to voice your dis-pleasure!

--------------------
Support the FRA!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 7:30 am

by gstanfield

So I guess that saves me some money trying to move to the coast

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:02 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Wow

Nice fish Daniel

Could I trouble you to email me the contact information of the boat? I may be up there in the fall.

17A Closure passes. Imagine that. Who was it that said they wouldn't close our bottom fishing. Forever?

They close Red Snapper fishing in the GOM every year for six months while leaving nearly everything else open. I have a stupid question, why wouldn't that work in the Atlantic

Maybe this is not about RS at all

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

Maybe this is not about RS at all

ya think

It's not just Red Snapper either, it's ALL bottom fish

It will be a no-fish zone. Not even catch and release.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:25 pm

by colonialc19

AA, email sent

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 6:08 pm

by Aripeka Angler

colonialc19 wrote:AA, email sent

Thanks for the email

Man that was a great trip you had

ya think It's not just Red Snapper either, it's ALL bottom fish It will be a no-fish zone. Not even catch and release.

I know that Larry. It sucks. Their reasoning is that fishermen aren't smart enough to not catch and release snapper when they are fishing for something else. I move to a different spot when all I am catching is out of season fish. I have also caught and released plenty of American Reds at up to 150 feet. Simple, vent and release. The guys that make the laws should try it some time. I doubt some of them have ever wet a line.

This is what happens when we turn over the daily affairs of our lives to smarter than us idiots. I say that when government is the answer, it must have been a stupid question....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:47 pm

by sitandfish

I'm sorry I can't remember who recently made the post about how on a hot day, even warm beer tastes pretty good. So... I decided to put it to the test. I had some left over beers in the cooler and intentionally drove past the "ice store". Ice is only $1.25 for 20 pounds so, that wasn't the issue.

Got to my fly fishing spot (same as last month) and started walking. You have to boat to get there. Looked like I was going home with warm beer and a skunk...

Released this fish and the warm beer tasted.... GREAT!

Even if it doesn't look like it did, the cooler water was still 'cool'...

Plus... I got to enjoy this. Not a bad place to take an afternoon stroll.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 11:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm sorry I can't remember who recently made the post about how on a hot day, even warm beer tastes pretty good

Jimmy Buffett maybe?

Heard about the old-time sailor men.
They eat the same thing again and again.
Warm beer and bread they said could raise the dead.

Wasn't me

Times change, sailors these days.
When I'm in port I get what I need.

Ice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 11:44 pm

by gstanfield

Gotta love Jimmy. I'm quite fond of the duet with him and Alan Jackson singing Boats to Build It's on my boat building playlist on my ipod

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ4I-aXuUeA

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 12:11 am

by sitandfish

Found the hot/warm beer comment.

It was cape man speaking of drinking warm/hot beer while he was in Africa. I listen cape man but, the short term memory is kind of shot.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:47 am

by cape man

Speaking of beer...was sitting on the dock yesterday around lunchtime with a light tackle spinning rod fishing with bread balls. We love a good panfish meal every now and then and it usually takes less than 30 minutes to catch enough. Had the pole lying down on the dock and turned around to get a beer. Heard a noise and turned back just in time to see the rod launch from the dock and start heading downstream! Luckily we have been very dry this year so the water is only about chest deep. The water is very tanic so couldn't see the bottom so just started walking back and forth and feel with my toes. Found the pole about 30 yards from the dock hung up in some branches, a 2 lb channel catfish still on! Caught two more in quick order. Rod and reel recovered, dinner secured, and a semi cold beer to relax with.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:22 am

by gstanfield

good job on recovering the rod, plus not leaving a fish to die while attatched to your line. I've yet to loose one, but I did remove a reel and throw it overboard once cause the dang thing was a piece of crap and kept jamming up internally (gears stripped or something) That was back when I had to decided between gas for the outboard or bait so I would end up rowing the jonboat most days and buying junk reels

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:28 am

by Bowmovement

Company Sponsored Cattle Call boat
Caught this Yellow Tail and limit on Sculpin

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:54 am

by gstanfield

Nice yellowtail

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:30 am

by cape man

This one's for CL...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:26 am

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:09 pm

by colonialc19

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 6:59 pm

by Cracker Larry

Fishing was shutdown indefinitely as of midnight Sunday along a 23-mile stretch of the Florida and Alabama coastlines from the shoreline to nine miles out where state waters end and federal waters begin. A ban on fishing in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico went into effect more than a month ago.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:17 pm

by macs

Man, this whole thing sucks

But we're still going to Florida. Moving over to Panma City Beach if the oil isn't there in a couple of weeks.

Heart felt prayers for everyone down there.

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

They could sure use your business down there, but it's just a matter or time. 2 million gallons a day they are now admitting, and they are probably still not being truthful

The president announced today he was going to concentrate all the resources of the federal government at the problem. I sure wish he hadn't waited 56 days to decide that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:45 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:I sure wish he hadn't waited 56 days to decide that

Heard this on the news today: just google this: 13 countries offered US help with Oil Spill, but Obama administration turned them all down

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's because of a union agreement. Ships aren't allowed work in US waters without a American, union crew aboard

It sure seems to me like they could have waived that rule for this

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:09 pm

by gstanfield

Aahhh, Unions

UAW pretty much killed the US auto makers (along with a few other issues admittedly) and now a Union rule is going to delay stopping this travesty

Oh well, why not. Everyone else has dropped the ball on this, why not add to the list of stupidity

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:27 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm trying to remind myself to be careful with this forbidden topic

We don't want our fishing thread deleted

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:34 pm

by gstanfield

True, I'll be good too. Sorry for the temptation

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 12:48 pm

by Joe H

Aahhh, Unions UAW pretty much killed the US auto makers (along with a few other issues admittedly)

I didn't know it was dead, better tell my co-workers.

Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:42 pm

by gstanfield

Maybe not dead, but it's certainly not doing great. Unions are fine and dandy until they put companies out of buisness. I worked at one rather large company that went under because the unions were constantly fighting for more money. We all liked our big fat paychecks until we didn't have them anymore. Granted there are many factors that have hurt the auto industry, but overinflated costs of operating is not to be overlooked.

On the other hand, I'm happy for you that you are one of the ones that still has a job.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:24 pm

by cape man

Posted once before. South Florida circa 1962. Me on the right, and that's my sister trying to stick a gig into something under the dock. Justed wanted to get this thread back to fishing and away from unions, oil spills, and other forbidden subjects. You guys email each other that stuff...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:40 pm

by Larry B

You've got some concentration there Craig

Just waiting for that bite? Not sure if that dock is up to code though

Is that your worms in front of you??

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:54 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yall ever see migrating rays? Millions of them, as far as I could see. I first thought they were a weed line, they were in a weed line though. Craig, help me out, I don't know what kind of rays they are

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 3:43 pm

by cape man

Had two other reports from the Atlantic in the past two days of a massive migration this year. One of the most commonly kept rays in public aquariums as they are always swimming and don't get big. They do sting, but since they are up in the water column its almost always when being handled.

Cownose rays. Rhinoptera bonasus

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/d ... seray.html

This pelagic species is also sometimes found in inshore waters. For the most part, this species is known for its migrations to different parts of the ocean (oceanodromous). The environments in which they are found include brackish and marine habitats. They are found at depths to 72 feet (22 m). They are gregarious and make long migrations. The cownose ray population is believed to be increasing in numbers. The migration patterns, in the Atlantic, include a northward movement in the late spring and southward movements in the late fall. Southbound migration has been observed to contain larger schools than the northbound migration. Smith and Merriner (1987) believe that the changes in water temperature, coupled with sun orientation, may initiate seasonal mass migration.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 3:55 pm

by sitandfish

The cownose rays have been a big topic of conversation around here for over a month. The schools are thick offshore and inshore. Funny how they all seem to be the exact same size no matter where you see them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 4:10 pm

by Larry B

Are they good eating???

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 4:15 pm

by tobolamr

Let's see... 14+ hours of pre-fishing a "good bass lake" before Thursday's tourney yielded a dozen fish, four of which were keepers... The weather's been nuts, raining a lot, very few sunny days... We've thrown everything we can think of and then some, we've tried shallow, deep, humps, flats, timber, shores, weeds, scum, slop, etc... So Thursday's tournament will definitely be interesting... Any tips on catching fish in a long, drawn out low pressure system on a small lake? About 850 acres...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 4:23 pm

by cape man

Chesapeake Ray Fajitas
(Cow Nose Ray)
Recipe By: Jim Hambley
Ingredients
1 ½ lbs. Cow Nosed Ray Fillets, Skinned
2 Tbsp Garlic Minced
2 Tsp. Ground Cumin
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp. Lime Juice
¼ Cup Vegetable Oil, Plus 2 Tbsp.
1 Cup Sweet Red Pepper
1 Cup Onion
¼ Cup Julienned Jalapeno or Poblano Peppers
1 Lime Cut In Wedges
1 Tsp. Oregano
1 Tbsp. Fresh Cilantro, Minced
Salt & Pepper
Soft Flour Tortilla, Salsa & Guacamole
Preparation
Combine 1 tbsp. garlic, cumin, lemon, lime juice & ¼ cup vegetable oil for marinade.
Slice the ray fillets into strips and season with salt & pepper.
Cover fillets with marinade and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Over medium heat, quickly sear the ray strips on both sides, ray should be medium
rare, do not overcook. Remove from skillet and reserve in warm oven.
Add additional garlic to pan and sauté for one minute.
Add pepper & onions and cook until soft.
Add wedges of lime and heat through.
Serve ray and vegetables with soft flour tortillas and condiments such as sour cream,
guacamole & salsa.
Now you know what to do with those pesky rays…. Enjoy…..
We

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:31 pm

by smilinmatt

Last weekend, I got one of my favorite fish to eat, along with a couple red snapper (they're not too bad either). The rainbow runner was 32" to the fork, and the reds were 9 and 11 pounds.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

I've never tried eating a rainbow runner Matt, that sure is a big one! We like them for bait, about 1/3 that size. According to the fishery experts we have on the east coast, there isn't any red snapper left in the Atlantic

Cownose rays. Rhinoptera bonasus

Thank you much

It's an amazing site to see them stretched from horizon to horizon

Makes you right glad you got up and went to sea that day

Had two other reports from the Atlantic in the past two days of a massive migration this year.

Do you (experts) think they might be leaving the Gulf?

Are they good eating???

Yes, we caught a couple and cleaned them. Tastes just (almost) like a scallop. They appeared to be an un-endangered species

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Any tips on catching fish in a long, drawn out low pressure system on a small lake? About 850 acres...

Hand grenades, dynamite, drag net, electrical generator

.....best of luck with the tournament

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 6:32 pm

by smilinmatt

I've never tried eating a rainbow runner Matt, that sure is a big one! We like them for bait, about 1/3 that size. According to the fishery experts we have on the east coast, there isn't any red snapper left in the Atlantic

Red snapper are extinct over here too, it's just that no one's told the fish that yet. We have about a 6 week season. I don't know if you followed the limits over here, but because the average size increased last year, they decided we were catching too many pounds of fish and reduced the season. I.E., fish are bigger and healthier, there must be a problem. On a related note, I meant to say the fish were 9 and 11 ounces (just in case any NMFS people are monitoring).

Rainbow runners taste a lot like blackfin tuna. I use them for shashimi or ceviche. That was the first time I ever saw one that was big enough to steak.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 8:09 pm

by Aripeka Angler

smilinmatt wrote:
Red snapper are extinct over here too, it's just that no one's told the fish that yet. We have about a 6 week season. I don't know if you followed the limits over here, but because the average size increased last year, they decided we were catching too many pounds of fish and reduced the season. I.E., fish are bigger and healthier, there must be a problem. On a related note, I meant to say the fish were 9 and 11 ounces (just in case any NMFS people are monitoring)

I hear you. Commercial interests dominate the boards that set the limits. What they are currently debating is to shut down the recreational fishing of Gag and other grouper in the GOM while leaving the commercial harvest open. I think that is a little messed up.

Cut and paste on the snapper situation...

RELOCATION IS THE ANSWER
Anglers left holding the bag with shortest red snapper season on record

NOAA Fisheries announced a perplexing paradox today that speaks to the flaws in the federal fisheries management system. In the release, NOAA Fisheries declared both an increase in the overall total allowable catch of Gulf red snapper in 2010 and the shortest recreational red snapper season on record, at the same time.

“We are very encouraged that a combination of factors, including shrimp trawl bycatch reduction and environmental impacts, has converged to produce a recovery in red snapper, at long last,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of CCA’s National Government Relations Committee. “However, there is obviously something systemically wrong with how this fishery is being managed when recreational red snapper anglers will be sitting at the dock more than 10 months of the year while the commercial sector fishes year-round.”

Even with a recovering stock, the recreational anglers from five Gulf States pursuing red snapper in the Gulf are still left with just 49 percent of the total allowable catch of 6.945 million pounds, while about 400 commercial fishermen are currently entitled to 51 percent of the harvest through a catch share system. A rebounding stock means recreational anglers are finding it easier to catch red snapper, and the fish they catch are bigger. With a quota set in total pounds, the only way the government is capable of controlling recreational harvest is to shorten the season. In 2010, that means 53 days.

“The next step for this fishery has to be a serious look at reallocation. When you think how much the
demographics and economics of this fishery have changed since it was set at 51 percent commercial and
49 percent recreational, the current allocation is indefensible,” said Brewer. “We must have reallocation
of fisheries where appropriate based on an economic analysis to provide the greatest economic benefit to
the country, and there is no greater need for this than in Gulf red snapper.”

At the recent Recreational Fishing Summit in Washington DC, commercial catch shares were credited by some federal fisheries managers for the recovery of Gulf red snapper, a claim that CCA and others in the recreational fishing community are quick to refute.

“There is an effort right now to credit catch shares with the recovery of Gulf red snapper, which is false advertising,” said Jeff Angers, president of the Center for Coastal Conservation. “This recovery is being fueled by the impact of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and others on the fishing fleet, by reductions in fishing effort due to high fuel prices, and by mandated reductions in shrimp trawl bycatch. Catch shares have succeeded in cementing in the current allocation and creating a 53-day recreational fishing derby, and that is about all.”

More information on Gulf red snapper, including a summary of a 2009 bioeconomic study conducted by Texas A&M University showing the overwhelming value of the recreational sector, can be found in the Gulf of Mexico section of the CCA Newsroom, http://www.JoinCCA.org.

If this a forbidden topic let me know

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:31 am

by colonialc19

Cow nosed rays are everywhere in the lower Chesapeake in summer, everywhere, I haven't took one home yet, but think I'll try one this year ( I love scallops).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:02 pm

by Joe H

A friend of mine from work brought his son out to fish in the canal behind the house for bluegill, I ended up bringing them out to the bay in the OD16 fishing machine and they caught 5 Smallmouth in 45 minutes including this 7lb plus, needless to say we had a blast and they can't wait to come out again.

Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:09 pm

by gstanfield

Very nice fish, you're really blessed to have such a great place.

Thanks for sharing it with others, especially the next generation.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:10 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:14 pm

by cape man

THAT is a nice smallmouth! Wow!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:11 am

by sitandfish

We have some small 'smallies' in a local pond but, we definitely don't have any 'smallies' like that.

Now.... what are those shiney silver things that I see on the forward casting deck of the boat in the background? I don't think I have ever seen any of those on a boat of mine.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 8:48 am

by colonialc19

Thats one heck of a smallmouth

, congratulations, something that kid won't forget for long, long time

Daniel

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 11:31 am

by Larry B

Went out last night and caught a few Flatheads out of my FL14, a 10lb, 15lb and 19 lb.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 11:38 am

by JamesT

Nice catfish! on a rod n reel i assume...that must've been real fun!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 11:58 am

by Boater45

Caught a bunch of little sharks just north of Horn Island, MS yesterday.

Fun for the kids!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:35 am

by cape man

Was half way to Crystal River when I realized the camera was on the shelf in the living room, but this weekend my daughter and I went scalloping off Homassassa. Because of the loss in tourism from the oil, they opened scallops two weeks early, so off we went. Because of the crowds we drove all the way up to Yankee Town and ran back south to the scallops. Three boats counting mine running with a local who knew the inside passages. The boat ran fantastic, and we all had a blast. After cleaning our take, we had maybe a cup of meat which I sauted in olive oil, garlic and basil and served over spaghetti. Very nice $100 scallop meal that fed all of us. My brother in law took some really nice shots of us running next to them which I'll post when he emails them.

Pulling out at the ramp had an old timer admiring the boat. He said he never heard of that brand (Clara)

He was even more interested when I told him I made it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:38 am

by Larry B

Craig, thats what it's all about

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:10 am

by macs

Anyone on the Mississippi Gulf Coast? I heard they're still fishing out at Cat, Ship and Horn Islands.????????

We may shorten the drive for our trip. Looks like Panama City Beach is going to be slick by the time we go.

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:10 pm

by rick berrey

The news showed lots of shark , king mac, and large asortment of other fish off Ft. Morgan on dixie bar. Thay say they are comming in to shallow water due to the ---- in the water. rick

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:20 pm

by Boater45

macs wrote:Anyone on the Mississippi Gulf Coast? I heard they're still fishing out at Cat, Ship and Horn Islands.????????

We may shorten the drive for our trip. Looks like Panama City Beach is going to be slick by the time we go.

Macs

I just left the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Saturday. The fishing was open from the center of Horn, west to Ship island. But this is changing daily. Everything south of the islands is closed and the Coast Guard is making you dump your catch and stop fishing if they catch you. We were just around the West corner of Horn fishing on the south sandbar and they made us stop.
Reds,Specs and White trout are all over the place especially between the ship yard and Round Island in Pascagoula.

Here is a map of the closure areas: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/deepwater_ ... 062310.pdf
That map is only federal water.....state is different!!!

Hope this helps ya'
Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:26 pm

by macs

Thanks guys,

We're still undecided, but we'll probably wind up taking our chances in Panama City Beach. For now they're still fishing everywhere inside the 9 mile mark and St Andrews bay is still in good shape. We've got a place reserved on Grand Lagoon with a boat dock, pool, etc.... Just want to smell that Florida salt air.

We'll have to keep our fingers crossed!

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:29 pm

by Larry B

And another good night Flathead fishing

This picture you can see some of my FL14 also

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:46 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Holy cow that is a big catfish

They don't get that big around here. What is it called besides a flathead or is that the actual name for them there? How much did it weigh?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:48 pm

by Larry B

Just Flathead Catfish, (Craig might have another name for them

) This one weighed 35lbs, I did catch two others one 14lb and one 16lb.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:54 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yep, flatheads are what we call them here too.Nice fish! Ugly SOBs: I'm sure Craig has another name too

In some of the reservoirs they get huge

I think the record is about 123 pounds

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:13 pm

by Larry B

Yea I knew mine was a small one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:11 pm

by macs

We also call'em yellow cats. They are the best eating out of all the cats in my opinion. Unless you consider a spoonbill (paddle fish) a cat. They're by far the best.

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 11:46 pm

by Cracker Larry

The flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris), also called the yellow cat, opelousas, and shovelhead cat, are large North American freshwater catfish. This is the only species of the genus Pylodictis. Ranging from the lower Great Lakes region to northern Mexico, they have been widely introduced and are an invasive species in some areas.

Their native range includes a broad area west of the Appalachian Mountains encompassing large rivers of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio basins. The range extends as far north as North Dakota, as far west as Arizona, and south to the Gulf of Mexico including northeastern Mexico

I've seen a few while scuba diving at Clark Hill Dam that looked big enough to eat me whole

Like a Goliath grouper. And some of those clear water springs in FL have them 6' long

Our local freshwater rivers, the Savannah, Ogeechee and Altamaha all produce flatheads over 50 pounds. The Altamaha consistently produces cats in the 80 lb. range. That's a big catfish

The official state record is 67 pounds I think, but to be an official record it has to be caught on rod and reel with witnesses, certified scales and lie detectors, something most fishermen avoid

Most of the really big ones are caught on trot lines or bush lines. The largest of those officially in GA is about 85 pounds. Most country boys don't go to the trouble of getting certified weights and measurements, they just take em home and butcher them like a deer

I'm sure there are many in the 100 pound range that have hit the dinner table around here.

http://fishing.about.com/od/catfish/a/b ... athead.htm

The US record flathead, 123 pounds, was caught in Kansas. I bet Kansas doesn't have many fishing records to it's credit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:29 am

by Larry B

Thanks for the info C Larry. We aren't allowed to use trot line. Only rod and reel. We are allowed to use certain live bait, I like blue gills and carp. They are a blast to catch and fight like hell, pitch black out I'm in a FL14 up in some dark cove, and this huge head comes up and looks big enought to eat me. What a rush. Might have try Georgia, sounds like a lot of fun, but I don't like the gators

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:46 am

by Cracker Larry

but I don't like the gators

Have you ever tried one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:47 am

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:
but I don't like the gators
Have you ever tried one

No, I would eat one, I was meaning I don't like them eating me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:50 am

by Cracker Larry

Some days ya get the bear, some days the bear gets you...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:08 am

by gk108

I think that fat old gator has done that before.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:12 pm

by Joe H

I like to night fish in the rivers up here for Walleye and every now and them we hook into a big old channel cat,(Craig might have another name for them, or Larry) it's like pulling a log up from the bottom, very tough but nothing like those flat cats of Larry's very nice!

Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 2:09 pm

by tobolamr

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100624/ap_ ... reat_lakes

Can you eat those???

Caught 1 keeper at the tournament, and my partner missed a nice keeper. 1st place had 8 fish for over 32lbs (32.45 iirc), 2nd place had 7 fish for 22 lbs, 3rd place had 5 fish for 17 lbs AND the big bass of the day - 5.72lbs largemouth.

Biggest bass I've seen landed in person!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:42 pm

by TomW

Here's some info on the blue cat it's a little more aggressive than it's brother the flathead:

The blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, is one of the largest species of North American catfish. Blue catfish are distributed primarily in the Mississippi River drainage including the Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Arkansas rivers. These large catfish have also been introduced in a number of reservoirs and rivers, notably the Santee Cooper lakes of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie in South Carolina, the James River in Virginia, and Powerton Lake in Pekin, Illinois. The current angling world record is 124 pounds, and was caught by Tim Pruitt on May 22, 2005, in the Mississippi River.[1] [2] This record broke the previous blue catfish record of 121.5 Lbs caught from Lake Texoma, Texas.

Blue catfish are opportunistic predators and will eat any species of fish they can catch, along with crayfish, freshwater mussels, frogs, and other readily available aquatic food sources; some blue catfish have reportedly attacked scuba divers.

I actually prefer the good old channel cat for eating 18-24" long, skinned and fileted. Flour and cornmeal mix and then fried, nothing better. We used to run 2 200 hook trotlines on the Mississippi when Deb's dad was alive. Occasionally we would catch a blue or flathead and keep them if they were the right size but you could tell what they were when you ate them as they were an oilier, gamier fish.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:31 pm

by colonialc19

2 Years ago I took a buddy of mine out on the James river here in VA fishing for stripers, casting a 1/2 oz buck tail with a 4" sassy shad for a trailer, we caught 2 Blue cats we weighed one at 53 1/2 lbs the other could have been its twin, swimming those buck tails along the bridge pilings

They will eat anything

here's a pic of my fishing buddy with it, now this is a couple years old

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:06 am

by TomW

Bridge pilings and blue cats go hand in hand. A freind In Iowa was a diver that did inspections on bridge pilings on the Mississippi and he said he saw some of the biggest blues when he was doing his dives on those pilings. Shad is one of the blues favorite eats that's what we fish for them with out there. Herring is another good bait. Or catch some bluegills if your inland they'll eat those to.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 2:07 am

by TomW

Hey Larry they removed GA from the snapper restrictions. http://saltfishing.about.com/b/2010/06/ ... n.htm?nl=1 I assume you already know.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:04 am

by Cracker Larry

It's all about the money. Florida won't stand for it either, they will have to lift it there too I hope. There is only so much BS people are willing to take. Every politician in GA and SC got a million phone calls and letters, telling them very plainly that if they allowed this to continue, they would be unemployed in November. Both states filed suit against the feds, and since the feds had no science to back up their ridiculous rules and would lose in court, they dropped it. We are lucky here in the SE to have so many sportsmen, including most of the politicians and the voters

Our phone calls and letters do make a difference!

The South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) has managed to do the unbelievable once again. At their meeting in Orlando on this past week, they voted to stop all bottom fishing in Federal waters from 98 feet deep to 240 feet deep.

It is mind boggling to me how they came up with the area to close. Their first target many months ago was the same depth ranges in the entire red snapper habitat area, reaching from North Carolina to the Florida Keys. They modified that last month - much to the disbelief of many of us - to EXCLUDE North and South Carolina from the ruling. Their final ruling passed this week now EXCLUDES the Georgia coast line as well. I guess they have data that the red snapper fishery north of the Florida-Georgia state line is healthy.

Folks, if this does not smack of back room deals and politics, I guess nothing does. This is what happens when politically appointed people try to manage things.

I am sorry - I am supposed to be at least a little bi-partisan on issues like this, but come on, folks! How can any reasonable citizen look at what they have done and not come away believing that this is the most blatant misuse of power and politics in a long time?

My advice, while I cool down, is to take lots of pictures when you go out fishing. Because, it appears more and more that those pictures will be all that remains of you fishing in a very short amount of time!

Oh, by the way, the next item on their agenda is managing the wahoo and dolphin fishery. I can;t wait to see the results of this one.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 1:29 pm

by macs

We don't do much fishing on the coast since we're inland. What's the best advice on rigs for specs, reds, etc.... Bay fishing in Panama City next week. Live shrimp, squid, artificial. Any and all advice welcome.

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 1:53 pm

by sitandfish

macs wrote:We don't do much fishing on the coast since we're inland. What's the best advice on rigs for specs, reds, etc.... Bay fishing in Panama City next week. Live shrimp, squid, artificial. Any and all advice welcome.

Macs

I always call the local tackle shop(s) before I head to a new place. They always help with local knowledge. In their interest that you have a good day fishing. This site looked pretty helpful. Best of luck.
http://www.halfhitch.com/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 2:03 pm

by cape man

We don't do much fishing on the coast since we're inland. What's the best advice on rigs for specs, reds, etc.... Bay fishing in Panama City next week. Live shrimp, squid, artificial. Any and all advice welcome.

Did you ever get in touch with Jeremy in my office?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 5:32 pm

by macs

This site looked pretty helpful. Best of luck.
http://www.halfhitch.com/

Yea, I've already talked to them. They seem to be the closest to where we'll be. I'm sure that's where we'll pick up the rigs and bait. They said people are still fishing.

Did you ever get in touch with Jeremy in my office?

I didn't see any contact info on the email you sent. I was waiting to hear from him.
Send me his info again if you don't mind.

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 6:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Macs, that ain't my area, but the usual rigs across the SE are about the same. 10 or 12 lb tackle, 12-20 flouro leader.

Given a choice of bait, I'd use live shrimp under a popping cork. Early morning and late afternoon, redfish and specks will usually hit most top water plugs, Rebels, Rapalas, Mirro-lures and such, most bass plugs work for reds and trout. Once the sun is up, top water turns off, then it's usually a switch to jig heads, 1/8 or 1/4 oz rigged with various artificials, or tipped with live or dead shrimp. Berkley Gulp Alive natural shrimp is my favorite artificial. In water less than 3 or 4 feet these are usually fished just above bottom, under a popping cork. My favorite corks are Thunder Chickens, Cajun Thunders and Equalizers. In deeper water we skip the cork and slowly bounce the jig on the bottom. Trout usually prefer deeper water over grass flats, where reds like shallow structure such as mangrove roots and oyster bars. Reds will usually hit fresh cut bait like mullet or ladyfish, trout not so much. Everything likes a live shrimp

If the water is slow and clear, fish it on a thin #4 gold wire hook, free lined, no weight. If there is current, add a split shot.

I'd concentrate on creek mouths, points, channel edges, natural funnels, look for structure and edges. Squid will probably not catch much except sharks, rays and catfish

Mark gave good advice about visiting the local tackle shops. That's the first thing I'm going to do when I get to the Keys this weekend

I'll be rigging tackle tomorrow and can take some pics of my redfish and spec rigs if that would help?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 6:35 pm

by steve292

Larry , excuse my stupidity,being british an all that, but what is a popping cork & how do you fish it?
Steve

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 7:30 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's not stupid, that just don't know. There's a difference

Rather than me explain it, there are many articles better written than I could do. It's just a fancy bobber

http://www.goldenislesfishing.com/tc.htm

http://saltfishing.about.com/od/accesso ... 70726a.htm

http://www.mistertwister.com/fishing-ar ... eather/214

http://www.thehulltruth.com/sportfishin ... opper.html

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:24 pm

by Larry B

Took my grandkids out last night for an all nighter of Catfishing. They had alot of fun catching blue gills and channels, I had fun catching a couple of 11lb Flatheads. Overall a great nite on the lake. Weather was hot, a bit of wind, and US, nobody else in sight or sound

Nice Moon, (but I don't like it when Im fishing for flats

) but made it a nice nite for the kids.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:10 pm

by macs

Thanks CL, I know that's good advice.

Hope to report back with some good results and pics from the trip.

Wish us luck. We're gonna have some fun

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:11 pm

by TomW

Nice couple of flats Larry, but naw a moon isn't good when your trying to catch them. Do you ever try using the blue gills as bait for the flats. The bigger guys will gobble them up.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:15 pm

by Larry B

TomW wrote:Nice couple of flats Larry, but naw a moon isn't good when your trying to catch them. Do you ever try using the blue gills as bait for the flats. The bigger guys will gobble them up.

Tom

Tom, Yes thats what I use is Blue Gills. We go during the day for the gills and then fish for flats at night with the gills

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:17 pm

by macs

I'll be rigging tackle tomorrow and can take some pics of my redfish and spec rigs if that would help?

A pictures worth a 1000 words and besides, we like it when you showcase your work. If you have the time, but don't go to any extra trouble.

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:20 pm

by macs

Tom and Larry B, what's your take on Alex messing the whole fishing thing up in the gulf for this next week?

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:30 pm

by TomW

No problem for you on the Florida coast. Where exactly are you going. The further south you are the less the effect. It's going to hit shore in Mexico by Thursday morning and things will die down by the weekend just about everywhere. The further away you are from Mexico the sooner it will happen.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:53 pm

by Larry B

Don't have a comment on Alex. been on the lake without news and just fishing and enjoying my grandkids. But Alex is a mother nature thing and were guest in her house, the oil thing, well thats messing with mother natures house, she just might be pissed off.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:05 pm

by Arm&Hammer

I live in MI, but love to fish the IRL in FL. My Dad has never caught a Redfish, so my brother and I thought that a quick trip to FL for Father's Day was in order. A great time, and my Dad was able to land multiple fish over 3 days.

A shot on the water @ 5:30am

Success

My Dad has given us a lifetime of fishing for bass, bluegill, and catfish in IN, so the least we could do was get him out for his own adventure. And he never really liked eating fish until I cooked these up...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 12:13 am

by cape man

My Dad has given us a lifetime of fishing for bass, bluegill, and catfish in IN, so the least we could do was get him out for his own adventure.

Good on you!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 10:27 am

by tech_support

Nice redfish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 10:31 am

by Cracker Larry

Very nice redfish. Wouldn't want the game warden to find them in my boat

Beautiful sunrise photo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 12:14 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:Very nice redfish. Wouldn't want the game warden to find them in my boat

Beautiful sunrise photo

Larry, how did you measure those fish?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 12:36 pm

by Arm&Hammer

Cracker Larry wrote:Very nice redfish. Wouldn't want the game warden to find them in my boat

These are a pair of 26"-er's. The slot limit in FL is 18-27". No worries.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 12:57 pm

by sitandfish

Arm&Hammer wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:Very nice redfish. Wouldn't want the game warden to find them in my boat
These are a pair of 26"-er's. The slot limit in FL is 18-27". No worries.

Yep. They looked fine to me.

Those are a couple nice "slot" fish but, I'm sure the memory can't be measured. Enjoyed your report.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 1:25 pm

by TomW

Great report A&H always enjoyed fishing with my Dad. Whether in FL, OH or once he took us up to Canada to the Georgian Bay.

You know how to treat your Dad right!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 3:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

These are a pair of 26"-er's. The slot limit in FL is 18-27". No worries

I wasn't worried, you're in Florida, I'm not. That's why I say I wouldn't want the DNR to find them in my boat

Cracker Larry wrote:Very nice redfish. Wouldn't want the game warden to find them in my boat

Larry, how did you measure those fish?

I've caught and measured over 3,000 of them in the last year, and I'm a pretty good judge of length, that's how

And in your state, and my state, those would be illegal redfish. I can tell from here, I don't need a tape to know that

I catch a lot of them that size, but we have to release them.

These are a pair of 26"-er's. The slot limit in FL is 18-27". No worries.

Yep. They looked fine to me.

SC slot limit is 15-23". In GA, 14 -23". That would be $2,000 worth of redfish in your state, Mark

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 5:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Here ya go Macs. You'll want some of these popping corks, standard for redfish and trout anywhere in the south.

Rig a 2-5 foot leader, you want the bait to barely bounce bottom, and either attach a jig head and artificial body like one of these.. I keep a variety of sizes from 1/16 to 3/8 ounce, and a variety of colors. Every location and person has their favorites, but the fish's favorite is subject to change without notice

What I sometimes do is split open the belly and see what the fish are eating, then try to match it in size and color. The rattle of the float attracts many gamefish to the bait. I've had redfish repeatedly hit the popping cork, sometimes trout and even sharks attack the popper.

Also notice the gold spoons and gold spinner blades on some of the jigs. Redfish everywhere like gold. I usually use a jig body with artificial attractants like Berkley Gulp, or DOA, both are good. I've had good luck with the new Mirro-lure line of soft baits too. When using other plastics I usually soak them in the Gulp Juice. It works

If the water is deeper than a few feet, fish the jigs without the cork. don't hesitate to tip a jig with a piece of shrimp either.

I'd rather use live shrimp under the popping cork, or mud minnows, or finger mullet, or small pinfish. Hard to beat live bait, but I've seen it happen. Joel and his Dad beat me bad one day and made a Gulper out of me

When they were about 50 fish up on me I switched from live shrimp to Gulps

For live shrimp and small fish I use as small and thin a hook possible, usually #4, gold wire or kahle style. Match the hook to the bait, not to the quarry. Sometimes the live bait will work better under a cork, sometime free lined unweighted, sometimes weighted with a split shot, just have to experiment. Every day is different with fishing

Always keep the hook, leader and sinkers size as small as possible. Smaller is better than large.

Early and late in the day, low light, top water lures work good. I use a mix of floating and diving plugs, most of them rattle..They all work if the fish are biting.

This collection will catch redfish, trout and flounder from NC to Texas. Hope this helps ya

Been rigging baits for the Keys trip. We're going to concentrate on bigger fish down there if the weather is good. Dolphin, wahoo, tuna and billfish. I make all the rigs up ahead of time and pack them in ziploc bags. I hate to waste fishing time tying rigs. Most of these are ballyhoo rigs with stinger hooks. Some of each color rigged on wire and mono, some weighted, some not. I also pre-tie live bait and bottom rigs. Makes it fast and easy to switch leaders when conditions change.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 7:46 pm

by macs

This collection will catch redfish, trout and flounder from NC to Texas. Hope this helps ya

That's awesome! Thanks for the help CL.

You are da Man

Macs

PS- Reminds me of my only redfish trip. Went down to Barataria. The guide's name was Sonny. He had a slick looking flats rig with a 90 or 115 Mariner. The hull was nothing like I'd ever seen. When he pulled his boat up to the dock at 5:30 AM, he had a beer in his hand. I looked at my buddies and said "we gonna catch some fish", and we did.

Good times. I hope to top that this weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 8:23 pm

by sitandfish

macs wrote:
This collection will catch redfish, trout and flounder from NC to Texas. Hope this helps ya

That's awesome! Thanks for the help CL.

You are da Man

Macs

PS- Reminds me of my only redfish trip. Went down to Barataria. The guide's name was Sonny. He had a slick looking flats rig with a 90 or 115 Mariner. The hull was nothing like I'd ever seen. When he pulled his boat up to the dock at 5:30 AM, he had a beer in his hand. I looked at my buddies and said "we gonna catch some fish", and we did.

Good times. I hope to top that this weekend.

Larry has given you the Bible of southern coastal fishing. He has covered all chapters (books).

But, there is always one more thing to know. If one of the locals says he needs a Bayer... don't hand him aspirin. Many southern coastal fishermen often pronounce a beer as 'bear' or 'bayer'.

Have one on me. Sounds like a fun trip.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 8:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

But, there is always one more thing to know.

Always

Some things we'll never know

One more thing to add. If the water is real clear, still and quiet, use the smallest baits and rigs, skip the jig head, skip the big popping corks. Make as gentle and quiet a presentation as possible, or the fish will spook. Rig a live or Gulp shrimp on a bare gold wire hook. Talk quiet, move quiet, don't make a splash. A stake out stick will catch you more fish than an anchor

But when it's choppy and murky, switch to the bigger baits and popping corks that make some noise and vibration, crank up the music if you want to, it don't matter. Sometimes you need to draw attention, sometimes you have to avoid it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 5:53 pm

by Cracker Larry

Leaving tomorrow for the Keys

It seem like once a month I'm loading up a stack of rods for another 1000 mile trip, and I got tired of them bouncing around in the truck or boat, and not being able to secure them. So this morning I made an over due rod rack for the back of the truck. This will keep them safe and secure. I've got a steel cable that will run through each reel and lock them to the truck. Everything is padded with felt strips, including the tailgate where they could slap.

I thought someone may be interested in doing something similar. Yeah, I know, 2X10 and 2X8s might be a little heavy, but that's what I had on hand

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 6:29 pm

by TomW

I'd say that's a little over built for 6 rods, but it works!

Good fishing!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 6:32 pm

by Cracker Larry

I do tend to over build things

They seldom break though

The bed liner has grooves molded into it for 2X8 lumber, to span the bed for carrying plywood, so it works out well.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 6:42 pm

by TomW

I saw that. Works well will let you slide or put other luggage/gear under the rods.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:58 pm

by wegcagle

I like it Larry. If I still had my truck

I would be working on one tomorrow. Only problem that I can see is that you didnt's coat it with epoxy and 12oz biax

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 12:35 am

by Cracker Larry

Didn't want to make it too heavy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 2:57 am

by TomW

It will last forever anyway being pressure treated. But you could have at least painted it black to match the truck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:50 am

by Larry B

TomW wrote:It will last forever anyway being pressure treated. But you could have at least painted it black to match the truck.

Here in AZ you don't want to paint anything black

You wouldn't ever be able to touch it. btw, C Larry nice Rack

Only improvement I'd make is, do a reverse on each end so you can carry 12 rods and reels, but then again I think you have the short bed so that wouldnt' work, but I like your idea. Much better than rods bouncing around in the boat or back of truck

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 2:01 pm

by Boater45

All fishing south of I-10 is closed on the Mississippi Gulf coast. Oil is being reported on PetiBois, Sand, Horn and Deer islands.
It's really looking bad for the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 4:10 pm

by TomW

Man that's bad had a lot of fun fishing with the guys at an Alcan plant in Bay St. Louis off and on over several years. I-10 is 5-10 or more miles inland at points as I recall.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 7:23 pm

by frazoo

The tackle CL listed for the southern states work well on reds and specs in shallow water in and around the chesapeake bay as well. The Gulp! Alive is great stuff. I have had very good luck with mirrolures, matching the color of lure used to the sky and water colors on a given day.

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 4:01 pm

by cape man

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=fSmzhqbuABU

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:58 pm

by Larry B

Went out again a couple nights ago. Caught 6 Flatheads, 6,7,10,13.5,20,28, returned them so they can get bigger for my next trip. My FL14 is really getting used this year. But can't wait till the OD18 is finished

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:04 pm

by gstanfield

I definately need to come down there and go fishing. I've come home empty the last two times out, all this extra rain and flooding has really screwed up my ability to find fish

I've been so used to fishing in this drought and now the lakes have twice the water in them as they did in years past so the fish have a lot more room to hide from me

I'll find them yet, Saturday I go out and try again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 12:41 am

by RickW

Larry B, you might need to come fish down here, the river here's so ate up with Blue cats you can't fish around them, they hit spinner baits, jigs, everything. Reeling in 1lb'ers gets annoying, but you can get some whoppers now and then. Just can't catch the flat- heads like I used to in the river, or like you're catching.....hmm, maybe I need to come out there

A few days ago I put the kayak in and paddled about a mile down the river, I just stopped for no particular reason, in some non- descript, spot and threw out a lure towards a brushpile, before I made three turns on the reel it got nailed by a huge LM bass (big for me, about 5-6lb's) My dumba$$ was so excited I was already getting the camera out and let some slack in the line, the bass jumped clear out of the water and threw the hook. So there I sat in my kayak, rod in one hand, camera in the other, mangled jig, and no one in sight to cry to. (You people realize I'll be chasing that SOB for the next 10 years?)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:35 am

by tobolamr

Had a bass tourney last night on Miller Dam here in central wisconsin - we took 3rd place with (get this) 3 fish!

Had a 14 1/4 inch, and two in the 19" range. 2nd place had 4 fish, first had 7. From 3rd to 9th place was less than a full 10oz difference in weight.

FL14 - First blood

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 6:50 pm

by gstanfield

Well, I finally got blood in my FL14 today and it wasn't even mine (well, not all of it was mine

) here's the story:

I left the house at 0600 this morning and went and pickup up my father in law and then we headed out to Alcova Reservoir in an attempt to beat the recreational guys to the lake. Usually the jet skis and wakeboard boats don't hit the water until around 1000 or so which would give us a few hours of peace and quiet to fish and then we'll be fishing in their slop. We hit the water peaceful and calm and headed towards the cliffs. While on the way there I was trolling a #4 rapala and suddenly my rod bent over

This was the first fish landed in my boat, sure is a good feeling to catch a fish in a boat you built

Here's where I caught it!

Then we trolled on down to a little cove we both like to fish and thought we would see how well it fishes from a boat. here's the results of that:

continued....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:01 pm

by gstanfield

So after two fish we decided to hit the shore and have some breakfast. No fish, just cheese sandwiches

Then we headed back out and fished the cove some more, but didn't have much success other than getting to test my anchor which held fine in the winds which were now up to about 25mph. We trolled for a while more, but between the winds (now up to about 35mph) and the waves of all the recreational boaters we were now dealing with pretty steady two footers and would get a decent flow of water over the bow pretty often. With just the trolling motor and the waves coming from multiple directions it was hard to hit them all the way I wanted so some of them I just had to take head on unless I wanted to give up on trolling. When we would take the larger waves head on they would just wash over the bow and dunp another gallon of lake into the boat. The total weight we had in the boat was about 475lbs including gear and motor and battery so we weren't overloaded. I Had my father in law move back to get the bow up, but it was still a royal pain so we just decided to get wet and keep fishing

We finally gave up on fish and found a nice sheltered cove for lunch:

In the end we gave up just after lunch and came home with four pretty nice rainbows, two 13" long one pounders and two 17" long two pounders, plenty for a good dinner for the family

I didn't get any good pics of the rough stuff cause I put my phone in my dry bag in case we went swimming involuntarily

I will say that the Fl14 did great even with waves coming over the bow it was still very stable and never was I truley afraid even though common sense shoulda told me to head for the ramp sooner than it did

The boat is very nice, and perfect for a smaller motor. I can't wait to go out again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:17 pm

by Larry B

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:25 pm

by TomW

Nice George. Those are some good eating size trout!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 8:29 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice pictures and fish George

Congratulations on a fine first fishing trip

That sure is some pretty country and the boat looks sweet too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 8:41 pm

by wadestep

Don't have any pictures right now, but we went out of Redfish Pass today on a spearfishing trip. This is about 10 miles south of Boca Grande where the 2010 builder's meet was). The first dive was a wreck in about 90' of water. It is a great dive, lots of small reef fish, but not large reef fish. There was, however, a school of 120+ amberjacks just swimming around, and i took 2 to 33" to the fork. They fight like mad if you don't stone them immediatly, and I made sure I was withing grabbing distance of the wreck before shooting. In fact, i even shot 2 with one spear - by accident! they were thick.

The second dive I took was a natural ledge about 50' deep. Ended up with 5 hogfish and 1 grouper. Wish i had pictues to show, but let me tell you, those hogfish sure are tasty!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 3:28 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Hey Larry B, check this out....

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625 ... h-20984569

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 3:55 pm

by Larry B

Aripeka Angler wrote:Hey Larry B, check this out....

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625 ... h-20984569

Thanks Richard, Yea I seen that, ain't that something

They tried to keep it alive until certified but it didn't make it

Heck a fish that old he might have just committed suicide

We don't have Blues in Arizona, justs Flatheads and Channel's.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 8:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Those are some pretty trout George. Congrats on first blood. I would have had to build a fire and cook them right there on the lake shore

Was supposed to leave tomorrow for FL on an overnight grouper trip with Richard, but this beast is coming along and stirring up trouble in the GOM

Discretion being the better part of valor we canceled running 100 miles offshore on Saturday

Grouper trip is postponed until next week, I reckon Mrs. Cracker and I will make a shrimping trip instead, then try to catch a few redfish. Same weather here we've had for weeks. Almost 100, rain every afternoon. Sure hope that storm doesn't get too big, or mess up the good progress finally being made with the oil leak.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 8:15 pm

by gstanfield

Oh come on now, where's your sense of adventure?

I'd stay at home too, or at least spend the time fishing near home instead of miles offshore

Those trout were pretty good. In the past I'd have cooked them right there on the bank, but I wanted to take them home seeing as how Mrs. Stanfield likes fish even better than I do

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 8:20 pm

by Larry B

Man, cancell a trip with a little storm like that

I cancelled one on Monday because there was a 10% chance of rain, maybe some lightning and wind at 10 mph. Now thats a frickin storm

Got it planned for this coming Monday. I'd like to try shrimping sometime, never did it but would like to give it a try.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:45 pm

by fishin'

get ready to work larryb that's all I got to say

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:52 am

by tech_support

I wish we were getting more of that storm. The indian river needs a flush and a stir. Not sure if its the cooling of the water, more O2 mixed in, or the influx of some fresh water, but inshore fishing seems to get better after a storm.

Caught a couple reds on topwater last weekend, also got a flounder and snapper when we later changed to bait fishing, then speared some sheep head off the beach. Good eating for a few days. With 30mph winds I wont be doing that this weekend

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:01 am

by Cracker Larry

Better 30 than 130

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:08 am

by tech_support

Amen to that. Some of the best fishing I have had on the lagoon was after we received two hurricanes Frances/Gene, 100 mph winds separated by only 2 weeks time. Best part was that no one else was on the water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:29 am

by cape man

Got to rub it in guys...No fish pics as they whooped me the few times I had a chance to go after them, but MAN have I just found paradise...and they are going to pay me to spend time there! I have visited Grand Cayman each year for the past 7 and always wanted to see the other two islands - Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, especially Little Cayman. A year ago found out a friend from high scholl was the director of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute on Little Cayman, and she was interested right away in developing a strong realtionship with UF. Flew down Monday. 1.5 hours from Tampa to Grand Cayman and then a 45 minute trip on a Twin Otter to Little Cayman. 90 miles north of Grand Cayman and 90 miles south of Cuba. Cayman Brac is 5 miles to the east. Little Cayman is 10 miles long and about a mile wide with 150 residents. Maybe 50-100 guests at a time. A mountain top in the middle of the Caribbean with no people and a sheer drop all the way around to 6000 ft plus! Seagrass and mangroves fringing the shore.

The northwest end is a place called Bloody Bay that is a marine preserve and has probably the best wall dive in the Caribbean. The station is right on the eastern edge of the preserve and has a nice protected anchorage out front, with lots of bone fish working the grass flats along the shoreline. Brought the fly rod but left my flies sitting on the bookshelf

All the jigs and plugs were too big and noisy...

Was exciting to see healthy populations of Nassau Grouper, Mutton Snapper, etc., etc., etc. and on land endemic rock iguanas
and perhaps the largest population of West Indies Whistling Ducks. There's a 30-40 acre lake that has a captive population of Tarpon that run up to about 30 lbs, we jumped two small ones, but it was the middle of the day and everyone, including me and my friend were too hot to play.

Going to be working on a project to design and build an "off the grid" wet lab using solar wind and geothermal energy so hope to be heading back soon and for a longer stint. Have made it clear that the next trip will include more time not scheduled for meetings and field trips, and I'm bringing my flies and small jigs. If anyone is looking for a great place to get away from it all, I HIGHLY recommend it. There's a couple of small resorts and restaraunts, and a fishing guide with a small boat and a larger one for offshore (turns out he's from Ruskin and knows a lot of the same people I do, including the guy who supplied CL's T-Top.

Man I hate my job!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:55 pm

by Larry B

Capeman, You go man

I can see how you could hate a job like that, NOT!!!!!!!!!! Wow thats great and I love the pictures. When you can't go to a certain place it's still nice to experience it thru pictures. Thanks for the report and pictures, looking forward to more

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's really cool Craig

I think you need an assistant/helper

I figured you was off on an adventure.

Mrs Cracker and I just got in from a full day on the water. Shrimping was medium-poor, but we caught plenty enough for bait, then ran out to try a few red fish holes. Found plenty of fish, fish everywhere

Only problem was, every one was 1-2" short. We fished until we ran out of bait, caught and released at least 40 reds, not a keeper in the bunch

No trout, not been many trout since this past winter, no flounder, a few croakers and pinfish. It was 98 degrees and ocean water temp is now 90 degrees

Eating stuffed peppers and tomatoes for supper, used all our shrimp for bait, didn't catch a fish we could keep. But it was a fine day on the water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:23 pm

by gstanfield

ocean water temp is now 90 degrees

WOW

I forgot what hot water was like. Our lakes are just starting to hit mid 50's for the ones upstream of me and high 50's on the downstream ones. They might even reach low 60's before winter sets in, but I'll not count on it. Today was hot, got all the way up to 84F in the shade

Glad you guys got out and had fun, too bad the big fish were taking the day off

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:21 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Yes, great pictures Craig

I got a new bucket list place to go. Maybe in the Spring if I have the money

I went fishing yesterday before the rain. One fish/no pic but it was nice anyway. Bayport sure is a pretty place. Not spectacular pretty like other places in the country but pretty because it is home.....

Stated raining like heck and got a little windy an hour or so after I took the pics. TS Bonnie turned out to be over-rated, the wind might have got to 30 a time or two.The XF-20 did a great job in the shallow water up there. No temp gauge but it wouldn't surprise me if the water temp there was 85 degrees...

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:07 am

by RickW

Damn, I just had deja vu....

This was low tide at the launch site from my last trip out on the bay here. Lot's of Cobia tails swirling and waving at me, lot's of Red's chasing bait-fish, had the tails bit off two plastic baits, but nothing in the boat. Had a great day anyway!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 2:52 am

by sitandfish

I guess this isn't fishing but... did you guys see the whale jump on the sailboat?

http://ofwnow.com/more-headline-news/wh ... lboat/5195

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:25 pm

by tech_support

2 reds on topwater this morning, 4 and 9 lbs (guess). A 3 lb trout, bluefish and jacks. Bite was over by 9:30. Indian river is full of Big Mullet, more than I have seen in a while. Th reds follow them around as they kick up grass/mud.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:59 am

by Bobg

That's a good morning on the Indian river. I could always count on following manatees to get the trout and reds.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:54 pm

by tobolamr

did you guys see the whale jump on the sailboat?

No, but I did see pics of an XF20 with a runabout that ran aground across her gunwhales somewhere on this site...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:19 pm

by wadestep

I've got no picts, either, but went spearing out of Ft. Myers last weekend, and ended up with 2 amberjack and 5 hogfish. YUM!!!
The amberjack were speared on a wreck about 80' deep, and unfortunatly the spear went though the first, and into the second - 2 on at one time. They pulled me around a little, but I managed to grab ahold of the wreck with one hand to finish them off before the Jewfish had a chance at them.

I've never had that happen before. Now I've got smoked AJ dip.

Also entered an inshore tournament 2 weekends ago and only managed a measly 3 trout - 2 were undersized at that. Oh Well.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:13 pm

by Cracker Larry

I've never had that happen before. Now I've got smoked AJ dip.

Must be a strong gun and a stronger grip for double AJs

That's good stuff there, AJs are brutes

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 12:32 pm

by PJPiercey

Took Thursday morning off from work for a little salmon fishing on the Skykomish river. Caught and released two nice chinook and was surprised when I caught a jack pink. Pinks only return to spawn on the odd numbered years. Here's a little video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uWWwg9NZDY

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 12:42 pm

by TomW

Nice Paul, any idea what the Pink was doing up there this year.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 12:50 pm

by gstanfield

He probably just forgot to look at his calender

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:24 pm

by PJPiercey

TomW wrote:Nice Paul, any idea what the Pink was doing up there this year.

Tom

When salmon spawn there are always a few that come back a year early and some that actually go to the wrong river. It's natures way of recovering from a disaster. Such as when Mt. St. Hellens blew and destroyed the Toutle river. Fish came back many years after the river recovered.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 7:21 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Went out over the weekend with some fine fishermen and builders from the forum. The weather was mostly nice, the fishing was great and the company was fabulous

I took very few pictures but I will post what I took.

The plan was to run about 82 nautical miles southwest into the Gulf of Mexico to a freshwater spring that always holds nice fish. The water depth there is 123 feet. I am not a diver, but the spring is very deep based upon the vertical runs some the bigger fish make when hooked. We didn't get any trophy fish on the trip, but probably lost at least a dozen. Still caught plenty and those lost trophies is what keeps us going out there. Cracker has a bunch of pics of fish and bent fishing rods. I will leave those for him

I think he even took pictures of the capsized boat that Derrick and us encountered

Here is Andy aka Smoky Mountain with a nice grouper. Bradley aka Doc Dyer is in the background and contemplating moving to our side of the boat

During the night, fish of this size were being eaten like snacks by bigger fish that were destroying 100 lb tackle

I snapped a couple of weather pictures that are interesting. This storm popped up just after daylight and I needed to go through it to get to my next spot. I thought it would be a good idea not to....

It is hard to see in the next pic, but check out the waterspout. I have never seen one with that much curve in it

I am guessing that the thing was lifting seawater at least a hundred feet in the air. It was about four miles from the boat I would think...

I had fun guys, we will have to do it again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 7:52 pm

by colonialc19

Sounds like a great trip

, thanks for posting, looking forward to more pics.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:43 pm

by cape man

Had a good time with the family (all 42 of us!) at River Ranch but kept thinking of you guys out in the Gulf...

Looks like it was fun.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 9:19 pm

by wegcagle

Sounds like a great group and a great trip. Thanks for the report

Jealous in D.C.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 10:24 pm

by Cracker Larry

It WAS a great trip, as usual

Nobody got hurt, the weather was decent, the boat didn't break, couple of rods and reels did though

Went out over the weekend with some fine fishermen and builders from the forum. The weather was mostly nice, the fishing was great and the company was fabulous I took very few pictures but I will post what I took.

I can certainly agree with that. The company was better than the fishing. I enjoyed the heck out of it, as usual. The friends I've made on this forum are fantastic! Decent fishermen too.

Had a good time with the family (all 42 of us!) at River Ranch but kept thinking of you guys out in the Gulf...

Missed you too Craig. Sure sorry you couldn't make it, we needed a real fisherman for some of those fish

They made us look like sissies

Thanks again Richard, your hospitality is beyond words.. Bradley, Andrew, it was a pure pleasure. We also met up with Derrick about 0900 Sunday morning, 40 miles offshore

Working on some pics, didn't take many.

Edit: Here are a few..

Aripeka Angler doing some angling, and getting his butt whipped by a fish. Not many fish beat Richard, but this one did

This one beat him too. Look at that rod butt

That's got to hurt! Bradley (Doc Dyer) is laughing at Richard, he hasn't hooked a monster fish yet.

Here, Bradley gets his turn on a monster fish, he isn't laughing now, but we are

Bradley is a BIG man and this is big tackle. This fish kicked his butt too

Right after this pic, the rod cracked

These fish were intense. I hooked the first monster, and the second, both just about pulled me out the boat, and if the 80 lb line hadn't broke (sounded like a gunshot!), I'm pretty sure I'd have gone overboard

Another beautiful sunset over the Gulf of Mexico

More pics coming...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 11:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

Andrew had his turn with a few monster fish also, but I didn't get pictures. He burned up a brand new Penn 4/0. No good no more

Here's a couple of Andrew wearing out the extinct red snapper. We caught more American Reds than are even supposed to be in the GOM

The fish this size were perfect monster fish bait.

oops, wrong button.

These were some pretty fish

I mentioned we met up with Derrick (dborecky) Sunday morning. Moving to a fishing hole we came across a capsized boat about 40 miles offshore. Somebody had a bad day

We reported it to the Coast Guard while Derrick started fishing it, and immediately hooked into a tripletail

He landed it too

When we left Derrick he was gearing up for spear fishing. I heard a report that he hammered some hogfish

Thanks again guys, it was great

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 2:18 am

by TomW

Man those are gorgeous shots Larry and Richard. Glad you all had a good time and enjoyed yourselves.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:10 am

by cape man

Nothing in the news about that boat you found. Weird.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:53 am

by Larry B

Thanks for the report and pictures

Looks like you guys had a great time. Sure hope I'm able to fish those waters sometime

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:41 am

by Aripeka Angler

Larry B wrote:Thanks for the report and pictures Looks like you guys had a great time. Sure hope I'm able to fish those waters sometime

Larry, you have an open invitation anytime. We may do the springs run again in October if they open up Red Snapper season for a month like they are considering. Next time I go, I am going to bring bring a 12/0 rig with 1000 lb test to try to catch one of those Jewfish or Warsaws that were breaking us off

I don't know how big the darn things were, but I can usually stop a 200 lb fish on heavy tackle. We will get one next time

CL, thanks for posting the pics. I guess we should have taken more, we caught more than a couple of fish

Craig, we missed you on the trip. We were also thinking that a seaview camera would have been cool to drop down in that spring. On the capsized boat, I didn't see anything in the news either. It looked like it had a bunch of bullet holes in the hull. Not big enough caliber to be big military rounds. It hadn't been there too long, it didn't have much slime on it. I guess it will remain a mystery

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 11:33 am

by Cracker Larry

thanks for posting the pics. I guess we should have taken more, we caught more than a couple of fish

We sure did

Maybe Bradley and Andy took some too? I get wrapped up having fun to think about taking pics, but we all brought home a cooler full of fillets

I'll take a pic of those

Come on down Larry. Bring a BIG rod

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:19 pm

by SmokyMountain

Guys,

We had a great time!!!

That's some intense fishing... the way I like it!!!! We really appreciate the invite. The drive home on no sleep was tough but well worth it. You would have thought that we were fishing with 8lb mono instead of 100lb test with some of those fish...especially at the spring. I think Craigs sea view camera would have been on the snack list..

Maybe Bradley and Andy took some too? I get wrapped up having fun to think about taking pics, but we all brought home a cooler full of fillets I'll take a pic of those

I forgot to bring my camera and probably would have been too busy fishing to take any.

Thanks guys

Andy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:47 pm

by Larry B

Larry, you have an open invitation anytime

WOW, thanks I really appreciate that. Keep me posted and I can check flights

Come on down Larry. Bring a BIG rod

I've got a Penn Special Senator 9/0? Will that do? I think I can take it on a plane

Where would I fly into?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:54 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's some intense fishing... the way I like it!!!!

It was bit too intense for my skinny ass and the tackle we had

I like my fish somewhat bigger than a breadbox, but somewhat smaller than a volkswagon

I think Craigs sea view camera would have been on the snack list..

Me too. I'm thinking that if we baited the anchor, the 3/4 nylon might hold them

You and Bradley are always welcome to fish with me, anytime, anywhere

Just finished getting the fish put up, this is my 1/4 share of grouper and snapper fillets

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:03 pm

by Cracker Larry

I've got a Penn Special Senator 9/0? Will that do?

Nope, not for the one's that got away

I'm serious about baiting the anchor. You'd fly into Tampa.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:32 pm

by tech_support

Great trip, how much force could a 300 pound grouper generate?

Im just thing about where you tie off a bait, bow cleat might be best. If you tie it off to a spring cleat, you may have to have the Tennessee boys hike out on the opposite gunnel

Had some luck myself this weekend with my dad, a few top water redfish in the morning and 6 flounder and 2 snapper later in the morning. Flounder for three nights in a row

We dont catch that many flounder here, so that was a treat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 2:44 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:

Just finished getting the fish put up, this is my 1/4 share of grouper and snapper fillets

NICE fillets,
found a flight round trip for about 300

Can you take fish back on the plane?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 3:21 pm

by Doc_Dyer

WOW what a trip, enjoyed the hell out of it,

sitting here looking at a rod that will handle those brutes, we just need a boat with a chair and a large safety strap that will keep us in the boat..

thought that Larry was going over once...looked over while he was fighting one of his first large fish and could have sworn he was about an inch from loosing his footing and going overboard...

although we didn't get one of those brutes moved even an inch......it was still fun,

Richards hospitality is what one would expect from a southern gentleman.... OUTSTANDING
Larry, will take you up on that,maybe we can take a day to work on that 23 and then a day to chase some reds

sorry me and Sonner have no pictures but we have some GREAT memories and friends

edit: spelling

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

Had some luck myself this weekend with my dad, a few top water redfish in the morning and 6 flounder and 2 snapper later in the morning. Flounder for three nights in a row We dont catch that many flounder here, so that was a treat.

That's sounds great Joel. I'm going to call your dad for another trip as soon as it cools down just a little. He's a good fisherman, and another person who is a pure pleasure to fish with

My last trip to the hole I took you, Dori and I released 40 reds, all a little short, but they'll grow fast.

Great trip, how much force could a 300 pound grouper generate?

Not nearly as much as these did. We had tackle for 300 lb. fish and the manpower. These were closer to 1,000 than 300

NICE fillets,
found a flight round trip for about 300 Can you take fish back on the plane?

Yep, they are real nice fillets. 20 meals worth

Fresh too

Along with these, we caught at least 50 that were a little too short and had to be released. I hate throwing back 23" grouper, and all red snapper, just to be ate by the sharks, but I'd hate to be caught with the shorts even worse. Probably get more jail time than Charles Rangel and Maxine Waters

Oops, wrong thread...Sometimes the rules just don't make sense.

Sure, you can take them on the plane, although with airline luggage fees like they are it might be cheaper to ship them fedex. We can help you with that too. One question though, can you clean fish and wash boats

$300 sounds like a good deal.

sitting here looking at a rod that will handle those brutes, we just need a boat with a chair and a large safety strap that will keep us in the boat..

Bradley, Richard has a chair on the dock, we just need to get a gimble bracket for it, which they make, and a harness. If you can get low, secure the rod butt and brace your feet, you'll get them in the boat. Not many people can handle stand up tackle with 100 lb. test. I can't, I almost left the boat for sure

Larry, will take you up on that,maybe we can take a day to work on that 23 and then a day to chase some reds

Screw the boat work, we'll just go fishing. I owe your Dad another trip too, they over paid me for the last one

They were sneaky.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:11 pm

by dborecky

It was great seeing you guys on the water!!! I had to take my 14 y/o for his last open water dive on Saturday or I would have been on that trip.... I found a friend who wanted to take his 10 y/o on his first salt water fishing trip so that is what this trip was all about. I did not want to run too deep as he kept asking if we could stop and fish every few miles....

The flipped boat was a nice diversion and I was able to pull a Triple Tail off of it. Gonna cook that one tonight along with a few Hog Fish.

The shallow 60 ft ledge was not holding any big grouper but the 10 year old caught his first Red Grouper that was 18 inches. The largest fish he has ever caught. An 18 inch Grouper can put up quite a fight for a 10 y/o. My friend took pics of that one. Richard and crew were looking pretty rough after a night out at sea..... After pulling up a number of short grouper, they decided to call it a day and get back home. I don't blame them one bit.

I then put up the dive flag and decided to take a look and see what was down on the ledge. When I got to 40 ft, I hit a thermocline and the water temp dropped about 20 degrees. That is always a strange thing to me. I then was greated with some really nice Hog Fish. I shot one and reloaded while the other was on the bottom. I then shot another one. I went down and put them on the stringer. I then went looking for some more fish. I saw a couple more nice Hog's and shot two more. I saw the biggest Sheeps Head I have seen in a long time but decided to let it live for another day. There was plenty of Trigger fish to shoot but I decided not to shoot them because I did not feel like cleaning them.... My 14 year old really wanted to dive the spot so I called the dive short and came back up with the 4 Hogs. The 14 y/o was not feeling well with the heat and rocking of the boat so he did not get to dive..... I decided to head in to 40ft. I have another spot there. I was trying to teach the 10 year old how to fish for a while then took pitty on the 14 y/o at which point we came home. We made it to the dock by 2pm or so with enough fish for both families to have 2 nights of fish dinners....

I did not take many pics but here are the couple I took.

Rich and crew....

Sunk boat....

Fish pic

Those fish are bigger then they appear....

TIght lines until next time....

I'm in for the next trip. I would have loved to go down on that spring to see what was down there.... I would have put some steel into some of those monsters and wrestled them to the top...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

I would have put some steel into some of those monsters and wrestled them to the top...

I'd pay to watch that show

It was deep Derrick, 125 feet to the bottom. I don't know how deep the spring goes, but the fish would run out another 100 feet or more line, straight down from there. The dang thing might come out at Homasassa for all I know, but it's deep. I'd love to dive it too, but I don't think I'd shoot those fish

Always good to see you my friend. You put on a fine show with the Triple Tail. A classic example of maximizing opportunity

Tell Dexter that if it will make him feel any better, I got queasy myself just before sunrise

Almost got straightened out, then made a glass of ice water. Problem was, the ice in that cooler had somehow got some gasoline in it

Not good, then I burped gasoline all morning. It took me 3 hours to get my sea legs back after that. So it goes. To quote Bradley, "if you're going to be stupid, you got to be tough"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:21 pm

by Larry B

One question though, can you clean fish and wash boats

I can clean fish and wash boats, Do I like cleaning fish and washing boats, Sometimes

Might need some help on some of the cleaning of different kinds of fish, but after that I'm good to go.
I'm not very fast, but I sure am slow

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:54 pm

by dborecky

Larry,

I spear at 125ft all the time with the commercial guys. I don't plan on letting them get to the bottom of the hole. I will have to be careful for sure but I think I can do it.... I spoke with Rich and we are going to make the attempt. I would love to take a camera down with me to show you how to get ur dun son.... It was great seeing you as well. Dex is now ready to go back for sure. He wants to try and spear some Hog's. Just had some of the fish that my wife cooked and it was awesome!!!

I always stop at floating structures to throw a line. You never know what you are going to get. The last time I was out at that depth, we got into a nice school of dolphin. That was really great and we were able to fill the boat with them.....

Off the subject.... I noticed a puddle of clear liquid coming out of the pile of junk in the middle of my garage....... over 3/4 of a new gallon of epoxy leaked out of the bottle. The garage is so hot that the bottle was sucked in. I noted that the other two gallons down at the bottom were the same way but not leaking.... What a mess!!!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 8:04 pm

by Aripeka Angler

dborecky wrote:Larry,

I always stop at floating structures to throw a line. You never know what you are going to get. The last time I was out at that depth, we got into a nice school of dolphin. That was really great and we were able to fill the boat with them.....

Hey Derrick, it was nice seeing you on the water as well

We found an object on the water on Saturday that was loaded with Dolphin. At first we thought it was a bale of reefer, but it turned out to some kind of floating trap or something that was grown over with algae. The Dolphin were small, so we didn't even screw with them. We will get out to that spring when I get back from Alaska

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 8:26 pm

by dborecky

Richard,

I can't wait to hit some of that deep water. I'm already trying to figure on the right mix of gas to use. I need to dial back on the O2. I usually use 32% but that would limit me to at most 122 or so. I would need to dial it back some so that I could get down to 130 or so with a safety margin.

I plan going out soon again to spear some more Hogs. Jen has declared that it is her favorite fish and that is all she wants me to bring home.

Now I have to spear every time I go....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 8:41 pm

by Doc_Dyer

ahhhh, I also spearfish

maybe I see a spearfishing trip in my future

dont know if I want to dive the springs though

thems som Dam BIG somethings down there, im sure big enough to say hey he looks tasty

would like to get some of my lead back though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 8:44 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Cracker Larry wrote: "if you're going to be stupid, you got to be tough"

WOW and tough we had to be to get what little sleep we had at the springs and fighting with those big un's
and then drive 11:30 hours home and work at 8:30 am....

but I survived and am ready to do it again

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

but I survived and am ready to do it again

I'm good to go too, now that I've burped out that gasoline and had a few hours sleep

I spear at 125ft all the time with the commercial guys. I don't plan on letting them get to the bottom of the hole.

We didn't plan on letting them get to the bottom of the hole either. Kinda glad I stayed at the top of the hole myself. These ain't no Hog Fish. I'm not sure what they are, but they's some big SOBs. I'd love to see them, love to watch you shoot one too

They already made a sissy out of me, so I got nothing to lose if I stop now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:23 am

by cape man

Would bet a week's pay that here's your rod breaking friends...

The fishery has been closed for a long time and there are some REALLY big ones out there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 8:13 am

by dborecky

Bradley,

You can dive/spear on my boat anytime. You can film me taking on the big boys....

Cape,

I thing you nailed it. The only thing about that is I have seen giant rusty bellies and Warsaw mixed in with the jewfish

The problem is fighting the jewfish for the speared rusty.......

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:43 pm

by cape man

Okay I'll admit my ignorance... what the Hell's a Rusty Belly?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:46 pm

by Doc_Dyer

AKA copper bely

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:59 pm

by cape man

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 3:42 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Okay I'll admit my ignorance... what the Hell's a Rusty Belly?

The color of the stomach of a really big gag....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 4:48 pm

by cape man

The world record "rusty belly", aka Gag Grouper is 80 lbs., so I don't think that is what was almost pulling Larry overboard. Now the Warsaw record is 436lbs so perhaps... I'll still bet it was Jewfish doing the damage... they top out at 680lbs for the world record, and there are a BUNCH of the big boys in the Gulf these days. Some collegues doing ambrjack research have been having a fit getting anything into the boat on a couple of their artificial reef sites as half a dozen Jewfish just sit off the transom waiting for food.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:01 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yeah, that's my guess too. Not much else it could be

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:19 pm

by tobolamr

For those of us landlocked fishermen... Took 3rd place on Lake Wissota in west central Wisconsin last Thursday night. 4 fish did the job. Best fishing story I've EVER heard happened to me that night!! There's a set of small bluffs on this lake, and in one nook of those bluffs, a guy has a dock set about 2' off the bluff edge - and it looks to be a perfect place to cast and work for a smallie. I cast in and got snagged up in the rocks...

So I got in by the dock, and of course, I'm on the opposite side as the snag. The dock owner came down, and he was very kind and cordial. We had a nice chat, and he finally asked "So why not just step off the boat and get your jig free?" I had to reply about being in a tournament, and he hopped down and unsnagged me. We dropped the jig in the water and chatted... until I realized a fish had hooked itself on my jig!!! Turned out it was our 2nd 18 1/2" keeper of the night! Never saw anything like this before! Craziness! And a lot of fun!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 8:05 pm

by Joe H

Looks like you guy's had a phenomenal fishing trip out in the Gulf, wish I were there too! Someone should let you all know you can't pull up a large anchor with 80 lb line, but the pictures show you gave it a heck of a try!

Not quite land locked but I had my first trip out fishing after the surgery on my wrist and the OD16 Fishing Machine didn't disappoint, nothing nearly as exciting as deep sea fishing but we caught a hand full of Perch and some real nice Smallies, Michigan has a Master Anglers award program, 21" and over for Smallmouth Bass, 2 of mine would have qualified but I'm to lazy to sign-up.

Seriously though, can you send me some of those fillets

, I'd match you pound for pound but Smallmouth are not everyone's favorite fair and the Walleye are being very illusive.

Good fishing story tobolamr, you placed, I only fished Musky tournaments but never placed.
Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:12 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a nice fish Joe

Nothing wrong with that

It's so hot down here right now, you'd probably die when you got off the plane, but you know you are welcome to come fishing any time. I'd wait for fall

I've about been priced out of most of the tournaments on the coast here. I used to fish a lot of SKA (Southern Kingfish Assoc.) http://www.fishska.com/2010/bigfish/ tournaments. There was an SKA tourney last weekend fishing and weighing in from Sapelo Island, GA. It's called the Sapelo Open. No restrictions on fishing area. . The winning boat ran 250 offshore miles, south to Cape Canaveral, FL, caught a 50.99 lb. king mackerel, and ran 250 miles back to Sapelo for the weigh in

All in 12 hours

It's getting too serious in the tourneys for me

And then there is this kind of stuff to deal with...

Monday, August 2, 2010 2:16pm PDT
Cheating scandal at U.S. Open rocks bass-fishing community
By: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com

A professional angler found to have stuffed lead sinkers down the throats of fish he submitted for weigh-ins during a prestigious bass-fishing tournament has been banned for life from that and other competitions in a scandal that has rocked the tight-knit and passionate bass-fishing community.

Mike Hart, a successful Southern California pro whose career earnings total more than $200,000, was accused of cheating in this manner during the recent $100,000 U.S. Open held at sprawling Lake Mead on the Nevada-Arizona border. An official with the Western Outdoor News bass tour said Hart confessed after he was caught virtually red-handed.

WON Bass will not pursue criminal charges against Hart, but the episode has tournament organizers around the country speaking out against cheating and seeking ways to prevent their events from being similarly tarnished.

"On the one hand it was a day of infamy for organized bass fishing in America," said Harvey Naslund, director of the WON circuit. "But on the other hand it was a major victory for all who have long cared for, and taken steps to protect the integrity of bass-fishing tournaments."

Catching a cheat is difficult because tournaments are catch-and-release, so bass are kept in aerated wells on the boats and weighed live at the end of each fishing day, then released.

However, sometimes bass die after being caught and Hart had offered three dead fish during the weigh-in on the second-to-last day of the U.S. Open. They were filleted so the meat could be delivered to a charity, and found to contain weights.

Officials waited until the final day to confront Hart, who turned in a full limit of five bass. All five were found to contain lead sinkers.

In all, nine sinkers were removed from bass turned in by Hart. Naslund said each sinker was torpedo-shaped and weighed two ounces. Each was attached to a short line and tied to a small treble hook, presumably to catch in the throat and hopefully keep the weights from entering the belly and being detected if the bass were cut open.

WON Bass determined that Hart acted alone, even though he had a lower-tier "Triple-A" fishing partner aboard his boat during each of the three days of the U.S. Open.

Naslund explained that the Triple-A partner fishes from the back of the boat while the pro stands at the bow, driving and steering with a foot-powered trolling motor.

On the third day of fishing, Naslund said, Hart was said to have asked his partner -- who had flown in from South Korea -- to change places while he rigged some tackle and checked on the fish in the live-well.

"The same scenario existed on Day 1 and Day 2 of the U.S. Open," Naslund said.

The South Korean angler, who would have shared part of whatever purse Hart had been entitled to after the third and final day, was given a refund for his entry fee.

For what it's worth, the U.S. Open was won by Arizona pro Clifford Pirch, with a total weight of 31.44 pounds. He earned $40,000, plus a new bass boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 9:20 am

by Aripeka Angler

So I got in by the dock, and of course, I'm on the opposite side as the snag. The dock owner came down, and he was very kind and cordial. We had a nice chat, and he finally asked "So why not just step off the boat and get your jig free?" I had to reply about being in a tournament, and he hopped down and unsnagged me. We dropped the jig in the water and chatted... until I realized a fish had hooked itself on my jig!!! Turned out it was our 2nd 18 1/2" keeper of the night! Never saw anything like this before! Craziness! And a lot of fun!

That is a great story

Congratulations on placing in the tournament, used to fish them in saltwater. Nothing beats the excitement of the weigh in scales.

Seriously though, can you send me some of those fillets, I'd match you pound for pound but Smallmouth are not everyone's favorite fair and the Walleye are being very illusive.

Good to hear from you Joe

We missed you at Boca this year. Email me your address and phone number. Next time I get some grouper I will send you some via FEDEX. They tell me it works good if you pack 'em in dry ice...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 8:36 pm

by Joe H

Richard, email sent first thing this morning!

This Bass isn't going to win any tournaments but it's was a winner in her eye's.

We were fishing for Bluegill when she hooked into this monster bass.

My Grandaughter Allie,

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 3:15 pm

by tobolamr

Joe H wrote:Seriously though, can you send me some of those fillets

Sorry dude - tournaments are Catch & Release. But, if I get some Walleye, I'll be in touch!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 3:31 pm

by Cracker Larry

Joe H wrote:Seriously though, can you send me some of those fillets

Sorry dude - tournaments are Catch & Release. But, if I get some Walleye, I'll be in touch!

I think he was talking about these

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 3:49 pm

by tech_support

We have a few fun tournaments down here, inshore and offshore, they are locally organized with not a lot of $$ at stake. I participate in a couple each year, its fun.

As soon as you start putting big $ at stake, its business time and fun goes out the window. I enjoy fishing too much to ruin it that way.

Even after eating flounder most of this week, those halibut make my mouth water. Fish that live in cold/deep water seem to taste great, maybe they have more fat content.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 4:05 pm

by Cracker Larry

I've never tried one but their baby cousins the flounder are one of the best eating fish in hot salt water, so they have to be good!

Average Georgia Halibut, AKA Flounder

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 5:33 pm

by tobolamr

I just fish a local club, and this year we have 10 boats. We can have a max of 19 before getting into major fees with the DNR.

It's $15 to enter and $5 for Big Bass prize per person per boat, so it's not a lot of money, and it's only 5 tourneys a summer. It's a good little club, and we have a lot of fun! My father-in-law made it to the ABA (now defunct) National Tournament once, and one of our club guys won the BASS State Team Tournament 2 years ago. Saw the biggest bass in person in my life this year, too - 5.78Lbs.

The way I see it: It's 5 reasons to leave the store at Noon to go fishing!!!

I'm glad you all like seafood. It always tastes fishy to me. Even when we were in Maine, I wasn't impressed even with the Lobster. But, I'm weird!

But, I do like lemon dill salmon...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 6:23 pm

by Larry B

tobolamr wrote:
I'm glad you all like seafood. It always tastes fishy to me.

Yep, if it looks like a fish, swims like a fish and taste like a fish, it's probably a fish

Sorry couldn't resist

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 6:58 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:...Average Georgia Halibut, AKA Flounder

I told Jamie that he has to change his screen name from "Kayakfshr" to Mitzifshr" now that he bought that Mitzi Skiff. So far, he is sticking with "Kayak". He fishes hard and always posts good reports.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 7:01 pm

by sitandfish

shine wrote:...As soon as you start putting big $ at stake, its business time and fun goes out the window. I enjoy fishing too much to ruin it that way...

Have to agree with you 100 percent. I just want to fish with friends. That's enough reward.

Fishing with my nephew this weekend. That's even a bigger reward.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 7:42 pm

by Cracker Larry

I told Jamie that he has to change his screen name from "Kayakfshr" to Mitzifshr" now that he bought that Mitzi Skiff. So far, he is sticking with "Kayak". He fishes hard and always posts good reports.

Jamie is something isn't he? He's been seriously kicking some fish tail down there in Brunswick. I believe I'd sponsor him in a tournament

That boy doesn't get skunked

For the rest of you who don't have a clue what we are talking about, he's a young guy on a local fishing forum who consistently makes us old timers look bad

A couple of his recent trips..

http://www.coastaloutdoors.com/ibf/inde ... opic=22622

One from Florida, his first trip down there

http://www.coastaloutdoors.com/ibf/inde ... opic=22677

And where I borrowed the flounder pic from.

http://www.coastaloutdoors.com/ibf/inde ... opic=22606

He wears out the trout, the red fish, the flounder, and anything else that smells like fish, everywhere he goes

I asked him if he ever got skunked, and he said he almost did once

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 7:48 pm

by sitandfish

I just like him because he.....

Well... he's just a good boy.

I like to fish and I like when I know there are a couple good guys on the water. You'll know what I am saying.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 7:52 pm

by Larry B

Thats some good stuff. Must be nice living that close to the different waters. Those kayak fishermen are something else. Maybe in my younger days, but they didn't have kayak's then

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 7:53 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yep, he's a good one alright. I know exactly what you're saying.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 7:57 pm

by gstanfield

Been watching that boy fish as I dream of moving there where he lives

Maybe one day I'll get out of here and somewhere with water that doesn't freeze solid 5 months of the year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 8:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

Inshore water temp is about 96 degrees now. Come on down

I only call him a boy because he's 30 years younger than I am, but he's a man with few equals when it comes to catching fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 8:15 pm

by gstanfield

I didn't mean the term boy as anything disrespectful to him, just a term I use

The 96 degree water and inferno air temps will be hard to re-adjust to, but then again negative 40F with 60mph winds sucks so bad anything would be better.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 8:19 pm

by sitandfish

Larry B wrote:Thats some good stuff. Must be nice living that close to the different waters. Those kayak fishermen are something else. Maybe in my younger days, but they didn't have kayak's then

A lot of our local kayak fishermen are a bit older than 30. Not a young man's sport anymore.

Plus... we have a GREAT program for veterans who want to fish. They put them in kayaks and have tournaments and fun is had by all. Got a tournament coming up.

Check this out. "Heros On The Water":
http://www.charlestonfishing.com/forum/ ... _ID=102481

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 10:10 pm

by Joe H

Joe H wrote:Seriously though, can you send me some of those fillets

Sorry dude - tournaments are Catch & Release. But, if I get some Walleye, I'll be in touch!

I think he was talking about these

You got it Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:45 pm

by sitandfish

Sometimes I think it is not about the fish you catch?

but where you are...

while you catch the fish...

Maybe I am wrong?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:50 pm

by gstanfield

How very very true!

As a side note, you guys are making me really jealous with pictured from back home.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:54 pm

by sitandfish

gstanfield wrote:How very very true!

As a side note, you guys are making me really jealous with pictured from back home.

George

Not the intent. But... it's hard not to share a good day. Thanks for sharing some of your good days.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 1:07 am

by gstanfield

Oh for sure, I was just kidding with you (kinda) anyway

When the time comes and I do move back down there I'll spend more time fishing than I spend sleeping

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:25 am

by Cracker Larry

Maybe I am wrong?

Nope, but the company is important too

The fish are in third place, to me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:27 am

by Larry B

gstanfield wrote:Oh for sure, I was just kidding with you (kinda) anyway When the time comes and I do move back down there I'll spend more time fishing than I spend sleeping

Pretty sure you will be missing the wind

You'll be hoping for wind to blow away the bugs

Sitandfish, those are some pretty pictures, thanks for sharing them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:32 am

by Cracker Larry

We get wind too

10-15 today out the NE, along with 10 foot tides the first part of this week. Perfect conditions for sight fishing reds in the grass

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:42 am

by Larry B

You know the only time I spent back east was in Ft. Eustis, Va. During the winter, it was snowing, but no snow on the ground because the wind was blowing it away. I remember at the time I would have welcomed a Wyoming winter at the time

And the other time was in Flordia, during hurricane Andrew, of course there were no trees at the time. The beach was very nice as I would go there on weekends. Was going to start a business there but couldn't put up with all the bugs and I thought people on the Left Coast were crummy drivers. Man those Florida drivers have to be the worst. I packed up my bags and left after a month, and haven't been back

Used to stop for Hog Dogs at the bikini stands though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:49 pm

by Larry B

Went fishing last night. Did OK, nothing great a 9.5 lb, 18 lb and 30 lb, and lost about 3 or 4 others. Had runs all night long. The water in the lake went down and left my boat grounded. Had to push her to water this morning.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:57 pm

by gstanfield

Very nice cat and good looking fishing hole too. What lake is that and is it common to have water level fluctuations that much?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:31 pm

by Larry B

gstanfield wrote:Very nice cat and good looking fishing hole too. What lake is that and is it common to have water level fluctuations that much?

George, that is Lake Pleasant. Yes they release a lot of water for the farmers. I was on a little shelf and the water goes down almost a foot a day, so the 12 hours I was there probably about 6". When I pulled on shore there was probably 2/3rds of my boat left in the water

Had a bitch of a time getting it back in with all the crap I take with me. Almost had to unload the BEER

Had some compliments at the dock on the boat again today. Sure is nice when that happens

And she is starting to look like she has been threw a war zone

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:48 pm

by gstanfield

Almost had to unload the BEER

I'm trying hard to understand, but something's just not right. You were finished fishing, heading home and still had beer left over?? Are you OK? Did you fall and hurt yourself or even worse, loose your bottle opener?

Please don't waste alcohol, there are sober people who could be using that and you just let it go to waste

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:56 pm

by Larry B

I'm trying hard to understand, but something's just not right

I think what I meant to say is drain all the water out of the ice chest. You are correct, there were not many full beers left in the cooler.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 7:21 pm

by gstanfield

I figured as much

Looks like you had a good time, and I think I need to come down and help you out with the catfishing

It's been a while since I had a cat on the line

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:29 am

by Joe H

I shouldn't look at pictures like this during working hours, makes me wanna be there!

Fantastic shot Larry, nice fish too.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 9:01 pm

by Cracker Larry

This is great, thanks for sharing it Scott. The hottest new redfish lure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYbdFSwr ... r_embedded

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 9:34 pm

by cape man

Actually have caught reds on those little carrots in snack bags. They have to be in a frenzy, but when they are they seem to hit just about anything that moves.

This one was right under the jalepeno clip. Saw it before...maybe here...but worth the watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgFhJN4H ... re=related

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 9:38 pm

by Larry B

cape man wrote:Actually have caught reds on those little carrots in snack bags. They have to be in a frenzy, but when they are they seem to hit just about anything that moves.

This one was right under the jalepeno clip. Saw it before...maybe here...but worth the watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgFhJN4H ... re=related

Love that one Craig

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 8:48 am

by tech_support

Went fishing yesterday a.m. didnt catch a thing, first time skunk since I can remember. On the way home hit something submegerd in the river. Something is messed up, there is a bad knock that sounds like its coming from the lower unit. Sounds like its coming from the upper part, where the shaft enters (there is a bearing there).

Went snorkeling off the beach and shot 4 sheaphead, a spadefish, and a Spanish mackerel. Vis was good, never swam out more than 100 feet

Saw some nice pompano but they were very shy and out of range of a pole spear. No pictures, they were all small fish

cape man wrote:Actually have caught reds on those little carrots in snack bags. They have to be in a frenzy, but when they are they seem to hit just about anything that moves.

funny. When they all schooled up like that like act like a pack a wolfs

A few years ago I caught one on a bare jig head. Also, when you toss a top water to the pack, you often get two fish on right away, if they are big then you only get one fish in and the other treble is straightened out.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 2:47 pm

by Cracker Larry

Bummer about the engine Joel, that doesn't sound good. Or cheap

Gettin' skunked ain't good either, but we've all been there

Not sure why you'd want to shoot a Spanish though, yuk. Use it for bait

Here's another odd bait, a dill pickle rig for Kingfish. When fish get worked up they'll hit almost anything

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA4tjt-RJQQ

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:31 pm

by smilinmatt

Saw some nice pompano but they were very shy and out of range of a pole spear

They were just watching out for you. You can't spear pompano/permit/AP in state waters. They're currently unregulated in federal waters (and state regs only say that you can't spear them in state waters, as opposed to snook/redfish/trout that say you can't possess one that's speared). Even if you are in Federal waters, you should check with your local FWC officers to see if they know about the permit and pompano regulations. A lot of people have been getting ticketed for spearing them in state waters (especially along the SE coast)- you get to waste a day in court. They are currently working on the federal regulations, which will limit them to one over 20" per person or two per boat for spearing. I think the fishing regulations will mimic the state's regulations.

Last year I got a pompano that was hiding under a ledge in 60' that was in the 10# range. I didn't think about it until after I filleted it, but after looking up the records it might have been a world record (10.9#). It was definitely bigger than the fishing world record (8# 1oz).

Not sure why you'd want to shoot a Spanish though, yuk.

They're really good for shashimi or in ceviche. They fall into the category of "the more you cook it, the worse it tastes". Kind of like how canned tuna tastes nothing like a tuna steak seared on a hot grille.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:01 pm

by tech_support

thanks Matt. I guess they knew better

The Spanish went into the paella last night, along with a sheephead and a spadefish. Got two more mangroves on Sunday, they get grilled tonight

The place I have been going is only about 100 feet from shore, I can cast a spoon to it from shore, there are some concrete bridge parts in about 12' right off the beach, the vis has been so good you can swim each fish back to the beach and stick him in a cooler, take a shot of water and swim back out.

If I were not allergic to them, i would be after lobster, Ive seen of few of them under the ledges

I need a bigger boat, so I can explore the deeper ledges.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:23 pm

by gstanfield

I need a bigger boat

You and every other man, woman or child who has ever owned a boat.

How about a GS28X with a diesel and jump cabin? Then you could go fishing anywhere and stay for aseveral days at a time

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:26 pm

by tech_support

How about a GS28X with a diesel and jump cabin?

Ive got something about that size in mind

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:35 pm

by gstanfield

Can't wait to see what transpires there. I'm certain that it'll be nice if you build it or buy one to fix up. You'll make it top notch either way

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:56 am

by Aripeka Angler

Wow, Alaska is cool. Not a very good Internet here in Sterling. The salmon are biting good and I will post some pics when I get back to civilization. Another couple of days here and it is on to Homer for halibut. Larry's fly rod works great. This is from a cell phone, hope it works....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:13 am

by Doc_Dyer

OUTSTANDING

Caint wait for some pictures
Glad you are having fun

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:47 am

by tobolamr

And now for us freshwater/landlocked fishermen..

Central wisconsin, last night, Holcombe Flowage... We took Big Bass for the night, 19" 4.19Lbs. It is also the largest Largemouth I've ever landed in my life. Saw a bag of 23Lbs in 8 fish last night, too.

My partner and I got to watch a gentleman catch a 19" smallmouth bass off of his dock. He took it up on shore, measured it, photographed it 4 times, and tossed it back. He then proceeded to tell us exactly HOW he was catching the bass from his dock!!! Needless to say, that goes in the "secret" file...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:00 pm

by Cracker Larry

Wow, Alaska is cool.

OUTSTANDING

Caint wait for some pictures

Richard has sent me several pictures yesterday and today. Looks like they are really doing good with salmon

Sure glad my fly rod is having fun

When I get over my envy and take a shower, I'll post some here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:01 pm

by Cracker Larry

Here are a few pics from Richard and Sandi, on vacation in Alaska. For the last 2 days while I've been sanding and grinding in 100 degree heat, he's been sending me pictures about every 30 minutes from Alaska

It sounds like they are having a large time

They are currently staying in a lodge at the junction of the Kenai and Moose Rivers, wherever that is, and the fishing is reported to be hot, well actually proven to be hot, the weather is not

last photo just came in 10 minutes ago

When you're covered with a paste of sweat and fiberglass, this looks pretty good...

I think this is a glacier? I'm just speculating, I ain't never seen a glacier, but it looks cooler than where I am..

No description available

This is a great picture. I reckon it's the Moose River, or the Kenai River, or maybe somewhere else

Now things start getting serious..

Richard's friend Dave with a salmon. I've fished offshore with Dave, and he's a very good fisherman

Sandi is hiding somewhere inside of all those clothes, I think. She's a very good fisherman too. Looks to me like she's freezing her @ss off though. Maybe this heat ain't so bad after all

Richard with a nice salmon....very nice, I hope he's got my address to ship them

Richard says they don't even have to bring ice for the cooler. In August

My fly rod seems to be having a lot of fun without me

That makes me very happy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:35 pm

by Doc_Dyer

I hope he holding that rod with his lips and NOT his teeth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:40 pm

by Aripeka Angler

No chompers on the rod. Just got another 17 Lb silver. Life is good....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 2:39 am

by Aripeka Angler

Larry, thanks for posting the pics. We caught and released 20 salmon, one stinking huge rainbow, a bunch of dolly varden and some other fish. We kept 9 salmon that were 8-15 lbs. Alaska is way cool! We are gonna hit the salmon in the morning and then drive down to Homer to catch halibut. Thanks for loaning me the fly rod. It was the best one on the beach The pics I sent were from a Cell phone. I wil post My hi def pics when I get home...Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:47 am

by majorgator

Please don't post any more pictures, Richard or Larry. This could be detrimental to my personal finances. Anymore pictures like these, and I'll be booking a trip

Looks like you Richard and Sandi are having a great time!

Seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 9:01 am

by Cracker Larry

Keep the pics coming Richard, I'll post them up while Seth checks flight schedules

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:41 am

by TomW

Richard and Sandi what a great time glad your enjoying yourselves. You sure need time to get away as hard as you work the rest of the time!

Keep the pics coming, Seth can dream away!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 2:49 pm

by Joe H

Looks fantastic Richard, you and Sandi have fun!

Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:37 am

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks for the well wishes. I got a cool picture for you. I have never seen one of these before....

Going trophy fishing in the morning, well I guess it is already morning back home....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 9:23 am

by SmokyMountain

Richard,

Looks like you having a fantastic time!!! I'm jealous. Fill those coolers up and have a safe trip back.

Andrew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 9:28 am

by topwater

That aint no dolphin

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:21 pm

by cape man

Richard just sent me pics of a VERY nice Halibut a lingcod and a deck full of really big flounder! I called him and left a message that he sucks! Me think the boy is having a trip of his life! I don't know how to post a pic from my cell phone.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:51 pm

by sitandfish

cape man wrote:Richard just sent me pics of a VERY nice Halibut a lingcod and a deck full of really big flounder! I called him and left a message that he sucks! Me think the boy is having a trip of his life! I don't know how to post a pic from my cell phone.

If you want to forward it to my phone, I could probably post it. I'll send you my phone number if you are still awake. It's not the one that C.Larry has. That's a fake one.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 7:09 am

by Cracker Larry

Here they are, he sent them to me too.. he does suck

That cod is one ugly fish

Wow, what a mess of flatfish! Makes my mouth water

Yep, he sucks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 7:42 am

by Bobg

I am so jealous!!!

On another note, Spanish Mackerel are giving anyone who wants to venture just off shore a really good time around the Holden Beach area, and I'd imagine up and down most of the S/E coast. Oh, and they are some of the biggest i've seen, like smaller kingfish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:53 am

by SmokyMountain

Wow, what a mess of flatfish! Makes my mouth water Yep, he sucks

He sucks

Can anyone say Fish Fry at Richards house!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 9:48 am

by TomW

That guy is having just to much fun

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:06 am

by PJPiercey

Cracker Larry wrote:Wow, what a mess of flatfish! Makes my mouth water Yep, he sucks

Yea, the legal limit is two per day, four in possession.

I'm sure there were enough guests to keep it legal. BTW, no flounder in that picture. Just small halibut.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:16 am

by Cracker Larry

BTW, no flounder in that picture. Just small halibut.

You don't say

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:40 am

by Aripeka Angler

Howdy guys. I have been texting these photos to friends because I don't really have good Internet here. The boat we were on was a six pack boat. There were us 4 from Florida and couple of farmers from Michigan. We fished most of the day for big fish. We lost one at the surface that looked to be at least 125-150 lbs. They catch halibut here that are over 300 lbs. At the end of the day we stopped at a sure thing hole and finished filling our limit. I think if we had a couple of more days here in Homer, we could get a big fish. The lingcod was a bonus fish, he followed up a dead herring from 90 feet and ate the bait at the surface. That is one fugly fish. Anyhow, it was a nice day, no one got hurt and the boat didn't break...Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:38 pm

by PJPiercey

cape man wrote:Richard just sent me pics of a VERY nice Halibut a lingcod and a deck full of really big flounder! I called him and left a message that he sucks! Me think the boy is having a trip of his life! I don't know how to post a pic from my cell phone.

Cracker Larry wrote:
BTW, no flounder in that picture. Just small halibut.
You don't say

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:46 pm

by Cracker Larry

It was a joke. Why don't you troll somewhere else.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:53 pm

by PJPiercey

Cracker Larry wrote:It was a joke. Why don't you troll somewhere else.

Watch you mouth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:57 pm

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:59 pm

by PJPiercey

Cracker Larry wrote:Or

OOOOOOOH

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:12 pm

by PJPiercey

Cracker Larry wrote:Or

OOOOOOOH

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:44 pm

by wadestep

as a change of subject - went spearing yesterday off Ft. Myers. Had to dodge storms all day. The boat came back with 10 mangrove snapper and 9 hogfish. Taken on my cell:

Now that's good eatin'

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:49 pm

by gstanfield

That's really cool. i'd forgotten just how bright and colorful saltwater fish can be. It makes out rainbow trout seem like their colored in black & white

Good job,
George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:04 pm

by wadestep

One of the other guys that was diving with us had shot 3-4 mangrove snappers. He was using one of these for a stringer:

the viz was crappy (10 feet or so) when he got hit hard from behind. He immediatly thought it was a shark, but he wasn't in pain. He turned around to find a 200-300 lb jewfish staring at him, finishing the meal. His stringer was straightened out and no fish left.

I've not heard of that actually happening before - a jewfish actually hitting a person and stealing all the fish right off his thigh! He wasn't harmed, and managed to get a couple more fish before finishing the dive.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:11 pm

by gstanfield

He wasn't harmed, and managed to get a couple more fish before finishing the dive

Dang, that guy is my new hero. If I looked around and a 300lb fish was eating off my hip I would beat the boat back to shore

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:18 pm

by tech_support

Thats a pretty agressive grouper

I get really a little creeped out when I have dead and bleeding fish attached to me

I swim them in to the beach or toss them up on a float - I know you cant do that when you diving though

I was able to spear more sheephead and snapper off the beach this weekend, also caught a few redfish in the river. Saw a giant manta ray off the beach, he was no more than 100 feet from the surf, crazy. He didnt have any cobia with him, not that I could have done much with a pole spear anyway

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

Those are beautiful hog fish Wade

Look at the lips on that fish

I always wonder why we don't catch more of them on hook and line. When we were fishing in the GOM a couple weeks ago we were catching some short grouper at one drop and not much else. Derrick puts on his gear and goes down with the spear gun, and says the bottom was covered in hog fish. He shot 5 or 6 right where we were fishing

Anybody know any tricks to catching them? They are great eating!!

If I looked around and a 300lb fish was eating off my hip I would beat the boat back to shore

Don't go with Derrick, or Matt then Those guys might put the steel in that 300 pounder

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:24 pm

by Cracker Larry

Saw a giant manta ray off the beach, he was no more than 100 feet from the surf, crazy.

It's been a crazy year for fish. We're catching snook in SC, and last week a guy caught a Wahoo in the Kings Bay sub channel

That's about 50 miles closer to shore than I've ever seen a Wahoo around here.

I wish our water was clear enough to spear fish without having to run 20 miles offshore

I'd probably never get any work done

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:03 pm

by wadestep

Cracker Larry wrote:I wish our water was clear enough to spear fish without having to run 20 miles offshore I'd probably never get any work done

Ditto. WE were 15 miles out and had 10-12' viz. Lots of rain recently, though. Plus releases from Lake O.

I've only caught one hogfish in my life - even though I've fished in their territory a lot. I think they eat small bugs and stuff that inhabit reef systems. Also crustaceans etc. I caught one on a really small shrimp once. This one was pecking away at the reef eating something I assume before my straight hook got a hold of him.
from the web:
hogfish are opportunistic feeders, eating whatever may be available from clams or urchins that can be crushed with their teeth to slow moving or sessile snails.

Saw a giant manta ray off the beach, he was no more than 100 feet from the surf, crazy. He didnt have any cobia with him, not that I could have done much with a pole spear anyway

That's neat - seeing a Manta. I saw a little one 12 years ago off the Keys and still remember clearly.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:26 pm

by dborecky

CL,

I have caught a few Hog's in my day. They are not easy to catch. I have never targeted them for this reason. To catch them you have to use live shrimp and a smaller hook. The problem with this is that every other stinking fish will grab that shrimp and small hook before a Hog can get near it. That is the reason that few people catch them with rod and real.

I think you need to get yourself a gun and come down and join me in the hunt sometime....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 10:16 am

by Cracker Larry

I think you need to get yourself a gun and come down and join me in the hunt sometime..

I just might do that Derrick. I've got a pole spear anyway. I really need to upgrade my diving gear, my regulator and BC should be in a museum. It's a tribute to Scuba Pro that a 40 year old regulator still functions

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:05 pm

by gk108

Cracker Larry wrote: I really need to upgrade my diving gear, my regulator and BC should be in a museum.

Scuba museums are cool.

US Divers DW Mistral single stage, upstream tilt-valve regulator on a steel tank with ½" pipe thread valve. If anything ever belonged in a museum, this is it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

Gary, I think that's the one that Jacques Cousteau patented

I made my first dive with a rig just like that. They're a little hard to breathe through if your head is lower than your tank

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 1:50 am

by Aripeka Angler

I am having a great time in Alaska and we are now about 40 miles from Mt. McKinley.The plan is to fly up there in the morning. Here is a pic of the big mountain from 42 miles away...

Here is a picture of the boat harbor in Seward. It is in Resurrection Bay where Captain Cook resupplied his boat after a tough journey....

This is the harbor in Homer where the "Time Bandit "is docked. Sea otters are playing in front of the boats and snow covered mountains are in the background. I think I could summer here very easily

This is the beach there. Rugged and pretty...

Kachemak Bay. Pretty flowers, water and mountains....

I have more pics if you guys want to see them....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:06 am

by DAVE LUDICK

Gary, that DV/Reg is the same model that I bought new when I started diving in 1968. I had it fitted to 2 x 7litre cylinders, a little bulky but it served me well for many years, how I wish I could have those days over again, everything is so commercial now. May I be so bold as to suggest you enjoy every minute of your diving as the years fly by so quickly and the environment decays.
Dave

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:07 am

by gstanfield

Of course we want to see them

Looks like you are having a great time.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:08 am

by TomW

Richard I for one would love to see them and I am sure the others would also. I almost went on a fishing trip up there 15 years ago when we lived in Boston and it never came to be so you are living my dream and I am so glad you and Sandi have had such a wonderful time.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:36 am

by Aripeka Angler

George and Tom, I will put up some more pictures sometime in the morning. We are supposed to see the northern lights between 3 and 4 am here. Not sure I can hold out that long

It is really pretty here though....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:43 am

by TomW

Go to bed now and set the alarm. They are worth seeing at least once in your lifetime!!! Especially if it is a good display!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 3:52 am

by gstanfield

Yes they are. I've seen them a few times, but never from Alaska. When the weather conditions are right you can see them from a mountaintop in Montana or Wyoming. The first time I saw them was about 2AM Easter morning several years ago. I was driving back from delivering some oilfield equipement in the middle of the night, traveling down a small dirt road in Montana. I kept seeing a glow on the horizon to the north and stopped to look at my map and see what town it was. I was about 35 miles from the Canada border and there were no towns to the north at all. A few miles later the road topped a hilll and I got out of the truck and the sky just burst into colors

I stood there watching it for about 10-15 minutes before I jumped back in the truck and continued my long weary trip home.

Ahhh, the old days of oilfield work and 36 hour days

Don't miss that at all

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:37 am

by Cracker Larry

Great pics Richard, keep them coming

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:41 am

by Larry B

Richard, thanks for the pictures and yes post more. I have a brother who lives in AK during the summer. He has a couple of float planes and boats, but only use's them for his own use. And the next question is? Then why don't you go up there

Well that would have to be answered in private.

Keep the pictures coming

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 8:47 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Richard, thanks for the pictures and yes post more

Here is a picture of Denali.

It took me an hour to post this dang picture from where I am at in Alaska

We flew over the mountain in a small plane using oxygen masks. When I get back from dinner, I will try to post some more pics

Here is another picture of Mt. McKinley aka Denali...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 10:03 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's beautiful

although maybe a little cold for my Cracker @ss

I just got off the phone with Richard a couple hours ago. It sounds like they are having the time of their lives, I think he's buying a summer home in the morning

He also said he had 160 pounds of flounder fillets, (that's Halibut for the humorously impaired, Paul

) frozen and being shipped home, plus 100 pounds of Salmon fillets

I've got to check that place out sometime in my life, before I get too old. I better go soon

Right when I hung up with Richard, Cape Man Craig called me from a mooring buoy on Molasses Reef. That's in the FL Keys if yall don't know. They are down there master-baiting coral and collecting spawn to try to reproduce them in captivity. He's developed the first ever system to do this, and they are trying to grow 10,000 corals in captivity over the next year

They only spawn like once a year, at night between the 4th and 6th day after the full moon this month. He said he was watching a Sailfish free jumping off the reef as he was talking to me

He also said he's had his OD18 out in some very snotty seas, his worst yet, and he was very impressed with how she handled them. I'm impressed with mine too

Wishing Craig the best of luck with his coral project

Coral all over the world is in serious trouble

Wait, another pic just in from Richard.....

My friends suck

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:16 pm

by TomW

Larry no problem recognizing the Halibut and salmon but what is the dark red filet, almost looks like tuna, but know it isn't. Sure sounds like he and Sandi are having the time of there lives. He'll be going up there every year if we're not careful.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:31 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Yep, that is tuna Tom. We were getting crazy at a sushi bar in Alyeska! Hiking up a trail mow...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Hiking up a trail mow...

Trail mow

How many beers did we have with that sushi

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:32 am

by Aripeka Angler

Lol I phone...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:49 am

by Cracker Larry

From Richard again, hiking at 1 AM

I'm going to bed. This is a fishing thread

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:14 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:From Richard again, hiking at 1 AM

I'm going to bed. This is a fishing thread

I will see if I can find a fishing pic

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:25 am

by Aripeka Angler

Well, it ain't a fish, but it was fun to see anyway

Took the pic on a fishing trip for halibut...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:35 am

by Bobg

All I've done exciting to me this week was throw my cast net for some finger mullet and land one a 10# black drum.
Pale in comparison

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 3:20 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Bobg wrote:All I've done exciting to me this week was throw my cast net for some finger mullet and land one a 10# black drum.
Pale in comparison

It's all good Bob. I will be back to the real world myself in the morning. Alaska will spoil you like no other place I have been. I will be going back next Summer. I took over 2000 pictures. I have pictures of whales, sea otters, orcas, seals, eagles and all kinds of birds. I haven't seen any bears on this trip for some reason

They are supposed to be everywhere

This is a cool sequence. Back to the fishing theme...

I need to get the seals to give me some flyfishing lessons before I come back up here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 3:30 pm

by TomW

Cool pics Richard!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:24 pm

by wadestep

Aripeka Angler wrote: I have pictures of whales, sea otters, orcas, seals, eagles and all kinds of birds. I haven't seen any bears on this trip for some reason They are supposed to be everywhere

We were up there about 10 years ago and didn't see many bears in Alaska, either. Except for a couple grizzlies in Denali. We drove the Alcan highway over 2 nights, and we did see a number of black bears on the roadside, along with moose, caribou, etc... There's nothing like Alaska for large mammals.
We even saw a muskox on the road to Prudhoe Bay. Fox, porcupine, swan, seals, eagles, mountain goats, Dall Sheep, etc...

Your trip is really making me want to go again. Alaska is beautiful.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:38 pm

by sitandfish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:06 pm

by Cracker Larry

Look at my home built fly rod in action

Beautiful

I think I'll give it to Richard, he seems to know what to do with it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:34 pm

by majorgator

Richard has done more to stimulate the economy with these pictures and details than any stimulus package could dream of. I'm just itchin' to get up there and spend some money

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 8:06 am

by Aripeka Angler

Pretty cool, the way you spliced the pics

Thanks!

I think I'll give it to Richard

I am honored, but you worked pretty hard on that fly rod. I appreciate you letting me use it

Hey Seth, I am changing planes in Houston right now. I ran into this guy at a park near the Anchorage airport. He stepped out of the woods long enough to mug for the camera

I can see an Alaska trip in your future

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:27 am

by Bobg

Outstanding photo!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 11:56 pm

by Cracker Larry

I wouldn't get that close to a moose on a bet

I talked to Richard a little while ago, they are back home safe and wore out from their travels.

I think I'll give it to Richard, he seems to know what to do with it

I am honored, but you worked pretty hard on that fly rod. I appreciate you letting me use it

I can't think of a better reward for my work than seeing this

....

Or a better man to have it. That fly rod is now yours, my friend. I can build another one

BTW, the handle on that Lamson reel is reversible, if you'd rather have it on the other side. I'll send you the manual for it that explains how.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 12:18 am

by sitandfish

Wish I could put on as good a show with MY fly rods. Almost looks like you are getting ready to water ski!

If Larry every build a 8wt I want to be on the top of the gift list!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 12:33 am

by Larry B

Those are some cool pictures, Thanks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:28 am

by majorgator

Aripeka Angler wrote:
I can see an Alaska trip in your future

Richard, you dirty dog

Time to start that vacation savings fund for a trip to Alaska next summer. I'm sure it was hard to adjust to all those hours of daylight, though. Sounds like an excellent trip, I'll catch up with you later to get all the details.

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:49 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That fly rod is now yours, my friend. I can build another one

Thank you very much Larry

I will take good care of it and it is has already proven to be a fine fish killer. I will send you some spoils of the catch via UPS in a few days

Wish I could put on as good a show with MY fly rods. Almost looks like you are getting ready to water ski!

I was just hanging on

The salmon really surprised me by how hard they pulled. When I hooked the first one, I thought to myself that this was one damn strong freshwater fish! But I remembered that these fish had swam upstream from saltwater for seventeen miles against stiff current to get to this fishing hole. They are truely amazing fish

majorgator wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:
I can see an Alaska trip in your future
Richard, you dirty dog Time to start that vacation savings fund for a trip to Alaska next summer. I'm sure it was hard to adjust to all those hours of daylight, though. Sounds like an excellent trip, I'll catch up with you later to get all the details.
seth

You will love Alaska. I will get together with you and share photos and the places I went. Here is a trout lake I stumbled upon by driving down a lonely gravel road about 40 miles north of Wassilla....

The country folks in Alaska don't lock their doors and have no hang ups about guns. This young man works two week on and two weeks off for Halliburton. On his days off, he spends every moment he can with his boy. There were canoes on the lake and I asked him who owned them. He said he didn't know but if I had a paddle I could use one

Glad I got to meet and fish with him

By the way, the gun is for protection from bears

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 11:04 pm

by gstanfield

That young guy needs to invest in a decent holster. It'd be a shame to loose a good 1911. Then again, it looks like he needs to buy a belt to go with the holster too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:09 am

by cape man

No blood on the deck but another testimonial on the seaworthiness of the OD18 if your crazy enough to go... 6 miles off the reef south of Tavernier Key trolling in 250 feet. 15-20 wind from the NNE and a rip on the edge of the Gulf Stream coming in from the SSW. Had 8 frigates down on the water in front, beside, and behind, bait popping from underneath, and small blackfin tuna hitting the water. Pulling ballyhoos so the tuna didn't take 'em. Trolled for about 3 hours in the slop and never got a hit. But man is that boat safe with the high bow and sides. That's my friend Mike who owns a 26 foot Calacutta, and he was really impressed we never took anything over the top.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:13 am

by Larry B

Craig, thanks for the report and picture. Always like to hear how good of a boat the OD18 is.

btw, thats a neat picture

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:14 am

by topwater

Great picture

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:23 am

by gstanfield

Great picture and testament to the seaworthiness of the OD series. I'll save that pic for the next guy who says a flat bottom cannot be used in anything more than a ripple

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:47 am

by Cracker Larry

another testimonial on the seaworthiness of the OD18 if your crazy enough to go.

I know 2 other people that crazy

Great pic Craig, but no fish

How did the coral spawning project go?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:00 am

by cape man

Despite having over 1 dozen different dive teams from at least that many institutions deployed for four nights in a row after the full moon, along the reef line from Key West to Ft Lauderdale, no joy! Someone forgot to tell the corals it ws time!

We're back and licking our wounds, but it was a great effort and we learned A LOT! I'm more and more convinced I want to bring them in to our hatchery and make them spawn on my time line like we do fish and everything else in aquaculture. Finish my morning coffee and go out and make them give it up... Was other-wordly to sit on top (I was captain and top side on a 24' Carolina Skiff) and watch the activity with all the dive lights on Molasses reef, but way too much work especially since the corals never spawned.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:02 pm

by Cracker Larry

Bummer it didn't work out, but trying is good

You'll get em

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:24 pm

by cape man

The only failure in an effort like this is to not try.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:37 pm

by Aripeka Angler

cape man wrote:The only failure in an effort like this is to not try.

Well said and welcome back

Cool picture of Clara offshore, she is a great boat

I am pretty sure mom would be proud of your creation...

Off topic, but are you going to the cape this year?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 7:25 pm

by TomW

Great picture Craig!

Sorry it didn't work out I was rooting for you to have success. Maybe next time if you can get funding. Those OD's are great boats, it has to be that keel that does it and keeps her tracking and the hull shape that keeps her dry. Larry ya' need to get some spray rails on yours.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 7:42 pm

by Cracker Larry

I like being wet

I said she was a seaworthy boat, not a dry boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:35 pm

by TomW

Yea your boat is wet!

And what kind of seamanship is that with that loose line up there in the bow!

I assume your not going to be docking soon since there's no land in sight.

Best to you, I'll go out with you any time, wet or not! :

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:32 pm

by capnmike

A couple weeks ago I went back to St Martin and went fishing with my girlfriends brother using some handlines and came up with lunch:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:41 pm

by Aripeka Angler

And what kind of seamanship is that with that loose line up there in the bow!

Much better to have a loose line on the bow than to have no bow to have a loose line on

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:49 pm

by cape man

Off topic, but are you going to the cape this year?Aripeka Angler

Hell or high water! You're bringing Red Alert, and Larry's bringing No Excuse (he doesn't know it yet). January 2-9. Crazy boys adventure....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:10 am

by Cracker Larry

And what kind of seamanship is that with that loose line up there in the bow!

It's not loose, it's fast on the bow cleat

Actually It's to pick up a mooring buoy on Looe Key, almost there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:12 am

by Cracker Larry

You're bringing Red Alert, and Larry's bringing No Excuse (he doesn't know it yet).

Did they get a Marriott built on the Cape yet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:02 pm

by cape man

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:08 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I'll be there next year. Hope it is warmer than it was for you this year...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:26 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sweet, book me a room

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:41 pm

by macs

You guys have all the damn fun

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 7:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

You guys have all the damn fun

Me? I'm just passing through

No matter what, I ain't getting out of here alive, and 100 years from now, nobody but me will care if I went or not, so I might as well go

.Waiting for Craig to show me the bed and the shower facilities though

Every time I think of beach camping anymore, I think of the old John Wayne movie "True Grit"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:25 pm

by Aripeka Angler

You guys have all the damn fun

It just takes practice....to have fun that is. And proper planning

I got a freezer full of fish to bring to the Cape and the XF can haul plenty of stuff for a camping trip...Also about time to plan for a Spring boat builder's meet. That is fuel for another thread though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:27 am

by macs

I know. It's just been a long time since I camped out with friends.

Used to go to the hunting camp all the time when my Dad was still around. When he passed it wasn't the same. The boys are either away at school or working. It's hard to get together right now.

But hey, we did go to Talladega in April and camped out in the storm

It was a blast.

I just saw you guys on the beach drinking by the fire and it made me wish I was there.

It's all good

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:30 am

by macs

CL, I'd like a shower too. They have'm at Talladega about a mile down the road, $ 10.00

but well worth it. The best money I spent all weekend :

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:50 am

by cape man

Lemon Joy lathers in saltwater and smells really nice. It's all a compromise. With the shower, bathroom, and a bed comes lights, cars, and noise. Getting away from it all is more than worth the slight inconveniences of losing the plumbing and electric for a few nights. There's a shower at the marina in Flamingo 14 miles away for $3. Some of the guys always use it on our way out, but I like driving home with the salt film in my hair and beard.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 8:20 am

by Cracker Larry

Yep, true grit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 9:50 am

by cape man

There is also a small dental clinic that usually opens right around high tide each night...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 12:53 pm

by FitzFisher

Sure looks like a great time! I need to plan a trip like that, soon!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

Mrs. Cracker and I made a day of it today, and a fine day it was

The temps are finally down about 10 degrees, down to 88 in the day and 60 this morning, our coolest in months. We loaded up early with a cast net, and 2 -12 lb. rods, and a cooler of refreshments. Started out cast netting for shrimp and caught about 15 pounds in a half hour, along with a dozen blue crabs and some small finger mullet and menhaden. Dang that cast nest wears me out faster every year

Put about a gallon of the smallest shrimp and all the bait fish in the live well, and the big shrimp and the crabs in the cooler for dinner. Then we went fishing. Caught and released close to 50 red fish, kept 2 gut hooked to add to dinner. Also caught 5 short trout, 3 keeper halibuts, kept one of those

a few small bluefish, and at least 25 lady fish, 3 sting rays, 4 whiting, other assorted junk all released. Back at the dock at 3 pm

Had a ball.

Dinner is ready, deviled crab, fried shrimp and stuffed flounder

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:12 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Larry, that sounds like a good day

How big were the Halibut

Let me know if you are able to recieve a package on Wednesday or Thursday.....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:27 pm

by Cracker Larry

How big were the Halibut

The halibut were smaller than yours

About 18"

But they were good! All served with spinach tortellini and Alfredo sauce

Yep, Wed or Thurs is fine. UPS comes late, about 1800.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:40 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
How big were the Halibut
The halibut were smaller than yours About 18" But they were good! All served with spinach tortellini and Alfredo sauce

Yep, Wed or Thurs is fine. UPS comes late, about 1800.

Dang that sounds tasty

I am about to grill some silver salmon.

Look for a package of Alaskan fish on Wednesday or Thursday....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

Life is good

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:47 pm

by gstanfield

Wow, I was all loaded up and ready to go fishing this morning, but about 0430 I decided to stay home and rebuild a transmission in a grand marquis for a customer. I may regret it as we're almost out of summer and I'm not sure how many more days of fishing I'll get in before everything ices over, but I need the money and he needs his car so....

Oh well, I may get to go tuesdya if I finish the car tomorrow. If not I'll have to wait and sneak out Saturday.

Larry, Sounds like an awsome time and stories like that sure do leave me scratching to find a way to go ahead and move.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 9:56 pm

by Aripeka Angler

The fishery managers have given us a bonus season for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico

If I had a jumping up and down smiley, I would post it. Can't wait to get out there.....

http://myfwc.com/NEWSROOM/10/statewide/ ... rBonus.htm

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:17 pm

by Doc_Dyer

what days do I need to ask SWMBO

sounds like another fishing trip if invited

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:25 am

by LeeFitz

Been spinning for Silvers in the Kichatna River!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:42 am

by Larry B

LeeFitz wrote:Been spinning for Silvers in the Kichatna River!

Cool picture

Thanks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:17 pm

by Joe H

Also about time to plan for a Spring boat builder's meet.

Richard, any idea's on location & timing yet?

Joe & Janet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:28 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Been spinning for Silvers in the Kichatna River!

Great picture! I was near Denali myself a couple of weeks ago. Pretty country

Doc_Dyer wrote:what days do I need to ask SWMBO

sounds like another fishing trip if invited

Bradley

Of course you will be invited! It might be a good idea to wait until after your honeymoon though.... I also have a surefire plan to whip that big Jewfish that kicked your butt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:43 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Joe H wrote:
Also about time to plan for a Spring boat builder's meet.
Richard, any idea's on location & timing yet?

Joe & Janet

Hello Joe

Good to hear from you! We have not planned anything yet for a Spring meet. I guess we should do it for the fourth year in a row

Andrew and I were thinking about Homosassa but those dang tarpon in Boca are hard to ignore after a long winter. Open to any and all suggestions...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

I also have a surefire plan to whip that big Jewfish that kicked your butt

Oh yeah. This I've got to see

Are we sure we want to

Then what are we going to do with it

You aren't going to try that with your new fly rod, are you

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:20 pm

by Cracker Larry

Open to any and all suggestions...

I vote for Boca Grande again

Or Cudjoe Key

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:43 pm

by TomW

I'll vote for Boca again and I'll have a boat this time for sure. But let's make sure that we have rooms reserved in advance so we don't get knocked back like last year. Let's shoot for around Saturday the 21st, reserve however many rooms we had last year and then if we don't get that many cancel the others a couple days in advance. It's ridiculous to get knocked out by another party. I'm willing to pay part of the reservation reserve.

Larry as much as I'd love to do Cudjoe SWMBO probably wouldn't want to go that far south, it's going to be 12hrs or more to Boca as is.

Hopefully it won't be as cold and the Tarpon will be there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:13 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
I also have a surefire plan to whip that big Jewfish that kicked your butt
Oh yeah. This I've got to see Are we sure we want to Then what are we going to do with it You aren't going to try that with your new fly rod, are you

Trust me, I got a plan

It involves an 8-12 lb. bait, the rest of the details will remain a secret until the moment of truth. I am thinking that dude weighs 400-600 lbs easy. We will save the fly rod for the jacks and sharks

Cracker Larry wrote:
Open to any and all suggestions...
I vote for Boca Grande again Or Cudjoe Key

I will be happy with either place, both are great locations

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:36 pm

by SmokyMountain

I vote for Boca Grande again Or Cudjoe Key

Both sound great...I'll just be glad to be there...wherever that may be....

Can't wait to hear your plan for the Jew Fish.

Being a E. TN boy any of my ideas would involve the use dennymite

Andrew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:57 pm

by Doc_Dyer

I'm in

Just need to know if there is a place to tie me in on the boat,
I have the rod and reel, just need to be attached to the boat with some steel cable or something

Watched shark week, when dude gets pulled overboard

don't want that

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:12 pm

by majorgator

Cracker Larry wrote:
I vote for Boca Grande again Or Cudjoe Key

Boca sounds good again. There seems to be a pretty good contingent of SW FL guys, so it might draw a bigger crowd. Though what we had this year was just about right. It will be hard to top that place.

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

Can't wait to hear your plan for the Jew Fish. Being a E. TN boy any of my ideas would involve the use dennymite

Andrew

Andy, I think Richard finally bought an anchor winch (I hope so

) and he's planning on baiting the plow anchor with a 12 lb. bait. Then when we get a bite, we'll all run to the stern and using the throttle and the winch, being careful not to sink the boat, he's going to crank that sucker in

Once Richard gets his mind set......

Hopefully it won't be as cold and the Tarpon will be there.

The tarpon were there, by the thousands. You weren't there, the tarpon were, we got pictures

I've never seen so many tarpon in my life

a mighty many of not very hungry Tarpon

Lots of other fish besides Tarpon too. One or 2 weeks later would probably be better. Look here what Joel's caught

And Joel's Dad, Trip caught one too

I'll vote for Boca again and I'll have a boat this time for sure.

Ya want to go double or nothing on that bottle of Bourbon you owe me?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:06 am

by TomW

Ya want to go double or nothing on that bottle of Bourbon you owe me?

As long as it's the week end of May 21st sure! Bet's on!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:17 am

by majorgator

Cracker Larry wrote:
The tarpon were there, by the thousands. You weren't there, the tarpon were, we got pictures

That's right, they sure were there in force...but hopefully they won't be doing this again:

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:59 am

by wadestep

For jewfish some people around here would keep the motor on, tie a dockline to a cleat, tie a 3-400 lb leader to the dockline, float a bait back (to the bridge) and then gun the throttle when needed. Works pretty well if the 400lb leader doesn't break.

I've also considered rigging up 2-3 people with grouper rods, 60 lb test main lines each, then tie the lines to a single oversized swivel, single set of lead, single 400lb leader, and single hook. Then you get to fight the fish with 2-3+ rods in a group effort. Haven't tried this one yet, but maybe soon...

They need to open the season - something like getting a tarpon tag. The jewfish ore overrunning the structure offshore.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:24 pm

by Aripeka Angler

They need to open the season

I agree. Maybe they could open up a lottery to interested fishermen. I would pay a hundred bucks for a Jewfish kill tag. Until the FWC changes the law, we will have to catch and release though.

I've also considered rigging up 2-3 people with grouper rods, 60 lb test main lines each, then tie the lines to a single oversized swivel, single set of lead, single 400lb leader, and single hook. Then you get to fight the fish with 2-3+ rods in a group effort. Haven't tried this one yet, but maybe soon...

Wade, you stole my thunder

The 60 lb. test is too light for the monster that is living in the spring though. I was thinking about two rods and 600 lb. test on each. I think that would do the trick.

Andy, I think Richard finally bought an anchor winch (I hope so )

No winch yet Larry, maybe I will put one on this winter

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:36 pm

by stickystuff

My fishin parter uses a solid glass broomstick of a rod, a 9/0reel with parachute cord and 200# mono leader and #20 circle hook. He has had hooks straightened and line s broke. Maybe a small crane is in order here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:53 pm

by wadestep

Wade, you stole my thunder The 60 lb. test is too light for the monster that is living in the spring though. I was thinking about two rods and 600 lb. test on each. I think that would do the trick.

I'd guess that would certainly do it. However, consider how much force 1 man can put on a fishing line, and the "annonyingness" of trying to fish a mainline that stiff - plus, could you get enough line on the spool? I'm not sure if I could physically break 80 or 100 lb test while fighting a fish (with good knots). With the 60# braid I use, I usually need help from the boat to break it. Those Jewfish can get huge though, and 600lb test starts seeming like a good idea...

I dove the wreck on the Thunderbolt in the mid-90's, and there was a resident jewfish there that was said to be about 800lbs. Looked like a small submarine. I haven't yet seen one that big in the gulf, but 300lbs is no big deal. It'd be a great show - i'd love to see some video of that battle!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:01 pm

by wadestep

Got to go fishing in West Palm last weekend. There was a big groundswell at first, but that died down by Sat. We did some bottom fishing with some good results, and a decent amount of trolling with no results. Good weedlines, flyingfish, birds, but no pelagics. oh well.
3 Mutton snappers and 1 yellowtail were among the catch:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:46 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's beautiful Wade

The fish are nice too

Just got a fishing pic from Stickystuff Ken Owens, who caught these 2 nice Redfish back to back in Yankeetown, FL. That's a hell of a name, isn't it

Also, I just had a big brown truck drop off a cooler full of Salmon and Halibut fillets at the house

Thanks Richard and Sandi

As long as it's the week end of May 21st sure! Bet's on!

I'll take the bet for any weekend, I like to gamble

But, I'm just wondering why May 21

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 8:37 pm

by cape man

Nice fish guys...all I seem to be able to post lately are pictures of me fishing...not catching!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 10:21 pm

by TomW

I'll take the bet for any weekend, I like to gamble But, I'm just wondering why May 21

Just to give me more time of course!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 4:09 am

by stickystuff

to get to Yankeetown you have to go down Elvis Presley Blvd. Hwy 40 west to the boat ramp. Elvis P beach is on the right. They filmed a movie there. Think it wasFollowThat dream Yankktown is a small drinking village with a fishing problem. Lots of old tyme commercial fisherman and shrimpers, crabbers, and mullet boats. Great fishing area.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 6:36 am

by majorgator

stickystuff wrote:
Yankktown is a small drinking village with a fishing problem.

We built the main water plant there a couple of years ago as well as a reverse-osmosis plant in Inglis (right next door to Yankeetown) a couple of years before that. Definitely 2 close-knit communities where no one gets in a hurry and pleasurable place to be (and work). Located just on the north side of the barge canal.

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:07 pm

by sitandfish

Is this fishing? Not sure but... sure was dang pretty tonight. Did have a fly rod on the boat, if that helps my case?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:11 pm

by sitandfish

I was listening to some Irish music when I took this picture on my cel phone.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:02 pm

by Larry B

Well it's still hotter than hell here. 105 yesterday at the lake. But I did manage to land a 18.5 lb Flathead. Caught him at 5PM and not another bite all night long. It was a cool nice night though about 75, just a thin blanket and my cot. The blanket was more to keep the mosquitoes at bay than keep me warm.

Suppose to cool down to about 96 by Monday.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:32 am

by cape man

Sleeping under the stars on a nice night sounds sweet to me. Nice cat also.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:49 am

by macs

Nice Flathead Larry B. We've been spoiled the last two weeks here with some cool temps. It warms up during the day, but cooler than normal for this time of year. Supposed to be even cooler this weekend.

They say fishing for cats is much better at night, although we've never done it, except with trott lines. What's your game?

Tight lining with what bait? Or do you run some lines during the evening as well?

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 9:42 am

by Larry B

Sleeping under the stars on a nice night sounds sweet to me. Nice cat also.

Craig, since June I've been sleeping under the stars 1 to 2 times a week. And yes it's Sweet

Amazing all the sounds of the wildlife at night. The Burro's can really make some noise.

They say fishing for cats is much better at night, although we've never done it, except with trott lines. What's your game?

Tight lining with what bait? Or do you run some lines during the evening as well?

Macs, Yes I fish for Cats at night. I fish for my bait during the day (bluegills) and then for the cats at night. Were not allowed to use trott lines, Only rod and reel. I have a two pole stamp so I always have two rods out, then drink some beer and wait to hear the clicker

I usually catch and release unless I need some in the freezer. The Flatheads really put up a good fight. I usually sleep on my FL14, but lately have found a place to set up my cot on shore. Here are a couple more pictures:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:08 pm

by JohnC

Hey LarryB,
Are those pics at Bartlett Lake or Lake Pleasant? Sure do miss the desert!

John

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:41 pm

by Larry B

JohnC wrote:Hey LarryB,
Are those pics at Bartlett Lake or Lake Pleasant? Sure do miss the desert!
John

Lake Pleasant, I'll start fishing Bartlett when I finish my OD18

Yes the desert has alot to offer

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:01 am

by Bowmovement

Larry B wrote:
JohnC wrote:Hey LarryB,
Are those pics at Bartlett Lake or Lake Pleasant? Sure do miss the desert!
John
Lake Pleasant, I'll start fishing Bartlett when I finish my OD18 Yes the desert has alot to offer

Nice fish Larry. Ever since I moved to So Cal I enjoy the desert myself.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:35 pm

by gstanfield

Well, went for a cruise down the river today with my girls after I got off work (overnight). I took along a fishing rod just because it felt right and managed to catch a little fish (coming soon) The weather warmed up and made it into the low 70's while we were out there, started off in the upper 50's though.

Here were are getting started:

My little first mate helping man(girl) the controls

The river was nice and pleasent. The water levels are down now as the summer irrigation season is over so flows are about half of summer flow. It meant we scraped bottom a lot, but there were still places where the water was 5-8ft deep and calm like this:

We were almost to the downstream access area when I decided to fish the last couple hundred yards before taking out. I casted once and hooked a rainbow that jumped out and spit the hook. I cast again and hooked another fish and brought it to the boat. My wife said I caught a tiny Rainbow, but I claim to have caught a world record red backed minnow

As sad as it is, here is the picture of my little fry I caught on a rainbow colored 1/16th oz panther martin

All in all it was a good day and I've been up for 28hr straight now with only 4 hrs sleep prior to that so I'm going to bed. Tomorrow I'm going to go out and try again, maybe take the fly rod I'm not sure yet.

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:01 am

by DAVE LUDICK

I was fishing on the Zambezi River recently when I noticed a snake lying on a rock with a frog in his mouth, now this was no ordinary snake,he was a mother of a snake. Now frogs are good bait for "flatheads" or barbel as we call them here, I knew he couldn't bite me with the frog in his mouth so I grabbed him behind the head and removed the frog. My dilemma now was how to release the snake safely, luckily I had a bottle of Jack Daniels that I carry for emergencies like this. I poured some down his open mouth, with that his eyes rolled back and he went limp, so I put him back on the rocks and carried on fishing, a short time later I felt this nudge on my leg and lo and behold the damn snake was back again this time with two frogs in his mouth.
Life is great in Africa.
Dave

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:28 am

by macs

You better make sure you bring enough Jack Daniels

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:30 am

by macs

Nice looking family there George.

Hey at least you caught something. That's wy they call it fishing, not catching right?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 12:39 pm

by sitandfish

gstanfield wrote:...We were almost to the downstream access area when I decided to fish the last couple hundred yards before taking out. I casted once and hooked a rainbow that jumped out and spit the hook. I cast again and hooked another fish and brought it to the boat. My wife said I caught a tiny Rainbow, but I claim to have caught a world record red backed minnow George

The trick is to let the kids hold it. That always makes it look bigger.

Always enjoy your family outing posts George.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 12:46 pm

by gstanfield

Thanks guys. I always enjoy taking the family out to make stories to tell about. My wife was telling me about how she was an adult before she ever went on a boat or saw a live fish and how lucky our girls are. My earliest memories are of fishing with my family and I can't imagine it any other way.

I'll have to remember the trick of letting the girls hold the minnow....I meant trout next time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 12:58 pm

by Cracker Larry

Well George, it would have made a good bait anyway

Great pics and family though

And Larry B, that's a fine catfish. Nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:01 pm

by Larry B

George, Now that is what it's all about

Nice lookin family you got there. I had two girls also and started taking them fishing when they were only months old. They hate fishing now

But the grandkids dont'

Keep the pictures and reports coming, always enjoy them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 2:23 pm

by Fonda@kauai

Water was nice wednesday, so went out to do some bottom fishing. Fish were caught at 90-110 fathoms. 5 Opakapaka at 12,12,8,6, and 5 lbs., 16 Kalekale, and a 38 lb ono on the way in

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 2:30 pm

by gstanfield

Very nice fish and deep waters

Not sure how you cook those types of fish, but it should make for good eating for a while

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:48 pm

by TomW

Now that was a deep hole 600', do you do a lot of fishing that deep. Our deep holes are 30-50 fathoms. Though I'm sure that some of the Florida guys can find deeper ones for swordfish and others.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:04 pm

by wadestep

Got to go out offshore last Saturday. It was a nearly-perfect day, slick calm for the 30+ mile run out. We caught about 35 grouper or so, with 8-9 of them keepers. Because it was only my wife and me, we stopped at our limit of 2 red grouper per person, but left them biting! Couldn't catch a Gag for anything.

Hopefully next weekend will find me in the Bahamas for a 2 night trip. I'm trying to get all this fishing out of my system before the snowbirds all come down to Florida and I don't have anytime to think, much less fish, for a couple months.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Great fish Wade and Robin

Where bouts in the Bahamas are you going? Are you running the boat over?

Fonda, that's a nice mess of fish too. Geez....bottom fishing in 100 fathoms, that sounds a lot like work to me

Electric reels?

When I'm fishing in 100 fathoms, I'm trolling

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:56 pm

by Fonda@kauai

Yeah we use a Henry Ching electric reel

A google search will turn up a pic. The Onagas we get at 120 fathoms +

It's not too bad with the electric reel, plenty of time to drink and snack. Most hook-ups occur within 20 seconds of touching bottom, there's a lot of fish down there

We can sell the opakapaka for $6 a pound right now, and during Christmas and New Years we can get $12-$14 a pound wholesale for opakapaka, onaga, and ehu, so we sell alot of them to pay gas bills and buy fishing toys

The ono was caught 1/4 mile from shore in 40 fathoms.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 7:15 pm

by wadestep

Cracker Larry wrote:Great fish Wade and Robin

Where bouts in the Bahamas are you going? Are you running the boat over?

As long as the weather holds, we'll be running a friend's Venture 34 from West Palm to West End, checking in, then fishing what he calls "the Corner" - somewhere up near the NW corner of the Bahama Bank - N of Memory Rock. That's about as far as I know...

Fonda@kauai wrote:Yeah we use a Henry Ching electric reel A google search will turn up a pic. The Onagas we get at 120 fathoms + It's not too bad with the electric reel, plenty of time to drink and snack. Most hook-ups occur within 20 seconds of touching bottom

Those look like nice fish - but deep! Electric reels may have their detractors, but at that depth - they sound like the way to go! I know a guy who daytime sword fishes around 2,000 feet (330 fathoms) with a manual reel. A whole day of fishing may be only 2-3 drops. Sounds like work to me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:37 am

by cape man

You guys are pissing me off!

NICE FISH! Hoping we can post some similarly impressive pics after our trip coming up with Captain Richard.

Fonda, curious...in Hawaian does Ono mean the same thing as Wahoo!?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:06 am

by smilinmatt

This past Saturday was the Fall Freedive Classic up in Tarpon Springs. I placed third, and depending on how you look at it, I was lucky/unlucky enough not to get an amberjack. I got the good eats trifecta of a hogfish, gag grouper and flounder, and also picked up a rainbow runner for sushi. There were nice mangrove snapper and gags everywhere. Since it was a tournament, after getting my first gag, I had to pass on all the others trying to find a keeper sized sheepshead. Usually it's the sheepshead spooking the gags before you can get a shot off, not the other way around.

Friday is the start of stone crab season.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:29 am

by Cracker Larry

Good job Matt! Congrats

Hoping we can post some similarly impressive pics after our trip coming up with Captain Richard.

He's never failed us yet

Looking forward to it!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:52 am

by Bowmovement

cape man wrote:You guys are pissing me off! NICE FISH! Hoping we can post some similarly impressive pics after our trip coming up with Captain Richard.

Fonda, curious...in Hawaian does Ono mean the same thing as Wahoo!?

I'm pretty sure it's a wahoo Craig. I could be wrong though.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:33 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Wade

It is kind of interesting that the gags are scarce down there because keeper reds are scarce up here. We catch 10-1 keeper gags versus keeper reds around here. Some guys I fish with don't like to keep or target the reds but they taste mighty fine to me. Were you fishing cheese bottom?

I'm pretty sure it's a wahoo Craig. I could be wrong though.

You're not wrong, that is a nice wahoo! Perfect size to eat too

Fine catch Fonda. I am curious, do you use braid or wire for those deep drops? How much lead do you use at that depth?

Cracker Larry wrote:
Hoping we can post some similarly impressive pics after our trip coming up with Captain Richard.
He's never failed us yet Looking forward to it!

I appreciate the confidence

If the weather cooperates, we should clean up on the american red snapper next weekend. I am ready for a long run offshore....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:44 pm

by Fred in Wisc

In Hawaiian, wahoo is "ono. I believe it means "delicious". Really.

Fred in Wisc (rather be in Hawaii)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:46 pm

by Larry B

Well headed to a local lake yesterday. Got bait, took awhile but got some nice bait. Then decided to camp on shore on my cot instead of sleeping in my boat. Well got all set up, got my rods out and about 8 PM got a 5.5 lb. Channel, then a few runs during the night. Then I woke up to my beer cans rattling, I just opened my eyes and right in front of me aprox. 6" Yep 6" was a freaking Skunk, I thought just be still and breath slow, he turned around and then I was looking at his A$$ and thinking I'm screwed if I startle him. He checked out all my stuff, went to the boat and checked things out there then came back to my cot took another look around and left, Man that was too close for comfort. Sure glad I didn't have my dog with me. So anyway packing up this morning to leave and bringing my rods in and This is what I found. Had a fish on one rod and as I was reeling in I noticed my other rod moving so figured he had been on awhile and tangled up my other line. Then I got him in and noticed he had taken both gills on both rods???? They were good sized gills too, and this guy was only 4.5 lbs. I think he was just laying there trying to digest them. Anyway here is a picture of it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:23 pm

by sitandfish

Larry B wrote:... I woke up to my beer cans rattling, I just opened my eyes and right in front of me aprox. 6" Yep 6" was a freaking Skunk, I thought just be still and breath slow,...

Funny. My only thought would be, 'stop breathing'.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:27 pm

by gstanfield

Dang those are lrge hooks

We don't use hooks that large to drag the river trying to pull out bodies

(OK, well maybe, but still..)

I've seen a few odd thigns fishing, but I've yet to catch the same fish on two seperate lines

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:35 pm

by Larry B

gstanfield wrote:Dang those are lrge hooks We don't use hooks that large to drag the river trying to pull out bodies (OK, well maybe, but still..)

I've seen a few odd thigns fishing, but I've yet to catch the same fish on two seperate lines

Yea I was sleeping, but usually wake when my clickers go off. But clicker wern't going off so guess he was just enjoying dinner

I use 9/0 and 10/0 circle hooks for the flatheads, Have used smaller but get less hookups. Come on down this next summer I'll have my other boat done and we can go out overnight and catch some flats

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:50 pm

by gstanfield

You're dang right I'll come on down. I plan to make some visits this next year and bum some fishing trips off of anyone who's willing

I'm also going to be trying to bum a midwinter trip or two off of you southern guys whose lakes don't freeze over

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 1:38 am

by TomW

Yea Larry that fish must have been hungry, but your right you need 6-12 circle hooks for those big cats. Can't wait to start fishing the Mississippi again.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:07 am

by macs

That's a preety wild catch there Larry. I saw a young lady catch a blue gill one day on the fourth of July. When she pulled it up we noticed that the hook wasn't in the fish at all. The line wrapped around the fish's body and was hooked back to the line forming a loop that lassoed the fish. (I think I spelled that right). I had a picture of it some where. I'll try to find it.

Nice fish and skunk story

.

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:03 am

by tobolamr

huh... Last catfish I caught was on a 1/2 oz bass jig.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:03 pm

by Cracker Larry

My next door neighbor sent me this last night. He caught it while cat fishing at Santee Cooper, SC. Good thing he had a big hook

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:09 pm

by kdog

Holy crap it's Godzilla!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:50 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:My next door neighbor sent me this last night. He caught it while cat fishing at Santee Cooper, SC. Good thing he had a big hook

That aint a CATFISH

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 3:01 pm

by msujmccorm

Gonna need a bigger boat!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 3:02 pm

by tobolamr

Those must be SOME catfish that you need to fish for them with a tractor!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 3:47 pm

by TomW

Dang I need a bigger boat!

Santee-Coopers not that far away.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:16 am

by Bobg

I was catfishing and the gun just went off

Beats catfish any day!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:25 am

by macs

The game warden had been trying to catch this man who he suspected had been fishing with dynamite. He asked to go fishing with him one day and the man agreed. They fished for a while with no luck and the man pulled a stick of dynamite out of a box and was about to light it when the game warden said" Hey, what are you doing, that's Illelgal". The man lit the fuse handed it to the game warden and said "you gonna talk or you gonna fish"

Macs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:38 am

by wegcagle

What kind of fishing pole was he using

Not to mention line, bait, boat, M16A1 with M203 (grenade launcher)

I can see the look on my wife's face if I came home with that beast...."Hey honey, I'm home. Come checkout what I caught.. Would you mind terribly cleaning it I really need a shower......"

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:12 am

by wadestep

Aripeka Angler wrote:Nice fish Wade It is kind of interesting that the gags are scarce down there because keeper reds are scarce up here. We catch 10-1 keeper gags versus keeper reds around here. Some guys I fish with don't like to keep or target the reds but they taste mighty fine to me. Were you fishing cheese bottom?

Yep - most of the spots are swiss cheese stuff that doesn't look like much on the depth sounder. I've dove about half of my spots, and they are just hard bottom with potholes interspersed. One spot is a 2-3' ledge, and I catch more Gags there, along with Jewfish and spearing hogs/ mangrove snappers.

It is strange about more gags up there. We caught mostly gags about 4 years ago, now mostly all reds - at least 10:1 reds:gags. And that's on the same spots, same tackle, same bait. Dunno....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm back after another great weekend of fishing, with some great fishermen

Arrived at Richards about sundown on Thursday and we spent the evening getting loaded up and catching bait. The plan was to make an over night trip on Saturday with a full crew, but the weather forecast was deteriorating so Richard and I decided to make a short trip on Friday and do some scouting. After a fine late meal of Alaskan Halibut, and a few drinks, we didn't get an early start

Left the dock about 0900 and the tide was so low that the boat was barely floating. I've been through a lot of channels in a lot of places, but the channel from Richards' house out into the Gulf of Mexico in one of the narrowest, rockiest and shallowest I've seen anywhere. It's about as wide as the boat, a mile long, with solid jagged rocks on both sides, and underneath. On a real low tide it's a little tricky.

There was a good NE breeze and choppy seas 2-3-4. We ran out about 25 miles and fished some rock piles and ledges, caught a lot of short red grouper everywhere, one keeper red I think, a few short gags and a few real nice gags. Lot of assorted grunts and such. As the day went on, the sea got flatter and by late afternoon were completely calm. We moved around to 4 or 5 different spots, Richard caught a kingfish about 25 pounds, but it was on mono and I wasn't quite quick enough with the gaff, it cut off at the boat

We only took one fish pic all day.

We headed in late afternoon with a good mess of fish and got to the dock at sunset. A fine day of fishing with a good friend. Nobody got hurt and the boat didn't break

Cleaned up, got ready for the next day, another late GREAT meal of grilled Alaskan Salmon, a few drinks, time for bed.

Saturday report to follow..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 3:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

Saturday, got up early thirty

I must have slept late, because when I aroused at 0600, Cape Man, Derrick and Don were here loading their gear. Glad mine was already loaded

A fast cup of coffee, dump the bait traps and we left the dock well before sunrise with the boat loaded to the gills. I mean loaded! 1,000 pounds of 5 grown men, about 100 pounds of gear and tackle each, 25 rods, Derrick brought his dive gear and 2 tanks, 300 pounds of ice, 100 pounds of beer and water, 100 pounds of bait, 200 gallons of fuel.....she was loaded

Too heavy to run that little channel at idle, we ran it wide open by the light of the moon, then headed 10 miles south down to Tarpon Springs to empty Derricks bait traps that he had set Thursday. We located them by GPS at the first crack of dawn, and the 3 of them provided a couple hundred more live baits

This is Craig emptying a trap.

All baited up, we headed offshore just as the sun was rising.

The wind was blowing pretty good out the east and the further we went the stronger it got. We had planned to run out 60 miles to target Red Snapper, but 60 miles started looking like a long ways, and even further ride home against the wind. We conferred and decided to try some ledges and wrecks about 30 miles out. It was a somewhat sloppy ride, and at 30 miles out the seas were 4-6 with an occasional 8 footer.

Tough fishing conditions. Got to the first drop and made a few fast drifts and caught a few fish. Cape Man grabbed the first fish in the boat, took it to the filleting table and cleaned it to perfection, not easy in 6 foot waves. Then he proceeds to pull out all the fixins for ceviche

Everybody is fishing around him while he sits in the bottom of the boat chopping onions, peppers, cilantro, limes, seasonings, he prepares a perfect grouper ceviche. Not only does he have all the makings for ceviche, he has all the trimming for sashimi too. Soy sauce, wasabi, rice...A true professional of the salt, Cape Man is a pleasure to have on the boat

I wish I had taken pic of that.

Then we anchored up on a ledge and Don put a monster grouper in the boat, then another, then another, while everybody else was catching shorts. Don is a serious fishing machine

I've fished with him a couple of times and he's as good as anyone I've ever seen. We got some good fish and a lot of shorts, then the bite slowed down while the sea calmed a little bit, so we sent down a scout to see what was up. Derrick is the scout..Craig and I ate ceviche.

Let me tell yall, he is a fish killing wild man! He made a 30 minute dive and came up with 11 Hog Fish on his stringer. That's better than a fish every 3 minutes, surface to surface. Load, cock, locate fish, shoot, retrieve, string, and do it again 11 times in 30 minutes

Our scout reports no more grouper on this ledge, so we move to another location. On the move we come across a group of diving birds and Cape Man can't pass up birds without throwing a jig, so he does, and hooks up on his first cast...

He gets a good fight on light tackle and lands a tourist tuna, AKA Bonito

We anchor up on another ledge, caught more grouper and grunts, Craig added more fish to the ceviche, then Derrick made another dive while we fished and ate raw fish

And again in 35 minutes he comes back up with 12 Hogs and a couple of snapper

There is some fine eating in the fish box now

Moved to a wreck and didn't catch much, played with some large barracudas under the boat who seemed to like gag grouper but wouldn't eat red grouper

Moved again to a spot Richard and I had fished the previous day, and Don again took everybody to school with gags. Ate more ceviche. We picked up another few keepers here then packed up and headed for the hill.

Got to the channel after sunset and to the dock at dark. Then the long process of unloading, cleaning, bragging, crying and maybe a few drinks. I've got no idea how many fish we caught, but it took Craig and Richard a long while to clean them.

Derrick's wife and boys met us at the dock, and his son Joseph helped with the fish. He's a sport, going to be just like his Dad

Don with Joseph, he needed some help with these

Craig cleaning mangrove snapper..I hope everyone took enough fish home, I was left with enough to feed the multitudes, which I will

So ends another fine day with good friends and great boat mates. Nobody got hurt and the boat didn't break

Then we had a few drinks

Too tired to cook, Richard made grilled cheese sandwiches.

Thanks men, I enjoyed the hell out of it. Richard, Craig, Derrick, Don, yall are a pure pleasure to share a boat deck with

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 3:39 pm

by TomW

Great report Larry, great group of guys, great bunch of fun!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 4:10 pm

by cape man

Thanks men, I enjoyed the hell out of it. Richard, Craig, Derrick, Don, yall are a pure pleasure to share a boat deck with

Ditto to that Larry! Had been counting the days to the trip. You didn't tell everyone I had a molar yanked out the day before and looked like chipmunk hording food in my cheek, but that didn't keep me from having a blast with everyone. Derek is a machine for sure, and Don continues to outfish me everytime I go out with him. Got to watch those quiet ones...

Richard deserves a special thanks for once again being a fantastic and gracious host/captain. Always a pleasure. Always. I pulled out enough of the fillets for a meal and gave the rest awy here at work yesterday. Had enough for at least ten meals!

PS My Aquatic Veterinarian colleagues at UF confirmed Derek's concern over eating raw red grouper because of the worms, but all agree the pH of the limes in ceviche should do the same as cooking.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 4:14 pm

by dborecky

CL,

I really enjoyed hanging out with you guys.... I can't wait to do it again soon.

I dropped the tanks off yesterday to get refilled. I always keep three tanks ready for a trip. I should have brought 3 instead of the 2tanks that I brought. I was worried about space on the boat. You need to go down and shoot next time...

Let's do it again soon!!

Let me know when you are ready for me to visit and shoot a deer....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 4:21 pm

by dborecky

Cape,

I would not bet on the ph to protect me. I know of round worms who's eggs are still infectious after sitting in formaldehyde for a long time. We were not allowed to handle them in parasitology lab. I do eat raw fish but I am selective...

You are correct in thanking Richard for such a great trip.

We need to make a run on my boat next time..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 4:22 pm

by tobolamr

I don't suppose you could have that ceviche and sashimi recipe e-mailed to me or posted, could ya?

WOW... Now THAT'S the type of offshore fishing I think I'd like to engage in! Awesome pics! Awesome sharing! Thank you!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 4:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

PS My Aquatic Veterinarian colleagues at UF confirmed Derek's concern over eating raw red grouper because of the worms

Oh, now you tell me

I wonder how they hold up in alcohol?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:12 pm

by cape man

I made two batches. One from the Red which I ate all of it (finished it yesterday) and another from the Gag which was what you ate. Aint no little fish worm gonna get your Cracker Ass anyway!

I had everything cut up before the trip except the fish and limes. Very simple recipe: Limes, fish, onions, celantro, and bell pepper (I used a yellow one for color). You can add celery, tomatoes, garlic, etc also. I like mine simple. Let the fish sit in the lime juice for at least 30 minutes if you like it fully cooked. I have had it immediately after mixing and its also good. Its still good, if not better several days later.

A nice Florida/Caribbean substitute is sour orange juice (the root stock oranges) for the limes. Yummy.

I have started trying to make it a regular for my fishing trips instead of hassling with sandwiches or other food. Also carry wasabi, soy and some white rice for sashimi, but didn't have any takers this weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

Aint no little fish worm gonna get your Cracker Ass anyway!

I'd say it aint very likely, or I'd already be long dead

I ain't scared of no germs or worms. Had I been scared of germs, I might have mentioned that bait board you used hadn't been cleaned since the day before, when we were cutting up rotten spanish sardines on it. I did squirt it with the hose to get off the big chunks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:57 pm

by kdog

Great pics Larry, thanks for sharing! I need to post some of my pics but you guys put them to shame.

That channel is insane! What do you do in a passing situation with two big boats?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 7:10 pm

by majorgator

Great pictures, great story. Happy to hear that you guys had a great time. Glad everything was safe and the boat aint broke

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 8:56 pm

by cape man

That channel is insane! What do you do in a passing situation with two big boats?

Biggest boat wins!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:44 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks for posting the pics Larry

I really enjoyed the trip guys. We only got a couple of big fish but that had alot to do with the weather and moon. I sure was glad we only had to deal with the slop for a couple of hours on Saturday morning. If I knew it was going to be that nice in the afternoon, we would have made the 60 mile run and would have hammered the american red snappers and big amberjack. I still haven't figured out how to get a crystal ball to work for a fishing trip

kdog wrote:Great pics Larry, thanks for sharing! I need to post some of my pics but you guys put them to shame.
That channel is insane! What do you do in a passing situation with two big boats?

kdog, our channel was dynamited in the '60s from solid rock. It is rough to say the least. When you are going out to sea, there are only a couple of spots that you can plane a big boat. The water depth varies at low tide from 2.75-6 feet. The trick is to plane off quick and trim the motors. You have about 8 feet of room on each side of the boat before you hit rock. It also takes a little bit of nerve to run the thing in the dark.

It is a private channel in an older neighborhood. By older, I mean in the age of the residents. Not much boat traffic at all. Before I blast out, I check for boats in the canal. At low tide you can't pass another boat in there. High tide is pretty easy so long as the person you are passing has a clue...

We will go fishing again soon guys. Enjoyed it

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 12:29 am

by kdog

Aripeka Angler wrote: kdog, our channel was dynamited in the '60s from solid rock. It is rough to say the least. When you are going out to sea, there are only a couple of spots that you can plane a big boat. The water depth varies at low tide from 2.75-6 feet. The trick is to plane off quick and trim the motors. You have about 8 feet of room on each side of the boat before you hit rock. It also takes a little bit of nerve to run the thing in the dark.

Thanks for the explanation Richard, pretty cool stuff. Gotta be on the ball running through there. I just have to worry about shifting sandbars here, it's easy on the props. The stainless ones at least, don't ask how I know.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 12:24 pm

by Aripeka Angler

kdog wrote: I just have to worry about shifting sandbars here, it's easy on the props. The stainless ones at least, don't ask how I know.

Funny you should mention sandbars John

We got 'em here too, they are the ultimate brakes for a fully loaded center console boat. You can go from 40 knots to 0 knots in under 2 seconds when you hit one

Don't ask me how I know that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 12:39 pm

by Joe H

Man what a fishing trip!!, that's the type of outing most of us can only dream about!

Thanks for sharing the story and pics.

Joe H

BTW: Mad Dog, did anyone ever tell you this was a great thread idea! I love reading about others and being able to share my fishing stories.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Funny you should mention sandbars John

I didn't say a word

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:21 pm

by kdog

Aripeka Angler wrote: Funny you should mention sandbars John We got 'em here too, they are the ultimate brakes for a fully loaded center console boat. You can go from 40 knots to 0 knots in under 2 seconds when you hit one Don't ask me how I know that

Larry, dare I ask?

I know exactly what you mean Richard, up here they remove some of the smaller buoy's in the bay during the winter. Then they reset them in the spring. My incident happened before they were put back, I was following my GPS tracks from the previous year, my mistake. Live and learn!

The only rocks we have are out of Barnegat Inlet, really long rock piles, great fishing. The left side has a weir type structure so it's under water most of the time. I saw a guy in a brand new 25' Parker, instead of making the turn at the last giant pole marker at the end he tried to make the turn where the big rocks end and the weir part begins. I tried to wave him off but he hit pretty hard. I can't get that sound of fiberglass hitting rocks sound out of my head! One of worst sounds for a boater. To make a long story longer, after helping him off we checked his brand new 4 stroke Yammi's, both stainless props completely torn up and both skegs snapped off, fiberglass bits in the water.

I felt so bad for the guy as limped home from his maiden voyage.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:32 pm

by Cracker Larry

Larry, dare I ask?

If I don't hit bottom, I'm usually fishing in the wrong place

I'm going back to sanding the paddle boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:45 pm

by kdog

Gotcha Larry, not much flats fishing by me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 3:25 pm

by cape man

Funny you should mention sandbars John

I didn't say a word

Neither did I...

...nor will I.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 5:41 pm

by dborecky

Sand bar??? What sand bar???...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:13 pm

by TomW

Yea Derrick when I went out with Richard 2 year ago did'nt see no sand any where he took us!

That channel from his house is a nice risk in morning in day light, a nice risk at high tide with a couple of boats fishing at the edges when we went by them coming back in. As I recalled there is something(small boat, anchor, etc) sunk in the channel that you also have to watch out for at low tide. Or he needs his XF20 to get up on plane over the oyster beds to the right of the channel

Oh well the most important thing is that a fun time was had by all and the fish tanks were full. Derrick you are one diving fishing machine.

Hope to see you in Boca in the spring!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:28 pm

by Cracker Larry

I didn't say a word

Neither did I... ...nor will I.

Sand bar??? What sand bar???...

I refrain from saying anything I can't prove, and I didn't take any pictures of sand bars

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:59 pm

by TomW

Yep definately no sandbars around that channel!

But Richard sure knows how to find fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:04 pm

by wadestep

Sounds like you guys had an spectacular trip. I was wondering if you were going out given the forcast. Way to go!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:35 pm

by TRC886

Funny you should mention sandbars John We got 'em here too, they are the ultimate brakes for a fully loaded center console boat. You can go from 40 knots to 0 knots in under 2 seconds when you hit one Don't ask me how I know that

River banks make good brakes too!!! Don't ask how I know what it's like to push 15.5' of a 16' boat back in the water

Glad y'all had a great trip, and that y'all negotiated that channel safely!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 7:32 am

by sitandfish

Eat mo' trout.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 9:06 am

by TRC886

Nice fish

. I've heard that they have moved up around Washington, in the Pamlico river, but I've not tried them

sitandfish wrote:
I will likely turn the brown feathers into something like this.

Magic

.

Actually, I was trying to post this one:

Good looking fly too!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 9:29 am

by sitandfish

TRC886 wrote:Nice fish . I've heard that they have moved up around Washington, in the Pamlico river, but I've not tried them .

They stick around here pretty well. People are finally catching more of the bigger fish. Catching a fish over 18 inches was pretty rare for a while around here. I didn't measure this one. It just felt around skillet size.

Love catching them on the fly rod and most of them are just dropped off the hook without even bringing them out of the water. I haven't fished the Pamlico since, I was a kid at my Aunt's cabin.

Yep, that fly is a monster. It pushes water like an LB26.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 12:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Pretty trout! The fly rod takes a lot of patience and practice.

Richard is coming up this week and we're going to chase them around Port Royal for a couple of days. I won't be using a fly rod

Richard might

I haven't been since the water temp fell, but I think the bigger fish will be moving up river now. Hope so anyway, we'll see

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 7:49 pm

by Prarie Dog

Good luck on your trip, please let us know how it works out, will think about you guys while I'm freezing my a'' here in Colorado!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 8:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

It's near freezing in Georgia too. 30 degrees this morning

That's freezing for me! Fish still got to eat though, every day, so if we can figure out the when, where, what, how (bait, color, size, presentation, tide, location, moon, weather, etc..) and other minor stuff like that, maybe we can catch a fish

We'll be sure to post a picture of it, if it should happen

Something I learned a long time ago, but I still can't take my own advice about...never bet on a fish

The crap tables have better odds

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 9:47 pm

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:19 pm

by wadestep

Had an excellent day last Sun - nasty chop prevented us from running as far out as usual, but much to my surprise, new numbers really paid off!

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:26 pm

by gstanfield

We've been into the single digits a couple of times already and our highs have been around 25-30 for the last few days

I just went out and brought my boat int he shop, scooped out the foot and a half of snow in it and fired up the heater to melt what's left so I can get it all dried out and ready for the winter rebuild

I would love to be out fishing and may get in one more trip yet, but the way it looks I'll have to stay home for the next two months until the ice is thick enough to walk on then I can go fishing again.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 6:08 pm

by kdog

Nice pics Wade!

It's been a rough year for me, been dealing with a lot of health issues but I finally got in some decent trips this fall. Got into some nice stripers this week.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 6:16 pm

by TomW

Great pics Wade and John!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 6:30 pm

by sitandfish

Nice thing about living on the coast is being able to run out for 2 hours and doing stuff like this.

If you look outside, that's tonight's moon (behind this shipwreck).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:06 pm

by wadestep

awesome stripers Kdog!

Shovelling a foot and a half of snow out of a boat. There's just something inherently wrong with that.

It is beautiful up there though. Ice and fishing - again another clash of words. Ice is for drinks

Actually, one of these days I'm going to make a vacation out of trying it. I've swam in the Artic Ocean, why not fish on ice??

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:11 pm

by gstanfield

If you want to come up this winter I've a guest room and you'll be welcome. God willing this may be my last winter up here, although in reality it may take a couple of years to get out of here. It is beautiful out here and I absolutely love the summers here. The winters though more than counteract the nice summers

Did I mention that I worked on my boat in July and I still haven't ever had epoxy kick on me? I can mix huge batches and not worry

Anyway, this thread is about fishing and you guys are doing a great job of it. I may get jealous a bit at times, but I sure do love looking at the pics of your salt water fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:49 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Man I just got home from an installation and what nice fish pics I found

The only thing I like more than catching a fish myself is to see someone else's catch or see a picture of a nice catch....

Nice fish John and Sitandfish! And Wade, those are some nice gags! I thought those gags were extinct

You mentioned a few weeks ago that you don't get them very often. What water depth did you find them last weekend? Sometimes I wonder how many fish I run over on my way to an area I just gotta fish....

My redfishing trip this week got cancelled by contract requirements between my company and a defense contractor

Oh well, those fish will be there when time permits. Great catch guys...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 7:11 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice gags Wade

Great picture too!

Those stripers look fine, KDog

I've never caught any that large, do you eat those big ones?

My redfishing trip this week got cancelled by contract requirements between my company and a defense contractor Oh well, those fish will be there when time permits.

Sorry it didn't work out Richard

I picked up a charter for tomorrow, so I'll let you know what you missed

Good luck with Homeland Security

33 degrees here this morning, need long johns to go fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 9:09 am

by kdog

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Cracker Larry wrote:
Those stripers look fine, KDog I've never caught any that large, do you eat those big ones?

Larry, yeah we eat the big ones. They're pretty healthy good eating fish. I think when you get over 25lbs though they are a little bland. The biggest one in the last photo is 36" and about 17lbs, the minimum keeper size here is 28". I've caught a bunch in NC with the smaller size limit which are very tasty.

The top fish in our local surf fishing tournament is 56lbs with a few in the 40's and a bunch of 30 pounders in the top ten.

I feel bad keeping those big ones and would probably release them, I think they deserve it for hanging around so long.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 9:40 am

by Cracker Larry

I like to release the big ones too, unless they are grouper and snapper. I try to release all the large trout and redfish. The smaller ones eat better and those big ones make a lot of baby fish.

Speaking of grouper and snapper, Amendment 17A has officially passed and our grouper and snapper fishing is shut down until further notice

Thank you Feds

Secretary of Commerce Approves Amendment 17A to End Overfishing of Red Snapper
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) received notification on October 27th that the Secretary of Commerce gave final approval to Amendment 17A to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan. The amendment action plans include:

Annual catch limit and accountability measures for red snapper in the South Atlantic
A rebuilding plan for red snapper
A prohibition on all harvest and possession of South Atlantic red snapper
An area closure off southern George and north/central Florida where fishing for all snapper grouper species will be prohibited, except when using spearfishing gear or black sea bass pots to fish for species other than red snapper
A requirement for circle hooks in the snapper grouper fishery north of 28 degrees N. latitude
A requirement for a program to monitor red snapper
According to the letter sent to the Council, "the final rule to implement Amendment 17A will likely publish in the Federal Register in the second-half of November". Until this final rule is published the actual date that the regulations will be implemented is unknown.
The measures currently in Amendment 17A are based on a 2008 stock assessment for red snapper conducted through the Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) program. But a new stock assessment was recently completed for red snapper that includes updated information on red snapper. The assessment (known as SEDAR 24) will be reviewed by the Scientific and Statistical Committee in November before being presented to SAFMC in December, but preliminary results show the stock may be improving. SEDAR 24 includes data through 2009 with significant additional age samples in the updated assessment. "While the red snapper stock remains overfished and overfishing continues, the three additional years of data and increased age sampling intensity, along with indications of a very good year class, and the impacts of the current regulations in place, have combined to show improvement in the stock," said John Carmichael, the SAFMC's Science and Statistics Program Manager and SEDAR program coordinator. Other modifications to the new assessment include some changes in the estimates of historical recreational catches, changes to estimates for bycatch mortality, and changes in fishery selectivity patterns. Both commercial and recreational fishermen participated in the 3-step series of workshops, including a week-long Data Workshop held in May, a series of webinars for the Assessment Workshop, and the Review Workshop held in mid-October.
The SAFMC developed preliminary options for modifications to the area closure during its September meeting that would depend on the information in the new stock assessment. The options are being included in Regulatory Amendment 10 and will be reviewed again by SAFMC during its December meeting. The regulatory amendment process would allow SAFMC to expedite any changes more quickly through the management process.
For more information and other news, visit the SAFMC Fall 2010 newsletter

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 9:53 am

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:01 am

by Cracker Larry

Doesn't look too bad up there, about the same as here. Good camping weather, beautiful place. I made an attempt to hike the AT many years ago, packed it up and went home after a few weeks

Dang, it's a long walk from Georgia to Maine in those mountains

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... tType=text

Today: Isolated sprinkles. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 58. North wind around 5 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 63. Calm wind becoming south between 5 and 10 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 66. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 67.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 43.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45.

Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 66.

Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Wednesday: Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 40%

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:03 am

by kdog

That sucks, I know that's a huge recreational fishery for you guys. Seems like we just had this conversation, I guess it's getting cold again.

I don't understand how they balance the catches of commercial guys and recreational anglers. By me the big fishery is summer flounder, which have to be 18" with a 4 fish limmit. I must have thrown back at least 75-100 fish that were 17". Then the draggers come in and scoop up everything in sight and move on to clear out another hole. I go back to those spots and everything is gone for the season. I think they can keep 14" fish and a lot of them. I know they have to make a living but it seems kind of disproportionate to what us recreational anglers take home, if any.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 11:07 am

by TomW

Brian where are they hiking on the AT if they make it to NC they can see my house from it. It is about 300 yds from it just after the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Temps are supposed to be in the 50's and 60's from N Ga thru NC, lo 30's at night.

This one is a little closer to the trail coming up from GA, as the AT goes through it, but it is about the same.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... 2=-83.3818

If they need anything have them give me a call at 828-488-6840 that's my cell.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:06 pm

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:14 pm

by TomW

Yep, 6 days from Springer will put them up by me somewhere.

Wish them my best and have fun. Deb and I walk the trail down to the Nantahala Outdoor Center every once in a while for dinner. They have a pretty good restaurant there. Work off all the calories walking back!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:20 pm

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:50 am

by Bowmovement

Sure is pretty country. Used to vacation there every fall when I was growing up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 11:41 am

by capt'nron

TomW wrote:Brian where are they hiking on the AT if they make it to NC they can see my house from it. It is about 300 yds from it just after the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Temps are supposed to be in the 50's and 60's from N Ga thru NC, lo 30's at night.

This one is a little closer to the trail coming up from GA, as the AT goes through it, but it is about the same.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... 2=-83.3818

If they need anything have them give me a call at 828-488-6840 that's my cell.

Tom

You must be on Silvermine Road?

I still need to take Ken @ ERA up on the invite to fish the upper Nanny one day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 5:33 pm

by TomW

Do it Ron the Upper Nanty is georgeous.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 6:40 pm

by msujmccorm

Remember the commercial "It doesn't get any better than this"? They were wrong!

It doesn't get any better than THIS!
[img

][/img]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 6:44 pm

by sitandfish

They both look like keepers.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 6:53 pm

by msujmccorm

They sure are, the one without shoes is on ice!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 7:19 pm

by sitandfish

msujmccorm wrote:They sure are, the one without shoes is on ice!

I noticed right off that her shoes match the fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:18 am

by TRC886

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:43 am

by cape man

My good friend from Victoria, Vancouver Island was in town and we were treated to a WONDERFUL Florida November day with temps in the low 80's and a gentle breeze from the NE. The Spanish Mackerel were hot and heavy under the Skyway bridge at the mouth of Tampa Bay. We put 15 nice ones in the box and I smoked them yesterday. Have some awesome dip for lunch today! Let this one go, but the Kanook's smile was still pretty nice.

A couple of 5-6 foot Bullsharks started following us on our drifts. This is one of three fish they ate on the way in.

On the way in we found a small snook, a small redfish, and a small trout.

All in all a great day. Tomorow's supposed to be even nicer so I'm taking a day of leave and going out with my son.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:59 am

by Larry B

Craig, thanks for the report and pictures. Looks like a fantastic day. I'd to try some of that smoked fish you always talk about

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sweet Craig

Beautiful weather here too. Spanish are always fun, even if not particularly good

Catching heads is always fun too

Did you make your friend some ceviche?

I'd to try some of that smoked fish you always talk about

Ya think? That's Cracker food for sure. That's what we do with fish that you can't otherwise eat, mackerel and mullet

I'm sure he'll bring some to the builders meet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:36 pm

by cape man

Ya think? That's Cracker food for sure. That's what we do with fish that you can't otherwise eat, mackerel and mullet I'm sure he'll bring some to the builders meet

I made bullets out of everything Saturday night - head and tail off, guts out - and put them all on ice for smoking Sunday...all but one which I seasoned with some Everglades seasoning and threw that baby over a nice hot hickory fire. Sweet meat, with absolutely no complaints. Fresh grilled mack or kings done right is hard to beat in my book, as is fresh fried mullet. The oil in a mackerel over a hot grill is awesome. But then that's me....

Don't like them fried or if they have been frozen.

I'll definitely try and bring some to Boca next year, but after tasting Wade's I don't know that mine competes.

Forecast tomorow is holding for winds at 5 from the northeast and bay and inland waters smooth. Going to have a rig set up for the sharks this time and let my son have some fun.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:12 pm

by TomW

Catching some sharks sound like fun also I always use to enjoy a good shark steak. Don't know what the best ones were that they used in Boston. Very close to Swordfish in taste and texture as long as properly caught and handled.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'll definitely try and bring some to Boca next year, but after tasting Wade's I don't know that mine competes.

I'm sure it competes, but Wade and Robin's smoked fish dip was awesome

Wade's a Cracker too though, I can tell

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:03 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice looking fishin' trip pictures Craig and Jeff from a page back

The weather is nice here in the south isn't it? Jeff that picture you posted is priceless....

Did you make your friend some ceviche?

I hope he did. I have used Craig's cerviche recipe 3 times in the last three weeks and it came out great each time....but if he made it with Spanish I wouldn't touch it

That would be a waste of good veggies

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

but if he made it with Spanish I wouldn't touch it That would be a waste of good veggies

Heck, that would be a waste of good lime juice too

Better to smoke it, the smoke tastes better than the fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:06 pm

by TomW

I'll smoke some trout much better than mack's or mullet.

And even a Turkey for Thanksgiving. Everyone have a good one!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 10:50 am

by smilinmatt

For spanish mackeral, flavor is in the tastebuds of the beholder. I think they come out great smoked in a teriyaki marinade. If you "oversmoke" the small ones, they come out almost like beef jerky. I also really like them as shashimi or ceviche. They don't really develop that "fishy" flavor until you cook them.

To me, kingfish are exactly the opposite. It's like if you took a mackeral and bluefish, threw it in a blender and reformed the paste into a filet shape. But I do have a recipe that makes them taste exactly like red snapper. You just have to know how to prepare them. My recipe:

1. Catch a kingfish.
2. Cut into strips.
3. Throw strips into chum grinder and freeze.
4. Run out to 130' and put chum bag in water.
5. Catch red snapper.
6. Prepare using any red snapper recipe.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 11:04 am

by Cracker Larry

1. Catch a kingfish.
2. Cut into strips.
3. Throw strips into chum grinder and freeze.
4. Run out to 130' and put chum bag in water.
5. Catch red snapper.
6. Prepare using any red snapper recipe.

That's my thoughts exactly, with any kind of mackerel

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:55 pm

by Joe H

I've had plenty of smoked fish, mostly my own, but I never have had sashimi or ceviche but it looks, goggled it, and sounds great, just never had the opportunity, I wonder how my fresh water fish would fair with the ceviche recipe, hmmm.

The sun has pretty much set on the season here so I'm just waiting on the hard water.The OD16.

My Grandson, after 2 hours of fishing and Grandpa catching all the fish, finally was so excited to hook into this nice Northern Pike, 2 hours of fishing is like an eternity for a 5 year old.

Sorry about the pic's, it's from my phone.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 6:25 pm

by cape man

I wonder how my fresh water fish would fair with the ceviche recipe, hmmm.

I had some awesome ceviche made from freshwater cichlids in Guyana. I'm sure it will be great!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 7:55 pm

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 8:04 pm

by mechdave

Steam kingfish fillets and mash them up into kingfish salad. Make it just like tuna salad and give it to the kids in their lunch. Mine never figured it out. I have not landed a whole king this year, barracudas have been steaking out the back half or filleting one side.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:53 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I have not landed a whole king this year, barracudas have been steaking out the back half or filleting one side.

Those are actually the only ones worth eating. A smoked half a king that has bled out makes somewhat edible fish spread

The only supposedly edible fish that tastes worse than any mackeral is a bluefish in my humble opinion. For trash fish for spread, you can't beat amberjack

Cooked right they can taste as good than grouper...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

Raymond and I have been out searching the marshes for new skinny water fishing drops, found a few more good ones

This little no-name creek has about 300 Redfish in this pool!

This is my friend, Raymond

He's not only an artist with metal, he's a good fisherman too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 3:22 am

by TomW

Now Richard I myself like a young just over the keeper size Bluefish. Fileted out and grilled with lemon, oranges and herbs they are excellent. At least up in the cold water. Don't know about these warm water ones.

Larry you add a trolling motor to your boat or did you take someone else's.

Fresh water ceviche: Please freeze the fish first to kill any worms or parasites. It only takes a week then thaw and enjoy. Trout and Salmon are particularly good made into ceviche or smoked or any other way of eating. Joe don't know how walleye or perch or pike would be but feel free to try.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:42 am

by Cracker Larry

Larry you add a trolling motor to your boat or did you take someone else's.

That's Raymond's Maverick flats boat. It's rigged to the max

Remote control trolling motor, remote controlled power pole..

Fresh water ceviche: Please freeze the fish first to kill any worms or parasites.

My favorite Sushi chef who hasn't ever poisoned me in 15 years

tells me that you should first freeze any fish that you are going to eat raw, fresh or salt. Ceviche isn't exactly raw since the acid in the lime cooks the fish and the worms, and I've eaten many raw fish right out the water (not fresh water), but it's probably a good idea to freeze it first.

Now Richard I myself like a young just over the keeper size Bluefish.

Yuck

Now this is a fine piece of fish right here. Our last fillet of Alaskan Salmon, glazed with Richards excellent
secret recipe, smoked over a bed of pecan coals

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:47 pm

by gstanfield

Yummy!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:12 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That's a nice creek and a good redfish

Based on the clothes Raymond is wearing, I am guessing it has cooled off abit there. Good stuff!!

Now Richard I myself like a young just over the keeper size Bluefish. Fileted out and grilled with lemon, oranges and herbs they are excellent. At least up in the cold water. Don't know about these warm water ones.

Tom, in my opinion, they don't make enough fruit and herbs to make a bluefish edible. I'll stick with tuna, grouper and snapper

Oh yeah and salmon...

That looks great

I am about out of salmon myself, I am going back to Alaska in July

I am getting really close to booking a trip. I have only a few more details to work out...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:28 pm

by TRC886

FRY the bluefish!!!...but it's got to be done "today"

. Tomorrow, it'll be "O-K"

. The next day, don't waste your grease

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

FRY the bluefish!!!...

I have a different word that begins f to replace fry

They are basically chum to me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:54 pm

by TRC886

Not all of us are fortunate enough to have access to 130'

...we have to make do with what we can

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:05 pm

by Aripeka Angler

TRC886 wrote:

Not all of us are fortunate enough to have access to 130' ...we have to make do with what we can

I hear you. Maybe like Tom said they taste better there

I am thinking God made sea trout so we wouldn't have to eat bluefish though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

Not all of us are fortunate enough to have access to 130'

This Redfish came out of 1' of water, and will eat much better than any Bluefish

So will those oysters on the bank

So did this trout, and it will too

This is Joels dad.

In fact, frogs, gators and snakes all eat much better than bluefish. Yuck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:03 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a nice creek and a good redfish Based on the clothes Raymond is wearing, I am guessing it has cooled off abit there.

That was a few days ago when it was cold, and early morning. Now it's warm again, about 80 today and raining, but supposed to only have a high in the 50s tomorrow and below freezing again tomorrow night. It's been up and down like a yo-yo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:04 pm

by majorgator

I've tried bluefish fried, grilled, baked, you name it. IMO its totally inedible. Terrible stuff. About the best thing they're good for is to cut into strips and hang under a cork

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:24 am

by TomW

As I recall Redfish were considered trashfish also till Paul Prudhomme made them famous in New Orleans 30 - 40 years ago.

They sure weren't on any Charleston menus back then.

But I agree I'd much prefer to eat a trout or red or grouper than a bluefish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 10:07 pm

by tedbayrer

Just a thought from up north,

The blues I caught this year were off the beach, filleted them, cut a pocket in the fillet, stuffed them with a crab meat-bread crumb-pepper flake-minced onion-melted butter stuffing, put in a aluminum foil tent, put on grill, when almost done finished on grill

I also catch flounder, spot, croaker,striper and if lucky enough trout off the beach. I cook the flounder, striper and trout the same way as the blues.

They all taste great, one tip blues need the dark line trimmed out as soon as possible and they should be cooked the day of the catch or they can get oily.

The best is to put out some pots and steam the crabs with old bay seasoning, pour out on a pinic table with some sweet corn, taters and a cold brewsky.

Went to a lake today and caught a mess of bluegills, breaded them and fried in butter.

Wish all a great day fishing!!!!

Ted Bayrer

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 12:08 am

by TomW

Yep Ted that's the way I cooked Blues also. Cut out the dark line and grill the rest. We were normally given a dozen every couple of weeks along with some other fish, plus what we caught. So I have a little bit of experience with the buggers.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 9:19 am

by Larry B

Well I'm going to brave the cold and go out Catfishing today and tonight, Hopefully I'll have some catfish pictures to post in the morning

Night time temps are only suppose to get down to 50, I'm going to take the FL14 up river and camp on the shore and build a big campfire to stay warm though. I believe water temps are in the low 60's so I'm not going swimming this trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:12 am

by smilinmatt

Another day in the Gulf, we couldn't even get out to 40' Saturday because of all the fish in the way. The grouper situation is getting so bad they're eating each other. One of them had a 12" gag in its gut. Hopefully they don't all starve to death during the 6 month closure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:57 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice catch Matt

I assume the one dead on the dock is the one who boated the AJs

I see some Hog Fish in the mix, there must have been a spear gun involved

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 11:43 am

by Prarie Dog

That's a really nice catch Matt, Would someone be good enough to id those fish, can recognize a few, but most I don't.
Thanks, Paul

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:17 pm

by TomW

Very nice catch Matt! Looks like it might have been a little cool down there with the jacket on your dead mate!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:20 pm

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:54 pm

by Prarie Dog

Thanks for posting the pics Brian, Are the Greater Amberjack good to eat?
Paul

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

The AJs in the Gulf of Mexico are very good eating. When Richard cooks them they are excellent

On the Atlantic coast most of the AJ are full of parasitic worms, especially the larger ones. Big, nasty crawling worms

so not many people eat them where I live.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:15 pm

by smilinmatt

Thanks for posting the pics Brian, Are the Greater Amberjack good to eat?
Paul

That's debatable.

I'm not a big fan of them. They have a nice firm meat, but they also have a fishy flavor - kind of a "bluefish lite". We were supplying two holiday fish fries, so we didn't exercise a whole lot of restraint.

My 12 year old was the fish model. He was laying back, dreaming of grouper cheeks wrapped in bacon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:36 pm

by tech_support

Yum

So those were all in less than 40'

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:41 pm

by wadestep

We catch/ spear AJs around here regularly. I like them a lot when they are very fresh, not frozen, and with a soy sauce-based marinade, dill, white wine, onion powder, and then grilled. I don't like then 4 months old out of the freezer at all. However, when I have too much, they make a killer smoked fish dip!
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 3:02 pm

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 3:58 pm

by Cracker Larry

I like them a lot when they are very fresh, not frozen,

The best I ever had was fried by Aripeka Angler, the same day that we caught them in the GOM. They were as good fresh as grouper. We catch a lot of them on our coast, but we usually release them unless a client particularly wants to keep it. By the time they reach legal size of 28" they are too wormy to eat

We do catch some big ones

This is Phil, my life long friend and first mate for a few years. The photo made the cover of Georgia Sportsman magazine

and no, I don't have to worry about copyright with this pic

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:59 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Matt

I have been working too much to get in much fishing. Please don't catch the last gag in the GOM before I get to go again

Amberjack...

The best I ever had was fried by Aripeka Angler, the same day that we caught them in the GOM.

Thanks Larry

I love 'em. I fillet them and completely remove the bloodline and any red meat. To me they are as tasty as grouper if they are cooked right. One of my favorite ways to cook them is to blacken them in a cast iron skillet with melted butter. You gotta do it outside so you don't burn the house down. I then throw the blackened fillets over a bed of linguine and top with fresh homemade salsa with lime juice and cilantro. It is way past good and much better than mullet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:46 am

by TomW

Richard you confirm my recollection on amberjack. I knew I have had it before and it was delicious now I recall why. Thanks for the memory!

By the way it was in New Orleans. They always know how to cook a fish!

I'd die and go to heaven right now if I could get a Pompano in Papiollet from Gallotoirre's right now.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:17 am

by Bluefish2

Stir the fire, on Bluefish! I have a take on this great game fish and questionable delicacy.
There are several requirements for bluefish to be good: small- nothing over 5lb, you can push 7lbs. time of year- if they are eating pogies/menhaden in the fall throw them back. if you ever smell one of these things you will understand why.
Preparation- Bleed them fast and throw them on ice, there is nothing worse than a bluefish left out in the sun for a couple hours.
It helps to be from New Jersey or New York, I don't know why but they all seem to like bluefish.
Try them cooked several different ways. I have had them grilled but a lot of people like them smoked. Much better than striper
Striper are over rated in my book.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 11:19 am

by TRC886

Bluefish2 wrote:questionable delicacy

Obviously

Bluefish2 wrote: Much better than striper
Striper are over rated in my book.
BF

I agree, fresh bluefish are better than than stripers (locally known as "rock" or "rockfish"). However, a rock has ALWAYS been my favorite fish; NOT because he eats so good but because his bones are big enough to find and remove. To this day, I prefer eating fish with the bones intact rather than filleting him!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 12:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

To this day, I prefer eating fish with the bones intact rather than filleting him!

You must have one big @ss frying pan

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 9:02 pm

by TRC886

I'll post pictures in 2-3 weeks. (My camera is more antiquated than my cell phone, it uses film and my phone won't take pictures

)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:29 am

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 12:38 pm

by wadestep

Got out offshore Sat - once again NOAA was wrong - instead of 5 knots and <2 feet, we had 10-15 knots and 3-4' chop, whitecaps all day. Then we commenced to catch our limit of the extremely scarce Gag grouper in about 80 minutes. Good thing they are shutting down the fishery for the next 6 months, maybe we'll be able to catch our 2 per person limit in 60 mins afterwards.

<note the sarcasm>
All in all, it was a good day, and likely the last for gag grouper for at least 6 months.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:53 pm

by TRC886

Dog Fish wrote:
You must have one big @ss frying pan

Maybe he has one of these.

Brian........

...I WANT ONE

trc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 10:26 pm

by TRC886

No fish today

, but 2-3 good hours on the water with my son and nephew

. Temps in the low to mid 40's, calm winds, snow still clinging to the banks and trees, (a skim of) ice at the edges of the river. Beautiful day for being on the water

.

First time I've ever had to shovel snow out of the boat before using it though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:53 pm

by Bowmovement

TRC886 wrote:No fish today , but 2-3 good hours on the water with my son and nephew . Temps in the low to mid 40's, calm winds, snow still clinging to the banks and trees, (a skim of) ice at the edges of the river. Beautiful day for being on the water .

First time I've ever had to shovel snow out of the boat before using it though

My parents live in Eastern NC and they have had some snow also. Growing up there I think I can remember one white Christmas.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:12 pm

by TRC886

Bowmovement wrote: My parents live in Eastern NC

Matt

Beaufort county? I'm right next door in Martin county.

trc

edit: I was on the Tar river, just above Tranter's creek.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 5:22 pm

by sitandfish

Got to start the year off right with a few fish. Got to love New Years Day fishing.

Even got a new fisherman introduced to the sport. Here's Bart's first fish. Doesn't quite have the knack of posing with the fish in front of him, yet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 11:35 pm

by Bowmovement

TRC886 wrote:
Bowmovement wrote: My parents live in Eastern NC

Matt
Beaufort county? I'm right next door in Martin county.

trc

edit: I was on the Tar river, just above Tranter's creek.

Craven County. Grew up on the Neuse and Trent rivers.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:04 am

by Cracker Larry

We just had to go. Even as cold as it is, my buddy Raymond and I, and our friend Dave had to go out today and give it a try. I've never seen a winter this cold, I ain't hardly ever even seen a week this cold

But if I go longer than a week without getting on the water I start to twitch. So it was 20 degrees this morning and I was twitching, and it was about 30 when we launched Raymond's Maverick. He twitches too

There aren't many production boats that impress me, but this boat is really sweet. We put in at Lemon Island, on the Chechessee River just below Beaufort, SC. Casey, this is probably where we will launch when you come in a couple of weeks, unless things change.

We splashed early at slack low water, our theory being that the sun would warm up the dry shell flats and the reds would move up on them as the tide flooded. It was flat calm for a change with clear blue skies, so we decided to fish the oyster flats in Broad River instead of the little creeks. The water temp was about 3 degrees warmer in the big river, but still only about 43. So we took a very cold 30 minute ride out to big water. I'm telling yall it was COLD

This is Dave, the masked Avenger. He works for the Sheriffs Dept. in Savannah and I wouldn't want him hunting for me

I'm about 6' tall and Raymond is a head taller than I am. Dave is another half a head above Raymond and twice as wide. If I saw this mask coming up a dark alley I'd run for my life

We reached our starting point with little feeling left in our bodies and started looking for fish. In this kind of cold the water is so clear that all you can do is sight fish. We ease along the shell bars looking ahead for water pushing, tails, or the fish themselves. When we see a fish then we cast to it. This is Dave on the hunt, and he won't miss much

He is a great fisherman.

It doesn't take us very long to find our first school of fish. It's hard to see them in this pic but there are at least 50 redfish below the surface and at least 3 fish tailing. The problem is, they can see us as well as we can see them, and they are spooky

We had to spot the fish way out in front of us and cast out in front of them, then work the bait just right. If you cast too close to them they would spook and run. If they saw the boat they would spook and run. The water is so clear that they are on high alert.

After casting to and spooking numerous fish, I finally hook up and lose one, then Raymond gets hooked up to one

and breaks the ice by landing the first and smallest fish of the day

But heck it's a fish

We worked up the river with the incoming tide and came across 12- 15 schools of different sizes. The little ones we didn't even cast to and the biggest fish were not feeding, we bounced all kinds of baits over some of them and they barely moved. They just laid there and watched the baits go by. Some of slot sized fish were feeding but if you hooked one out of a school, the rest of them would blow out and you'd have to look for another. We saw a lot of fish and only caught a few, but what the heck, it is mid January. I'm surprised we caught any at all

We worked the entire incoming tide until the water was up in the grass and the sun was setting.

Picked up a fish here and a fish there, didn't wear them out, didn't get skunked

I think we covered about 5 miles of river, cast 5,000 times to 500 fish, and landed 5. A beautiful (cold) winter day in the Low Country, spent with a couple of great guys. Life is good

Sure feels good to be home in front of the fire now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:13 pm

by TomW

A beautiful (cold) winter day in the Low Country, spent with a couple of great guys. Life is good

What more can a guy ask for!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:16 pm

by tobolamr

*sniff* *sniff* reminds me of pre-spawn bass fishing up here in Wisconsin on Otter Lake. I don't ice fish, so this is enough to make a man cry. I'm ready for the ice to melt!!! Nice pics!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:41 pm

by Joe H

Did someone say Ice fishing!

We just had to go. Even as cold as it is

Nice report Larry, I know exactly what you mean, my twin brother and I went (south ha ha) to Canada the last couple of weekends ice fishing, we took the ferry boat from Algonac to an Indian reservation called Walpole Island across to Canada to Mitchels bay and caught our limit of jumbo perch two weekends in a row, unfortunately the river is jammed up with ice this weekend and we cannot get across, so, just to give us that warm feeling Janet and I made our flight reservations for Boca Grande.

Here's a picture from my phone going across the river to Canada, you can see the ice is already building up, we were right in the front row and could hear the ice crunching under the boat!

Boarding:

Icy Crossing:

Made it!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 5:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

Jeezus Joe, that's nuts

Looking forward to seeing yall again in Boca

Think warm

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:53 am

by LeeFitz

Brother-in-law's first Barramundi (best sport fish in the world - bar none!) on lure! He was one happy chap.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

LeeFitz wrote:Brother-in-law's first Barramundi (best sport fish in the world - bar none!) on lure! He was one happy chap.

That's a nice fish

They are cousin to our saltwater snook I think. I saw one in Capeman's lab a couple of years ago. He hand fed the Barramundi a small fish and the strike was ferocious. You could feel the concrete floor shake even through the mass of the fish tank

I think it was quite a bit bigger than the one in the photo but I wasn't going to stick fingers in there.

best sport fish in the world - bar none!

Hmmmm, not sure I want to go there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:39 pm

by TomW

best sport fish in the world - bar none!

Hmmmm, not sure I want to go there

Me either!

They get pretty big let's look at lb. per lb.

In the 2-4lb range nothing beats this guy:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:33 pm

by tech_support

not a sportfish, but pound for pound I will take this one...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:49 pm

by sitandfish

shine wrote:not a sportfish, but pound for pound I will take this one...

Pound for pound... I'll take this one.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:51 pm

by Prarie Dog

Joel, is that some kind of a Snapper?

Thanks, Paul

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:56 pm

by LeeFitz

That's a nice fish They are cousin to our saltwater snook I think. I saw one in Capeman's lab a couple of years ago. He hand fed the Barramundi a small fish and the strike was ferocious. You could feel the concrete floor shake even through the mass of the fish tank I think it was quite a bit bigger than the one in the photo but I wasn't going to stick fingers in there.

They certainly do get larger than the one in the pic, which at 65cm is just over the minimum size of 58 cm. The pending world record Barramundi is 135 cm and 44.6 kg (just under 100 lb).

The strike of a Barra IS ferocious, and if on the surface sounds like a gun going off. However, you can "stick your fingers in there", if you are game, as Barra have no teeth. They are an implosion feeder! Thumb in the mouth is handy way to pick one up (not the one in the pic!).

Among Barra fishermen, the "Metre club" is the holey grail.

best sport fish in the world - bar none!

Now I just knew that would get a few going!

What are the criteria for being the best sport fish in the world?
1) Hard to catch. A basically lazy fish with a very aggressive strike when you manage to trigger it - you have know what you are doing and work hard at it.
2) When hooked they invariably come out of the water - so you know for sure what is on the end of your line.
3) The are not caught unless they are in the boat. Fight tough and dirty, with an uncanny ability to throw/bend/brake hooks and lures.
4) If you do manage to catch one - fish in the 58 - 95 cm range are great eating.

But I defer to sitandfish! The species in the pic he posted exceeds the above criteria!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:30 pm

by TomW

What are the criteria for being the best sport fish in the world?
1) Hard to catch. A basically lazy fish with a very aggressive strike when you manage to trigger it - you have know what you are doing and work hard at it.
2) When hooked they invariably come out of the water - so you know for sure what is on the end of your line.
3) The are not caught unless they are in the boat. Fight tough and dirty, with an uncanny ability to throw/bend/brake hooks and lures.

Add will cut off line in rocks will jump and throw lure back at you! Taste great, don't need to be big. Your big baramundi sound more like a 40lb striped bass over here. Winter schools can run as large as 60lbs or 30kilos.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:58 pm

by Cracker Larry

Joel, is that some kind of a Snapper?
Thanks, Paul

Paul, that is a Pinfish, our primary live bait for grouper, snapper, amberjack, cobia, kingfish and about any other game species, including redfish and trout. They are little guys, mostly hand size or smaller. We catch them on hook and line or in traps. They are the hardest fighting little fish you can imagine. I think if one weighed 5 pounds you couldn't land it without grouper tackle! They are also the biggest nuisance inshore as bait thieves, some days you can't catch a red or a trout because the pinfish are all over the bait.

I got no opinion of the best fighting fish, there are too many to count. Whatever is on my line at the time is OK with me

If you match the tackle to the fish they all fight good. A bream on a little cane pole puts up a good fight. A sailfish on 20lb spinning tackle, a wahoo on a 70 mph run, a bull dolphin dancing in the air, an amberjack pulling like a school bus, a big grouper digging for the bottom, a cobia spooling a TLD30, let's not forget tarpon, they aren't the Silver King for nothing, or a 1000 pound hammerhead. It's all good

I've been trolling for mermaids before, never had much luck, must not be using the right bait

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 2:33 pm

by TomW

Larry must be fishing today nearly 60 in Savannah!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

Went to Daufuskie for a visit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:31 pm

by TomW

Even better a boat ride and good folks!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 7:01 am

by LeeFitz

Don't know whether to post this under "fishing" or "rod building". Maybe I should post it in both!

No.2 son christened the new Barra rod I made him for Xmas!

This bloke is a great fisherman. Been chasing Barra with me since he was a young fella, and has an amazing record for putting legal Barra in the boat.

Has no fear! I guess that is easy when lost or broken lures are just replaced from Dad's tackle box.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:51 am

by gstanfield

Good job on both fish and rod, where is that water he's fishing?

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:30 pm

by LeeFitz

George

The picture was taken in an estuary off the Hinchinbrook Channel in the Hinchinbrook Island National Park between Townsville and Cairns in north Queensland. The region is a World Heritage listed area.

Cheers

Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:44 pm

by gstanfield

Cool, thanks for the info. It looks like a place that would be just full of fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:56 pm

by Prarie Dog

Is that fresh water there or salt and do the Barra prefer one to the other? George, it looks warm there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:10 pm

by gstanfield

After today I must say that almost anywhere looks warm. The temp was pretty mild, actually got up into the high 20's, but we had 40-60mph winds and snow coming down so hard visibility was an honest 10ft at best. From the front bumper of my truck I could not see the back of it. The truck disappeared about mid way of the bed

Nasty, horrible day and there's no staying warm when the snow blows straight sideways at 40+mph

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:18 pm

by Prarie Dog

OUCH

When it's like that here I wonder what the H%%?? i'm doin here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:27 pm

by LeeFitz

Barramundi spawn in salt water around the mouths of large estuaries. Young Barra then swim upstream and may spend a year or more in freshwater lakes and lagoons before a big "wet" allows them to return to the salt.

As a species they are very tolerant of salinity, living quite happily in fresh water ot salt water or anything in between. They are a very popular aquaculture species because of this and because of their growth rate - they are plate size by 12 mths of age.

They are also a major species for stocking empoundments for sport fishing, but they cannot breed unless they can return to the salt water. Specimens up to about 80 cm (2' 8") are generally male, and over that they become female. The min. and max. size for taking are 58 cm (1' 11") and 120 cm (3' 11"). The really big ones are breeding females.

The really big Barra like the world record one above are rare in the "wild" although they are out there. Empoundment Barra grow rapidly to a very large size (like the world record above). They hit hard and fight dirty but taste like mud!

I only chase the wild salt water Barra. My first Barra was 104 cm (3' 5") and 14 kg (30 lb). I have spent the last 10 years trying to repeat the experience but have not got there yet. A couple over in the 90 cm mark but not in the magic "metre" class.

Water temp yesterday was 30oC (86oF).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:09 am

by Prarie Dog

Sounds like my kind of fish. They sound very much like a fish we have here called Stripers that are also good fighters. Thanks for the info. Would also like to point out that most of the water where George and I live has changed from the liquid to the solid state. It's a little unkind to tell George and I how warm yours is unless you would like to come go ice fishing. I haven't gone yet but if you want to fly up here I'll be happy to take you.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:50 pm

by Steven

Speaking of Stripers.

Did a guided Striper trip on Lake Whitney, Texas Monday morning. Grew up fishing salt water, so still learning this fresh water stuff. Departed the ramp at about 8am. A balmy 30 degrees. No wind and blue bird skies. Not idea conditions. Sunny and calm is good for the fisherman, but bad for the fishing. North breeze and clouds blew in at 1:30 and the bite turned on for a little while. Had half a dozen throw backs. The two small ones are sand bass. Caught these dead sticking. Using jig heads with small Bass Assasin soft plastic shads, drop to the depth the fish showed on the graph and hold still. Only movement of lure comes from the slow drift.

That's a 14" Sand Bass in the Stripers mouth.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:21 pm

by TomW

That's not bad on freash water Stephen 1 an hour. If you do find them there make a wide swing and use your wide spread FF to see if they have moved off that spot. It's a guessing game as they will follow the inland currents and that is what you will need to learn. The Salmon in Lake Michigan will follow the currents of the underwater rivers and the Stripers do the same over here in the Lakes in SC. Figure that out in your lakes and your ahead of the game, you only need to figure out if they go upstream or down stream.

Heck even in the Chesepeake Bay the guys I know up there will follow what they call the river currents. They have numerous rivers coming in and each add water with enriched nutrients to feed larger bait fish. I think you get the idea.

PS: Now you know why you need a larger bait tank!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:30 pm

by Steven

Find the bait and find the fish. Which we did all morning. Tons of bait. Just couldn't coax a bite. The next couple of months will be good dead stick fishing. This was a very slow day. A good day would be limiting out on a 5 hr. trip. That would have been 20 of those beauties. Had it been overcast, we might have done that. All we got were caught in the last couple hours. The only reason I'm putting in a livewell is for Striper fishing. The lure bite will stop when the weather warms. Then it's several months of live bait fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:14 am

by LeeFitz

Anyone fishing? Yup, me - well I will be. Tomorrow is the opening of the Barramundi season here in Queensland.

Cyclone (hurricane to you guys!) Anthony (Cat 2) crossed the coast about 120 miles south of here last night.
Cyclone Yasi is 1100 miles north east of here, headed straight for Townsville and expected to cross the coast as a Cat 4 storm on Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

Weather tomorrow is expected to be fine and relatively calm (calm before the storm?). Barra generally go on the chew with the dropping atmospheric pressure, so here's hoping!

The last time I went fishing when there was a cyclone off the coast I caught my presonal best Barra and joined the "Metre Club".

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:18 am

by gstanfield

Cool, stay safe out there and bring back some cool pics to share

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:41 am

by Cracker Larry

Anyone fishing? Yup, me

Yep, me too. Fished all day yesterday. Raymond and I launched the boat at 0700 and fished until 1700. It was a beautiful day, calm winds, mostly sunny and the temps were up to 70 degrees!! We haven't seen 70 degrees since about last October. We found several large schools of reds but couldn't get them to bite anything

Between us we made about 10,000 casts, had 2 hookups, lost them both. Didn't catch a fish

Skunked

Raymond blames it on my new rod.

Every time I think I'm getting the knack for winter redfishing, they make a fool out of me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:32 pm

by Prarie Dog

Larry, were you fishing with live-bait or artificials?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

Artificials. Water temp is in the 40s, there isn't any live bait.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:18 pm

by Prarie Dog

Ouch

Try not to fall in.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:05 pm

by cape man

Alternator died on the Cessna as we cleared Florida's mainland and were heading across Florida Bay to Marathon, but the batteries kept everything running until we landed. The boat was up on a lift and the 220 ground fault breaker was dead so it took about 2 hours to find and replace it before we could get in the water. That's how it started....

Spent Friday eve catching about 4 dozen real nice pilchards, and added another 200 or so Saturday morning before heading off shore. Went about 5 miles south of the reef near Loewe Key and fished the color change till about 2pm. Saw one sail free jump on the way out, but other than a remora had nothing bite. Did have a school of black fin tuna come flying past, but the pilchards we tossed didn't stop them. Lost something big (Goliath Grouper?) on a wreck in 100 feet on the way back...filled the bait well again, with about 400 pilchards this time and went to dinner.

Sunday we ran out to the stream which was 20 miles south of the reef at American Shoals light. Wind from the NE at 10-15, great weed lines, but no birds, bait, or fish. There were THOUSANDS of Portugese Manowars in the water, including a wind row just inside the gulf stream where they were within a few feet of each other and stretched horizon to horizon. Checking with some colleagues to find out if that is normal or some wierd event.

Stopped on a patch reef in 18 feet and caught 7 real nice Cero Mackerel in the 5-10 lb range, which took the stink off. The replacement alternator they sent was also defective so we had to drive back to Tampa instead of flying (6.5 hours instead of 1.5). Great trip though, fishing with some really great guys. Swore I was not going to take a picture until we had a sailfish on, so none taken. However, here's a great shot of Richard fishing and me with a home brew the first week of January on Cape Sable...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a beautiful pic

Too bad about the sails, I know the feeling

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 7:41 am

by cape man

Too bad about the sails, I know the feeling

Especially when we stopped to talk with a friend in Largo and learned the bite was on up there! Still beat kicking around the house for the weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 1:39 am

by chicagoross

Finally got out! Water temp 83 degrees, a couple of small (15#-20#?) MahiMahi for dinner tonight.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 6:07 pm

by smilinmatt

Finally got out! Water temp 83 degrees, a couple of small (15#-20#?) MahiMahi for dinner tonight.

I guess small is a relative term. When we get Mahi on our coast, they're 15-20".

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 8:29 pm

by Joe H

Man the fishing down south looks and sounds so warm and inviting.

I took my Grandson out ice fishing yesterday, we couldn't get the fish to bite on anything and nothing worth spearing swam through but it was fun just getting out, water temp about 34 below the 1 1/2 ft of ice, I actually tied a safty rope around my Grandson inside the hut, one never knows.

My neighbors ice shanty, it's about 2 miles out in Lake St.Clair.

The water was crystals clear and there were lots of fish swimming through but the picture didn't come out very well.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 8:40 pm

by sitandfish

He looks happy!

He looks happy?

Thought I'd try it both ways. I'm not sure which I should go with?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:02 pm

by Cracker Larry

He looks happy?

He looks to me like he's waiting on the 1st Delta jet heading south

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:32 pm

by Joe H

He looks happy!

He looks happy?

He looks to me like he's waiting on the 1st Delta jet heading south.

Yep!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:34 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:
He looks happy?
He looks to me like he's waiting on the 1st Delta jet heading south

On second thought he looks like a lot of the latest fashion of guys around here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 3:48 pm

by timmydafool

sitandfish wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:
He looks happy?
He looks to me like he's waiting on the 1st Delta jet heading south
On second thought he looks like a lot of the latest fashion of guys around here.

Man I don't know when or where this pic was taken but it has been cold, cloudy, rainy, and now they are predicting snow.... AGAIN!!! up here ...

I guess I just gotta bust out the overalls and head down to goergetown or edisto before the spring rains hit...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 3:57 pm

by sitandfish

timmydafool wrote:...I guess I just gotta bust out the overalls and head down to goergetown or edisto before the spring rains hit...

Too late. We just had 4 days straight of rain.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:01 pm

by timmydafool

More's on the way tonight and tomorrow to0!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:38 pm

by Prarie Dog

Looks like that kids dad had to give him a sack of money to go ice fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:57 pm

by timmydafool

I've seen this on the discovery channel it's actually an Eskimo Whaling camp and thats a spear in his hands...

Oh and sorry Whales aren't fish so that doesn't count!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:57 pm

by Joe H

Looks like that kids dad had to give him a sack of money to go ice fishing.

The kids dad wouldn't know how to catch a fish if it bite him in the ass! But if going out ice fishing means he can spend a little more time with Papa (Granddad) then he's in, of coarse after about 15 minutes in that shanty I think he was having second thoughts.

Joe H

BTW: I talked him into it with the promise of driving the ATV in the snow.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:37 pm

by Prarie Dog

I figured there was a dangle in there somewhere

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:06 am

by LeeFitz

The Hinchinbrook Channel in north Queensland, where I chase the elusive Barramundi, took the full force of cyclone Yasi (hurricane to those in the US) two weeks ago. The damage to the town of Cardwell and adjacent Port Hinchinbrook at the northern end of the channel have to be seen to be believed. Cardwell looks like a war zone, and the 3 metre storm surge really messed up the boats in the Port Hinchinbrook marina.

Near mature pine trees in an adjacent plantation were snapped like match sticks and thousands of acres of mangroves and other trees have been smashed ot completely stripped of leaves.

Today I tried to visit with the local Barra to see how they got on in the big blow. The water is still very muddy and full of debris, and we only boated three Barra. Two were just undersize and this one was just on the legal limit, but had plenty of attitude - now fillted and in the fridge. Christened the new Barra rod that I made as a Xmas present to myself.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:56 am

by msujmccorm

Looks like here after Katrina... not fun. Nice fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:20 pm

by sitandfish

I went fishing today.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:39 pm

by frazoo

sitandfish wrote:I went fishing today.

I don't recognize that model

. Must have been a lot of mods, it don't even look like a bateau boat now.

Storms really wreck up a place!

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 6:08 pm

by Aripeka Angler

sitandfish wrote:I went fishing today.

Tell us more, how did this happen?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:48 pm

by sitandfish

Aripeka Angler wrote:...Tell us more, how did this happen?

Planned to get on the water early. Front came through over night and mixed the hot with the cold. The morning fog was thick as soup. While we were heading towards the boat ramp we ran through all the different scenarios; not go, head north, south, wait, go for it...

When we got to the ramp we pulled over and figured we would give it an hour. Couple boats put in and a couple boats turned around. Still no alarms went off. Finally, one of us gets out and walks closer to the ramp. (This is a very steep ramp and the tide was way low.) We see him talking to a wildlife agent (still nothing out of the ordinary) and he walks back to us. He says... "car in the water." He's not a real talker.

We get out of the truck and.... the camera comes out. Here is my first picture. Can't quite figure that anything is different except the dock is jacked a bit sideways. Lane #2 has a boat being launched. You already know what picture #2 looks like.

We went a mile down the road to the next ramp. Figured if we put in at the ramp with the car wedged under the floating dock, they would have the whole ramp shut down with a crane and tow trucks and rescue vehicles and Wildlife Investigators and....

As we were leaving, 5 cars from 4 agencies were heading to the ramp.

No indications that anything happened except the guy was driving in the thick fog and had no idea that the fog in front on him (right before he hit the water) was any different than the fog he had been driving through for a while.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:55 pm

by Aripeka Angler

No indications that anything happened except the guy was driving in the thick fog and had no idea that the fog in front on him (right before he hit the water) was any different than the fog he had been driving through for a while.

Ahhh, that explains it perfectly,glad he didn't hurt anyone...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:31 pm

by Prarie Dog

Makes you wonder if Murphy doesn't live at boat ramps with his "dumb them down" forcefield up. I know he's got me before.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:24 am

by Bobg

I tell folks who want to visit here, to come this way and if your hat floats, you've gone just a wee bit to far.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:06 pm

by smilinmatt

We found some big boys yesterday. He weighed in at 84#. I was expecting 80# of worms and 4# of fish, but he was completely worm-free. Guess the smoker will be working overtime this week.

I guess the picture is a little too wide to display correctly (at least for me). It's here in the gallery:

http://gallery.bateau2.com/albums/userp ... 030495.jpg

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:14 pm

by Mad Dog

Congrats on a really nice catch.

Sweeeeet!

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

That is one heck of an Amberjack to shoot free diving! Matt, you are the man

Great photo too!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:19 pm

by wej

Sa-WEET!!!

Always thought it would be cool to be able to dive a wreck then go back up and tell my wife & mom what was there and see how long it would take them to catch "the big fish"...then go on to the next one.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:36 pm

by tech_support

super cool picture

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:53 pm

by colonialc19

Now thats a donkey, and while freediving, thats crazy cool

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:52 am

by Royce

Great photo Matt and an awesome AJ. I've pulled on a few that big and they can really fight... and that's with me in my element, not in theirs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 4:37 pm

by dborecky

Great fish........ I like...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 7:09 pm

by smilinmatt

Unfortunately, the AJ is now reeking havoc on the neighborhood (how do you like that pun).

I put a bunch of bricks in a crab trap and threw it ontop the carcass, but the head separated and floated off.

Today I saw another nice AJ, about a 5# hogfish, several really nice mutton snapper and tons of flag yellowtail snapper. Luckily for them, I spent the day at the Florida Aquarium (I just had to keep telling myself to breath).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 8:08 pm

by wadestep

WOW - that's a fish! Freediving also! Were you in deep water and got them up higher in the water column, or did you find one that big in free-diving depth water?
Nothing like fishing with the straight hook!
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 11:10 am

by smilinmatt

We were at a spot in 120', but I only had to dive to 50' to shoot him. After about 20 minutes, he found his way to the anchor rode, where he wound himself up. I spent the next 15 minutes diving down to 60' unwrapping him. Luckily at that point, he was pretty much spent.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 9:54 pm

by wadestep

Sounds like lots of fun. I've never attempted free-diving spearing in water I know I couldn't reach the bottom. Looks like you've got that figured out. I usually SCUBA, but I've got lots of respect for free-divers. Spearing essentially pelagic fish in deep water sounds challenging.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 5:55 pm

by gstanfield

Well I tired today. the lakes are still frozen, but the temps got up into the 40's and the river was open so I grabbed the canoe and headed out. I knew the fishing would be near impossible as the water is visibly muddy, but it was even worse than that

Under that spinner is a bright orange ribber jig about 3/8" under water and you can't see it. That was my first clue it was going to be a day spent floating rather than fishing. I still gave it a try, but came home empty. While floating along it was nice and serene out there, most of the snow had melted and the river was flowing fairly full from snowmelt already.

I finally gave up on fish and decided to enjoy a paddle downstream. My truck was waiting 5 miels downstream so what else was I going to do

It was an enjoyable day until....

I broke two paddles last year and one the first time out this year. I think I need to find some better paddles than what they sell around here. I ended up getting my arm, coat and sweater all soaked on my right arm up to my armpit grabbing the broken paddle from the river. It would have sucked bigtime to be quite literally up creek without one

All done though it was a nice day to float the river, despite the issues at hand. For some reason I've always been fond of that river

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 8:08 pm

by Brettitt41

Nice looking river. It looks fishy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:01 pm

by TRC886

No rock

but my son caught this 6 pound blue catfish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:13 pm

by wej

Crappie are just starting to bite in NW Arkansas.... hopefully I'll post a pic or 2 of some "slabs" in the next couple weeks.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:13 am

by LeeFitz

Been Barra fishing again today - put 13 in the boat!

3 x keepers.

No.2 son caught one (59 cm). Blew another one in the timber behind him that would have been close on 1 metre.

Bro caught one too (68 cm).

Oh yeah - and I also caught one (70 cm).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:48 pm

by Aripeka Angler

The kids and I went fishing over the the weekend. The weather was warm and the wind was 10-15 kts. Pics...

Stephanie and Steve and James...

We caught a crap crapload of fish, unfortunately, some we had to release

The fish were released in great shape with no body parts hanging from their mouths

We chunked back over 16 keeper and supposedly extinct red and gag grouper. Still had fun though...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:56 pm

by Mad Dog

Oh man that looks like a good time. I'm hoping we have that kind of weather and water come end of July. I don't have such a nice boat but I hear you need a ride at the Texas Meet?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Mad Dog wrote:Oh man that looks like a good time. I'm hoping we have that kind of weather and water come end of July. I don't have such a nice boat but I hear you need a ride at the Texas Meet?

MD

I sure do need a ride

I really don't even care if I fish, I just want to see the Texas coastline for a few miniutes

This will be my first trip to your state other than for a plane change...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:45 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish Richard. Too bad they are endangered

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:58 am

by Mad Dog

Aripeka Angler wrote:
Mad Dog wrote:Oh man that looks like a good time. I'm hoping we have that kind of weather and water come end of July. I don't have such a nice boat but I hear you need a ride at the Texas Meet?

MD
I sure do need a ride I really don't even care if I fish, I just want to see the Texas coastline for a few miniutes This will be my first trip to your state other than for a plane change...

We'll plan on it! There is a lot more to Texas than those airline terminals. Of course my only experience in Florida is theme parks and hotel confernce centers so I have some catching up to do as well. Since you'll have to buy a license anyway (I always carry tackle onboard) you may as well fish.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:33 am

by Aripeka Angler

That's awesome Mad Dog

I appreciate the invite

and look forward to meeting you guys....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:39 pm

by Talon150

Dont know if inland fishing counts, but taking the girlfiend for her 1st time fishing today at my uncles stock tank, and hopefully hitting calaveras lake this weekend!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:18 pm

by Mad Dog

Talon150 wrote:Dont know if inland fishing counts, but taking the girlfiend for her 1st time fishing today at my uncles stock tank, and hopefully hitting calaveras lake this weekend!!

Hey Talon, nice to see another local on the board. Of course it counts! Lots of river and lake guys running their BBC boats inland. But we may have to explain what a "stock tank" is.

I know because I grew up fishing stock tanks using jitterbugs and Pico Perch lures for stocked largemouths (no, that's not why they're called stock tanks).

For all those not knowing about fishing holes local to San Antonio, Calaveras lake is an impoundment dammed up by our local utility company to cool their coal-fired electical plant. It is stocked with usual lake fair but also red drum. They don't spawn but they get really big.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:02 pm

by LeeFitz

Among Barramundi purests like me, impoundment Barra don't count!

Big, fat, roe-bound freaks of nature!

Of course an alternate view is that I can't catch them.

Cheers

Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:51 pm

by Talon150

lol yeah its always nice to see a local also...caught seven catfish varying 6-11 pounds and three largemouth in the tank!!! girlfriend caught two cats and one largemouth but all the bass were not of eating size

but hey friday is only three days away

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:38 pm

by Prarie Dog

We're taking a little Colorado spring break fishing at the Texas Coast. Below is a pic of my son's buddy Reese with a Rat Red caught yesterday. He was pretty fired up. The Sheephead are spawning and biting a bunch. We have high winds a lot of chop and a slow bite. When it's like this I get excited knowing things are going to turn around. BTW a GF18 will really stir your chili up in a heavy chop. It's softer than some flat bottom's I've been on but it's still a flatbottomed boat, man will it go skinny.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:06 pm

by Prarie Dog

Got a pretty nice picture of how the bite was today. Very little wind, high tides but the reds and specs are awol or not eating.

The news ain't all bad, we have one of the truly lovely places on the planet to fish. Liveoaks hanging over the creek make for some beautiful scenery.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:04 pm

by TomW

Georgeous Paul, reminds me of the Islands on the Mississippi where we have our cabin. Now if the Levee comissision would just leave us alone.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:28 pm

by Talon150

Fished calaveras this weekend eight catfish 2 8 pounders, 1 11 pounder, 3 17 pounders, 1 24 pounder and the mac daddy was 32 pounds and three ounces. also my little cousin caught a largemouth no longer than six inches, and 2 perch about 5 inches and the other about 8 inches. Great weekend!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:16 pm

by gstanfield

Sounds like a wonderful weekend. I hit the river again and came home empty handed

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:36 pm

by wej

George, you really need to head south!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:38 pm

by gstanfield

Yes sir, I know that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:43 pm

by wej

I sent you an e-mail offering to give your resume to my local law enforcement contacts... ... You did get it right? Been bout a month just assumed you weren't interested.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:52 pm

by gstanfield

Must missed that one actually.

Sometimes my spam fileter eats things that it should send to me

Either that or I was hiding from the law when you sent it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:59 pm

by wej

Arkansas isn't paradise......but it isn't a frozen wasteland either...well rarely anyway.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:02 am

by gstanfield

Arkansas isn't paradise......but it isn't a frozen wasteland either

You should submit that as a new state motto, maybe it'll catch on

I tried to submit for Wyoming: "Wyoming, 10,000 years hurricane free"

George

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:33 am

by Prarie Dog

gstanfield wrote:I tried to submit for Wyoming: "Wyoming, 10,000 years hurricane free"

That has to be true

George, when I moved to Colorado years ago, one of the locals told me about Wyoming. He said "Wyoming, where the men are men and the sheep are terrified". I'm sure Wyoming people say similar things about people from Colorado so I wanted to warn you. If you go to Arkansas don't forget to get your shots.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:04 am

by wej

Yes, shots are a must!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:02 pm

by wej

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:18 pm

by gstanfield

Good job! Looks like fun

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:30 pm

by Prarie Dog

Wej, that's a fine looking boy and a nice catch. He's young but he looks like he has the BBV look on his face.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:30 pm

by wej

Big boy there reeled in 2 after they were hooked, then he discovered the live well!!! He was remarkable well behaved in the boat this morning.

Yes he does. He likes to bring his hammer out & "adjust" the side I'm not working on. Oh well, he IS a boy afterall.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:37 pm

by Prarie Dog

I hope he has a plastic hammer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 4:19 pm

by wej

Sometimes he uses his plastic one......then there are other times.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 10:56 pm

by TRC886

Enjoy this time while you can...they grow up fast

trc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:31 pm

by wej

Oh I'm enjoying the fire out of my little man...got another one on the way.....have a feeling it's gonna be a girl

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:47 pm

by TRC886

Congrats...and quit rolling those eyes about a little girl. I always wanted a pretty little girl

trc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:57 pm

by AussieBoater

TRC886 wrote:Congrats...and quit rolling those eyes about a little girl. I always wanted a pretty little girl

trc

And they make darn fine fisher... people??? person, woman...

Anyway, my girl loved being in the boat and catching fish...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:04 pm

by tobolamr

My almost 8 year old daughter is already asking me when she can dig worms and we can go fishing! Ice-out hasn't hit yet...

All of our kids like being in the boat, and like fishing. Some like playing in the boat yet more than fishing, but they'll come around as they grow up!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:30 pm

by wej

I'll love it if it is a girl guys! No question....til she turns 13 or so.

Today Allen didn't get time out at daycare!! So I asked,"How would you like to celebrate?" Allen replied,"Let's go fishing in daddy's boat!" - That's my boy, I'll sacrifice to give him what he wants

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:19 am

by Bobg

No time out huh? The boy ain't sick, is he?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:03 am

by wej

He may be Bob maybe we should stay home!! He may be short on Vitamin D....I hear out on the water you get much more than staying in the yard....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:27 pm

by cape man

Caught this baby today...

Okay...there may or may not be some photoshop going on here...

One of our breeder redtail catfish at work today. Amazon species that gets over 100 lbs. Just havin' fun with you guys!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

What do you think about this redfish caught in Jacksonville ? I don't think it's photoshopped. Very odd

pics from http://www.jaxkayakfishing.com/phpBB/topic24873.html

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:00 pm

by Prarie Dog

Must be a new subspecies, let's call it a knothead redfish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:06 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:

What do you think about this redfish caught in Jacksonville ? I don't think it's photoshopped...

Long way to go to put a bump on a fish.

I saw it on another fishing site. I just figured it was a tumor. My dog had one... butt on the other end. The surgery was simple and he recovered quickly.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:08 pm

by sitandfish

cape man wrote:Caught this baby today...

Okay...there may or may not be some photoshop going on here...

One of our breeder redtail catfish at work today. Amazon species that gets over 100 lbs. Just havin' fun with you guys!

Now can you paste you holding that catfish while standing on the moon?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:02 pm

by stickystuff

Thats one of them nuclear reds from Japan.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:04 pm

by Prarie Dog

stickystuff wrote:Thats one of them nuclear reds from Japan.

That is funny.

Don't let the fine folks at NOAA hear this. They'll close down redfishing for health reasons

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:08 pm

by sitandfish

Prarie Dog wrote:
stickystuff wrote:Thats one of them nuclear reds from Japan.
That is funny.

Don't let the fine folks at NOAA hear this. They'll close down redfishing for health reasons

Would you eat it?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:18 pm

by Prarie Dog

sitandfish wrote:
Prarie Dog wrote:
stickystuff wrote:Thats one of them nuclear reds from Japan.
That is funny.

Don't let the fine folks at NOAA hear this. They'll close down redfishing for health reasons
Would you eat it?

No, I wouldn't eat it. The point is, I don't need an agency to tell me that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:20 pm

by sitandfish

Prarie Dog wrote:No, I wouldn't eat it. The point is, I don't need an agency to tell me that.

Who said you did?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:22 pm

by Prarie Dog

I thought it was inferred from reading your post, if not disregard it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:28 pm

by sitandfish

No, I don't think it's a NOAA problem.

The other fish the gentlemen caught seemed fine. I'm guessing a simple tumor (if there is such a thing).
Son's fish

Father's fish

Son's other fish

Son's other fish (view two)

Son's third fish

Looks like a good fishing trip to me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:49 pm

by macs

Craig you had me fooled at first glance, but I was wondering who the 10' tall person was that was taking the picture.

That's a bad knot on that Red's head

One shot of it almost looks like he's got a hugh dent in hi shead.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:53 pm

by Cracker Larry

Would you eat it?

Hell no

It's over slot size. That's a $500 fish in the cooler

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:57 pm

by sitandfish

Cracker Larry wrote:
Would you eat it?
Hell no It's over slot size...

Thanks, Larry. Funny (and true) as heck. I much prefer humor on the fishing thread than politics.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:11 pm

by wej

I think I miss counted!! Our limit is 15 on the lake where I live, as I carried my bucket a neighbor fella asked if I had been trying any crappie......"I am carrying a bucket" is all I said.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 2:02 am

by flyfishingmonk

Nice!

So far I have been on the water three times this spring. One day I slayed them. Two days we got skunked... the water was still tooooooooo cold. Just as it's warming back up my wife has to go and have a baby! What gives?!?!?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:28 am

by Bobg

Having a baby only takes a few hours. What's the problem?

I put the crab pots in a few days ago and blue crabs are not too plentiful yet, but the stone crabs are everywhere.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:56 pm

by Brettitt41

Nice looking mess there Wej. I loves me some stone crab claws Bob I didn't know they were this far north I thought they were a Fla. species.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 4:30 am

by LeeFitz

Went chasing Barra again today. The tides were crap, but I fish in a beautiful part of the world so I thought, "What the heck - I can so I will"!

Caught NOTHING! Smashed my favourite Barra rod! Shoulda stayed in bed!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:45 pm

by wej

Never caught a fish staying in bed though!!!

Sorry bout your rod.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:46 pm

by stickystuff

Kind of like a cross between a bull bitch and a snapping turtle. Actually looks like a morph between a red drum and a black drum. Black drums are some ugly fish. maybe had a reversed charge when mating, ???

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 6:00 pm

by colonialc19

Made it out last month on the Appamattox River, a tributary of the James River, with my boys for a few hours, they caught about a dozen keeper crappie,and a few shorts, I operated the minnow bucket

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:54 am

by flyfishingmonk

That's great pic. I can't wait until my boy is old enough to take fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:00 am

by AussieBoater

flyfish2743 wrote:That's great pic. I can't wait until my boy is old enough to take fishing.

It is not a long wait... seems a long way away, it just seems to fly by. Enjoy every stage of your kids growth, they are grown up in no time

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:08 pm

by wej

Nice ones Colonial!!!

Will post a pic of my boy's latest catch in a minute.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:13 pm

by wej

Morning trip

Afternoon trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:16 pm

by TomW

wej nice walleye and good catch of crappies.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:11 am

by flyfishingmonk

AussieBoater wrote:
flyfish2743 wrote:That's great pic. I can't wait until my boy is old enough to take fishing.
It is not a long wait... seems a long way away, it just seems to fly by. Enjoy every stage of your kids growth, they are grown up in no time

Wise words. My next one will arrive any minute. And by any minute I mean any minute. My wife's due date was two days ago so I hope to head to the hospital in the morning. It may be some time before I am back on the water. Which is cool, because I have had the opportunity to squeeze in a few hours here and there on the Phantom.

I love the clamp holding the fish. That's great.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:32 am

by wadestep

Managed to go out spearing Sat. Unfortunatly, no picts. But we did end up getting 19 snapper and a hogfish. There were amberjack all over the place at the beginning of both dives, but we decited to wait until the end of the dives to shoot one, so as not to be lugging it around the whole time. Well, you know how it goes, they were nowhere to be found when we were looking for them.
The first dive was eventful because it was an underwater tower structure, and looked more like a 3-story jewfish condominium. At least 15 jewfish from 40 to 400 lbs.
The second dive we had just started, shot 3 fish, and then out of the corner of my eye I saw the tail 1/4 of a shark. The tail alone was taller than my waist.

So much for that dive - save your air and try again.

Finally, the last dive was money - I came up with 7 snapper, and my wife shot her first fish!

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:51 am

by flyfishingmonk

That sounds like fun!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 6:21 pm

by msujmccorm

Awful windy but got this one on the second cast. Nothing but hardheads after this one

[/img]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 6:43 pm

by sitandfish

msujmccorm wrote:Awful windy but got this one on the second cast. Nothing but hardheads after this one

From the looks of the water behind you I say you put in a strong effort. I'm a big fan of front beach fishing. What's your choice on bait over there? Our best surf bait is either fresh cut mullet chunks or fresh cut chunks of blue fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 7:18 pm

by msujmccorm

Fresh "peeled" dead shrimp.

Don't know why they like it peeled but if that's what they want that's what I'll try to give them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 7:58 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Picky eaters. That's how i like'em.

My buddy eats them with the shell... I never understood that.

Nice fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:00 pm

by sitandfish

msujmccorm wrote:Fresh "peeled" dead shrimp. Don't know why they like it peeled but...

Don't you like it peeled?

We cut the mullet into 2" squares and make sure that we scrape the scales off. Redfish love fresh, clean, well prepared seafood. Don't we all?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:13 pm

by Cracker Larry

I don't know why either, but our redfish also prefer the shrimp to be peeled if they are dead. So do whiting. Go figure, but I peel my dead bait

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:50 pm

by flyfishingmonk

And they like Borski sliders.

And bunker flies.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:25 pm

by msujmccorm

I'm trying the flyrod in the morning, was just to windy today.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:37 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Yeah, the wind can be challenging. A strong double haul helps. What weight are you fishing?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:21 am

by msujmccorm

8 wt. I'm really just a beginner but it's a blast catching anything on the flyrod.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:22 am

by flyfishingmonk

An 8 weifht fly rod that's slow or even mid action can really struggle because of a lack of backbone. If this is the case it can be frustrating because the rod may never perform.

If it's a fast action rod but still has difficulty, it is most likely the cast that needs troubleshooting. If the cast is perfct, and it's a fast action rod, but still struggles in the wind, you may want to change from a normal weight forward line to a bass taper. This can help.

Sometimes swapping up the fly itself to something a tad on the heavy side is a good trick. If after all this and still it won't punch through the wind, then it's probably just too dern windy.

At that point bust out a stunt kite and have some fun looking up instead of looking down.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:30 am

by Cracker Larry

My good friends Raymond and Big Dave and I fished from sunrise to sunset yesterday. The wind howled all day long, and it wasn't warm either, but it was beautiful otherwise.

We started on high tide, sight fishing flooded grass for redfish.

Worked on some trout and flounder on the oyster flats as the tide fell,

The wind layed down at low water and we moved out into the big river and fished for whiting and cobia for a while. Plenty of whiting and sharks out there, we might have caught a cobia too, not real sure

Craig, help me out here. I'd swear it's a fingerling cobia but the spots have me thrown? It does have lines too. Tail is rounded, everything about it looks cobia. It was a scrapper, took a shrimp bigger than it was

The wind picked up even more later in the day and we took a real pounding crossing Port Royal in Raymond's Maverick

Got soaked and cold. Tried some more red fishing late, but the wind was so strong you couldn't cast a weighted popping cork with a 1/2 oz. jig

A good day with good friends, the boat didn't break and nobody got hurt

As usual I didn't take many pictures...I never do when the fish are biting

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:35 am

by smilinmatt

Larry, I think that's a Southern Hake. If it looked like a cod that's probably what it is. They have that dot pattern.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thanks Matt

I think you are right, it's a Hake, I think actually a Spotted Hake. You got me looking on the right track now. The lines aren't distinct enough for a Cobia, even a fingerling.

Hakes are very rare for us, usually a deep water fish, very deep and 200 miles offshore. So rare that I've never seen one caught. Nothing I'd expect to catch in Port Royal Sound, but I think you nailed it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:05 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Larry,

May I have the pretty picture of those grass flats? The first of the series. That's a great photo.

Casey

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

I sent the high res versions to your email Casey. Use them however you like

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:38 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Thanks Larry!! I can't believe I forgot to get pics of the grass flats when I was there. I have pics of all the sites we saw and pics of your boat but none of the grass.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:54 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Come to think of it... I had to have you send me pics of your boat as well. It was Raymond's boat I took a few pics of.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:54 pm

by wadestep

Got to go out of West Palm Beach early Sat, fished the along the Bahama bank, north and then west until we hit Walkers Cay. Stayed at Grand Cay, where we bought some fresh conch for $4/lb, and caught some dog snapper, blackfin tuna, and a coupel other bottom fish.
skipjack:

dog snapper:

Then we trolled out in front of Walkers, caught another blackfin and skipjack, and trolled most of the way back west along the bank. No luck, so ran a ways, and bottom fished on some reef. Bingo - lots of grouper (scamp, strawberry, red, rockhind), and 8 big mutton snappers!

Didn't catch any of the intended species (dolphin, wahoo, blue marlin, or yellowfin tuna), but still a good mixed bag.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:59 pm

by TomW

nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:36 pm

by tobolamr

VERY nice!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yep, very nice catch Wade. Got to love the Bahamas

How is Grand Cays these days? We used to stop in there to buy lobster and conch back in the 1970s. And bread! Great bread. There was no hotel, no marina, just a little fishing village there. At that time the resort on Walkers was open and we would stay there. Too bad Walkers never re-opened

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:16 am

by cape man

Larry,

I think that is a Spotted Hake due to the dark background and definition in the spots. The Southern Hake also has spots along the dorsal area, so I can't be sure. Both occur where you were fishing.

Nice trip Wade. I spent a week at Walkers back in the early 90's. Fantastic fishing and diving.

Last week I took a friend from the Seattle region who has put me on spring salmon twice in Pugeot sound out in Tampa Bay. First day he had to watch Richard and I both catch a couple snook, but Wednesday he landed one on the very last bait in the well. Not a huge fish, but his first snook. Jim's 6'5" so he makes everything look small...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:24 am

by Aripeka Angler

Wade, that was a nice mess of fish

The pics make me want to go fishing...

Craig, that is a great snook hole. No monster trout the second day?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:07 am

by cape man

Craig, that is a great snook hole. No monster trout the second day?

We didn't take pics last Monday, but Richard hooked a MONSTER spotted seatrout in this same place. The thing jumped like a snook as soon as it was hooked, but when he got it up to him it was the largest seatrout I have seen in Tampa Bay. Yeah, yeah, yeah....I know...the one that got away!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:59 am

by wadestep

Cracker Larry wrote:Yep, very nice catch Wade. Got to love the Bahamas How is Grand Cays these days? We used to stop in there to buy lobster and conch back in the 1970s. And bread! Great bread. There was no hotel, no marina, just a little fishing village there. At that time the resort on Walkers was open and we would stay there. Too bad Walkers never re-opened

Grand Cay seems to be profiting from Walker's being closed. It is still small and 'quaint' compared to what Walkers was, but now boasts a dock for about 20 boats, about 4-6 rooms for rent, and a small plywood shack with a cooler and a boombox as a bar

It's still mostly commercial - lots of conch cleaning being done. In fact, we bought 40 lbs of conch for $4/lb!. The other benefit was that the rooms were $80/night, and the dockage only $30 for a 33' boat. Unfortunatly, diesel was $6/gal

We also ducked into the harbor at Walkers to check it out. the island looks just the same from the water - church, chandlery store, bungaloes, hotel - but the marina is trash. The docks are roped off, a couple boats still sunk there. The airstrip must still be working for a couple of the private homes, but no other signs of life. Too bad, what a waste.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:01 am

by Cracker Larry

It is still small and 'quaint' compared to what Walkers was, but now boasts a dock for about 20 boats, about 4-6 rooms for rent, and a small plywood shack with a cooler and a boombox as a bar

It has come up in the world

The last time I was there it had a rickety pier supported entirely of conch shells and they were loading bales of weed into a Lake Bucanneer amphibious plane

The weed was cheaper than the lobster and we bought 50 lobsters for $25. I dug up a couple of old pictures, 1980, is this still the bar? The Island Club they called it then.

This is Mrs. Cracker guiding me into the harbor. Got to watch for coral heads!

The airstrip must still be working for a couple of the private homes, but no other signs of life. Too bad, what a waste.

Knowing that place I doubt it's being wasted. A remote island, no tourists, no law, a good harbor and a good airstrip

I'd be real careful messing around there

Walkers Cay, 1979

Can you clear customs at Grand Cay now or did you clear at West End? Walkers used to be an entry point.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:47 am

by wadestep

I don't recognize the building of the 'Island Club' but it's very possibly the same, looks abought right. The bar looked old, and was right down on the water. That is a tricky channel. We did it first during the day, then 2nd around 10PM. Good thing for accurate GPS!

It's funny, one of the few recognizable things about Walker's marina is that big white steel tripod-looking thing that you used to weigh fish on (in your picture). It's still there just the same.

Walker's is still an entry point. I guess one of the buildings still houses a customs agent occasionally. No one there when we were, I don't know how much you could rely on that guy actually sticking around on slow days...

The 'bartender' was also rolling and selling 'cigarettes'

, and it smelled like some of that weed still flows through the island...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:16 am

by Cracker Larry

and it smelled like some of that weed still flows through the island...

Square grouper, the other seafood

That place has been a smuggling port for a long, long time.

Good thing for accurate GPS!

We did it with a chart, compass and sextant, in a 40' sailboat drawing 6' of water, GPS wasn't even invented

Daytime travel only on the banks!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:19 pm

by Joe H

The last time I was there it had a rickety pier supported entirely of conch shells and they were loading bales of weed into a Lake Bucanneer amphibious plane The weed was cheaper than the lobster and we bought 50 lobsters for $25.

Now I know how you retired so early in life, made a pretty good profit off those lobster didn't ya?

Finally, after one of the longest winters on record, I was able to get out on some open water and actually fish!

We took 3rd place and won biggest fish in the Detroit River Walleye Tournament this past weekend.

I had biggest fish all wrapped up with an 8 pounder, huge as far as walleye go, until my fishing partner caught an 11 pounder, WOW!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:33 pm

by gstanfield

Dang that's some nice walleye. The ones we have around here are usually about half that size, but they are some of the best fish to eat that I've ever tasted. I usually like salt water fish for eating, but walleye is hard to beat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:04 pm

by TomW

Nicely done Joe!

Congrats!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:12 pm

by tobolamr

Beautiful Walleye!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:26 pm

by wej

Sweet freaking walleyes dude!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:44 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice work Joe

I wouldn't know a large walleye from a small one, never caught one, don't think I've ever seen one on the hoof, but if it's big enough for first place it must be a nice one

Now I know how you retired so early in life, made a pretty good profit off those lobster didn't ya?

The seafood business has been good to me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:12 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Joe H wrote:We took 3rd place and won biggest fish in the Detroit River Walleye Tournament this past weekend.

Nice Work!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:02 am

by LeeFitz

You may recall that we have had a BIG wet season in North Queensland this summer, culminating in cyclone Yasi which beat the place up pretty good.

Barramundi LOVE big "wets"! The fishing here is the best I can recall for 10 years. Went fishing by myself on Monday (sad I know, but true) - boated a dozen Barra for two keepers (60 and 70 cm - 58 to 120 cm is legal). Should have been at least three but one tested me and I was found wanting!

I am a lure chucking addict! Was able to sight cast to one fish sitting in a drain (not all that common with Barra) - but the darn thing just would not strike, even when I giggled the lure right in front of its nose.

No pics from Monday as its kinda hard to take pics of yourself - but I am fishing again on Friday with one of my sons.

Just to refresh you all on the subject of my obsession, here's a pic from an earlier adventure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:30 am

by cape man

Not one of the most productive trips of my life, but one of the funnest. Launched on the southeast shore of Tampa Bay at around 6:00pm with my 15 yr old son and his best friend from down the street for a night trip targeting shark (they wanted to do it). Afternoon thunderstorms were brewing just inland on the sea breeze so I hung around the ramp for over an hour, and finally actually pulled the boat out on the trailer as I was sure we were going to get hammered any second. On our way out the road the skies cleared so back we went. Caught several very nice sea trout (one was 22") right at sunset. Added a lady fish and sailcat for bait, and threw the cast net to add some pinfish to the live well.

Dropped the hook along the edge of the channel coming out of Cockroach Bay (named after the horseshoe crabs by the Spaniards), set out two lines on 50lb braid, and started chumming with cut pieces of fish. Had one good run but no hook up around 9:00pm, and then hooked up at around 10:30pm. My son had one hell of a fight for about 20 minutes and we pulled this stingray up to the gunwale. Picture doesn't do it justice. It was good 4' across and probably went 50 lbs.

The guys were absolutely thrilled to be out and see everything at night like that, and while they really wanted a shark, the ray gave them the thrill they were after. Take the kids fishing is my advice!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:42 am

by gk108

Any time you hook a big sting ray, it's a test of will. I once fought one for 45 minutes before I got it on the beach. I was way too curious about what was on the hook to cut the line. It felt like it was playing me instead of the other way around.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:48 am

by hockey52

cape man wrote: The guys were absolutely thrilled to be out and see everything at night like that, and while they really wanted a shark, the ray gave them the thrill they were after. Take the kids fishing is my advice!

Great advice.

At spring break we took one of T's best friends to the Texas coast with us. He is a convert now. He had never seen a live shrimp before let alone all the rest. He learned that even small blue crabs have a pretty wicked pinch

Even a small sting ray was a learning experience for him.

He wants a fishing rod and reel for his 13th birthday now.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:22 am

by cape man

As soon as it got dark the water started lighting up with bioluminescense. The Ctenophores were thick and I covered the deck with them when I brought the cast net in, so the whole deck was pulsing with light. While waiting for a bite the boys were having a blast playing with the water and watching everything light up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 8:39 am

by LeeFitz

Fishing is a fickle pastime, isn't it!
Great day fishing last Monday (see post above), but Barra were few and far between today.
One small Barra (released) and one very nice Mangrove Jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) - an explosive and powerful sport fish that is renowned for its superb eating and fighting qualities. The fisherman is my second son Stuart, who caught his first Barra at 12 and has been my fishing buddy ever since. He is an outstanding lure caster.

Not as much fun as Barra, but a good catch none-the-less.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 4:32 pm

by Arm&Hammer

I got back from FL a couple weeks ago. My in-laws asked me for a fish dinner, and I was lucky enough to produce. The kids really enjoyed it as well.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 10:17 pm

by Mad Dog

Those are two really nice specks.

Cute kids too.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 7:56 pm

by Arm&Hammer

Thanks MD, but I'm the biggest kid of the three!

That's one speckled trout, and one redfish, both at 25 inches. Essential for everyone's happiness (my FIL loves any fish, my MIL and wife love redfish, and my kids and I love trout).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 10:31 pm

by Mad Dog

Well I do know the difference, I just didn't look close enough to see the big spot on the tail.

Either way 25" fish is good table fare!

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:38 pm

by smilinmatt

I tried a different kind of fishing (at least for me). You know the kind with the curved hook and monofilament. We went to Venice, Louisiana to fish the rigs for yellowfin. Everyone on the boat landed a keeper from 50-107# (mine was 81). My brother also caught a 8' blue marlin. I jumped in the water and took some video of the fight. I'll post a link when I get that uploaded.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 1:23 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Matt! I would like to fish those rigs sometime, it's on my bucket list.

My brother also caught a 8' blue marlin. I jumped in the water and took some video of the fight.

I gotta see that...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 1:38 pm

by tech_support

how did they tie you down in order to keep you from jumping in and shooting a tuna

Cool trip, its on my list too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 1:48 pm

by smilinmatt

That was the hardest part. We'll be making a return trip and leaving the fishing poles behind.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 3:47 pm

by wadestep

Managed to sneak offhsore last Sat. NOAA was calling for 10 knots and 2 feet, which was too good to pass up, even with these gas prices

. Rough going at first, with a 3 foot, close spaced following chop that was just wrong for the 30 mile run out. Out there the day was kinda slow fishing. Pulled up numerous short grouper, bud still managed 5 nice ones like this 27" gag:

and this fat red

The weirdest thing was for about 2.5 hours, we had this little shorebird hopping all over our boat:

It first landed on our motor, then our landing net, then our feet, then the reel, then the rod, then even Robin's head! What a weird bird. Must have been really tired, and not the least bit afraid of us.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 6:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

Great fishing and great photos Matt and Wade!

Wade, I used to occasionally get the same little birds hitching rides on my charter boats way offshore. One day we had one just like that ride on the steering wheel for 4 hours, and we were 70 miles offshore. Very cool. You know the little thing has to be tired

And check out his shades

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 7:07 pm

by Larry B

Stop here to catch some Bluegill for bait:

And caught this one on one of the bluegills

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 7:14 pm

by gstanfield

Very nice, although I guess I feel silly as there were many days my Dad and I would go out and catch 50 or 60 bluegill and take them home for a fish fry. I guess we were stopping one step too soon

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 7:55 pm

by smilinmatt

Very nice, although I guess I feel silly as there were many days my Dad and I would go out and catch 50 or 60 bluegill and take them home for a fish fry. I guess we were stopping one step too soon Very nice, although I guess I feel silly as there were many days my Dad and I would go out and catch 50 or 60 bluegill and take them home for a fish fry. I guess we were stopping one step too soon

I don't know about that, it's awefully hard to beat a bluegill fish fry.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:41 pm

by wej

Nice fish all round guys, think all the fish here have drowned from the flood.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 10:51 pm

by Larry B

gstanfield wrote:Very nice, although I guess I feel silly as there were many days my Dad and I would go out and catch 50 or 60 bluegill and take them home for a fish fry. I guess we were stopping one step too soon

Hey George, you ever do any Catfishing at Glendo Reservoir? Looks like there are some nice size Cats in there????

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 10:54 pm

by gstanfield

I've fished the river just upstream of glendo and caught a few cats, they are really good about 5 miles from me just below the powerplant where the river is deep, slow(er) and warm. Usually I don't fish Glendo though as it's mostly a walleye fishery and while I do like walleyes I also like trout and so I tend to go to alcova for them. Either way it's 62 miles to either lake from my house or 3 miles to the river

I've been told Glendo is good for cats though, just haven't tried it yet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 12:20 am

by Prarie Dog

For the Port O Conner meet, I have aquired two 70 series spinning reels and have loaded them with 65lb proline. The rods are the next step and I know what I'm going to buy there so the next question is. How should they be rigged for Tarpon? Larry told me and I've read on some Texas sites where guys will have one rod rigged for live bait..piggy perch or mullet, and the other rigged with an artifical so if you run into them while looking for Reds, somone can grab the arty rig and cast to them. The artificial baits vary quite a bit so the question I have is what do you Florida guys use in this situation and how should a live bait be rigged? I have serious doubts that I would ever be lucky enough to run into Tarpon while we're down there but would be really peeved if I wasn't prepared.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 8:26 am

by Cracker Larry

There are a dozen ways to rig a live bait, depends on the bait type, the fish, water depth, current, weighted or free lined,or floated under a balloon, but in general simple is better. 6 feet of 80lb. fluorocarbon leader, an 8/0 circle hook in the mouth and up through the roof of the mouth is probably my number 1 method. Sometimes in one eye and out the other. Sometimes through the meat of the back just in front of the dorsal, sometimes right behind the dorsal. If the current is strong, or you are trolling, you've got to rig the bait where it faces the current and doesn't spin.

See this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU8cKvCeggg

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 10:50 am

by wadestep

Everything Larry said is spot on (as usual). 2 additional points 1) I often use a weighted popping cork to help with the cast, and keep the live bait suspended 2)live, palm-sized crabs are a tarpon's candy.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 12:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

live, palm-sized crabs are a tarpon's candy.

And cobia, and big redfish too.

Derrick taught me the best method to rig a crab I've ever seen. Take a sturdy rubber band and loop it over one point of the shell, twist it about 20 times, stretch it across the back of the shell and and loop it over the other point. Then insert a circle hook under the band at one point and give it a couple of twists to secure it. This keeps the hook in the clear for easy hook ups and keeps the crab happy and swimming naturally. Very cool trick.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 12:42 am

by Prarie Dog

Great info guys, thanks for the poop. That way to rig a crab is great, I've fished with crabs before and had a few takes but never a hook up, I always thought they weren't on the hook right, this takes care of that problem. Cool idea. What kind of an Arty would you have on the other rod?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 8:29 am

by Cracker Larry

I've never caught a tarpon on an artificial lure, maybe in a few weeks

Knowing me though it's more likely to happen on a live bait. That's always my first choice. Meat and potatoes

I've never even cast an artificial at a tarpon, but we do it a lot for cobia and amberjack. A 52M mirrolure, or a large jig head with a plastic eel will catch almost any fish that swims in saltwater. There are some specialized tarpon jigs too. I'm not a tarpon expert by any means, we get a few in late summer but most of what I've caught have been by accident while targeting kingfish and cobia. My son caught a real nice one last year in Port Royal, using a live shrimp under a popping cork.

Here is a good article on tarpon fishing that might be of some help. It's focused on Boca Grande, but fish are fish..

http://www.gianttarpon.com/tarpon1.htm

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 6:47 pm

by Prarie Dog

Larry, thanks again for the info. That is a fantastic article, very informative, I'll have to round up some of those lures before the meet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 3:42 pm

by cape man

Nothing outstanding related to fish, but an outstanding 2 hours with the son. The river is running low and clear with the lack of rain. This time of year the mullet, sheephead and snook all migrate up, and we're a good 20 miles from the coast as the crow flies, probably 40 by river. Went out and tried for some of the snook, but settled for some small river bass instead.
Score Son 3, Father 0.

Thunderstorm chased us home. He had a 10lb plus snook strike at a plastic worm. Good time!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 3:48 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's mighty fine right there

But what are yall doing in that plastic boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 4:21 pm

by gstanfield

Looks like a fun place to fish to me

And yeah, couldn't you find some nice wooden canoe to use?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 4:30 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nothing outstanding related to fish, but an outstanding 2 hours with the son

That's better than fishing! Thanks for sharing the pics. Adam has grown a bunch since the last time I saw him...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 5:20 pm

by cottontop

I showed both my son and daughter how to fish when they were 3 years old. They had to bait their own hook and take their own fish off. They still love it. Had my son, 4yr. old grand son, and wife out 2 weekends ago. Grandson caught 5 "shellcrackers", wife 8, and son caught the rest. Had 3 great hours on the water. Had daughter and wife out last weekend. Fish weren't biting. but daughter did learn how to drive the boat. Your son has really grown. Isn't it great when they still like to be out with you at their age? John

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 7:56 pm

by cape man

Wait till you see what he can do with an 8' cast net! He just set a trotline out for catfish. He's got it bad (i.e. good). The plastic boat is what I keep down by the river for just such spur of the moment trips. Tomorow we are talking about a longer trip and if so will take the strip canoe.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 8:11 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I bet he can throw a cast net, he has a great teacher

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 8:53 am

by macs

That's good stuff Craig.

Score Son 3, Father 0.

Somebody's got to paddle the boat and take pictures

I was going to take The wife and son's out today but the high is going to be 70 and the wind 15. We'd get wet just launching the boat.

It is May right?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 6:09 pm

by cape man

82 degrees outside...because we had a cold front come through around 5:00am! Just thought I'd share...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 6:32 pm

by Joe H

82 with a cold front?! That's insane, I hope they have air at Boca.

My heat just kicked on, it's cold and rainy and I haven't been out in the sun in 7 months.

Great pics with your Son, my Son doesn't fish, go figure, but the Grandkids can't get enough.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 7:05 pm

by gstanfield

Snowed for about an hour here yesterday

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 10:51 am

by Doc_Dyer

took my wife and her friend out in the back yard last saturday

she is just learning how fun fishing is

bluegill

Red Eye Bass

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:15 am

by Cracker Larry

Mighty fine Bradley

Cool here too, for this time of year. Had been in the 90s for a couple of weeks, but that front came through early yesterday morning and we had lows in the 40s and highs in the low 70s. Supposed to be high 40s again tonight, unreal for mid-May. Wind is still blowing like a b@tch, windiest and coolest spring I can remember. Dry too. Global warming I reckon

Redfish and cobia are both biting good inshore. Spanish, kings, cobia and triple tail near-shore. Dolphin, tuna, wahoo and billfish offshore. Great fishing when the wind isn't blowing.

I haven't been out in the sun in 7 months.

SPF 50 and a big hat

Yep, you're going to be warm in Boca Grande

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:16 am

by Uncle D

Hey Doc, how come that boat is listing hard to starboard??

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:23 am

by Cracker Larry

how come that boat is listing hard to starboard??

Good eye

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:35 am

by Doc_Dyer

.
..
because my big ass is on starboard

but you knew that before asking

its a little boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:44 am

by Uncle D

Just funnin' Doc. I have problem with too many # and not enough body. But 7 ft. still wouldn't help.

I like Beer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 4:27 pm

by cape man

Time to serve as judge for the International Fishing Tournament on Grand Cayman... Got in to Grand Cayman in time to check into the hotel and get to the weigh station yesterday. First nice fish was this wahoo, which came in at 32lbs.

Had a couple nice dolphin, but this yellowfin tuna is going to be tough to beat at 67lbs.

So went out to the northwest end and chased some bone fish this morning. They were everywhere but VERY spooky. Did get one in for a picture.

Man I hate this gig!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 4:39 pm

by tobolamr

I need a camera in the boat... sheesh...

We had our first Bass Tournament last night, and we ended up with 7 fish. 2 were close to our legal limit, 14", and the others were over. We caught a LOT of fish, as that little lake warms up fast. Lots of fun - and the moss bass I've caught in a 4 hour trip in years!

As we were fishing, my partner kept saying "Yeah, I hope the next one's legal!" Finally I asked him "Why is it that we talk about bass in tournaments like we talk about potential girlfriends in high school & college???"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 4:41 pm

by gstanfield

Cape man,

You do know that you're my hero right? Congrats on making a nice life for yourself, enjoy your time "working" over there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 4:42 pm

by gstanfield

Why is it that we talk about bass in tournaments like we talk about potential girlfriends in high school & college???"

That's funny right there

(true though)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 7:29 am

by macs

Craig, you are the man!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 11:25 am

by Cracker Larry

Craig, you are the man!

He sucks

I love him though

There aren't many people in this world who have exactly the job they want to have, and enjoy going to work every day. Good on you Craig

If you can tear yourself away from Grand Cayman, we'll see you next week in Boca Grande

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 7:27 pm

by cape man

Yeah I suck...

Chased some tarpon before lunch. Caught perhaps the smallest I have ever caught today. My friend had his camera so will have to wait to post. We threw some dead squid and fish guts at some larger tarpon down at the dock where the fisherman clean their fish in Georgetown. Lost two larger fish (40-60 lbs) but was fishing with 8 lb test so didn't expect to land anything.

Back out to the bone fish flats at the north end by myself and succeeded in scaring the hell out of about a dozen of them, but did catch this little cuda who let me know he was angry! Hopefully a few more bones tomorow as it's my last day...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 7:49 am

by Cracker Larry

Yep, you suck

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 8:40 am

by wej

Yeah, I'll second that motion. Poor guy his last day there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:36 am

by Uncle D

Post lots of pics and rub it in HARD CM.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 1:13 pm

by cape man

Yesterday's monster! Took me at least 20 seconds to battle this bad boy to the bank!

Don't know why, but chasing these little creek tarpon is almost as much fun as hooking a big one.

Been fishing downtown right off the docks with the water full of snorklers and divers coming off a big cruise ship from Tampa. Had a beautiful tarpon about 30 lbs that picked up a squid off the bottom. Fought him for about 10 minutes before the 8lb test gave out during a hard run.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 11:56 pm

by cape man

Hooked two more tarpon in the 50 lb class that gave me some brief thrills before shreading the 8lb test line on the coral. Did get a few nice jumps from both of them in front of a cheering crowd of tourists. Next year I'm bringing some bigger gear! Alas the week is up and back to the salt mine tomorow...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 8:15 am

by macs

God, I miss Tampa

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 2:42 pm

by Steven

I really need to move to the coast.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 11:37 pm

by TRC886

All is not lost

NC has reopened bottom fishing

http://www.northcarolinasportsman.com/d ... hp?id=1887

trc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 6:13 am

by LeeFitz

Barra fishing today. Best day EVER!

7 in the boat - 5 keepers in the esky (that's Oz for .......ice box?) - 24" to 29". Probably could have caught more if we had kept fishing, but I don't like pulling the boat out in the dark. Why is that? See below!

This was the biggest.

Some good has come from cyclone Yasi - lots of Barramundi !!

Oh yeah - we had an audience as well = 14' croc. I have a 12' boat!

Where there are Barra, there are crocs!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 10:29 am

by Prarie Dog

Looks like fun Lee Fitz. I love fishing in places with gators, keeps you on your toes. I'm sure croks are much the same, maybe worse. Beautiful fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 12:14 pm

by keysrat

20 miles off of Key Largo yesterday.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 12:15 pm

by gstanfield

Very nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 1:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

Very nice Keys Rat

A Wahoo and a dolphin, two very good eating fish. That's what we're coming down to Cudjoe for next month

I don't know about eating a Barramundi, but those fish are good!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 6:31 pm

by LeeFitz

I don't know about eating a Barramundi,

Barramundi is highly regarded for its eating quality.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 6:39 pm

by peter-curacao

LeeFitz wrote:
I don't know about eating a Barramundi,
Barramundi is highly regarded for its eating quality.

And Bacarmundi for drinking

Nice dolphin btw! makes me thinking about the time I moved to the Caribbean back in 1994 I was 21 and I had to stop over in Miami to get my next flight to Bonaire the next day, so I checked in in a hotel and after that wandered around a bit in search for a restaurant, I found a in my opinion good restaurant I sat down at the bar and asked for the menu, then I saw something very strange and asked the waiter what the hell is this? O that's a very good choice sir, a very fine fish! I thought by myself fish? a dolphin is a fish here and legal to eat also? I didn't asked more questions I ordered the fish and loved it and still do!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 8:29 pm

by LeeFitz

While the eating quality of Dolphin Fish (Mahi mahi in our part of the world) is undeniable, just look at it! You would be reluctant to admit that you actually ate that thing wouldn't you?

Now look at the pic of Barramundi - beautiful! Everything a fish should be.

There is a story to go with the picture of the Barramundi - how often in fishing is that the case !!!

We were casting hard body minnow lures into drains along that creek - me being a lure chucking addict! I put a lure into a mangrove tree just behind the drain and said to my mate, "I'll hold my line up out of the way, chuck your lure in there before I mess up the drain retrieving mine".

He did. SMASH !!!!! "I'm on", he says as he almost gets pulled out of the boat and that beautiful silver fish leaps a couple of feet out of the water before heading for the timber.

So there we are - one line hooked to a tree, an angry Barra on the end of the other line, and my mate Tony poised to land his second Barra (and a PB) on lure.

Somehow we managed to land the Barra, and retrieve my lure and all was well, although we almost died laughing at what had just happened. Barra seem to have an amazing ability to catch you out when you are most vunerable.

Tony finished the day by boating another Barra on lure - about 50 yards away from a boat anchored in the middle of the creek bait fishing all afternoon - but hadn't seen a fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 8:46 pm

by peter-curacao

LeeFitz wrote:While the eating quality of Dolphin Fish (Mahi mahi in our part of the world) is undeniable, just look at it! You would be reluctant to admit that you actually ate that thing wouldn't you?

Now look at the pic of Barramundi - beautiful! Everything a fish should be.

No I think a dolphin fish looks beautiful! compare the color with the Barramundi it's far more beautiful, probably it's a smarter fish also, I mean look at that forehead!

Imho It's not that the more beautiful a animal is the tastier it is! for instance in the meat section, what would you prefer taste-wise? Horse or Pork?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 10:29 pm

by wej

Before

After

Not fish but maybe it will be this time next week!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 9:21 am

by wadestep

Well, I didn't get any pictures, but I had probably the best spearfishing dive ever on Sat. we ran out past the Sanibel lighthouse around 8:00am. We were in someone else's boat, and his GPS is all different than mine, so it took about 20 minutes to locate the ledge and get anchored up.

Robin and I got suited up and jumped in with the spearguns. no current, 40' of visibility. we pulled down the anchor line and hit the bottom - crap, no ledge in sight. i took a compass reading and struck out in the direction it should be. i was just about to doubt my heading when we saw a jewfish swimming along. 10 more fin strokes, and it was like arriving in an oasis in the desert.

The first thing i saw was a large school of amberjack - not really big ones, but 75 or more of them. then a nice gag grouper came into view - shoot and miss! that never happens, so I traded back to my old, beat up gun Robin was diving - no more missing. 20+ inch mangrove snapper were popping up and down from the ledge BAM - one fish in the bag. swim a little down the ledge about 10' off the bottom, look down - is that a shark? NO - cobia! BAM - struggle - 2 fish in the bag.

The ledge looks like it's getting smaller as I swim, so turn around, and BAM - nice 25" Gag must have been following me. All the while, those amberjack keep schooling around so thickly it's hard to see through them sometimes. I managed to shoot my way back to the starting location, picking up 2 more snappers and 1 grouper.

By then my air was running low, kicked-up sand and green fish blood was everywhere, and so I had to call it a dive. Navigated back to the anchor line, and ascended with 3 nice mangrove snappers, a cobia, two groupers, and an amberjack. The amount of large fish here was amazing. I probably blew through half my tank just because i was so excited just looking at all the fish swimming around. Even when not exerting, I could feel my heart pounding from excitement.

Fun
Wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 9:36 am

by cape man

Now that's some good stuff right there!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:58 pm

by wej

Finally!!!

BoooYAH!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 10:27 pm

by Royce

WEJ, is that Orange Beach?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 10:38 pm

by wej

Yes sir sure is.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 10:40 pm

by Royce

I'll be down in a few weeks. From what I hear, the snapper fishing has been terrific this year. Your pics definitely support that.

Nice catch!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 10:53 pm

by wej

I'm going back after I get the rest of my hay up & out of the field.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 10:59 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Wej, those are some nice snaps

That trigger is very good too...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:05 pm

by wej

Thanks AA, that Trigger tried real hard to whip my mom. We lost a lot of large fish, mostly sharks I would assume, broke 65lb power pro twice, and 80lb mono got broke once and cut off about 4-6 times.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:11 pm

by Aripeka Angler

wej wrote:Thanks AA, that Trigger tried real hard to whip my mom. We lost a lot of large fish, mostly sharks I would assume, broke 65lb power pro twice, and 80lb mono got broke once and cut off about 4-6 times.

That's good when you get broke off. Keeps you coming back

Anyway, those red snapper kick ass. They look like 18 lb. fish...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:17 pm

by wej

My mom & wife each had one over 20 lbs, per capt & my own estimates, measured the biggest one when it was caught and was just over 30 inches.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 5:11 am

by stickystuff

Spent my Birthday yesterday fishing with one of my friendsI grew up with yesterday. Kind of caught a trash can slam. caught at least ten trout, two redfish, lost a huge red. Hooks pulled out. saw the fish. way oversize. Like stopping a freight train. Caught one mackeral, one remora, two big bluefish and lots of jack crevalle. Killer plug of the day Mirror lure Mirrodine. Best plug I have ever fished with. Anything that swims will eat it. Even caught four pinfish on it. Great Birthday. Oh yeah, Hit the big 67.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 5:56 am

by Cracker Larry

Happy birthday old man

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 6:28 am

by LeeFitz

Thought you might like this - BarraCam!

Ignore the date on the video - need to reset that - I took it today. Took me all day to train the star to perform like that!

As you can see, Barramundi are very aggressive when they strike. This one fell to a hard-body minnow lure cast into a drain (small creek) on the low tide. These drains are full of baitfish and shrimp after the big wet season we have had and the Barra lie in the mud line and ambush them.

The fish was a keeper - 60 cm (58 cm minimum size), 6 lb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-086Oqz4sc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:13 am

by colonialc19

I went on a charter last week with some friends, we had a great time, caught 25 or so dolphin, some wreck donkeys, and my handicap budy Tony caught a white marlin, the mate and captain were pretty stoaked about getting Tony a billfish

they worked hard to do it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:17 am

by topwater

NICE

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 4:56 pm

by wadestep

awesome marlin! I've been fishing the past week, pictures here:
http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php ... 25#p249825
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:07 pm

by peter-curacao

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 4:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

I went on a charter last week with some friends, we had a great time, caught 25 or so dolphin, some wreck donkeys, and my handicap budy Tony caught a white marlin, the mate and captain were pretty stoaked about getting Tony a billfish they worked hard to do it.

I missed that

Fantastic! Nothing like a billfish to get things exciting. Were you chartering locally? I've been making some sailfish teasers for a Keys trip. I'd love to get Dori hooked up to a sailfish or a marlin.

Peter, I ain't even going to ask

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 8:10 am

by AussieBoater

I went Fishing today. Beach fishing for Australian Salmon.
It was a test run for my new rod and the fishing shirt for the Texas Meet... Both worked very well.

Just checking out the patch on my back...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:58 pm

by sitandfish

Wow. That shirt does look lucky! I never thought I would be seeing one of those designs from so far away. That's pretty cool.

And I bet you've caught fish like that many times but, it's still a lucky shirt.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:03 pm

by sitandfish

Hey AussieBoater. I actually tried (very hard) to come up with a design for one of the Bateau stickers using the Australian flag. It's a great looking flag but, the sticker never looked good enough to post a picture of. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:05 pm

by AussieBoater

That is the 2nd time I've caught ANY fish off a beach...

I went out with an experienced mate Friday afternoon and then with friends on Saturday afternoon...

I think it's the shirt...!!!

Yeah, the shirt design looks really nice and the shirt itself was very comfortable.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:49 pm

by peter-curacao

AussieBoater wrote:

quicksand??

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 7:00 pm

by Mad Dog

Way to go Paul. Nice catch, I didn't know Austraila had salmon. You make that shirt look good!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:01 pm

by Prarie Dog

Charles, do you have a money back gaurantee if you don't catch fish while wearing one of those shirts? Apparantly they work real well in Australia we'll soon find out if they work in Texas

Great catch Paul, didn't know you had Salmon down there. Are they good eating?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:10 pm

by wej

Is the fish missn' it's head the same species??

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:12 pm

by Cracker Larry

Very nice catch

I'm glad we got 3 of those shirts, haven't even tried them for fishing yet. We'll see how they work in the Keys

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:28 pm

by Mad Dog

PD, you have to figure those shirts bring you good luck the same way your favorite lure does... You fish with more confidence!

But, if I already have your money, you're not getting it back!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:31 pm

by Prarie Dog

Mad Dog wrote:But, if I already have your money, you're not getting it back!

Thought it might fall that way.

That is a great looking shirt.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:19 am

by AussieBoater

wej wrote:Is the fish missn' it's head the same species??

Yes, it's the same, was the largest fish... I was not prepared to catch anything as I was just trying to occupy my mind... My brother in law passed away last Tuesday... I was unable to work, so i went fishing. He liked beach fishing, I've never done it before. I even had to ask another fisherman what the bag limit was...
Head was removed to retrieve the hooks.

The fish are Australian Salmon, They have a large piece of blood meat down each side, you need to fillet the fish and then remove the red meat... the white meat left is great to eat.

peter-curacao wrote:quicksand??

It sure looks that way, when I saw the pic, I laughed about no legs...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 7:31 am

by sitandfish

AussieBoater wrote:...I was not prepared to catch anything as I was just trying to occupy my mind... My brother in law passed away last Tuesday... I was unable to work, so I went fishing. He liked beach fishing, I've never done it before. I even had to ask another fisherman what the bag limit was...

Yep. Water and waves seem to have a way to put thing right, in our minds. Good tribute too, probably.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:52 pm

by Royce

Went fishing this weekend on my brother's charter boat, The Fairwater II out of Orange Beach, AL. I couldn't believe how easy it was to catch our limit of the endangered American Red Snapper. We caught 26 fish, weighing a total of 300+ lbs. I was going o post some pictures, but I noticed that he posted a video on his website of his trip today and I thought you would enjoy it more. It's hard to see past the fishermen, but check out all of the red snapper on top of the water. I sure hope this fishery comes back soon. Click on the picture to see the video.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:29 am

by tech_support

wow, that's some great action Royce

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:34 am

by Doc_Dyer

must have sucked being on the boat with all those fisherwomen

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:16 am

by Mad Dog

I finally got a chance to spend a couple days on the water. SWMBO and I took a couple days away from work, kids, and other drags in life. She is not into fishing so much but does tolerate my 5AM wake up calls (to go fishing)

. We decided to check out Port O'Connor, and the Inn at Clark's. More on that in the Texas Builer's Meet thread. TS Arlean had the near shore Gulf chopped up

so we spent the first day checking out the area of Espiritu Santos bay.

What an interesting area. Shell reefs and spoils surrounded by drop-offs to 10’. There are marshes and grass flats cut up by access channels from the oil boom days. Multiple isolated shallow lakes accessible by wading or kayaks. These should be great areas for stalking reds with a fly rod.
We spent most of our time running the various cuts getting the lay of things. Water depths in this area change in a heartbeat.

Hence the new scratches in the graphite bottom coat and bare skeg on the engine.

Fishing was good but would have been better had I spent time wading and working the grass lines and drop-off. I am not familiar enough with the area to know the anchor spots and drifting in the Aquasport was problem in the high winds. I threw live shrimp, top-waters, spoons and soft plastics. Everything brought action. I kept one speck and a nice flounder for dinner tonight.

Day two the winds had calmed a bit over night so I took a run to the end of the Matagorda ship channel. The Gulf was still rolling in pretty hard. The tide was incoming with the swells so the end inlet was safe to run. Had the tides been going out the inlet would have been very dicey. Compared to ship channel at Port Aransas this one is much deeper. I measures 50' to 85', with a lot of visable eddys, up-wellings. Under better conditions in the Gulf the jetties should be very productive. The area just inside the inlet had lots of seagrass but was very fishable with shallow grass flats along the island and quick drop-offs to work.

That's pretty much it. I love exploring new areas. Not so much catching this trip but lots fishing and interesting scenery.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:23 pm

by Marshall Moser

My buddy caught this Hatteras Bluefish anchored in less than 5' of water just off the beach at Cape Lookout a couple of weeks ago.

oops...it cut the head off

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 7:35 pm

by hockey52

T went rafting on the Arkansas with some friends this week. Of course his dad and I had to work.

It was a little rough for fishing

but it is in a boat on the water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:33 pm

by wej

"my end" of the Arkansas looks a little different!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:28 am

by Bobg

Not much of an actual fishing trip, but I did go out and drag a shrimp trawl for a bit more than 100#'s of shrimp, one good size flounder, and a 5 gallon bucket of blue crabs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:03 am

by majorgator

Had a good day with the wife yesterday while doing some scalloping in Horseshoe Beach. Weather reports said 70% chance of rain ALL DAY, but we decided to at least go over to the Gulf and see what it looks like. After waiting about 1 1/2 hours for the rain to subside, we saw a somewhat clear sky off in the distance and decided to go for it. It was a good decision, as the skies cleared up to be a real pretty day; the sun stayed behind the clouds and there was hardly a breath of wind. Anyway, we got our limit in in about 3 hours. The grass is a bit higher than usual, so it took a little more work. There's no doubt, though, that the scallops are plentiful.

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 10:50 am

by wadestep

Yummm!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 4:57 am

by Bobg

Nice cooler full of scallops.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:30 pm

by Royce

Nice!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:48 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Wahooo!!!! I got this photo from Cracker Larry who is relaxing with Dori in the Florida Keys

Awesome catch on a Bateau OD-18

Edit...35ish lbs. on a Yozuri diving plug

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:28 pm

by wej

Sweet!!! Where's that "like" button again?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:48 pm

by Royce

Nice Wahoo Larry!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:40 pm

by wej

Royce could you please check your e-mail?? Pretty please.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:10 pm

by Royce

I sent you one back right away. Guess you didn't get it.

Send me your email a Royce.ard1 at gmail

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:18 pm

by Prarie Dog

Nice catch Larry, thought he might get me back for sending a pic of a nice Red last winter while he was freezing his A.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:45 pm

by wej

Sent 2 10 minutes after got yours wondering if either one made it?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 11:05 pm

by Royce

Replied to both

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 11:06 pm

by gstanfield

Eric check your spam folder

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 11:18 pm

by wej

They were thee George he just responded so quickly I didn't expect it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:52 am

by Cracker Larry

Thanks for posting the pic, Richard.

We caught it on that Redbone Hurricane rod you gave me, with a Quantum 40 reel. Great fight! I had almost forgot how good Wahoo is. Mrs. Cracker has a new favorite fish!
We also caught a small mess of snapper and strawberry grouper, a couple of cudas and some peanut dolphin. Hung the anchor up twice in 100 feet of water

Lucky it was rigged with break away ties, but had a hell of a time breaking them!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:21 am

by topwater

Nice fish Larry

You gotta love fishing in the keys

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:21 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Thanks for posting the pic, Richard. We caught it on that Redbone Hurricane rod you gave me, with a Quantum 40 reel. Great fight! I had almost forgot how good Wahoo is. Mrs. Cracker has a new favorite fish!
We also caught a small mess of snapper and strawberry grouper, a couple of cudas and some peanut dolphin. Hung the anchor up twice in 100 feet of water Lucky it was rigged with break away ties, but had a hell of a time breaking them!

You are welcome! That's a great fishing report Larry

I really like that area of the Keys, the patch reefs are awesome! I haven't been in three years, that pic has me itching to go back.

I hear you on the zip ties, they are a pita to snap! That is however the greatest anchor saving innovation I have ever seen

In case y'all missed the pic, here it is again...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:23 am

by thb

I think Wahoo is one of the funest fishes to catch and probably the best fish I have ever eaten. Hogfish comes in second to Wahoo in my book. Need a good drag and watch your drag settings for these Hoo's.
Have fun
Tom in Steinhatchee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:22 pm

by Joe H

Wahoo just sounds like fun, wonder where it got it's name.

Very nice Larry, as usual with your pictures, wish I were there!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:39 pm

by wej

That's what you say when you hook one!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:04 pm

by Aripeka Angler

wej wrote:That's what you say when you hook one!!!

Actually, you usually don't know it's a wahoo when you hook it

You figure that out a little later

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:05 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:
wej wrote:That's what you say when you hook one!!!
Actually, you usually don't know it's a wahoo when you hook it You figure that out a little later

you go from Yahoooo! to Wahooo! then?

Btw over here they call it Mula doesn't make much sense either

thb wrote: Need a good drag and watch your drag settings for these Hoo's.
Have fun
Tom in Steinhatchee

LOL

I'm in New Orleans at the moment, drags and hoo's doesn't refer directly to fishing over here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:16 pm

by Cracker Larry

We were in Key West today, and drags don't apply much to fishing there either.

I need to get out more. Or maybe not

Dang, the things you see makes a person ponder

Going fishing again tomorrow, where a smooth drag is going to have a Shimano or Quantum logo. There I'll know what I'm looking at, anyway. I can tell you the sex of most fish better than I can most of the human beans in Key West.

Dang. It takes all kinds, I reckon

We've been wearing out the mangrove snapper here off the dock. No need to crank the boat. Too windy today to crank the boat anyway. That's why we went to Key West. A person needs to do that every so often, just so they can feel better about themselves.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:18 am

by cali123

Lucky it was rigged with break away ties

I have never heard of this C.L.,Could you explain how to rig this for us fresh water guys.

Thanks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:39 am

by Cracker Larry

Sure. I could show you a pic of mine, but can't figure out how to resize and post it from the droid.

Anyway, instead of shackling the chain to the normal location at the end of the shank, you shackle it to the fluke end of the anchor. Then run the chain along the shank and tie it in a few places with zip ties or light line. A couple more zip ties through the eye in the shank and you're done. The anchor works as normal, but if it gets hung up in the rocks you shorten the scope as tight as you can, cleat it off, and give it some power. The zip ties break and the anchor pulls up backwards. It works great but you have to size the ties correctly. Too light and they break in normal use. Too heavy and they won't break when you need them too.

I've saved a lot of anchors over the years with this.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:08 am

by Aripeka Angler

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:23 am

by Cracker Larry

Thanks for posting that for me Richard

A couple of safety notes. NEVER tie off to the stern to break loose an anchor. NEVER!
And NEVER leave a boat unattended with an anchor rigged like this. It's about 90% reliable.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:04 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Thanks for posting that for me Richard

You're welcome Captain.

NEVER tie off to the stern to break loose an anchor. NEVER!

Great advice! Sadly, these guys never got it. They cleated off a stuck anchor to the stern cleat in 15 foot seas. It's old news but I'm pretty sure something positive came from it. I think it taught a lot of guys around here what not to do in rough seas.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,505172,00.html

Who knows, maybe the zip ties would have helped them? I haven't lost an anchor since I started using them...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:21 am

by gstanfield

As soon as I get home from work this morning I'm gonna rig my anchor up with the zip ties

Our lake bottoms here are real rocky and folks loose anchors quite a bit.

On the same note, I did find an anchor last week at the lake. A nice approx 5lb danforth with 6ft of plastic coated chain and 50ft of 8 braid 1/2" line. Saw the line floating on the surface and went and pulled the anchor up. No clue why it was cut loose

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:38 am

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:
A couple of safety notes. NEVER tie off to the stern to break loose an anchor. NEVER!

Thanks CL, wish I would have read this about 1 1/2 months ago. Damn near sank my OD18 doing just this. Scared the crap out of me. Well I didn't get any water in the boat, but it came close enough to scare me and I'll NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. Thanks for the tips, we all appreciate them. I'm going to rig my anchors with zip ties also. btw way I did get my anchor

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:36 am

by cali123

Thanks for the info ,guys. All of my anchoring experience is with mushroom anchors so a didn't have a clue how to rig the danforth type anchors.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 1:16 pm

by Aripeka Angler

One more tip on the zip tie anchor rigging. If you plan on dragging the anchor around on one of those float thingys, be sure to put a swivel just above the tip of the shank. That keeps the rope from getting twisted

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:56 pm

by dborecky

CL,

NIce WAHOOOOOOO... Were you fast trolling or slow trolling? I know you are well seasoned but I have the inside track on those there Wahoo. Let me know if you are intereseted in slaughtering them.

Here is some pics from a friend down in your way and a recent trip.

I'm trying to get the pics to work. Got it downloaded to photobucket and here are the pics.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:37 pm

by wej

The forward thrust pushes the stern under water?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:44 pm

by tech_support

wow, they are on plane in that last picture. Looks like at least 15 knots

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:24 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Derrick, kick butt

Nice 'hoos

Did they get those around Cudjoe?

The forward thrust pushes the stern under water?

Absolutely! It's a really fast way to sink a boat. It may even kill you if the water is cold...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

Derrick, sorry I missed your call. Was eating at Mangrove Mommas. Yeah, we were fast trolling. About 12 -15 kts and covering ground. 15 kts is idling for a wahoo, dolphin or tuna. They can swim over 50 kts easy. I've caught many fish trolling over 20 kts. My theory is keep a hook or 2 in the water at any speed offshore. My boat cannot outrun a wahoo or tuna, they can run twice my speed easy. Sure don't need to catch that many wahoo anyway

We had another great fishing day today

Sure do love the Keys

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:24 pm

by wej

Kickass Wahoo's!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:19 am

by dborecky

Shine,

The way they fish them is 13-18 knots or so. That is the key.

You need to mark the spot on your gps when you get a hit and go back over it right away. They are schooling fish. You don't slow down much as you real one in and turn around for the spot. Not very sporting but you get fish for the frige. It is not unusual to get doubles and triples fishing this way.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:10 pm

by Mad Dog

dborecky wrote:The way they fish them is 13-18 knots or so. That is the key. You need to mark the spot on your gps when you get a hit and go back over it right away. They are schooling fish. You don't slow down much as you real one in and turn around for the spot. Not very sporting but you get fish for the frige. It is not unusual to get doubles and triples fishing this way.

What kind of lures are you pulling at that speed? One pic above looked like a skirted bullet head or maybe a daisy chain?

Thanks

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:37 pm

by dborecky

MD,

The pics are from a friend I grew up with. He owns a custom rod company and he fishes Sailfish Tournaments. He is sponsored by Yamaha, Contender, and a local Marina. He used to sell rods to this guy who dominated the Wahoo tournaments for a number of years and he would pic his brains for tid bits of info. This was years ago. The guy would come into the weight in with all his rods, lures and rigs stowed. Nobody knew what he was doing for a long time. The secret finally slowly came out and now it is common practice. The original guy who perfected it has his own web site explaining everything and of course sells the gear. The lure he has on the site are a little diffent then my friends but they both work. Here is his site. www.wahooking.com. Everything you need to know is there. My friend does not always use the shock line but goes straight wire to wire. He said secondary fish can cut the shock line trying for the same lure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:06 pm

by Mad Dog

dborecky wrote:MD,

Here is his site. http://www.wahooking.com. Everything you need to know is there.

Excellent! Thanks. Always trying to learn something new.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:32 am

by Aripeka Angler

Posting these for the Cracker...

I'm sure he will tell the story later

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:02 pm

by Mad Dog

I took a couple days off this week and went back to Port O'Connor. According to NOAA wave forecaster I was expecting somthing in the range of 0-1'. We found 15-20 mph winds with 3-5' and choppy with an occassional 7-8 footers

. We made the best of it. We decided to drop 4 lines a troll around and between the platforms. We managed six or seven strikes and three keepers. The sounder marked lots of fish in 60-70', holding at 40-50'. Once we got into less than 60', nothing. Here are a couple pics.

Brother Arch, holding the course. Notice the deathgrip on the T-top

Rain clouds stirring things up every now and then.

One of our targets.

Snagged this little guy when the winds blew us to close to a rig. Lost one of the lures to the rig at the same time.

Landed two nice kings.

Picked up a 25" Smack to end the catching. No pick.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:43 am

by LeeFitz

Been chasing the magical Barramundi again. Had BarraCam on the job - thought you might enjoy this.

24" Barra turning it on a bit - and a series of stills of the jump. Barra have an amazing ability to throw lures during jumps like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfs9h1YI2UY

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:28 pm

by Cracker Larry

Great pics and great fishing, Charles and Lee both. I forgot to catch up on this thread after our Keys trip

Postby Aripeka Angler » Thu Jul 14, 2011 6:32 am
Posting these for the Cracker...

I'm sure he will tell the story later

Thanks for posting those pics for me, Richard. Sorry I forgot you did

I hate leaving things unfinished, drank some rum last week

The story there is that we anchored up on a patch reef in about 30' of water and put out a block of frozen chum, made some punch drinks, rigged some rods while the chum was doing it's thing, and within about 15 minutes we had thousands of Yellowtail Snapper in the chum slick right at the boat. Along with many other species. These were mostly small fish at first, barely legal size...

Then we started chunking some pieces of squid and ballyhoo and spanish sardines, and threw out a few handfuls of silverside minnows for good luck, and got quite a frenzy going

Needless to say it's almost like fishing in a barrel at that point. Rig a couple of light rods with a bare hook, thread on a silverside. Throw it way back in the slick and free line it out with the drift. The smaller fish usually come right up to the boat, but the larger flag yellowtails are farther back in the chum line, and the mangrove and cubera snapper and grouper are back behind them. Once they are worked up good, it doesn't take long to catch a 20 fish limit of snapper, along with a dozen other species we mostly release. After that it's all entertainment. The longer you chum, the more fish will come.

Mrs. Cracker was reeling in a small strawberry grouper, and this big goliath grouper comes up and sucks it off the hook right at the boat. It was about 5' long and 3' thick, with a mouth like a 55 gallon drum

. Twice as big as me, or more. It camped out in the shade under the boat. In a few minutes I reeled up a yellowtail and the beast comes out and eats the 3 lb. fish like a piece of popcorn. Fishing was over then, so we started feeding the big jewfish our extra bait, whole ballyhoo, squid and spanish sardines. After a few minutes it would come up and take the fish right out of our hands. The scoundrel had an appetite

It was one of the coolest experiences I think I've ever had with a fish in the open wild. I've fed porpoises by hand but never a fish like this on a reef. It was as gentle as a good dog, never touching my fingers, while I'm knowing it could take my arm all the way to my head if it wanted to

Mrs. Cracker wouldn't put her hand out there, she watched carefully from a distance

I decided I was going to get in the water with it and see if I could feed it there, so I put on my gear and eased off the side. Dori told me I was nuts. The chum was still flowing and other fish all around the boat. The grouper swam away at first but after a few minutes it came back. Dori handed me a yellowtail still somewhat alive and I took it to the fish. I was hesitant to hold it too close it's mouth so I turned it loose when it started coming for it. The yellowtail kicked once and a bull shark that looked as big as a F18 and moving just as fast zipped between the big grouper and I, and ate the yellowtail

I squealed just like a little girl through my snorkel pipe

All the fish disappeared and I got the hell out of the water

When I got back in the boat, big sharks were circling all around, BIG sharks. Time to move

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:57 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Cracker Larry wrote: I squealed just like a little girl through my snorkel pipe

once again that is one hell of a story,

damn near fell out of my chair when I read that one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:02 pm

by hockey52

[quote="Cracker Larry"]Thanks for posting those pics for me, Richard. Sorry I forgot you did

I hate leaving things unfinished, drank some rum last week :lol:quote]

Kraken Rum

Cool story

I'll have to let T read it tonight.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

A few more pics from the Keys. Sadly I was limited to a cell phone and didn't take a lot of pictures.

Chumming works just as good in deep water as it does shallow. Anchored in 100' the first fish to show up will be blue runners. These are small, less than 2 pounds, decent eating but excellent bait for larger fish. You want to snag a few of these just for bait. A sabiki rig will catch them 6 at a time. Also in the deeper water ballyhoo come to the chum slick. Sabiki some of these too for bait. On these deep reefs we caught big yellowtails, mangrove snapper, cubera snapper, dog snapper, about 4 kinds of grouper, amberjacks, barracuda, king and cero mackerel, and I don't remember what else. The fishing was constant action.

The only problem with the 100' reefs is pulling that dang anchor

It got hung up every time we dropped it. You've got to rig it to break away and come up backwards.

American Shoals Light. About 10 miles off Key West, it's a big thing, you can see it 12 miles away in the daytime. It ain't no oil rig, but I bet the fishing is as good

Trolling on the Marathon Hump. Dori is hiding from the camera. We did only fair trolling, action was mostly slow. A lot of dolphin, no big ones though, 4 wahoo all about 35 pounds, several cudas, several kings, quite a few pulled hooks...

More than one 3 ring circus when we would get a hookup with 6 lines and 3 teasers out

Trying to clear the teasers, clear the lines, get the fish to the boat and gaffed and in the box would make quite a show

Glad nobody filmed that, it probably had some bad words in it. Mrs. Cracker did great, I'm going to make a fisherman out of her yet.

Speaking of trolling, I've got to share this with yall. Mostly I pull natural baits, ballyhoo, mullet, cigar minnows and such. Sometimes with skirts, sometimes naked, but I do like to have a few artificials with me. I especially like the old style cedar plugs for fast trolling, a deep diving plug or 2 and a big Drone spoon. Then when I get lazy and tired of rigging baits, I can still keep a hook in the water. When I move from spot to spot I always try to drag something behind me. You can pull cedar plugs and Drone spoons at 20 kts and still catch an occasional fish. Your boat can't outrun an offshore gamefish

Anyway, my point here is deep diving plugs. These are big plugs, about 12" long, with a big lip that makes them run well below the surface, 30 feet or more. In the past I've always had pretty good luck with Mirrolure, Rebel, Rapala and Bomber brands, but before we left I went to the tackle shop and bought a couple of Yozuri S plugs. Let me tell yall that is one fish catching SOB

I've never used Yozuri before, but I'm changing my tackle box now. For 3 days we trolled a Yozuri S, side by side with a Bomber CD30. The Yozuri lures caught 15 fish, 4 wahoo, 5 kings, 3 cudas, and 3 amberjack. No fish that hit it got loose either. The Bomber caught 1 Little Tuny in the same time period. After that I retired the Bomber. Every time we put those Yozuris in the water they caught a fish. Every time. That's pretty impressive

The Yozuri is on top, the green one with the teeth marks all over it. The Bomber is below it, still looking new after being drug around the ocean for 3 days.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:42 pm

by Cracker Larry

Kraken Rum

I've tried that Kraken rum, don't really like it, too sweet. Cool bottle though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 6:22 pm

by wej

CL what weight line did you run on the Yozuri? I have the same one(color & everything) and it doesn't track for crap, keeps surfacing way out to starboard....Just a bad one? (at slow speeds to! 2-6 knots)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 6:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

Cracker Larry wrote: I squealed just like a little girl through my snorkel pipe

damn near fell out of my chair when I read that one

Well Bradley, I've always figured that life wasn't meant to be spent watching TV

What I didn't say is that after I squealed like a little girl through my snorkel tube, that big grouper and I looked eye to eye, and he said "I don't know about you, but I'm getting the hell out of here". And then he did. I stuck my head up and asked Dori if she had seen that. She says heck yeah I saw that, and I see about 20 more just like it swimming in circles around you too. You really ought to get your dumb @ss out of the water now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 6:37 pm

by SmokyMountain

Great story Larry!!

I'd squeal like a little girl too!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 6:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

CL what weight line did you run on the Yozuri? I have the same one(color & everything) and it doesn't track for crap, keeps surfacing way out to starboard....Just a bad one? (at slow speeds to! 2-6 knots)

I pulled them on both 30 and 50 lb line, with a 15' section of double line. The lures are rigged with 150 lb. fluorocarbon leaders about 8' long, crimped on. They put a lot of strain on the rod, so light tackle won't do it. I pull them as fast as 12 kts. and never slower than 5. I've got 2 of the Yozuris, one in green, one in blue, and both track perfectly. Either I got 2 good ones, or you got a bad one. These are the only ones I've ever used, so don't have any history to compare it to.

You might can bend the lip to get it tracking right

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:33 pm

by hockey52

Great stories CL. T loved it. Now he wants to go fishing with you.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:31 pm

by wej

Great story CL.

I'll try to bend on the lip a little or may even try a rough file, I have nothing to lose as it's completely worthless now.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:46 pm

by wegcagle

Wow

You were almost Cracker bait.

I gotta say C.L. if you don't write a book on your life story I am

You've got more lives than a den full of cats

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:56 pm

by gstanfield

Looks like a good time and some nice scenery

As to the Yozuri lures, I've had good luck with their small ones up here, only ever owned a couple of lures that large though and the last time I used them I was probably 16 or 17 so it's been a while

They always did run true though, only lures I ever have to tweak have been rapalas but they make some dang good lures for trolling trout and walleye so I won't complain

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:02 pm

by wej

All my small Yozuri stuff performs flawlessly too George. They tear up the walleye trolling here also.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 9:30 am

by Cracker Larry

Wej, I bet if you returned that plug to Yozuri they would replace it, probably send you a couple of extras too

Great stories CL. T loved it. Now he wants to go fishing with you.

Send him down Alicia, I'd be glad to take him fishing

Are you sure you want him fishing with me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 12:54 pm

by wadestep

Cracker Larry wrote:When I got back in the boat, big sharks were circling all around, BIG sharks. Time to move

Wise words, from a salty Cracker.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:31 pm

by wej

Break out the "big" rigs & cable???

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

Break out the "big" rigs & cable???

Nope, not these

We didn't have a rig on the boat that could handle those sharks, didn't have a big enough boat either, or a crew was even remotely up for the task of landing a 1,000 lb shark.

It was one of those seamanship decision things, situation, equipment, boat, crew, rum drinks, ....naw, not a good idea at all to fool with those things, they were fine right where they were. Critters like that I let pass in peace. I don't bother them, they don't bother me much. So far.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 7:04 pm

by hockey52

I'm with T at the Denver Airport and he wants to change flight from Houston to Savanna.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

Send him. Call me, PD has my number. Make sure he knows that it is 103 down here today, with a heat index of about 115. Even for a cracker it's a miserable hot sob right now. I'd wait a month if I was him

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:47 pm

by hockey52

He's landed and with Grandpa right now with strict orders to get the Poppin' Cork ready for the meet next weekend.

I wouldn't inflict my 13-yr old on anybody but family.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:58 pm

by mechdave

Last day of snapper season July 18, 2011
I caught this Cuda with 20 lb test on a 2/0 trolling for Kings over some cut off rigs.

Took us about a 1/2 hour to limit out on Red Snapper.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

You gonna eat that nasty cuda

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 7:15 am

by majorgator

WOW

Just read all that stuff from CL. Not to outshine him, but the story about the feeding the jewfish down in the Keys reminded me a similar story. These pictures were also taken in the Keys over a reef a few years back. BTW - this cuda is about the same size as the one mechdave is holding up

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 9:15 am

by Cracker Larry

Great pics Seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 7:12 pm

by mechdave

Yeah we uns eat everything. I put the back half on the smoker the next day and let him go about 10 hours at 240 with lots of mesquite wood smoke. Was dinner that night and still have some left for Baracuda salad. Think tuna salad but better.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 9:18 pm

by Aripeka Angler

My baby sister is visiting me. She lives in Tulsa, but still loves to fish with me when she comes home to Florida

She is a pretty dang good boat captain too

My little girl and her boyfriend were also onboard today.

We caught a bunch of bottom fish including sharks, red and gag grouper, grunts, snappers and a huge amberjack I lost at the boat trying to pull him away from a cuda

Check out this gag, no one told him he was an endangered species

More gags and a big shark...

Put a hundred and fifty miles on the big boat today. It was super cool

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 9:41 pm

by smilinmatt

Larry, once you fillet the cuda, all the nastiness is gone (that stink is in the skin). They're really good eating (firm white meat like a cross between grouper and snapper). But growing up in the Keys, I only eat them once in a blue moon - and only the smallest ones at that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:49 am

by Cracker Larry

Larry, once you fillet the cuda, all the nastiness is gone (that stink is in the skin).

I've eaten them many times, but they are low on my list as "good"

And that stinkin' skin stinks up every fish in the box. Nope, no more cudas for me. Too many good fish out there to eat. I prefer to eat fish that taste good raw.

Put a hundred and fifty miles on the big boat today. It was super cool

Great pics Richard

Dang, it's a shame to have to release those endangered gags, save those numbers for next month. You didn't slam dunk them with their swim bladders hanging out did you

Beautiful Lemon shark! Slick ocean too!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:26 am

by Doc_Dyer

awesome Richard,

can you promise those same fishing conditions in a few months?

I want the water to look just like that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 12:51 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Great pics Richard Dang, it's a shame to have to release those endangered gags, save those numbers for next month.

Thanks Larry

I got the numbers on speed dial. We threw back about 8 keepers to 20 lbs. There will be plenty when we go in September

awesome Richard,

can you promise those same fishing conditions in a few months?

I want the water to look just like that

We usually have nice weather in mid-September

I hope so, looking forward to fishing with you guys again....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 1:13 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Aripeka Angler wrote: looking forward to fishing with you guys again....

uhhhh, that would be in about 90 hours

see ya in Texas

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:34 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Doc_Dyer wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote: looking forward to fishing with you guys again....

uhhhh, that would be in about 90 hours

see ya in Texas

For sure

BTW, I like your new avatar

The boat looks familiar

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:59 pm

by Steven

Visiting the folks in MD the last 2 weeks. My dad took my son and I out trolling for stripers. Little man caught 3. Good memories.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 7:44 pm

by wadestep

Went out of west Palm last weekend, smashed through a nasty 4+ foot headsea to west end, bahamas. We were looking for yellowfin tuna, but none were to be found in 3 days of trolling. We did get into 18 dolphin (aka mahi, aka dorado), a couple hogfish, some nice grouper and mutton snapper, and............ A BLUE MARLIN

pictures are crappy since it was nearly dusk on a cheap camera, but

He was only about 150lbs, but it was the first blue I've ever seen in person. A very beautiful fish. We didn't take him out of the water for better pictures, but he was released in top shape.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 7:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 7:41 am

by topwater

Nice fish Wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 6:14 pm

by Bluefish2

Post trip report, Alaska. Unbelievable! Spent my vacation in the state of Alaska fishing, (whatelse). Could not have hit the weather better if we tried, past years have seen asmuch as a foot and a half of rain. To say that the fishing was great is an understatement. We fish mainly for Sockeye which are difficult to catch when fishing in high water.
My dad fished from a boat for the first time. Well, at 84..... Fishing was ggod enough to wear out a fly line.
And to top it off I was able to capture one of the true Alaskan experiences: The amazing Double triple!
A sockeye, Pink, and a chum Salmon was the first of these.We do not usually catch chum salmon though not the first time.
The tripe was more difficult to accomplish since they are not usually our target spies (I could not get away for m the damned things) The ever popular Dolly Varden trout was the first to fall, next came the river flounder, Then, because my line kept hitting the bottom, The giant Sculpin!! all 5" of it. And I was the only one to do this particular triple. So beat that!
No halibut fishing this year

my son keeps getting seasick and nothing seems to help. Next year I will take someone who does not get seasick! Hopefully The pro photographer will send pictures of everyone that he took. I will try and post a few.
BF2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 7:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

Looking forward to the pics

For the seasickness, have you (your son) tried scopolamine? It works very good for my wife and she is the worst I've ever seen for it. She uses it in a patch form that you put behind your ear, lasts for 3 days. That's called transderm scop, 1.5 mg. Aripeka Angler uses the same drug in tablet form and swears by it. It goes by the name of Scopace. Both are prescription only, but is very effective. If you haven't tried it, it's worth a shot.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:07 pm

by Joe H

Aripeka Angler uses the same drug in tablet form and swears by it. It goes by the name of Scopace. Both are prescription only, but is very effective. If you haven't tried it, it's worth a shot.

Richard (Aripeka Angler) gave some (Scopace) to my wife Janet the last couple of times we were down, now she swears by it, she won't go out on the water without it, even here locally on the great Lakes, works like a charm.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:21 pm

by wej

Bluefish, my mom & wife both get car sick but fish offshore in my LITTLE plastic boat using scopolamine patches coupled with 1/2 a dose of meclazine*(dramamine?). They haven't so much as gotten quezy they say.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:35 pm

by Steven

I'll have to try that the Scopace. Only been offshore fishing once. Was a 60' head boat in 6-10' seas. Sick doesn't describe how I was. I grew up on small boats on the Chesepeake and surrounding rivers. Never had a hint of sea sickness. Something about the motion of a larger boat unsettles me I guess.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 8:34 pm

by Bluefish2

HI everyone, actually tried the scope patches lat year. I dont think he put it on in time or did not have the correct dose. They were my wife's who is about half his weight. Maybe that is why it did not work.
Sid not know you could get the scope in pill form.
I have solved the problem, One of the other fishermen at the camp who goes every year said he would like to go with me if I go next year. I would like to have my son but he seems determined not to.
Thank you for the ideas on how to solve this.
BF2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 10:49 pm

by hockey52

Taylor caught this gar off of our dock before going to Port O'Connor for the meet.

It had lots of teeth!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

I dont think he put it on in time or did not have the correct dose. They were my wife's who is about half his weight. Maybe that is why it did not work.

The patches take a while to get into your system. Mrs. Cracker always puts them on the night before boating or flying. She is the worst person I've ever seen for motion sickness, but it works for her. One night we were sailing somewhere and she had been sick a couple of days. She tried to jump overboard in the GOM but I caught her just in time, and tied her in the boat. Another time I had to take a shotgun away from her

That's how sick she gets, no kidding. But the scop patches have made both of our lives better

Taylor caught this gar off of our dock before going to Port O'Connor for the meet

That is a fine garfish there

A barracuda doesn't have anything over a gar when it comes to teeth! Or food value

But a mighty sporting fish just the same. What kind of tackle did he catch it on? Was it your fuchsia spinning rod?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:50 pm

by Prarie Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:Was it your fuchsia spinning rod?

He knows better than to use her spinning rod. He caught it on one of my brand new Tiger Rod and Okuma spinning outfits that he didn't have permission to use. Shows you who he thinks is a softy.

Incidentally the Fuscia rod will really fire a bait into the wind. You done good Larry, it's a great fishing rod, pink and all. The ladies at the meet were very impressed with it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 12:11 am

by Cracker Larry

Yeah, I know it's a fine rod

The St. Croix is my favorite, when Mrs. Cracker lets me use it

We about wore hers out in the Keys. There were several times when we were chumming on the deep patch reefs for yellowtail and mangrove snappers that we hooked up with a big grouper, amberjack or cudas

A 50 pound amberjack will put a bend in it for sure

There were a couple times when I thought Mrs. Cracker was going to break my favorite redfish rod on a dang jack, but it never broke

The line did several times. Caught a bunch of dolphin on it too. How are you liking that Cabo reel? I've never seen a smoother drag than that. Sweet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 12:32 am

by Prarie Dog

Cracker Larry wrote: How are you liking that Cabo reel? I've never seen a smoother drag than that. Sweet

I'd give you an opinion on the reel and the drag if I was allowed to use it. Picked it up during spring break, made a couple of casts and got caught--busted is the word. Haven't picked it up sense, my experience has been as an observer. She told me, just now, that she hasn't caught anything big enough yet to give the drag a work out but will let me know when it happens.

Did Richard tell you about the huge redfish that cruised by the boat Sunday morning? Looked like a forty incher for sure, we were so excited we couldn't get a bait in the right spot to get a strike. Seeing that fish was worth the whole trip.

It's too bad we couldn't put Andy and Bradley on some fish, they can sure use a flyrod, poetry in motion.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 12:44 am

by Cracker Larry

I'd give you an opinion on the reel and the drag if I was allowed to use it.

That's funny there

She told me, just now, that she hasn't caught anything big enough yet to give the drag a work out but will let me know when it happens.

Send her down here to fish with me for a couple weeks, we'll let you know how it works

Did Richard tell you about the huge redfish that cruised by the boat Sunday morning? Looked like a forty incher for sure, we were so excited we couldn't get a bait in the right spot to get a strike.

Yeah, he did mention something about buck fever, and somebody slinging a shrimp off the line, but I don't repeat no gossip like that

It's too bad we couldn't put Andy and Bradley on some fish, they can sure use a flyrod, poetry in motion.

Yes they can, it's a beautiful thing to watch

Even if they don't catch many fish. Bradley's dad is smoothest fly caster I've ever seen though, so he had a good teacher

I try to tell them that if they'll put a live shrimp on the end of that thang, they might catch some fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 5:42 pm

by hockey52

T caught the gar on a live piggy perch.

I showed off my rod to anybody who wanted a look.

I did hear that some Dog used it while I was on the Texas Sled with David but didn't see it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That fish had some big chompers

Gar make good plant food if you plant them under an orange tree

I have a few pics of Reese doing some fishing. Reese and Taylor were really great kids

Good manners and a joy to be around. Anyway, the pics...

Messed up the pic of the net hitting the water when I was reducing it

It was a pretty good throw, sorry about that...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 11:57 pm

by Prarie Dog

Richard, thanks for posting the pics. And thanks for complimenting their manners, Reese's folks are real nice people that are big on manners, not to mention academics and athletics. His dad was a walk on hockey player for RIT as a freshman continuing to play for four years. If you ever watched Reese play Lacrosse and Taylor play hockey you wouldn't believe they're the same kids.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:43 am

by LeeFitz

Corroboree Billabong in the Northern Territory of Australia is an almost spiritual place to fish for the mythical Barramundi! Famous for its fishing, birdlife and crocodiles - lots of crocodiles!

Fished there on Friday and boated 14 Barra, from quite small to 70 cm, with 6 being over the legal size (54 cm).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:26 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish and nice pics, Lee

Beautiful looking place too! Do you eat crocs over there?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 9:44 am

by davidtx

I hear that the NT saltwater crocs are some seriously bad dudes.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 5:32 am

by LeeFitz

I hear that the NT saltwater crocs are some seriously bad dudes.

Yes, the north Australian "Saltie" has some serious attitude and is NOT to be messed with.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:11 pm

by Prarie Dog

It looks like Grandpa is becoming a Gar Fishing professional. Today he put my sister in law on this little guy. He measures 5' 3" caught in Caney Creek which is right in front of our house down there. Looks like my wash job lasted a few days.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:15 pm

by hockey52

The picture was sent to us with a request for a bigger boat!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:08 am

by Uncle D

hockey52 wrote:The picture was sent to us with a request for a bigger boat!

Next thing you know, he'll be throwing gators in.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 8:35 pm

by timmydafool

Finally got away from working on the babyroom and got to do some fishing!

Hook set:

Catch: 27" and fat as can be

And Release:

2.5' of clear water, sun setting, flood tide and a gulp jerk shad makes for a good day

all pics

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 8:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice Redfish Timmy

and only 2" over slot

That's the thing about Carolina redfish this time of year, it's hard to catch one small enough to keep

I reckon that's a good thing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 8:58 pm

by timmydafool

Cracker Larry wrote:Nice Redfish Timmy and only 2" over slot That's the thing about Carolina redfish this time of year, it's hard to catch one small enough to keep I reckon that's a good thing

Yeah it's just a horrible thing... I usually don't keep much of anything I catch anyway...

Oh and was down your way and caught 2 sharks last weekend. We were up by beaufort, sc. Both were black Tips 1was 4ft the other was about a 5 to 6 footer... he broke off before we could measure him.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:06 pm

by Cracker Larry

I don't keep redfish or trout either unless they are gut hooked, or I have a client who wants to keep a few.

Yeah, plenty of sharks around. They are a dang nuisance when you're trying to catch a fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:16 pm

by Larry B

Caught me a few Flats last night:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:31 pm

by gstanfield

Lookin good Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:32 pm

by Mad Dog

Tim, purdy red you got there. Looks like it put up good fight. That one would have gone in the fish box in Texas (18-28 slot). Perfect for the grill on the half-shell.

Nice catch on light tackle Larry.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:30 pm

by Larry B

Mad Dog wrote:
Nice catch on light tackle Larry.

MD

Yea that would be a nice catch on that tackle

Thats my bait catching rod, but I'm sure you knew that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 10:04 am

by wej

Nice ones LarryB, I went after the same thing last night... ...got skunked on "real" fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:07 am

by wadestep

Went out spearfising yesterday. We managed to get 7 fish on the first dive, but had a hole in our catch bag and lost 3 of them underwater.

We were staring BIG gag grouper in the face , they must have known they were out of season! Usually they are moderatly hard to spear - more skittish, unless they are out of season, of course....
anyways, the big catch of the day was one of these:
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pat ... &id=583625
a 25 lb stainless steel plow anchor with 30 feet of chain. Had gotten caught under a ledge. Has some minor coral growth (like you'd see on the walls of a saltwater fish tank) but the metal underneath looks perfectly fine. I was even happier when i got home and saw how much money those things are! Hauling up 25lbs of anchor, and another 30' of chain was a workout.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:31 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a nice catch

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:53 am

by Larry B

wadestep wrote:Went out spearfising yesterday. We managed to get 7 fish on the first dive, but had a hole in our catch bag and lost 3 of them underwater. We were staring BIG gag grouper in the face , they must have known they were out of season! Usually they are moderatly hard to spear - more skittish, unless they are out of season, of course....
anyways, the big catch of the day was one of these:
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pat ... &id=583625
a 25 lb stainless steel plow anchor with 30 feet of chain. Had gotten caught under a ledge. Has some minor coral growth (like you'd see on the walls of a saltwater fish tank) but the metal underneath looks perfectly fine. I was even happier when i got home and saw how much money those things are! Hauling up 25lbs of anchor, and another 30' of chain was a workout.
wade

Very nice catch. Since learning how to rig my anchor (here) with the zip ties, I have already saved my anchors about 4 times. I just keep a bag of ties on my boat and tie it back up. It's a very rocky lake I fish. Have a buddie who scuba dives and he's got a whole back yard full of anchors he has found at the same lake. But don't think all of his anchors would add up to the cost of the one you got

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:14 am

by Larry B

Went to the lake for a day trip and decided to fish while there. Was catching some channel cats when I caught this one and my wife was ready with the camera and got this great shot of Roscoe, Maybe it's just me, but I thought it was a pretty good photo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:25 am

by gstanfield

Roscoe wants to do some fishing himself

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:30 pm

by cali123

Well it's a cat. What dog wouldn't go after it. Great shot!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Roscoe looks like he wants catfish for dinner. Those are some fine catfish right there

Since learning how to rig my anchor (here) with the zip ties, I have already saved my anchors about 4 times.

There is only a 10% patent charge on that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:20 pm

by LeeFitz

I've been back fishing in Paradise. Boated 6 x Barra, of which this one was the best!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:57 pm

by Mad Dog

31"? That's a hoss! Great catch.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:01 pm

by Cracker Larry

That is a chunk right there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:53 pm

by wej

Glad someone did the conversion for me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 12:18 am

by Prarie Dog

Wej, those beancounter types have to fix the numbers so everyone can understand them, they can't help it.

Looking at those Barra make me wonder if it wouldn't be fun to go to the Land Downunder, dodging Croks while fishing could get real exciting.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 4:23 am

by LeeFitz

Looking at those Barra make me wonder if it wouldn't be fun to go to the Land Downunder, dodging Croks while fishing could get real exciting.

Come on down Dog, and I will show you the beautiful world heritage listed Hinchinbrook Channel!

Just remember the closed Barra season in Queensland is 1 November to 31 January. Best times are for Barra are March to May and September/October.

I can't guarantee a croc won't get ya, but you can take some heart in the fact that it will likely be a quick death!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:54 am

by Mad Dog

Prarie Dog wrote:Wej, those beancounter types have to fix the numbers so everyone can understand them, they can't help it.

I resemble that remark.

I did that for you PD. I could tell right away that measure wasn't SAE and you might have trouble with it.

Come on down Dog, and I will show you the beautiful world heritage listed Hinchinbrook Channel!

That sounds like someone wants to host a builder's meet down-under

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 2:30 pm

by Prarie Dog

LeeFitz wrote:Come on down Dog, and I will show you the beautiful world heritage listed Hinchinbrook Channel!

Thanks LeeFitz, might take you up on it one day. Australia is on my short list of places to visit and those Barra look like a blast to catch.

Mad Dog wrote:I resemble that remark. I did that for you PD. I could tell right away that measure wasn't SAE and you might have trouble with it.

Thanks Charles, for the conversion.

Hope you don't resemble it too much, we got some meets to work on down the road.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:13 am

by Larry B

Ended up with another good Cat the other night. 38#

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:01 pm

by wej

Nice one Larry!!! Do you turn the great big one's loose??? Don't care just curious.

Rod & reel or some other method?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:19 pm

by Larry B

wej wrote:Nice one Larry!!! Do you turn the great big one's loose??? Don't care just curious.

Rod & reel or some other method?

Only allowed Rod and Reel here in AZ. I turn about 95% loose, Only keep what I can reasonably eat. That one came up on the short list, it was time for some meat. Should last me about 2-3 months. Probably got close to 25# of meat off him maybe more.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:20 pm

by gstanfield

Wow, those are some great cats you catch there Larry. I'm pretty jealous

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:47 pm

by wej

I'm not pretty jealous I'm ugly jealous!!

Did that Penn 309(or is that a 209?) make short work of him?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:36 pm

by Larry B

Wow, those are some great cats you catch there Larry. I'm pretty jealous

George stop by anytime and I'll take you out

I'm not pretty jealous I'm ugly jealous!!

Did that Penn 309(or is that a 209?) make short work of him?

Good eye, I think thats the 309? I've another idenical rod with a 209, Pretty good reels for what I do. I run 80# braid, but there is so much structure in the lake you have to be able to power them out, can't let them run much or you'll lose them in the trees underwater.
Finally got me a rod rack installed today for my cat rods:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice catfish, big and ugly

I really like the rod rack too

Did you have that made, or is it a production unit?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:15 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:Nice catfish, big and ugly

I really like the rod rack too Did you have that made, or is it a production unit?

It's a production unit. I got it at Cabelas. Your buddy could make you one very easy. This one is out of Aluminum. I was going to center it, but it got in the way of my trolling motor so I offset it to one side.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:04 am

by gstanfield

Definately a nice rod rack. One of these days I'll make it over there and go catch some cats with you Larry. We've only been trying now for two years to get together, maybe we'll live long enough to share a beer and some fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:47 am

by Larry B

gstanfield wrote:Definately a nice rod rack. One of these days I'll make it over there and go catch some cats with you Larry. We've only been trying now for two years to get together, maybe we'll live long enough to share a beer and some fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:57 am

by LeeFitz

I have been going through some old fishing pics and thought you fellas might enjoy some of these.

#2 son's first Barra - pulled off a snag on his third (ever) lure cast!

He was 13 at the time - now 25, and a top lure chucker with an enviable record of success with Barra.

Don't think he has ever bought a lure though, as Dad's tackle box seems to have an endless supply.

One of life's great pleasures is to go fishing with your son(s) or daughter(s)!

and would you believe that I caught this beast a few years ago, while bait fishing for Barra. Took about 40 min to subdue!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:16 am

by Cracker Larry

What is the beast? Looks like a King Mackerel from here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:24 am

by LeeFitz

What is the beast?

Known as a Spanish Mackeral or Spaniard in our part of the world. Officially a narrow-barred mackeral, I think.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:28 am

by spotsy

Holy Mackerel

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:02 am

by wej

CL don't you wish our Spanish looked like that!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:18 am

by Larry B

Nice pictures Lee, thanks for posting them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:43 am

by Cracker Larry

CL don't you wish our Spanish looked like that!!!

Well, at least our Kings look like that

That Spanish is on steroids, for sure

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 5:10 pm

by Prarie Dog

Here's a pic of Grandpa and Grandson Anthony with a 28" red caught at Sargent last week. Funny how the nice fish are caught when you can't be there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 6:10 pm

by gstanfield

Nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 12:10 am

by fishbuster

dove 3 times this week out of daytona and sebastian and have been doing really good on fish and lobster. Havent really taken many pictures as it was commercial trips but heres one of the lobsters we pulled.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:52 am

by wej

I don't know jack about lobster but that looks freaking huge to me!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 10:02 am

by Cracker Larry

That is a fine one for sure

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:12 pm

by dborecky

We took a trip 90+ miles out this Friday night/Sat for a spear fishing competition. This was my first and I was really just winging it. I learned a lot and now know how to do a little better next year if I compete.

We got home after the mandatory Capt's Meeting at about 1030pm The boat was already loaded so we just took a last bathroom break and headed out....... 98 miles on the GPS for our first stop..... We got to the spot but I really don't remember what time it was.... The ride out was awesome with very nice conditions. The stars out there are amazing. I was looking up and noticed a brighter band of stars..... Then I realized what I was looking at... I have never seen the Milky Way Galaxy before except in books.

Here are a few pics from Saturday.

Dan looking out in amazement at the pond like conditions while the Sun was rising.

My wife packed some food for me to take on the boat and when I opened the bag for a quick breakfast to my horror I found theses

I knew we were doomed to a terrible trip but we pushed on.

We worked our way to a number of spots and many dives. We were looking for that winning fish. We decided to target Hog's for a chance to place because the grouper, aj, snapper categories are always taken by the commercial guys diving 180-200+ft and no contest is worth that depth to me. I stayed in the 130ft range for out dives. Here two of the fish that we got.

Mike shot this AJ because his goal was to put as many fish in the different classes as he could no matter the size. I figured out why later. I passed a shot at a much bigger fish because it was not a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place fish. Next time the fish will be mine!!!

Here is a pic of my Hog Fish. I thought this would have a good change at placing but it tied for 10th place for this class. There were about 350 people spearing in this competition

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:22 pm

by Cracker Larry

You suck

Joseph is looking good though

That is a fine hogfish for sure

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:29 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice Hog my friend

Three weeks until the blowout offshore trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

Derrick, Dori and I were going through the freezer yesterday looking for dinner and came across a package of your hogfish from our last trip. It was mixed in with cobia, grouper, wahoo, snapper, redfish and a few others, but we had Hogfish

See yall in a few weeks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 10:47 pm

by wej

CL I hate it that your freezer has so few options..

maybe I don't hate it just a bit envious.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 11:08 pm

by Mad Dog

So, next week all the girls start back to school. As an end of summer break I took them to Rockport for a little fishing and fun in the sun. The fishing was mostly for me but I took them along to hoping they might "get hooked" themselves. On our first day out only one of the twins, Leah, wanted to get up at 5AM to join me. We went exploring some new spots. We ended up on a sandy shoreline that I just had to wade. Leah reluctantly braved the unknown and joined me in the water. Speckled Trout and ladyfish were breaking the surface chasing finger mullet. I tossed a variety of arties trying to find the something the trout would hit. I finally got to a bone spook. The trout and skippies kept busting it but I think the lure was bigger than them. Finally a massive swirl and whoosh with nothing but slack in the line. I quickly catch up on the loose line and find the fish on and set the hook, that's when the fish realizes it's hooked and procedes to spool my 4000 series Shimano. I get back about half the line and it takes off again. After making it turn and get some line back I look over and see Leah watching the action. I move next to her and say "here check this out!" and hand her the rod. Before she could think about it she is fighting her first BIG fish. with a little coaching and encouragement she brings it close enough for me to get the boga on it. 29", 18lb (+/-) CPR Check out the smile...

That was pretty much the only photo worthy fish of the day.

The next day SWMBO and Leah's twin Sarah decide to join me. They give a good try for about two hours with not much action then proceded to catch some zees on the deck. Not sure why but the bite was off only caught some dinks and trash fish.

I haul them back to the condo. Mom calls our eldest to see if she is up and wants to go out with dad for a couple hours. She gives the affirmative. Not wanting to run to far we check out some reefs along the ICW in Aransas bay. Surprisingly dead. We move to a drop off near shore, not much happening there either until I get a solid hit on my popping rod. I realized pretty quickly that I've hooked up on a pretty decent fish for the tackle I'm using. You got it I handed Becca the rod so she could get the feel for why I love to fish. For about ten minutes she chases this fish around the boat. It dives under and around the boat using every move I've seen short of leaping. Well with lots of coaching and encouragement Becca get this fish to the net.

31", pegged the boga's 26lb max. Another CPR.

Not a lot of catching but some really nice memories.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 11:30 pm

by Prarie Dog

Sounds like ya'll had a ball Mad Dog. Those are some real nice looking reds.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:52 am

by dborecky

CL, There is no better eating fish then that hog fish....

Richard, I saw some really really nice gags down there.......

I could not believe I couldn't shoot just one......

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:07 am

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish MD

Looks like a happy crew too

Thanks for sharing the pics!

dborecky wrote:
Richard, I saw some really really nice gags down there....... I could not believe I couldn't shoot just one......

Then you would shoot another then another

They will still be there when the season opens in three weeks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:17 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a nice pair of Redfish MD

If those won't get a person hooked on fishing, I don't know what will. That second one almost looks like a hybrid between a red drum and black drum, and somebody took his spot

CL I hate it that your freezer has so few options..

It's actually running a little low, but we've got a replenishment trip lined up pretty soon

Fishing has been pretty good here for reds and flounder, still only a few trout. Most of the big reds have moved out to the beach fronts for spawning, but the creeks are full of smaller ones. We fished last Wednesday and caught 15 reds, 2 flounder, a dozen ladyfish and jumped 2 small tarpon. Lost both tarpon after a couple of jumps.

Wecagle is supposed to come fishing with me on Thursday, hoping for a good day

Looks like we've got a hurricane pointing right at us and due about Friday night. The fish will feed like crazy before the storm.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:43 am

by smilinmatt

Derrick, I forgot to call you before the tournament, sorry about that. Did you notice the OB-19 anchored off the beach? It was behind the banner where you're holding your hogfish. I took my son Barrett out for his first tournament. Our plan was to scour the wrecks for cobia or big barracuda. I only found one cobia and it went 17#. Barrett had a shot on a monster cuda (about 5' long) that may have put him in the top 3, but he got a little too excited and took a bad shot. He missed close enough to scare it off and we never saw it again. He ended up getting a 1.0# sheepshead just before the storm came. My tournament fish turned out to be a 3.0# mangrove. It was funny how this tournament worked out. Had I known that nobody was going to find cuberas, I could have spent some time looking for mangroves and wouldn't have had a problem getting one that was 5-6 pounds (it could have moved me up about 100 spots

). I really felt bad for the hogfish guys. I was sitting next to a guy that got an 8.4# hog and he was around 150 overall. That aren't many fish that I'd trade for an 8.4# hog, let alone yours. What did it go, 13-14?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:47 am

by Mad Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:That's a nice pair of Redfish MD If those won't get a person hooked on fishing, I don't know what will. That second one almost looks like a hybrid between a red drum and black drum, and somebody took his spot

Thanks guys. The second fish is black drum. Caught it using black drum candy-- spoiled, peeled and dried shrimp. I don't know why some have the distinctive dark strips and some don't. In the spring when we have the black drum run all of the fish that size are very dark. I don't know why this one was so light colored.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:16 am

by Uncle D

Cool Dog, glad you got one more in with the family before school. Great lookin' crew mate.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:40 pm

by Mad Dog

Uncle D wrote:Cool Dog, glad you got one more in with the family before school. Great lookin' crew mate.

Thanks Don. They were the ladies who chose to be in a musical instead of attending the POC Builder's Meet.

Go figure.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:47 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thanks guys. The second fish is black drum.

I thought that was a black drum. I've never seen one that light either, but a spotless redfish is a rare occurance too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:19 pm

by dborecky

Matt,

I hear you. Being my first time, I didn't know how it worked and I was passing up really nice fish to Look for that one hog.... He was 15 lbs on the boga grip but after gutting and on ice, although I don't think the ice makes a difference, he was 14.45 lbs. I passed up a 40lb class AJ and a 7-8 lb mangrove swimming with the AJs. Now I know better. I won't make that mistake again.

I'm sure your son had a great time and won't forget this anytime soon......

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:30 pm

by wadestep

Wow - that's a hog of a hog. If there's one thing I've learned spearfishing, it's don't pass up one good fish in hopes of another. It almost never works out for me. Seems like if I see huge AJs in the first 5 minutes of a dive and don't shoot them because I don't want to lug them around, they are never there at the end. Ditto with mangroves in search of grouper.
congrats to both on such a good day.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:13 am

by LeeFitz

My mate Henry from Ohio was fishing with me yesterday. He had done a bit of fly fishing for trout but had never used a bait caster.

He boated 2 x 60cm Barra and one little one, and got smashed up by one other BIG Barra!

He now says he is the Ohio Barra fishing champion!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:16 am

by Cracker Larry

Love the scenery!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:06 pm

by peter-curacao

Shark fishing with worms

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 5:21 pm

by tobolamr

ROFLMAO!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:12 pm

by wadestep

Got out on the boat today to try my hand at some redfishing. Sunrise was spectacular:

got some bait, drifted up and anchored next to an island still ravaged by hurricane Charley in 2004, full of red throated frigate birds (hard to see in the picture)

And was just getting set up when these yahoos came by and broke down.

they had an old Bayliner with a Force engine on it, and it sounded to me like their oil pump just stopped working. Not good. I really wanted to be mean and run to another fishing spot, but i just couldn't do it, and ended up towing them back to a marina, 1:15 later. So much for fishing. The Karma gods better be watching.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

they had an old Bayliner with a Force engine on it,

It don't get no worse than that

I would have pulled them back too, but they would have to sit right there until I got through fishing and was ready to come home

They weren't in any danger, they'll have to wait. Serves them right

Beautiful sunrise photo

I'm fishing in the morning myself, sure hope I don't come across a Bayliner with a Force

Hope they brought some sandwiches

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:11 pm

by cape man

Good on you Wade. It'll come back to you one day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:05 pm

by wej

I'm with CL on this, they aren't in danger.... I be damned if some idiot is going to screw me out of seeing if they are biting before I tow THEM in.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:35 am

by macs

A buddy and me had a productive fishing trip Saturday. We caught some fresh bait at the ramp with a cast net, went north to the flats and put out 14 jugs. Caught 10 good eatin' cats, 9 on the first run. Man I love free bait!

BTW - they're bigger than they look, that's a hugh crack in the concrete!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:10 pm

by cape man

yum yum.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

Had a great day yesterday with my fishing buddies Raymond and Big Dave. We scouted out some new areas in Port Royal and found plenty of fish

I think we caught about 30 redfish, a dozen trout and a half dozen flounder, fishing creek mouths and oyster points on the falling tide. Almost at the bottom of the tide we found a school of over slot fish that ran up a little creek, a very little creek, on the falling water. We pushed after them and followed them all the way to the end. The tide went out completely, leaving us stuck in a little pond at the head of the creek with a bunch of 30" fish

Neither of us could get out until the tide came back in, there wasn't even enough water to turn the boat around, so we entertained each other for a couple of hours. We caught and released some fish in the barrel and Raymond got out to dig some clams. Dave kept fishing, pitching gulp baits around Raymond's feet in ankle deep water

It was quite a sight

I kicked back and ate fried chicken and ribs on the poling platform.

After the tide turned in we fished 2 more hours and didn't get another bite. Go figure

Brought home an easy limit of reds and a few flounder, 2 buckets of clams and a few shrimp, and Dave kept a couple of mullet we caught in the cast net

Yall know what a redfish looks like, but I wanted to show you Raymond's new umbrella mount. He designed it to slide over a seat pedestal and pivot around it. You can move the umbrella and the seat independently of each other for perfect positioning. Raymond comes up with some unique ideas

95 degrees and not a breath of wind, but I wasn't up for fighting Big Dave for the shade

Casey is going to need one of these, it's the only thing he hasn't got one of, yet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:34 pm

by gstanfield

Looks like a good day and a fun trip. I can't wait to get down there and get out in those waters for the first time in a dozen years

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:42 pm

by davidtx

Cracker Larry wrote: Casey is going to need one of these, it's the only thing he hasn't got one of, yet

Doesn't he have two of everything?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:01 pm

by smilinmatt

Larry, those were the days that I built the GF-12 for. When I moved to St. Augustine, I bought a 13' whaler and soon learned that it was "too big" to get back to the fish at low tide. With the GF, I could drag it over oyster bars when I needed to.

(If there are any English teachers, I apologize for ended two of my three sentences in propositions.)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:57 pm

by Cracker Larry

(If there are any English teachers, I apologize for ended two of my three sentences in propositions.)

I aint no English teacher, but I think those were prepositions

We don't want no propositions from ya

A GF is really a perfect boat for these creeks. Maybe even better than a FS18. I miss my GF16 sometimes. Should have kept it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 8:29 pm

by gstanfield

Speaking of a FS18.....when are you getting started?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 7:58 am

by Cracker Larry

I might start in the next couple of weeks if nothing else comes up. Leaving this morning for Florida, for a few days of grouper fishing with Richard and some of the Bateau gang

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 9:15 am

by wej

I LOVE grouper fishing, good luck fellas!!! Take pics for those of us that are 500 miles inland!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 6:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

Will do. Smokey Mountain and Doc Dyer are inland too, but they are flying down on the metal bird tomorrow to meet us

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:00 am

by tech_support

It was really great to see everyone this weekend, I had a great time. Richard, Im sorry I could not make it over Saturday night, we did not finish cleaning until around 9:00 and I was plain worn out. I heard it was a little more sporty on Sunday

A lot of rod bending, gas burning, and big fun. Smoker will be working overtime. We never took a single picture on D's boat

I think the other guys took some pictures though.

Thanks again Derrick for the invite.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 5:58 pm

by wadestep

I can't believe no pictures were taken on Derrick's boat, but suffice to say we caught numerous amberjack to about 35 lbs, a big smoker kingfish, some nice grouper, and a few mangrove snappers. I ended up on the return boat trip with Richard, but we were also cleaning the boat and filletting fish until well after dark.
The next day was much more 'sporty', especially when we hung the anchor in 4-6' seas! I was definately happy when it pulled free without me getting wet.
Thanks to all, especially Derrick and Richard.
wade

Also - Thanks to SmilinMat for his trip on Fri in the OB19 in Tampa Bay. We did some spearfishing on numerous sites, and I got to ride in the boat I'm 1/2 way done building

The weather was perfect. Thanks for all the suggestions of things you like and also would have done differently. I discovered I'm not such a hotshot freediving as I used to be- I need to practice. It was something, diving down with the speartip first to make sure I didn't faceplant in the bottom. That viz would take some getting used to

.

Between those two trips, I may now be sold on the sidescan sonar thing. On Richard's boat we made a pass by an artificial reef and I then dove it. It was exactly what the screen showed. On Matt's boat he would make a pass, anchor, and say things like 'the reef is 30 feet to our right'. And it was spot on.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:10 pm

by Aripeka Angler

This was a indeed fun trip! It was nice to hang out with some great friends that are really good fishermen. The seas were a little sloppy but I had a great time. The good part was that nobody got hurt and the boats didn't break. I didn't take any pics, I was too busy catching fish and dodging waves

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:08 am

by dborecky

Joel,

You are most welcome anytime. I really enjoyed having you over. We have to do it again soon so you can pick up your rods.

The trip was great. We caught plenty of fish for all. The variety of fish was nice as well. I dove the last spot and missed the opportunity to shoot a giant Permit because I didnt have my line hooked up to the shaft.....

It was a great trip with a great group of guys. I can't wait to do it again......

The only thing I missed out on was the post fishing hanging out.. I would have loved to but as Joel said, we were worn out and I was nodding off whenever I sat down...

Sooooo..... CL, Andrew, Bradley, Richard, Joel, and anyone else up for a trip in the near future?....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:55 am

by Doc_Dyer

I'm in that was a blast
Thanks Richard for taking us fishing and putting us up

Nothing like a great captain to put you on some big fish all day
Man I'm tired and sore we put a bunch of fish in and out of the boat ( shorts)

I got some video but it ain't worth shat
Left camera recording in my pocket for about an hour must have been one of those long runs

Will try to get some up on YouTube soon

Thanks again

Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:21 am

by SmokyMountain

Richard,

Thanks for taking us out, I had a great time. We sure put some fish in the boat!!

Like Bradley said, "tied and sore", but I'd do it again in a second!! Still have my sea legs, the computer monitor is moving

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:12 am

by Cracker Larry

I've received a lot of benefit from this forum over the years, but the friends I've made here are by far the most valuable. They are priceless

Thanks again to Richard for having us, and thanks to rest of you also. Every one of you men made the trip a pleasure

Sorry we couldn't see more of Joel and Derrick, but we were whipped puppies too. By the time the boat and the fish were cleaned it was close to 11 pm when we had supper. I think we ran 190 miles on Saturday

That turned out to be an easy day compared to Sunday

Richard, Im sorry I could not make it over Saturday night, we did not finish cleaning until around 9:00 and I was plain worn out.

I reckon so

Every time I looked at Joel, his rod was folded in half and he was fighting another fish

I heard it was a little more sporty on Sunday

Just a bit. Who was it that said the Gulf of Mexico doesn't get rough? Uh-huh

Who was it that said a deep V runs dry? Uh-huh

I didn't take any pics, I was too busy catching fish and dodging waves

I didn't take any pictures on the boat either. Too busy catching fish, trying to hold the boat on the numbers, and just hanging on

Here is a crappy pic that Doc Dyer took on the dock when we were unloading fish. No slight meant to Doc.

And here is a pic I took last night. 25 pounds of grouper fillets, vacuum packed and ready for the freezer

Sooooo..... CL, Andrew, Bradley, Richard, Joel, and anyone else up for a trip in the near future?....

I'm up for another trip, before grouper season closes again

Just need a few days to heal.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:54 am

by smilinmatt

I see a grouper 6 planks long in that picture - nice.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:32 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yep

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:49 pm

by tech_support

you guys did better on the grouper. Here is about 2/3 of the smoked meat from the AJ and that big mercury missile I caught

Vacuum packed it into smaller amounts so I could make fish dip for the next 12 months

Sooooo..... CL, Andrew, Bradley, Richard, Joel, and anyone else up for a trip in the near future?.

you bet, standing by

I reckon so Every time I looked at Joel, his rod was folded in half and he was fighting another fish

maybe it was that extra long leader

I wish I had thought to take a picture of all the boats around that spring. 5 boats all within 25 yard radius, 50 miles offshore. If that scene showed up on the CG radar over on east coast, there would be a fast visit serious home land security

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:05 pm

by Cracker Larry

maybe it was that extra long leader

Must of been

That was a strange drift, we were fishing the exact same spot with the exact same baits. Yall were hammering the AJs and also catching king, dolphin and shark. We were hammering the grouper and almost nothing else. Go figure. I think it was my east coast chicken rig

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:11 pm

by wej

I don't care what you were using I am envious once again of your freezer contents CL!!!

looks like you guys had a great time & trip, 2 thumbs up on that!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:44 pm

by Joe H

Man you guy's I'm so freaking jealous, sounds and looks like you had a fantastic time, next time I'll be waiting at the docks fer sure!

Broken wing.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:24 pm

by Cracker Larry

Missed ya Joe. If you'd get out of the frozen north you could fish with us more often

How can you live up there, winter is coming again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:05 pm

by wadestep

dborecky wrote:Sooooo..... CL, Andrew, Bradley, Richard, Joel, and anyone else up for a trip in the near future?....

Just let me know, and also if you have any future spearing trips planned! Thanks for having me on your boat. I'm following Joel's smoker plan tomorrow - smoked AJ fish dip forever...

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 7:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

smoked AJ fish dip forever...

That's funny

You did take home a few pounds of AJ. Hope you have a BIG smoker

BTW, you do a very nice job of cleaning fish, Wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:01 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Sorry for the late reply guys, I have been working pretty late since the fishing trip. Joel, no big deal on not making it over to my house after the Saturday trip, we were whipped too. We will get together next time you can come over our way. It was pretty cool having two boats together with a great group of fishermen on a trip like we took. My trip guage said we traveled 186 miles on Saturday.

Cracker Larry wrote:I've received a lot of benefit from this forum over the years, but the friends I've made here are by far the most valuable. They are priceless

Damn, that was well said! For the nice words and thanks you guys posted, you are welcome

Wade and Joel, it sure was a pleasure to fish with you for the first time. Wish the weather had been better, we will have to do it again...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 1:16 pm

by cape man

Sorry to have missed that trip. Sounds like lots of fun.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 1:54 pm

by Aripeka Angler

cape man wrote:Sorry to have missed that trip. Sounds like lots of fun.

We missed you too! When you get healed up, we will have to go fishing.

We made it out for the second weekend of the shortened gag grouper season. The seas were very flat but we did have to dodge rain and lightning for most of the day. I saw a couple of waterspouts too. I didn't take any pics while it was raining but you will get an idea of what it was like from the photos. I brought out my daughter, her boyfriend and a couple of his buddies who like to fish. I was wishing I had brought some dry clothes for the boat ride back to land

We caught gag and red grouper, mangrove snapper, amberjack and red snapper(vented and released). We didn't get any monsters, but we did fill about half the fish box. We were fishing about 50 miles offshore. Pics...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:58 pm

by wadestep

Looks like another good day! A bunch of fish and everyone smiiling.

I went spearfishing out of here on Sat. Water was flat, but also very murky in the 25-mile range. Couldn't hardly see your speartip when entended. The boat managed about 5 mangrove snappers, a medium hogfish, and two 20" red groupers, but the good fish were only seen as tails rapidly darting out of visibility.

But as Larry would say - nobody got hurt, and the boat didn't break.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

Great pics Richard

Wish we had taken some last week. Too bad about all those extinct American Reds, but did you get any Ruddy Mangoes this trip?

Sounds like you had a good trip also Wade

We went redfishing in the rain and thunder, and did pretty good too

But as Larry would say - nobody got hurt, and the boat didn't break.
wade

dats right

Speaking of hogfish, a new state record was just set in SC, caught off Charleston. 21 pounds, 15 oz. That's a big hogfish

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/news/yr2011/sept2 ... gfish.html

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 11:35 pm

by fishbuster

Went diving/fishing saturday and sunday.
Saturday dove anywhere from 45-100 ft and found really good vis but a lack of fish. Shot about 20 triggers and grabbed 10 bugs. Dont have pictures of the catch.

But on the way back in a buddy called to drift the inlet and try and catch some fish. Didnt stay long maybe 30 mins. Caught 4 nice reds and one snook 1/2" to big snook.

Then fished sunday out deep in 160 and couldnt get away from the ajs. caught nice sized ajs up to about 55 lbs. had a couple grouper bites but tackle failure prevailed.

Going back out this week and dive again. Found 2 spots that held about 20 lobsters.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 6:10 am

by LeeFitz

Don't let anyone tell you that Barramundi don't have attitude!

That lure is about 3" long!

Haven't given you one for a while - a nice 28" model!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:53 pm

by wadestep

Those Barra sure are some pretty fish!
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:33 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Got a few fish this afternoon on Red but nothing real big. Did manage to drag a big one out of the rocks at the end of the day

Didn't charge the fellow a dime

Took an hour to complete the rescue, the Captain gave me some grouper numbers for payment

Should have good luck in the morning

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:56 pm

by Cracker Larry

That boat looks like it would have some good grouper numbers

We've been struggling all weekend and working for every fish, but we worked hard and it hasn't been too shabby

More pics later, but we've been having a ball

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:01 pm

by peter-curacao

fishbuster wrote:

In pics like this I don't mind if you leave the fish out!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Fishbuster, where are yall in those pics?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:56 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:That boat looks like it would have some good grouper numbers

We've been struggling all weekend and working for every fish, but we worked hard and it hasn't been too shabby

More pics later, but we've been having a ball

That's a nice red! Looks like the hard work is paying off

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:07 am

by majorgator

Mighty nice redfish! Looks like Andy in that pic?? I don't understand how he can be in Georgia this time of the year. I just got back from a 5 day trip near his neck of the woods in East TN (actually was in Chuckey and surrounding areas). What a beautiful time of the year to be in that area.

Didn't charge the fellow a dime

Now that just aint right

That 12 pitch prop sure came in handy for that chore, huh?

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:12 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a nice red! Looks like the hard work is paying off

It usually does. We got a few real nice ones!

Looks like Andy in that pic?? I don't understand how he can be in Georgia this time of the year.

Well, I think they would rather be doing this than looking at leaves

It's real pretty in the Low Country this time of year too.

It's all in wearing the right hat

It sure was a pleasure fishing with the seal team, we had a fantastic weekend

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:09 am

by Doc_Dyer

damn that was an awesome time

Just wish me and Andrew lived about 3 hours closer

we would be down there more often

thanks Larry (and Dori) for a great weekend

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:10 am

by SmokyMountain

Larry,

We had a great time

Thanks for putting us up and showing us the fish...

its a trip to remember

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:15 am

by Cracker Larry

It was our pleasure having yall. Dori said she really enjoyed the company and you're welcome back at our house, and on my boat anytime

It's nice fishing with people who know how to fish and are willing to do what it takes. Yall make the captain look good

Edit: I don't break out the push pole for just anybody

My arms still hurt!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:15 pm

by majorgator

Looks like a great time was had. We're certainly coming into the best redfishing time, IMO.

I don't break out the push pole for just anybody My arms still hurt!

That's why God made trolling motors

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:23 pm

by fishbuster

Cracker Larry wrote:Fishbuster, where are yall in those pics?

The pictures are from Sebastian inlet. We normally fish the 3 inlets on the east coast, Ponce, Canaveral and Sebastian.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 10:36 pm

by peter-curacao

fishbuster wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:Fishbuster, where are yall in those pics?
The pictures are from Sebastian inlet. We normally fish the 3 inlets on the east coast, Ponce, Canaveral and Sebastian.

He Larry isn't that were we all met also last July?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:10 am

by Cracker Larry

Yep, that's the place. I can still taste the oyster shooters

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:04 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Yep, that's the place. I can still taste the oyster shooters

Yep you already told me then, and you were right, the oysters in New Orleans were far superior from those shooters.
(pics doesn't do them justice )

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:26 am

by majorgator

Went out to Wacasassa on Friday for some redfish. Cold front blew in, full moon, really knew better but went anyway. The tides were supposed to go from a negative low to a positive 3 something. This was one of those freak days where the tidal movement was basically ZERO. We sat at this hole for about an hour and a half and the water didn't appear to rise an inch. We left and came back about an hour later, and it hadn't changed at all. When we left the ramp at 8:30 AM, we stepped off the dock (big step down). When we got back about 2:30 PM, we had to take a step up onto the dock (big step up). Anyway, nothing besides a giant blue crab

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 9:54 am

by gstanfield

well, you were out in some nice weather, nobody got hurt and everyone came home so it was still a good day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 10:31 am

by peter-curacao

Nice airboat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 10:35 am

by majorgator

well, you were out in some nice weather, nobody got hurt and everyone came home so it was still a good day

You're right, George. And just being out there is good enough for me. We did learn that a beer can is no match for his prop.

Nice airboat

Peter, it belongs to a buddy of mine, and I can vouch for the fact that it is, indeed, very nice. Its a GTO manufactured boat and apparently can run up to 70 MPH, though he's not interested in ever seeing that speed. I'm not a big airboat guy, but it sure is nice to be on one from time to time. A lot of my buddies are getting into them, though. The thing about having a boat like this is that you're able to do some crazy things, which is sometimes fun to experience

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:28 am

by Cracker Larry

Spent a beautiful day yesterday chasing redfish with my new friend CallyB (Carl), and new dog Cane. The weather was like summer, 85 degrees, bright sky, barely a whisper of wind or ripple on the water. Fishing was very slow though, found several schools of fish but they weren't interested in feeding. We bounced every bait we had off their heads and they totally ignored us

We moved, and moved, and moved, and moved, couldn't get on a bite anywhere. Ended the day with 3 small trout, a dismal catch but not skunked

Cane kept us entertained, as well as wet and muddy with his antics. He considered it his duty to retrieve the popping corks on every cast

I should have taught him to fish, before teaching him to retrieve

He was a very intense fisher-dog, never taking his eyes off the cork.

Even though the fishing was poor, it was a great day spent in good company, the boat didn't break and nobody got hurt

The thing about having a boat like this is that you're able to do some crazy things, which is sometimes fun to experience

Some people accuse me of that in my OD18, now including Carl

Almost got stuck a few times and had to power across a couple of flats that we needed an airboat. Taught him a few things he didn't know a boat could do. He wanted me to do it again, just so he could take a video

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:32 am

by gstanfield

Congrats on having a fun day with friend and family (Cane)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 2:38 pm

by kdog

The fall striper run has been off the charts this year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 3:58 pm

by gstanfield

Very nice Stripes John

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 5:31 pm

by TRC886

Nice rock

trc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 6:02 pm

by Cracker Larry

Very nice rockfish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 6:14 pm

by TRC886

Cracker Larry wrote:Spent a beautiful day yesterday chasing redfish with my new friend CallyB (Carl), and new dog Cane. The weather was like summer, 85 degrees, bright sky, barely a whisper of wind or ripple on the water. Fishing was very slow though, found several schools of fish but they weren't interested in feeding. We bounced every bait we had off their heads and they totally ignored us We moved, and moved, and moved, and moved, couldn't get on a bite anywhere. Ended the day with 3 small trout, a dismal catch but not skunked

Even though the fishing was poor, it was a great day spent in good company, the boat didn't break and nobody got hurt

I'm glad y'all had a great day, and that you didn't get skunked

I keep threatening to go rock fishing, but I probably will get skunked

Cane looks right at home

I'm glad y'all found each other

The thing about having a boat like this is that you're able to do some crazy things, which is sometimes fun to experience
Some people accuse me of that in my OD18, now including Carl Almost got stuck a few times and had to power across a couple of flats that we needed an airboat.

It's nice to stay young and crazy ain't it

trc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 6:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

I keep threatening to go rock fishing, but I probably will get skunked

Me too. We get a pretty good run of them here in the winter, but the ones I catch are by accident. I don't target them. If I did, I'm sure I'd get skunked.

Cane looks right at home I'm glad y'all found each other

Thanks, so am I

It's nice to stay young and crazy ain't it

Well, I'm not young, and not as crazy as I used to be, but I still have my moments where people accuse me of it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 6:58 pm

by TRC886

Cracker Larry wrote:Well, I'm not young, and not as crazy as I used to be, but I still have my moments where people accuse me of it

Ain't THAT the truth

I don't think I'm too far behind you, Ms Cracker only has me by a couple of years give or take, and it describes me perfectly

Where did all the years go

trc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

Where did all the years go

59 years. Most of them I spent fishing, the rest I mostly wasted

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 8:09 pm

by Joe H

kdog, I don't know a striper from a rockfish but I know nice fish, very nice!

Cracker Larry wrote:
Well, I'm not young, and not as crazy as I used to be, but I still have my moments where people accuse me of it

Ha ha, not to hard to do Larry, I seem to remember running through some pretty skinny water in the OD18 with you and Topwater the first night at Boca, thinking "hell if the crazy Captain ain't nervous neither am I! I wonder if that makes me crazy too.
Oh well, looks like you, Carl and Cane had a great day on the water, tell Carl he's not missing much up here in Mich.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 8:16 am

by Cracker Larry

I seem to remember running through some pretty skinny water in the OD18 with you and Topwater the first night at Boca, thinking "hell if the crazy Captain ain't nervous neither am I!

I'd forgot about that, Joe. We did throw a little mud that night too

looks like you, Carl and Cane had a great day on the water, tell Carl he's not missing much up here in Mich.

It was a fine day. Sadly, due to a lot of reasons, Carl has decided to return home

He left straight from my house on Monday night, should be back in Mich. by now. We're going to miss him down here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:49 am

by flyfishingmonk

I caught this pig on the Frying Pan in Colorado. I wanted to hold it out a little more but it kept flipping around so I had to support the fish under my arm. I was afraid it would flop out and onto the hard rocks.

Here is another couple pigs that we caught. We had a double. Both on Wolly Buggers.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 11:13 am

by gstanfield

Very nice, looks like you had some fun there! Come on up here sometime and we'll hit "Miracle Mile" on the North Platte

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 11:26 am

by flyfishingmonk

gstanfield wrote:Very nice, looks like you had some fun there! Come on up here sometime and we'll hit "Miracle Mile" on the North Platte

I would like too. I have only fished that river one time. We are looking to plan a trip up there in 1213. We like to schedule out 4 rivers in a circle and drive from river to river until we find one that's hot. We can maybe plan for the Miracle Mile to be on the list.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:03 pm

by TRC886

TRC886 wrote: I keep threatening to go rock fishing, but I probably will get skunked

Yeaup

I did catch one ~3-4 pound blackfish (bowfin) yesterday but nothing today

Two beautiful days on the water with my 16 y/o son, nobody got hurt, the boat didn't break, and NO FISH to have to CLEAN

Everything's good

trc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:01 pm

by wadestep

Finally got out grouper fishing again on Sat. There hasn't been a calm weekend since at least October. Go figure, we rarely catch big gags, but now that they are out of season, we caught these two within 20 seconds of eachother. All released, of course.

We did end up with 5 grouper for the fish box, though.

The big one is 32", small one is 27". I though mine was big for about 20 seconds until my pops pulled up the real pig!

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 6:59 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Wade

The seas look pretty calm too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 8:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm jealous

I need a Florida fix. I hate winter, even in Georgia

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 9:33 pm

by majorgator

I need a Florida fix.

I've been trolling on here on and off all day, just waiting for a pictorial recount of some of friend's trip to Cape Sable.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:46 pm

by Prarie Dog

majorgator wrote:just waiting for a pictorial recount of some of friend's trip to Cape Sable.

Some pics of Red Alert loaded down like a pack mule would look real nice right about now. We got snow on the ground here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:36 am

by Cracker Larry

Some pics of Red Alert loaded down like a pack mule would look real nice right about now. We got snow on the ground here.

Here ya go Paul

Not sure if they are hauling firewood, or camoflaging a duck blind

80 degrees again in Georgia this week, short pants and barefoot

Last week it was 19 degrees. I think they had some cold weather even in south FL last week.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:40 am

by Prarie Dog

Poor Red looks like a garbage scow.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:51 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Prarie Dog wrote: Poor Red looks like a garbage scow.

We were collecting those driftwood logs for our campfire

I think Red's payload carrying capacity has something to do with the gang inviting me

There are oysters and barnacles all over that wood. It is a great testing area for Kiwi Grip.

I think they had some cold weather even in south FL last week.

Larry, it got down to near freezing one morning. It didn't stay cold for long though...

majorgator wrote:
I need a Florida fix.
I've been trolling on here on and off all day, just waiting for a pictorial recount of some of friend's trip to Cape Sable.

It's coming. Still waiting on the pics...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:58 pm

by Handturkey

I have a few pictures of the trip, but I can't seem to find the BBcode for the pictures on my mac.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:38 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sorry Harrison, I don't know anything about a mac

Happy birthday though! That's a great spot to celebrate it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:47 pm

by Cracker Larry

This video was shot by a local fishing guide a few of days ago, from a dock on Kiawa Island, SC. This is the way the redfish school up this time of year, and the local experts catching them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV7qraoA ... e=youtu.be

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:13 pm

by Handturkey

Cracker Larry wrote:Sorry Harrison, I don't know anything about a mac Happy birthday though! That's a great spot to celebrate it

Thanks Larry! It was a great way to spend my birthday, even if it was with a bunch of old farts.

Don't judge the quality of these pictures! They were taken from the camera on my iPhone so the movements tend to be grainy.

Clara and Red Alert once all the gear was loaded onto the boats.

Coolers strapped onto the stern of the Red Alert

Another gear picture

Clara and Red Alert, gear laden, beached at Cape Sable

Red Alert back fresh back from a firewood adventure

Red Alert in the foreground and a nice Cape Sable sunset in the back. Notice the shark line out!

Another sunset picture and Red Alert

Craig aka Capeman with a catch-and-release Jewfish that he caught in about 10 foot of water.
It was pretty neat that we could hook grouper while standing on an island.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:22 pm

by Cracker Larry

Great pics Harrison!

It was a great way to spend my birthday, even if it was with a bunch of old farts.

I'm the old fart, I wussed out

How many guys Dad's would take you on a trip like that? You're a lucky man to have a Dad like Richard

PS: Yall ain't got enough stuff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:44 pm

by Handturkey

Cracker Larry wrote:How many guys Dad's would take you on a trip like that? You're a lucky man to have a Dad like Richard

Agreed! He is awesome!

Cracker Larry wrote:PS: Yall ain't got enough stuff

We met a guy that was on the cape midway through the week who goes out there quite a bit with his fire rescue friends. And he was telling us about a guy that brought three flat screen tvs, a satellite dish, and a sound system out there as well. Talk about someone who can't enjoy the outdoors.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:46 pm

by majorgator

A true testament to the need for walk-around gunwales

Craig aka Capeman with a catch-and-release Jewfish that he caught in about 10 foot of water.

hmmm...OK, if you say so

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:51 pm

by Larry B

How much BEER did Ya'll have?????

Edit: Craig are you holding TWO BEERS

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:01 pm

by Handturkey

Larry B wrote:How much BEER did Ya'll have?????
Edit: Craig are you holding TWO BEERS

hahah! No, he was moving and the iPhone didn't capture the movement correctly.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:06 pm

by gstanfield

Looks like a fun trip.

Harrison, Enjoy the time spent with your Dad. I moved 1800 miles away from my parents when I was in my early 20's and went 10 years without sharing a fishing trip with my Dad. Now there's not a day that goes by without wishing I were back home to enjoy time with the "old man".

On another note, I'm gonna have to look into this Cape Sable place when I finally make it back to the south.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:21 pm

by Handturkey

gstanfield wrote:Looks like a fun trip.

Harrison, Enjoy the time spent with your Dad. I moved 1800 miles away from my parents when I was in my early 20's and went 10 years without sharing a fishing trip with my Dad. Now there's not a day that goes by without wishing I were back home to enjoy time with the "old man".

On another note, I'm gonna have to look into this Cape Sable place when I finally make it back to the south.

I moved away for college and find myself wishing i were back home fishing! And I'm only 150 miles from home

But I definitely enjoy every minute of time I have fishing with him. And my girlfriend just happens to beg me to take her fishing whenever were home.

Look it up, Its in the Everglades National Park. I had a lot of fun and its an experience I will never forget. And the scenery is breathtaking!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:36 pm

by gstanfield

I looked it up on google earth, looks like a really cool place to spend some time. Do you guys put in at Flamingo?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:36 pm

by Handturkey

Yes sir, sure did.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Larry B wrote:How much BEER did Ya'll have?????
Edit: Craig are you holding TWO BEERS

hahah! No, he was moving and the iPhone didn't capture the movement correctly.

Yeah, sure

He only seems to have 1 of everything else

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:07 pm

by Larry B

Cracker Larry wrote:
Yeah, sure He only seems to have 1 of everything else

Thats what I was thinking

Only two beers, nothing else

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:09 pm

by Handturkey

He has two left shirt pockets and his head is distorted.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:18 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I took this pic with my 4s and I got 3 anchor lines and 2 motors

Edit, I think it is the HDR mode

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:25 pm

by Handturkey

Aripeka Angler wrote:Edit, I think it is the HDR mode

It is the HDR mode

I noticed that too. But it takes great pictures when things aren't moving around too much.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:30 pm

by Larry B

Handturkey wrote:He has two left shirt pockets and his head is distorted.

Craigs head is always distorted and he likes two pockets on the left of his shirts, And I have heard he like's beer two at a time.

So now what is the excuse???

or is it "No Excuse"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

No Excuse didn't go, I wussed out, used old age and lack of a close Westin as an excuse

Yall should have got a Droid

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:40 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Larry B wrote:
Handturkey wrote:He has two left shirt pockets and his head is distorted.
Craigs head is always distorted and he likes two pockets on the left of his shirts, And I have heard he like's beer two at a time. So now what is the excuse??? or is it "No Excuse"

Cracker Larry wrote:No Excuse didn't come Yall should have got a Droid

We will have to test the Droid out down there next year

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:45 pm

by gstanfield

... Yall should have got a Droid

Or an actual camera

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:39 pm

by Larry B

Droid Bionic, is a real camera

And video camera

How did I live without it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:50 pm

by gstanfield

I was talking about something more along the lines of this:

But then again I'm still resisting the smart phone thing myself. I am terribly rough on phones and tend to leave them at home (or in the truck) when I'm out fishing or camping.

Whatever the photo source, it looks like a great trip to be part

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:16 pm

by Handturkey

iPhone has 300% of the apps that droid does.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:21 pm

by majorgator

iPhone has 300% of the apps that droid does.

And after having 2 droids and an iPhone, I will attest that the iPhone is also 300% better.

But in either case, I'd say that less than 1% of the apps are even useful.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 7:52 pm

by cape man

Just now starting to get back in the routine of the real world. My friend Brent is our designated photog, and he just rolled back into Fort Collins CO last night (Cracker THAT'S a drive!). I'll post some here when he sends them on. Was an awesome trip with good friends and decent weather. Harrison hung strong with the "old farts". Can see who made that boy...

On the way out Monday I went back and picked up part of the crew in Clara who were paddling out in my canoe and a kayak. Got stopped by "the man" on the way to the beach and was worried he was going to give me crap about being overloaded. All he wanted to talk about was the boat and the canoe. Red Alert and Clara made a GREAT team for the trip. Could use another OD18...

Richard, sorry you know the reason we ask you is to have the XF20's hauling capacity....NOT!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 6:17 pm

by cape man

Here's a couple from the trip...

Harrison with a nice red caught off the beach.

A nice stringer of Mangrove Snapper that we caught in about 30 minutes on Rabbit Key. Like fishing in an aquarium.

For Harrison's Birthday Friday he and I ran out about 5 miles west and met up with some stone crabbers working out of Everglades City. They don't get fresher than this, and you can't get that many for what we paid in the store!

By the way...That's Peter's green rum in the midst of the firewood. Thanks Peter!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:13 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Craig, thanks for posting the pics

I'm ready to go back now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:26 pm

by Joe H

Looks like a great outing guys, wish I were there, it's cold here.

Fantastic video Larry.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:00 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Joe H wrote:Looks like a great outing guys, wish I were there, it's cold here.
Joe H

Joe, good to hear from you! We got plenty of room if you need to escape the snow.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:36 pm

by Joe H

Thanks Richard, tell Sandy and Harrison we said hello, work is crazy right now or I'd be on a plane tomorrow!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:27 pm

by BCbuoy

OK that looks more than a little nice! I just spent 40 hours in bed with the Norwalk virus (it is as bad as they say). And I don't think you could fillet a fish here outside with out it freezing. Supposed to be -40 C (-40 F too) with wind chill tonight, and another 6 degrees colder tomorrow! Why is it that when a Alaskan high pressure slides this way, we are always colder than Alaska?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

(-40 F too) with wind chill tonight, and another 6 degrees colder tomorrow!

I'm at a loss for words

It's 34 F here right now and I'm freezing

My only option at that temp would be suicide, if I didn't freeze to death first. How could a person even pull a trigger at 40 below zero

I couldn't, but I'd be gone long before then anyway. Yall folks are crazy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:59 pm

by Prarie Dog

The amazing thing is folks from up there move here and brag on the weather in Colorado. I'm thinking they need a head check!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:36 am

by Cracker Larry

The amazing thing is folks from up there move here and brag on the weather in Colorado. I'm thinking they need a head check!!

I aint even going to say what I'm thinking about that

I've been checking on my head here, and thinking we need to move further south. A LOT further south

Costa Rica is real nice right now. Belize aint too bad either. Antigua would be sweet. Jamaica I could be warm enough too. Haven't seen Peter and Gloria since spring either, Curacao would be just fine. Dammit man, it's too cold here for me

I got to go where it's warm

I talked to Derrick earlier, he asked what ya doing? Cutting more firewood, I told him. Is it cold up there, he asks? Heck yeah it's cold up here, but still on the plus side of zero and break even on freezing. I'm the one needs the head check, dang this

I was waiting for Al Gore to bring back global warming, but it might be a long wait

World's best all-round sport fish!

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:14 am

by LeeFitz

I haven't posted for a while because the Barramundi season is closed here until 1st Feb, however, I thought you might enjoy this video of some BIG Barra being caught in Nth Queensland!

Cheers

Lee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn0pJuve ... e=youtu.be

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:15 am

by TRC886

Verry Nice

Were they headed to the frying pan

What kind of fish was near the end, the one with the forked tail

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:40 am

by LeeFitz

TRC886 wrote:Verry Nice

Were they headed to the frying pan What kind of fish was near the end, the one with the forked tail

Many of the fish in the video were released, however, Barramundi are one of the best eating fish in the sea.

The fork-tailed fish near the end of the video (nice observation!) is called a Threadfin Salmon in this part of the world - no relation of Pacific or Atlantic Salmon. They are a great sport fish and also good eating, although they don't take lures as consistently as Barra.

The King threadfin, Polydactylus macrochir, is a threadfin native to tropical waters of northern Australia and southern Papua New Guinea. Other common names include King Threadfin Salmon, King Salmon, Threadfin Salmon, Burnett River Salmon. King threadfin are the largest of the seven species of threadfin found in Australian Waters. They grow usually between 50cm - 90cm in length[1], although there have been many cases of it growing to over 130cm in length from the Brisbane River in Australia[2]. They range in weight from 1kg to 15kg with average being 3.5kg. King Threadfins are popular recreational species in Western Australia, Northern Queensland and increasingly South-East Queensland. With the species now being found further South down the East coast of Australia, many more recreational anglers are targeting them and as a result they have been included as a category in the Brisbane River Classic fishing competition. They are found in coastal estuaries, river mouths and turbid waters generally. they mainly eat seasonally abundant prawns, small fish and other small crustaceans. Spawning in east coast Australian populations occursfrom October to early March. The King Threadfin usually has five long filaments below the pectoral (side) fin.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:14 pm

by TRC886

LeeFitz wrote: King Threadfins are popular recreational species in Western Australia, Northern Queensland and increasingly South-East Queensland.

That's easy to understand

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:16 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Man it was a pretty day on the GOM today

Danny and I caught a bunch of grunts and amberjack. Here are some shots of the throwback gags that are out of season...

We probably threw about 500 lbs. of gags back in less than 60 feet of water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

Those are endangered species, handle carefully. Did you vent those fish? Didn't spike them back in I hope

Dang, sure looks like a great day

Beautiful

I'm running low on grouper. Fillet and release

I'm going redfishing in the morning, at least we can keep a few little ones

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:31 pm

by Aripeka Angler

more gags...

I think the fellows in charge need to re-think the gag grouper closure

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:35 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Those are endangered species, handle carefully. Did you vent those fish? Didn't spike them back in I hope Dang, sure looks like a great day Beautiful I'm running low on grouper. Fillet and release

I'm going redfishing in the morning, at least we can keep a few little ones

Larry, we let every one of them go! I can post pictures of throw back grouper for another two hours

We got seven fish over 30 inches and 35 over 22 inches. Lost one at the boat that was 44 inches easy....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's awesome fishing there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:27 pm

by SmokyMountain

That's awesome fishing there

I second that!!

That's a great day of fishing even if you had to throw those rare fish back.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:36 pm

by gstanfield

Looks like some fun fishing and some pretty nice conditions to be out there in

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:40 pm

by Mad Dog

Now you got me all jealous Richard. At least the catching was good even if the keeping was not.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:13 am

by topwater

Thats a great day of fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:47 am

by Aripeka Angler

Mad Dog wrote:Now you got me all jealous Richard. At least the catching was good even if the keeping was not.

MD

MD, remember you have an open invite for a trip the next time you are in Florida

I had a great time on your boat in Texas!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:47 pm

by Mad Dog

Aripeka Angler wrote:
Mad Dog wrote:Now you got me all jealous Richard. At least the catching was good even if the keeping was not.

MD
MD, remember you have an open invite for a trip the next time you are in Florida I had a great time on your boat in Texas!

Richard, I've not forgotten.

I just haven't found the opportunity... yet.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:14 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Wow
Nice trip
Need a fishing fix
Stuck up here in TN

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:01 am

by Aripeka Angler

Doc_Dyer wrote:Wow
Nice trip
Need a fishing fix
Stuck up here in TN

The feds are going to reopen gag grouper fishing on April 1st. We will have to plan a trip soon

I have never seen so many big fish in 30-50 feet...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:41 am

by frazoo

How far out do you have to go to reach 30-60 ft. depths?

thanks, frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:47 am

by Cracker Larry

How far out do you have to go to reach 30-60 ft. depths?

20 to 50 miles, give or take, depending on which way you are heading. The Gulf is very shallow, a general rules is about 1 to 1.5 feet of depth for every mile out.

The feds are going to reopen gag grouper fishing on April 1st. We will have to plan a trip soon

I'm good for April

I imagine Bradley will be changing diapers on the new baby Doc about then

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:29 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Cracker Larry wrote: I imagine Bradley will be changing diapers on the new baby Doc about then

yes Gavin Bradley should be out by middle of March soooooo. bout 2 or three weeks till first of April trip

don't think ill even try to get permission from SWMBO'd

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:36 am

by tech_support

Have never caught a mora eel, but I caught two of them back to back in the same spot. One was brown the other black with white spots. Tricky little devils, they can tie themselves up in a knot and remove themselves from the hook, and they CAN see well enough out of the water to strike at you.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:47 pm

by wadestep

Those gags are really some big pigs! Gotta love it when a grouper has a pot belly.
I hate catching moray eels. I try really hard to release any bycatch healthy, de-hooked, and happy, but the few moray eels I catch get the line just cut. Watching those things tie themselves in knots doesn't make me want to get fingers anywhere near them. I went on an overnight headboat trip to the Tortugas, and that was the one time it was nice to play stupid tourist "Eeewww, what is that? Can you please get it off my hook?"

I took a quick trip from Palm Beach to West end, Bahamas last weekend. The fishing was pretty slow, not what we expected. Tally: 1 wahoo, 5 small grouper, 10-15 snappers, 1 kingfish, 10 weird fish from 1600 feet deep. But the highlight of the trip was I spent 45 mins attatched to a 300-400 lb blue marlin! Watching it as it almost spooled a 50-wide was amazing. Spit the hook about 3/4 of the way through the fight. This was on stand-up tackle, and my back and forearms are still recovering.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

That sounds like a lot of fun Wade

45 minutes is a good fight on stand-up tackle, that's almost as good as a catch. Did yall get any pictures of it? I'm overdue for a trip like that.

I don't fool with those morays either! We used to catch a lot of them at the snapper banks offshore Savannah. Cut the line! The big ones are fearsome

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 1:01 pm

by wadestep

Unfortunatly, no pictures. It was amost a 1/2 mile away when jumping, and we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off - trying to clear the lines and me counting down the amount of line on the reel - "half left" reel still screaming... "1/3 left" screaming... "1/4 left, turn this #$%@#^$!@#$%^ boat around and chase it NOW!!!"

No time for pictures, unfortunatly.
I'd say that the initial run, the jumps, and the 45 mins of fight is about 80% of the fun, the other 20% that we missed would be the pictures.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:09 pm

by cape man

Okay...some pics sent from my friend in Colorado who drove down for the annual Cape Sable journey. A little late but never too late to rub it in one more time...

Here's Red Alert loaded down for the trip out. That boat can carry a load!!!

By 10:30 am we were all "safely" on the beach. Note again the bottle of green rum from Peter in Curacao.

One of the snook Harrison caught from the beach.

A redfish that Richard caught

Here's a nice lemon shark that our friend Ramsey caught right out front of the camp. Ramsey hails from Minnesota and has been coming for at least 5 years now. He fishes ALL THE TIME he is there, and this was his first shark on his own rod.

Everyone thinks we rough it...here's a taste of our fare.

Grilled Caribou

Stone crab

and here's a plate with fried fish, venison backstrap, yellow rice and homemade black beans with pork and hot suasage.

All good things must end, so here's a shot of Red Alert loaded for the trip home.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:13 pm

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:51 pm

by cali123

Awesome

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:10 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice pics Craig

Here are a few more from Brent that I really like

Here is what he left to come to paradise...

The water was pretty in this pic of Red loaded down...

Clara headed out to Rabbit Key for a mangrove snapper kill...

Black and white of Red...

Sunsets are pretty in Cape Sable! Craig cleaning some some nice mangos

That's it, ready to do it again next year

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:25 am

by Handturkey

This is what happened to our "firewood shrine"

One you guys should send this to all the Cape Sable guys for laughs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:41 pm

by Joe H

You guy's know how to live!

This has been the extent of my fishing here in Mich.

I bought my Granddaughter a Dora the Explorer fishing pole and she couldn't wait to get out and try it.

Not to bad when you can catch perch right in the back yard huh, just been to cold to get out in the boat and not cold enough for ice fishing, but we had fun!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:52 pm

by gstanfield

Congrats on the fish and time spent with your granddaughter

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:22 am

by Joe H

Thanks George,
I can never get enough time with them so every minute is cherished!

Have you had as mild of a winter there as us in Mi?
I'm actually heading north of Toronto tomorrow morning to go ice fishing, I know kinda crazy but I need to get out.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:06 pm

by Joe H

I had a pretty good weekend ice fishing on Lake Simcoe just north of Toronto this past weekend, ended up with 65 perch for 1 1/2 days of fishing.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

You've almost got enough bait to go grouper fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:18 pm

by Joe H

Let's go, I'll bring the bait!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:21 pm

by MarkOrge

Very cool...they say Lake Simcoe is the perch capital of the world!

Joe, if you get the itch for some great whitefish and/or laker action in the early spring let me know.... I am in Markham... 20 minutes from boat launches to Simcoe. There is some great bass fishing there too. Of course I won't have my own boat finished until at least June....

Cheers,

Mark

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:40 pm

by Joe H

Thanks Mark,
I would love to hit Lake Simcoe in the summer, I'll bet it's great, the area is just beautiful and Toronto, wow.
Your boat is coming along very nice, June? I think you can do it!
Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 9:05 pm

by Cracker Larry

Let's go, I'll bring the bait!

Come on down anytime The flowers and trees are starting to bloom, grass is already turning green again, looking like spring already. And the fish are going nuts

Last year this time our water temp was 41, a little below normal, the year before it was 38, a lot below normal. This past Friday it was 63 inshore

Been in short pants and barefoot for the last couple weeks.

It's likely to be snowing next week though. Crazy weather down here this year

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:27 pm

by Bluefish2

This is scary. No snow in Michigan or North of Toronto, Canada! Even here in Boston there has been very little snow,<10". No ice on the ponds at all. What does this mean for Summer?
Extra points to anyone who takes kids fishing!
BF2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:05 am

by Prarie Dog

Those old Chevys were good Catfishing trucks.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:11 pm

by Joe H

Those old Chevys were good Catfishing trucks.

Now that's funny, I like the name of the baithouse.

This is scary. No snow in Michigan or North of Toronto, Canada! Even here in Boston there has been very little snow,<10". No ice on the ponds at all. What does this mean for Summer?
Extra points to anyone who takes kids fishing!
BF2

It is, I don't like to get caught up in all that global warming crap but it sure is odd, I was driving by the Lake on my way home last night and where I usually look out and see several ice shanties, ATV's and people just out having fun on the ice and snow, nothing but open water, first time I ever remember seeing open water on the Lake in Feb in my 54 years!
I think it's because I spent more $$ then I should have on ice fishing equipment the past fall, dang internet just makes it to easy.
I take the Grandkids out fishing as often as I can, my Grandson is okay with it but my Granddaughter lives for it.
Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:21 pm

by tech_support

took the FS17 out for the first time in a couple months. This is my fishing buddy with a nice trout, we caught a few other trout almost as big, and some redfish too. Most of the trout were bigger than the reds. This one was around 7 lbs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:32 pm

by Mad Dog

That's a NICE trout.

Congrats

Edit: Is that a DOA lure?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:16 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dang that's a nice trout

This is my fishing buddy

I know him

He probably won't fish with me anymore after that!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:40 pm

by tech_support

My dad (sitting on the platform) is in the back ground

He would fish any chance he got

the guy holding the trout has been my fishing buddy since we moved to FL, he is now 79 and still fishes almost everyday that the weather is nice, which is a lot. Earlier that week, he caught a 32" trout about 10 pounds

He catches a lot of fish and he still gets a kick out of every one he reels in.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:42 pm

by Cracker Larry

I've never even seen a 10 lb. trout

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:47 pm

by wegcagle

Man, that's a nice fish.

CL you may not have seen a 10lb trout, but I'm pretty sure I've only seen a handful of trout in the >5lb range.

Jealous,

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:58 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Joel

Makes me want to go fishing...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:28 pm

by frazoo

What a beautiful, healthy looking fish! Bet that one tastes good too.

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:38 am

by hockey52

Prarie Dog wrote:Those old Chevys were good Catfishing trucks.

Think it was caught noodling??

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:30 am

by tech_support

frazoo wrote:What a beautiful, healthy looking fish! Bet that one tastes good too.

frazoo

she is still out there waiting to be caught again

, we do not normally keep trout to eat. The big ones, especially, have worms and dont taste very good IMHO.

If we are going to keep fish it will be a small red, pompano, flounder (they never get released) or snapper. Hmm, Now I'm hungry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:22 pm

by gstanfield

So how does a salt water trout taste in comparison to the rainbows we catch up here in the mountains?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:50 pm

by tech_support

gstanfield wrote:So how does a salt water trout taste in comparison to the rainbows we catch up here in the mountains?

I dont think I can really compare them, very different. I guess I would put them both at a 6.5 on a 1-10 scale. Very delicate meat. I do like them fried or in a chowder, but that's the case with almost any fish.

Besides the name, the two fish do not have much in common, sea trout are in the drum family I believe. They do not fight very good compared to the other fish in the ocean, but they are very pretty.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:59 pm

by gstanfield

Thanks, I've always wondered if they had anything in common. I catch tons of them and they are pretty good eating mostly (walleye is better) It's been too many years since I fished brine or salt.

BTW, I will say that the best fish I ever ate was some small rainbows I caught three days into a hiking trip at over 11,000ft elevation. They did not even look like regular rainbow, musta been easting something different in those alpine lakes. They were terrific though

It's possible that their goodness came from three days of hiking with no air and eating dehydrated foods though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:14 pm

by Uncle D

George, you need to have a flounder. Not much better tasting fish in the salt. Big or small.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:16 pm

by gstanfield

It's been probably a dozen years or more since I had flounder. I think I remember it tasting good though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:53 pm

by Prarie Dog

G, you've been up here too long, comparing the trout up here to saltwater trout is nuts. If you help me paint this boat we'll feed you some sand trout and maybe some speckled trout. You'll see what I mean.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:00 pm

by gstanfield

Sounds good to me Paul

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:15 pm

by peter-curacao

Was cleaning up my laptop and albums when I stumbled on those pics, not sure I shared those with you guys so I thought I post them anyway.

Wahoo

Dolphin and a drunk or a foot fetish photographer

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:51 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Peter

Your toes look way better than mine too

I sure hope you make the meet in the Keys...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:56 pm

by frazoo

shine wrote:we do not normally keep trout to eat. The big ones, especially, have worms and dont taste very good IMHO.

I wonder if that is a warm water occurence? Never heard of the specks and greys around the Chesapeake Bay with that problem

, although most larger fish are never as good eating as the smaller ones (no real good reason to keep the productive cows, a catch and release citation looks as good as the other type). Only fish in my area I've heard with worm problems are AJ's.

My favorite in our waters is tautog, then flounder, and whiting. Gotta try some snapper when I get to FL this year.

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:00 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:Nice fish Peter Your toes look way better than mine too I sure hope you make the meet in the Keys...

Thanks Richard, if I remember correctly one was 20 and the other one 25 kg, I'm still looking in to the meet, one thing is almost for sure if I come it will be on my own

I tried to text you couple minutes back but that didn't work I think

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:15 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:Nice fish Peter Your toes look way better than mine too I sure hope you make the meet in the Keys...
Thanks Richard, if I remember correctly one was 20 and the other one 25 kg, I'm still looking in to the meet, one thing is almost for sure if I come it will be on my own I tried to text you couple minutes back but that didn't work I think

I just sent you a test text. Hope it works

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:15 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:
peter-curacao wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:Nice fish Peter Your toes look way better than mine too I sure hope you make the meet in the Keys...
Thanks Richard, if I remember correctly one was 20 and the other one 25 kg, I'm still looking in to the meet, one thing is almost for sure if I come it will be on my own I tried to text you couple minutes back but that didn't work I think

I just sent you a test text. Hope it works

LOL it did!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:30 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That's funny, I didn't get yours

Try to reply on the text I sent you. It has to work, we have the best Chinese technology money can buy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:55 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:That's funny, I didn't get yours Try to reply on the text I sent you.

I just did! do I have o text in Chinese?

I replied in my best English

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:16 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:That's funny, I didn't get yours Try to reply on the text I sent you.
I just did! do I have o text in Chinese? I replied in my best English

What time is it in Curaçao Peter? I will chance a call if you are awake

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:23 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:
peter-curacao wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:That's funny, I didn't get yours Try to reply on the text I sent you.
I just did! do I have o text in Chinese? I replied in my best English
What time is it in Curaçao Peter? I will chance a call if you are awake

don't know if this forum clock is correct, but if it is we are 1 hour later, it's almost 11:30 pm now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:40 pm

by gstanfield

The time zone diff from FL to Curacao is +1 hour (1200 in FL is 1300 in Curacao)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:12 pm

by peter-curacao

gstanfield wrote:The time zone diff from FL to Curacao is +1 hour (1200 in FL is 1300 in Curacao)

+ 4 to 5 shots is also aplicible I hope

so Richard if you didn't understand sh***t of me at the end of our phone call that's why! LOL

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:12 pm

by gstanfield

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Awesome Peter

Great to talk to you

Hope you understood my dumbass Southern dialect

If you make it to the Keys, you got a room and a boat if you need either....

Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:03 am

by Cracker Larry

Hope you understood my dumbass Southern dialect

Heck, Peter even understands me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:26 am

by Aripeka Angler

From my friend Ramsey in Minnesota. How NOT to go ice fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:32 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:From my friend Ramsey in Minnesota. How NOT to go ice fishing

WOW ! is he okay? I hope so!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:43 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Peter, Ramsey wasn't in the truck. He's OK, it belonged to his neighbor

Most likely he was easing up to his fishing hole and the ice broke through. I am guessing he probably crawled out of the window unharmed...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:53 pm

by Joe H

Richard,
I hope he was able to get the truck off the ice okay, once you leave the road and drive on the ice covered lake your auto insurance will not cover you, Ive seen it happen before, but not this year, WE HAVE NO FREAKING ICE! (Doesn't look like they have good ice either)

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 5:06 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:Peter, Ramsey wasn't in the truck. He's OK, it belonged to his neighbor Most likely he was easing up to his fishing hole and the ice broke through. I am guessing he probably crawled out of the window unharmed...

Good to hear, he has one big friggin fishing hole now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:57 am

by flyfishingmonk

I am looking to get out on the water maybe in the next few days. Hopefully I catch a big ole large mouth bass. I'll post pics if I do.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 7:33 am

by Uncle D

Good luck Casey. Might go Sun. afternoon with my neighbor, in the name of "test run a motor"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:04 am

by flyfishingmonk

Uncle D wrote:Good luck Casey. Might go Sun. afternoon with my neighbor, in the name of "test run a motor"

Nice! Testing a motor, sounds like fun!

Wife just came down with an ear infection. Poor thing can hardly move from the pressure. This may keep me off the water. But better a happy wife at home than a fish on the line. We'll see.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 1:08 pm

by cape man

Update on the Illinois boys and carp fun...

http://www.impactlab.net/2012/02/08/bat ... d-weapons/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:42 am

by Joe H

Update on the Illinois boys and carp fun...

That's so fricking funny!
Sad thing is they seem to be the only one's doing anything about it, those electrical fence's aren't going to keep those Asian bastards (Carp) out of the Great Lakes forever.

I think you would know better then most what happens if they get into Lake Michigan.

Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:00 pm

by wadestep

I'm very glad those carp weren't around here when I was in highschool. I'm sure I would have been doing something like that. Probably would be missing some appendages by now... Matter of fact, I'm still kinda tempted

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:15 am

by Aripeka Angler

Check this out

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/22/n ... -rockland/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:29 am

by Cracker Larry

Look at the claws on that thing

Did yall know that Bass fishing is becoming a high school varsity sport

Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois already have it and South Carolina is about to join in. Man, I wish fishing had been a varsity sport when I was in high school

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/news/yr2012/feb23/feb23_bass.html

DNR News
February 23, 2012
Three states add bass fishing as high school varsity sport: Will S.C. follow suit?

The state of Kentucky recently joined Illinois and Tennessee by adding bass fishing as a high school varsity sport. The lakes, rivers and streams of South Carolina have always been a haven for anglers and record-breaking catches, but will young anglers soon have a chance to win a high school state championship?

Currently South Carolina has 11 public high schools with bass fishing clubs and the goal is to reach at least 16. The schools can then petition to form bass fishing as a varsity sport and more students who may not already participate in an extra-curricular activity get a chance to be a part of a team and compete for a state championship. Not only that, but it will hopefully foster a lifelong love of the sport.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 10:56 am

by Prarie Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:Did yall know that Bass fishing is becoming a high school varsity sport Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois already have it and South Carolina is about to join in. Man, I wish fishing had been a varsity sport when I was in high school

First I've heard of it.

Makes you wonder if the bass boat builders associations are behind it looking for another area to sell boats not to mention access to public money. I can see it now, the better funded schools will have the fastest boats with the flashiest cheerleaders on the front deck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:31 am

by tobolamr

Aaand for the last 3 years, the guy who's taken our bass club's winning has always ended up having the slowest boat, the biggest gut, and said the least.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:48 pm

by TRC886

tobolamr wrote:Aaand for the last 3 years, the guy who's taken our bass club's winning has always ended up having the slowest boat, the biggest gut, and said the least.

He's busy fishing...not racing around from spot to spot and talking all day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:13 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yep

I've never known a fish to care how much a boat cost, or how fast it runs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Here is a great explanation of our current fishery closures...

An interview with Dr Roy Crabtree on Red Snapper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9evQ3_vVq8

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:39 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Cracker Larry wrote:Here is a great explanation of our current fishery closures...

An interview with Dr Roy Crabtree on Red Snapper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9evQ3_vVq8

All the more reason to really make your voice heard in the upcoming state and national elections. In an attempt to keep this thread related to fishing, I confess, I did talk at length about politics on the water last week while hunting some big ole pigs at Lake Fork. Unfortunately I was skunked. The frustration over the subject matter probably affected my cast. (at least that is what I will blame it on)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:50 pm

by Dog Fish

Brian.........somebody's in hot , I mean cold water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:08 pm

by Joe H

I'm glad he was no where around this past Sunday when my Grandaughter and I were out ice fishing.

http://gallery.bateau2.com/albums/userp ... 5B2%5D.jpg

Joe H

hmmm, not sure why I couldn't get the picture to post, maybe the link will work.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:19 pm

by Dog Fish

Got it Joe. That's a great Pic, a little chilly for me though. I don't know how you guys do that, your tougher than me for sure.

Brian.......... very cool...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:05 pm

by flyfishingmonk

That is a great pic.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 10:50 am

by Joe H

Thanks Brian,
I know it had something to do with the size of the picture but I didn’t know how to fix it without re-posting?

FFmonk, she just loves to fish, she loves the whole process, catching bait, catching the fish, cleaning the fish, preparing the fish for cooking and cooking it, best of all eating the fish, I have a 6 year Grandson who likes to fish too but he doesn't have the fishing bug like she does.
I know you are a catch and release kinda guy but you have to admit there's nothing better then a fresh trout, pan fried over an open fire, morning noon or night, nothing better! (Walleye's not bad either, Perch, Grouper,,,,,I better stop)

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:24 am

by flyfishingmonk

Joe H wrote: I know you are a catch and release kinda guy but you have to admit there's nothing better then a fresh trout, pan fried over an open fire, morning noon or night, nothing better! (Walleye's not bad either, Perch, Grouper,,,,,I better stop)

That does sound nice! And tasty!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 12:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

fresh trout, pan fried over an open fire,

Who needs a fire for fish? Well, I guess I would if I lived up there

We usually take the first fish in the boat, slice it thin, squeeze a couple of limes over it, some chopped onions, cilantro, peppers, garlic, whatever ya got, let it sit in the cooler in a ziplock bag for an hour or so, and it's done

While you're waiting on that to cook, slice up some more, dip in soy and wasabi, and chow down

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 1:32 pm

by Joe H

We usually take the first fish in the boat, slice it thin, squeeze a couple of limes over it, some chopped onions, cilantro, peppers, garlic, whatever ya got, let it sit in the cooler in a ziplock bag for an hour or so, and it's done While you're waiting on that to cook, slice up some more, dip in soy and wasabi, and chow down

I think it was Richard that made that at Boca last year, I couldn't get enough!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:19 pm

by tobolamr

I second the fresh fish pan fried over the fire.

As for Ceviche and or Sushi - never tried it yet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:39 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Joe H wrote:
We usually take the first fish in the boat, slice it thin, squeeze a couple of limes over it, some chopped onions, cilantro, peppers, garlic, whatever ya got, let it sit in the cooler in a ziplock bag for an hour or so, and it's done While you're waiting on that to cook, slice up some more, dip in soy and wasabi, and chow down
I think it was Richard that made that at Boca last year, I couldn't get enough!

That's the stuff, I made it out in Texas too

I got hooked on ceviche down in Costa Rica...It is almost as good as their fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:45 pm

by Prarie Dog

Richard now has a lot of Texans hooked on Ceviche too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:09 am

by Mad Dog

Prarie Dog wrote:Richard now has a lot of Texans hooked on Ceviche too.

That's a fact, Jack. After trying Ceviche I even got brave enough to sample some Sushi and decided I like that too. Still like my fried, smoked, or baked fish too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:10 am

by frazoo

[/quote]We usually take the first fish in the boat,

[/quote]

Does this mean you can do this with any "decent" eating fish?

thanks,

frazoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:19 am

by Cracker Larry

Does this mean you can do this with any "decent" eating fish?

Yes, any decent saltwater fish. It's probably not a good idea to eat freshwater fish raw.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 11:08 am

by cali123

I have had cevichi made from fall run salmon.I was amazed how the lime juice cooked it.

I wanted to eat the whole bowl. Freshwater fish need to be cooked .

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 6:24 pm

by tobolamr

Uhhh not to hijack --- But why DO freshwater fish need to be cooked? While saltwater fish can be ceviche'ed?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

They have nasty parasites that can be passed to humans, plus most of them live where there is runoff from agriculture, subdivisions, golf courses, chemical plants and such. Fertilizers, pesticides, weed killers, mercury, other pollutants.. I don't usually eat freshwater fish at all, even cooked.

I don't usually eat saltwater fish raw either that we catch inshore, for the same reasons. I'm talking about open ocean fish mostly. 30 miles offshore and we know they are clean

Even some of them might hurt you. Last year I was fishing with Richard, Cape Man Craig, Dborecky Derrick and Major Gator Seth. We caught a small red grouper, first fish in the boat, and Craig started filleting and making ceviche. Derrick is a medical doctor, internal medicine, and told us those red grouper had parasites that could pass to humans. Craig is a fish specialist, and swore no it won't. Well, we ate it anyway, everybody except Derrick

And nobody threw up

I might have some worms growing in me somewhere though, so eat at your own risk.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:47 pm

by robbiro

I have found recipes that include tilapia and that good ole Mississippi delicacy Farm Raised Catfish!!!
robbie

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I almost always use sushi-grade Yellowfin Tuna when I make ceviche, no worms in them. I took 5 lbs. each of tuna and halibut to the Texas meet. It's the lime juice that chemically cooks the fish, I am not sure a worm could survive the marination process. I remember the discussion about red grouper parasites on my boat. For what it's worth it is actually very simple to see and remove the occasional parasite without a trace

Anyway, I normally cook my grouper and use snapper if I want sushi from the reef

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:39 pm

by TRC886

I've never even hooked anything that big

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/fie ... hooks-orca

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:16 pm

by tobolamr

I am a cook - hence my round figure - and know HOW the ceviche is "cooked." I just never heard anyone say "Don't use freshwater fish!" until here!!! No worries! And thank you for the education!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:46 pm

by tech_support

I have a local customer who sometimes brings me tuna in exchange for Meranti

Since Im not 100% sure where he got it or when it was caught, I freeze it overnight in a vacuum pack and then pan sear it. USDA says freezing kills almost anything, so I feel safe enough giving it to my 3 year old daughter who LOVES tuna steak. She had some teriyaki chicken and said "Yum, it tastes like tuna"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:57 pm

by Mad Dog

That's great to have a child that likes fish. Baked, broiled, grilled, fried, my girls turn up their noses. But some how they developed an appreciation for jumbo shrimp. Go figure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:26 pm

by Cracker Larry

Uhhh not to hijack --- But why DO freshwater fish need to be cooked?

I think it's impossible to hijack this thread, you just have to use the word "fish" somewhere in your post

That's great to have a child that likes fish. Baked, broiled, grilled, fried, my girls turn up their noses.

Most kids love it, but some are different. My younger brother was raised just like me, we both grew up with seafood on our table, that's what we had, but he has never liked it at all. None of it. Nothing. If it comes out the water he isn't going to eat it. He had a lot of peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches as a kid. We eat seafood at least 4 nights a week at our house. My son loves it

Last night I took out some large scallops and shrimp for dinner, then found out that the youngun and a friend would be eating too, so I pulled out one of my last packs of Florida grouper to go along with it. Try this recipe.

Season up the scallops and shrimp real good, slice up some jalapeno peppers, nestle a piece of pepper alongside each crustacea, then roll them in a half slice of bacon and stick a toothpick in them. You could add a slice of water chestnut for crunch if ya got it. Season a little more and stick em back in the fridge.

We're going to blacken the fish, so season those fillets good too, we like them spicy, then melt a little butter and pour over them, both sides, and put them back in the fridge too and let the butter harden.

I usually blacken seafood outside on the grill, so heat that up while the food is chilling and put 2 cast iron skillets on the fire. Add a little olive or peanut oil to each pan. The scallops and shrimp have to cook longer and slower than the fish so the bacon gets done without burning, so put those in the pan on the coolest side of the grill and shut the lid. Turn regularly all around until the bacon is done. They will take about 12-15 minutes, so about halfway through put the fish fillets in the other pan, it should be red hot by now and the fish will sizzle and smoke something awful. 3 minutes on each side and the fish is done, scallops and shrimp done, and Mrs. Cracker has some garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus with hollandaise sauce to go along with it

Fed 4 good eaters, plus a dog and a cat

I caught the shrimp in the OD18, Raymond's Dad trawled the scallops, and the grouper came from fishing with Richard, Bradley, Andrew and Wade last October. I like knowing where my food comes from

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:33 pm

by hockey52

Ok, I'm hungry now.

Wish we could get some decent seafood up here.

That's why we usually pigout when we go to the coast.

If its fish, bird, pig, cow, elk, antelope....T will eat it.

He loves catching fish, cleans them and is even working on his cooking.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:33 pm

by Aripeka Angler

hockey52 wrote:Ok, I'm hungry now. Wish we could get some decent seafood up here.

It's pretty easy, just send Paul to the Keys Bash and we will hook y'all up

Fedex is really good with shipping fish overnight

When I get something good, I will give Paul a call to get a shipping address. Happy birthday btw

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 5:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

Happy birthday btw

I should have remembered that, Happy Birthday Alicia

I'd like to see both of you at the Builders Bash in the Keys, we can eat plenty of fresh seafood and send plenty more home with yall too. Dori and I brought home a big cooler full of fish fillets from our last trip

The wahoo and hogfish are all gone, need to work harder on those next time, but we've still got some grouper, snapper and dolphin. We'll be almost out of fish again by the Keys meet so it's time to stock up. If the dang feds still lets us keep any. Or even if they don't

Fillet and release. It ain't lobster season either, but there are some fine ones in those canals

Nothing like lobster for breakfast, and it even tastes better when it's the king's lobster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 5:20 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nothing like lobster for breakfast

Now you are making me hungry Cracker. Lobster sushi or ceviche is the best

We will do something about your depleted grouper supply soon

It's been three weeks since I chunked one back, I'm getting the shakes...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 5:23 pm

by hockey52

Thx guys. Maybe that's what we should do for T's birthday this month.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 10:10 pm

by Boater45

Sheepshead: caught in Pascagoula River, MS

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:06 am

by Mad Dog

Nice sheepie. Did it go into the ice chest?

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 9:53 pm

by Boater45

Heck yes!! Sheepshead taste as good as Red Snapper, and you don't have to go out as far.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:08 am

by wadestep

Well, I was originally planning on heading offshore today, until the weather reports started rolling in. It's a good day to be at the dock - NOAA just reported 10 foot seas at 6 seconds

measured at the weather bouy.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:24 pm

by Aripeka Angler

wadestep wrote:Well, I was originally planning on heading offshore today, until the weather reports started rolling in. It's a good day to be at the dock - NOAA just reported 10 foot seas at 6 seconds measured at the weather bouy.

wade

Wade, I think it's starting to lay down out there

We should plan another fishing trip like the one we did last Summer

That's a good sheephead, I bet he would make good ceviche...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 8:22 pm

by Cracker Larry

That is a nice sheep, going to need a hoe to scale it, but they do eat good

It's been howling here today also. Had bad storms yesterday and overnight and 6" of rain. Needed the rain. 40 kts of wind today, only supposed to be 30 tomorrow

The perfect entrance of March. In like a lion, out like a lamb

I'm past ready to fish, haven't caught anything except redfish and trout since fall

Wade, I think it's starting to lay down out there

That sounds familiar

Let's go see

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:50 am

by wadestep

Cracker Larry wrote:
Wade, I think it's starting to lay down out there
That sounds familiar Let's go see

Richard if you were here, I'd never have cancelled the offshore trip. You'd have been able to talk down the seas, I'm sure!

Aripeka Angler wrote:We should plan another fishing trip like the one we did last Summer

That certainly sounds like a great idea. The last was a blast. Kinda hard to figure out those federal grouper seasons - I'm still not sure what is open when...
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:59 am

by Cracker Larry

*NEW* Grouper- State and Federal waters closed through June 30, 2012

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:54 pm

by hockey52

Supper anyone?

http://now.msn.com/now/0306-huge-tuna.aspx

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:14 pm

by gstanfield

No fishing, but I did take the girls for a walk down by Deer Creek this morning and I bought my fishing license on the way home. I think I may sneak back out after lunch and see if I can bring home some trout for dinner tonight

Even drove through the creek, it's looking pretty good. Too bad the lakes are still frozen over

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:40 pm

by Uncle D

George don't need no stinkin' boat to go fisnin' just a pickup truck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:45 pm

by gstanfield

That's right!

Sadly it didn't work out. I went back out yesterday evening and this morning and was unable to convince any fish to come home with me

part of the trouble was the 40-50mph winds that made casting rather difficult in this narrow creek. Oh well, it was more fun than sitting at home wishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:28 pm

by Dog Fish

That's my line George," Even if if's slow, I would rather be fishing than wishing I was fishing " nice pics of the Girls.

Brian............

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:32 pm

by gstanfield

Thanks Brian. I found out that one of the lakes south of us has thawed enough to fish from the bank so I told the girls we'd go fishing next week if the weather holds out. I'm hoping it does, because it's been too long since I caught a fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:34 pm

by majorgator

Went out today at Horseshoe Beach with my father. Happy to report that the motor problems appear to be resolved. We hit our limit of speckled seatrout (5 each) by about 11:30. Probably caught close to 40 fish between 8:30 and 11:30. Sorry no pictures. Water temp was around 76 degrees...and the flats are ALIVE

Try to sneak into the creeks for redfish, but the wind was simply too much to overcome. Spent the whole time trying to keep the trolling motor positioned correctly.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 10:31 am

by Joe H

Found this guy right in the back yard, what could be better!

A lttle early in the year but I'll take it.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 10:35 am

by cali123

Nice bass. Is that ice I see on the water behind you?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:31 am

by peter-curacao

Joe H wrote:Found this guy right in the back yard, what could be better!

A lttle early in the year but I'll take it.

Joe H

You have a very nice back yard, I'm jealous

O yeah also a very nice bass

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:51 pm

by Joe H

Thanks Peter, it's not a tropical island but we like it, it's our passage way out to the Great Lakes.

Cali, the ice has been gone for a few weeks now, this is the first winter in my 55 years that the lake hasn't frozen over, the canal was safe for a little while but the ice was out early and now the Bass are in early!

These guy's were cruising around out back today, it's hard to tell from the pic but they are huge Snappers.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:00 pm

by majorgator

Went out again on Monday for a work-related inshore charter. We left out of Cedar Key, FL and brought back 25 trout and 1 Spanish Mackerel.

Edit: Dang WIDE photo's

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:32 pm

by msujmccorm

That pelican is waiting in the background!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:06 pm

by Cracker Larry

Joe, that's a good fish for backyard entertainment. Is that a large mouth or small mouth bass? Nice snappers too, sure don't want one of those to grab a hold of you

Nice mess of trout there Seth

The guide needs to wash his life ring though

That pelican is waiting in the background!

There's always a pelican waiting for a free meal. They have evolved to the point where they can open bait tanks and coolers, and I think they even know the sound of a live well pump. We've raised people dependent birds

This one cleaned out my entire live well and he was very proud of himself

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:19 pm

by tobolamr

CL - I'm pretty sure it looks like a largemouth. Smallies tend to be more red, largemouth tend more green... At least, all *I* am aware of... (Now is where I get what we call "edumecated")

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:27 pm

by Cracker Larry

I wasn't sure if largemouth could live in water that cold?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 4:29 pm

by Larry B

Dont know for sure as I'm not a Bass fishman, but it looks like this Small Mouth I caught last week while fishing for Flathead Catfish Bait.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 4:46 pm

by Boater45

Distinguishing small mouth bass and large mouth bass

To tell small mouth and large mouth bass apart, look at the closed mouth. If it extends back beyond the back of the eye, the fish is a largemouth. If it goes only to the middle of the eye, it's a smallmouth.

Edit: Here is some more info!!
The largemouth has a black line running parellel with his body.
The smallmouth will generally have verticle black bars.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 5:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

Thanks. I thought it had something to do with the jawbone and the eye. So I reckon that was a smallmouth? You can tell I'm not a bass fisherman either, unless that's all I've got to fish for

Never caught a smallmouth bass in my life. We don't have them down here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 6:52 pm

by peter-curacao

majorgator wrote: Edit: Dang WIDE photo's

Here you go

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 6:31 pm

by Joe H

Seth, very nice mess of fish, how do you get so lucky as to have a work related fishing trip?

Hey Larry how ya doing, tobolamr, was correct, it's a Largemouth, I'm really not much of a Bass fishermen as I am an opportunist, there are lots of Largemouth Bass in the canal in the spring and lots of Smallmouth bass out in the bay and when I can't catch almost anything else I'll fish for Bass, mostly catch and release but I have been known to throw a Smallmouth or 2 on the BBQ the same day I caught them, they don't freeze well but taste great fresh out of the water.

I love having the canal right in the backyard, it holds so many species of fish and it's a great stress relief when I get home from work, go out back and toss a line in the water, the Grandkids love it too.

Larry B that's a Smallmouth, I think I might have posted a picture of a couple of Smallmouth on here a few years back.

Here we go, Smallmouth Bass and a happy kid:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:15 pm

by Dog Fish

Nice pic Joe, hey how did that carpal tunnel work out for ya.

Brian.............I love taking my grande kids fishing as well. It doesn't get any better.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a great picture right there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:26 pm

by Joe H

Hey Brian, the carpal tunnel surgery went great, no negative side effects and the pain and numbness is completly gone.

Larry, I brought the little guy and his Dad out and it was one of those day's when we couldn't stop catching fish, bass, pike, perch, rock bass,,, you name it, it was a good day.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:39 pm

by Dog Fish

Hey Brian, the carpal tunnel surgery went great, no negative side effects and the pain and numbness is completly gone.

That's good news to here Joe, I need it done in both wrists.

Brian.........

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 9:02 pm

by wadestep

went out spearfishing today. Great visibility (for us = 40'), and lots of fish. One spot the fish were so thick that all you could do is spear, bag, reload, spear, etc... That went on for 6 fish in a row until a 8-10' shark got too interested. I bailed on that dive, went down again on the same tank, shot 2 more fish, and then got sharked up again. This time he followed us all the way up to the boat.

At that point, it was time to be happy with the fish we had and call it a day. The Gag grouper season was closed still, and of course I saw 5-6 gags from 12-20 lbs, well within range. Why doesn't that happen when they are in season? I think they know... Also saw 3 BIG lobsters - only the season for them closed YESTERDAY!

this was 2/5ths of the fish we caught:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:38 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a nice mess of hogfish and mangoes, Wade

Looking at the hogs makes me hungry, those are some of the best eating in the ocean.

Wecagle (Will) is coming down later this week and we're going to try for an early cobia. Hope to have a good report to share, I haven't been in a couple of weeks and haven't fished for anything except redfish and trout since last fall. Got the urge for some bigger game now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:56 am

by tech_support

nice hogs

We had about 15' vis off the beach this weekend and I was able to pick out a few similar sized mangroves

Mangrove and Sheephead for dinner tonight.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:11 am

by smilinmatt

With our mild winter and the new shark fishing restrictions, I think it will all add up to an "interesting" summer. Up here, the blacktips are pretty thick and the bulls are starting to move back in. This was last weekend on the Blackthorn:

http://vimeo.com/39632153

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:35 am

by tech_support

Did he keep following after after you brought the fish up to you?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:47 am

by gstanfield

Good shot Matt

I've been diving plenty, but never tried shooting a fish, might have to give that a try one of these days

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:00 am

by wegcagle

Larry and I went out yesterday on the biggest tide (10ft)

and pre-full moon. First we cruised the creeks on an outgoing tide to find the redfish. We saw plenty of nice reds moving water, but no interest in our baits. Later in the afternoon we settled in for the cobia. At the end of the day we were skunked

but had an absolutely blast on a great boat with a good friend. I appreciate the hospitality Larry.

Looking forward to the Keys

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:49 am

by wadestep

shine wrote:Did he keep following after after you brought the fish up to you?

Well - the whole story is that I and 2 others took the first dive on this spot, I got seperated, but the spearing was amazing - I wasn't really even swimming, the fish were just coming in to me! 4 hogfish and 2 mangrove snappers later, I saw a huge lobster. I managed to tickle it out and grab it bare-handed. It was making all kinds of noise, and the cumulative noise and blood must have drawn in the shark.

Since I was alone and outweighed by the shark I dropped the lobster, kept the fish, and surfaced. I swam back to the boat, still had half a tank of air left, so stayed suited up and 15 minutes later sent down with the second flight of divers on the same site. This time, we stayed together until I got too low on air and I got ready to surface. Just as I was 20 feet off the bottom, the shark circled underneath me. This time it was excited, spinning around at the spot I'd shot the last fish.

This second dive, we'd brough a mesh bag to put the fish in, and the two divers still down had the bag and my fish, so the shark didn't follow me up. However he did find them, and basically screwed up the rest of their dive, including following them all the way up to the surface and getting 'humpy' looking, circling them.

Overall, The first dive was no big deal with the shark. We probably shouldn't have tempted fate the second time, he was much more animated and persistent with 5-diver's fish blood in the water. There were just SOOO many fish down there to shoot, maybe we got a little greedy.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:05 am

by Cracker Larry

At the end of the day we were skunked

It was downright embarrassing is what it was

My reputation is now officially tarnished

I can't remember the last time I got skunked. But it was a beautiful day, the boat didn't break and nobody got hurt. Enjoyed it Will, you're always welcome here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:51 pm

by smilinmatt

It was downright embarrassing is what it was My reputation is now officially tarnished I can't remember the last time I got skunked. But it was a beautiful day, the boat didn't break and nobody got hurt. Enjoyed it Will, you're always welcome here.

From what I hear, it's a banner year for cobia in the Palm Beach area. If they're not up by you yet, they should be showing up in full force soom.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:06 pm

by Cracker Larry

They are already here, Matt, and about a month early, we just didn't catch one

A boat fishing 100 yards from us caught a nice one. We looked at it in his cooler back at the ramp, and I tried to get Will to hold it up for a picture

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:37 am

by majorgator

No fishing reports in the last 2 weeks

What's going with the people around here

My father and I went out Friday to Horseshoe Beach. We had super great weather: mid-70's to low-80's, partly cloudy, barely a breath of wind. It was almost 2 calm, if you know what I mean. The bite didn't really start until about 9:30 (slack tide at 8:30). After that, we were good to go and had our limit of trout by 12:30 or so. Big fish was my 19.5" (last catch of the day) and my dad caught an 18.5". Tried to sneak in around some islands and oyster bars for reds, but no luck.

For the third straight trip out, the motor ran like a top. The new prop is also paying dividends. Again, I had great fuel economy and a better cruising speed. At one point, we reached 33 MPH; it was still climbing slightly but I pulled the throttle back down to cruise. The old prop only ever got me 25 MPH max. With the new one, I'm cruising at about 23 - 24.

If only the gallery was back online

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:20 am

by Cracker Larry

Check out this video of a professional fisherman. Unreal

http://www.youtube.com/embed/nA3LtXnNIt ... r_embedded

Sent to me by Stickystuff....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:39 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Check out this video of a professional fisherman. Unreal

http://www.youtube.com/embed/nA3LtXnNIt ... r_embedded

Sent to me by Stickystuff....

Nature can be cruel and beautiful at the same time great vid thanks for sharing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:00 pm

by Boater45

I've never been spearfishing but I'm pretty sure this isn't how you do it!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:02 pm

by cali123

Beautiful photography. I had the good fortune to watch an eagle smack an osprey in mid air and take the fish away. That was one pissed off osprey but the eagle was just too big. Thanks for sharing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:43 pm

by peter-curacao

Boater45 wrote:I've never been spearfishing but I'm pretty sure this isn't how you do it!!!

LOL

I feel sorry for the guy but your post is funny, made me think about this movie

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:31 pm

by Cracker Larry

Oh man, that picture brings tears to my eyes

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:28 pm

by Larry B

Brings a whole new meaning to PITA

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 7:26 am

by Bluefish2

The fish are firing back butt their aim was off.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 9:32 am

by nc_robbie

Ouch that’s going to leave a mark….hurts just looking at it!!! As bad as it looks this guy is lucky, that spear could of have had life altering consequences (life in wheelchair) ….

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:33 pm

by tech_support

got some dolphin last week, fishing on friends boat.

Had a welcome visit from a little bird, he must have needed a rest.

And what day of fun would be complete without being pulled over and boarded with no probable cause

No problem, but it did make me 30 minutes late getting home, so wife missed an appointment.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

what day of fun would be complete without being pulled over and boarded with no probable cause

You were in the king's ocean. That is all the cause they need today. And the king has the .50, and you can't

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:13 pm

by gstanfield

Yeah, I still don't understand why the Coast Guard and Game & Fish don't have to follow the same set of rules as the rest of us

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

The Coast Guard boardings fall under homeland security now, which means they can do anything they want. And they have the .50

I complain only a little, I appreciate the CG and the job they do, and those men and women are just following orders. Be nice to them, it doesn't hurt even a little bit. They'll get a new boss soon

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:42 pm

by gstanfield

Oh for sure I greatly appreciate the job they do and don't even mind when the G&F check me for life vests, but an inspection out here only takes about 3-5 mins tops and they are super friendly. My complaint is more from a desire to understand (from a law enforcement standpoint) why they are except from the 4th amendment standards in regards to search and seizure, especially game and fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 11:29 am

by Mad Dog

shine wrote:got some dolphin last week, fishing on friends boat.

Nice catch Shine. Is the fish on top a bonita? Got me itching to get offshore. Just waiting for these spring gales to subside.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 12:09 pm

by Cracker Larry

Little Tunny, I think.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 12:13 pm

by tech_support

Yes, It is a bonita, you can see the marks from the bottle nose dolphin that killed it before we got it in. We had another much bigger one on (probably a black-fin tuna) that was robbed by the dolphins

Both small yo-zuri plugs, we caught about 5 schooly dolphins on those little yo-zuris too. Going to pick up a few of those plugs before the keys trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 12:49 pm

by tech_support

larry is right, but we call them bonita. A think a real "bonita" has vertical stripes and it more green.

Keep them for belly strip baits and to make chum

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 2:30 pm

by Mad Dog

shine wrote:larry is right, but we call them bonita. A think a real "bonita" has vertical stripes and it more green.

Keep them for belly strip baits and to make chum

Some folks in Texas call them "little tunny", but they are pretty much shark bait around here. I see they have a similar use for you.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 4:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Little Tunny is the correct name for that fish (also called false albacore), but they are often confused with bonito (not bonita, she was a girl in high school

) In some areas skipjack tuna are also called bonito

True bonito have diagonal stripes, where little tunny have wormy looking lines above it's lateral line. Also a big difference in the dorsal fin.

Both are considered commercial food fish, but I've never cared for them. Great for bait and chum, and they put up a strong fight.

One more thing Joel, little tunny are in the Highly Migratory Species group, which means that you have to pay the king a $28 permit to keep one, or a $2,500 fine without the permit

Bonito are not in the HMS group, so it's important to know the difference! You got that permit yet

Love those Yozuri plugs, dang they catch some fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 7:44 pm

by peter-curacao

shine wrote: Both small yo-zuri plugs, we caught about 5 schooly dolphins on those little yo-zuris too. Going to pick up a few of those plugs before the keys trip

Hi Joel how you're doing?,just wanna let you know (if you don't know already) charkbait have some Yo zuris's for sale at their clearance sale page.
http://www.charkbait.com/clearance.htm

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 2:37 am

by chicagoross

Never caught a dolphin. The Dorados in Mexico were always my favorite, and I sure do love the mahi mahi here...

I don't like the black skipjack tuna (which we have a ton of here) and that and the bonito were always pretty much shark bait for us as well...

Hey, I se we finally got all the smileys back!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 5:18 am

by Flea

We get a lot of bonito here, fun on light gear or the fly, but those dolfin fish are something special. Got to be happy with them!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 7:25 am

by tech_support

ote]Hi Joel how you're doing?,just wanna let you know (if you don't know already) charkbait have some Yo zuris's for sale at their clearance sale page.
http://www.charkbait.com/clearance.htm

doing well, thanks. Those are good prices, i think, will order a few

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 7:27 am

by tech_support

Larry, I better send that info over to my buddy. !

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 7:57 am

by Cracker Larry

You've about got to be a lawyer and fish biologist to fish offshore anymore

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 9:25 am

by Cracker Larry

Joel, which style Yozuri plugs did you have the good luck with? Those are great prices, thanks Peter for pointing those out

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 1:25 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Joel, which style Yozuri plugs did you have the good luck with? Those are great prices, thanks Peter for pointing those out

Your welcome but you gave me the Charkbait link

, it's a great site

I was thinking the Sashimi Minnows and the Hydro Magnum dorado's, what do you think?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 2:02 pm

by Cracker Larry

but you gave me the Charkbait link

But I didn't know they were having a clearance sale on Yozuri lures

I was thinking the Sashimi Minnows and the Hydro Magnum dorado's, what do you think?

Yes, I just bought 6, some of both, and a Braid Blade runner. The Hydro Magnum (Dorado color) is what we had such good success with last year, but I got a couple in Skipjack color also, and the Blade Runner in black and purple. Black and purple are always good wahoo colors.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 7:10 pm

by tech_support

I know the model name, they were the small lip ones about5" long. buddy has even hooked sailfish withthem.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 11:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

Well, so much for these

Hi Larry,
Thank you for the order you placed with us. We are out of stock on the YoZuri 388 Skipjack and the Braid Runner 7" Purple Black. These items are no longer available. If you would like something else let us know.
Please reply to this e-mail to let us know what you would like to do.

Thank you,
Paul
CharkBait!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 7:58 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Well, so much for these

Hi Larry,
Thank you for the order you placed with us. We are out of stock on the YoZuri 388 Skipjack and the Braid Runner 7" Purple Black. These items are no longer available. If you would like something else let us know.
Please reply to this e-mail to let us know what you would like to do.

Thank you,
Paul
CharkBait!

Strange why advertise with something you don't stock anymore, I have to wait 5 to 6 days also before my stuff is on stock again, so keep that in mind when shopping at Charkbait

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 2:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:Well, so much for these

Hi Larry,
Thank you for the order you placed with us. We are out of stock on the YoZuri 388 Skipjack and the Braid Runner 7" Purple Black. These items are no longer available. If you would like something else let us know.
Please reply to this e-mail to let us know what you would like to do.

Thank you,
Paul
CharkBait!
Strange why advertise with something you don't stock anymore, I have to wait 5 to 6 days also before my stuff is on stock again, so keep that in mind when shopping at Charkbait

I got the same email

They were out of the el cheapo 2011 "clearance" models. They had plenty of the 2012 models at full price

I bought 4 (instead of 6) for more money. WTH, if they catch fish it's worth it...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 2:50 pm

by Prarie Dog

Well, I went to Sportsmans Warehouse armed with a long list of stuff we need to get for the Keys and went O-25. I held out hope we could buy at least the circle hooks we need but they didn't have them either.

They did have some nice looking stern eyes but on inspection discovered they were plated, not stainless.

Here's the question, if someone will show me what to get when we get there, is there somewhere close that we can buy it??

BTW, forewarned is forearmed, my kid is an absolute ace at talking people out of fishing tackle. He has four or five tackle boxes full and is currently working on an extensive fly collection. A couple of years ago he talked his uncle and grandpa out of what looked like $500 bucks worth. Be very careful showing him tackle and don't offer him any..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 3:28 pm

by Cracker Larry

I stocked up pretty good at tackledirect.com . Their full price was less than Charkbaits and everything was in stock

Paul, there is a tackle store on every corner there, and a big Bass Pro/ Worlwide Sportsman on Islamorada that you have to drive right past.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 4:04 pm

by tech_support

and those tackle shops will have the sizes you need.

For the reef fishing and live baiting you really do not need much more than few sizes of hooks, swivels, and leader (plus assortment of egg shape lead). For the smaller snapper in shallow water, I like to use jig heads.
You can catch almost anything with two small plano's of terminal tackle and some small rolls of leader.

Trolling requires more gear

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 12:21 am

by Prarie Dog

Thanks for the information and tips. I thought there was probably a tackle shop or two around there.

Grandpa is pretty stoked that we stand a chance of getting a shot at a sailfish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 6:43 am

by majorgator

Well, I went to Sportsmans Warehouse armed with a long list of stuff we need to get for the Keys and went O-25. I held out hope we could buy at least the circle hooks we need but they didn't have them either.

Don't get too bummed out about that. I live within a 1 - 2 hours of either the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The closest Sports Authority is so out of touch, that I'm not sure how they sell anything (from the fishing side). They still sell pre-made grouper-rigs with straight J-hooks. You haven't been able to use J-hooks on grouper (reef fish) in Florida for at least 2 - 3 years now.

Paul, there is a tackle store on every corner there, and a big Bass Pro/ Worlwide Sportsman on Islamorada that you have to drive right past.

That happens to be the nicest Bass Pro I've ever been too, catered strictly to the fisherman though. I don't recall seeing any turkey hunting gear or tree stands in there

Larry's right on with the comment about the tackle stores. And they have what you need for where you're at, which is a big plus. They won't try to sell you something that people up north use to catch stripers or walleyes

seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:12 am

by Aripeka Angler

This may be interesting to you guys who are going to the Keys

http://www.floridasportsman.com/2012/04 ... of-costas/

and

http://www.floridasportsman.com/2012/05 ... re-action/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 11:13 am

by Cracker Larry

You can catch almost anything with two small plano's of terminal tackle and some small rolls of leader.

Trolling requires more gear

Just a little

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 11:27 am

by Cracker Larry

Joel is right though. A medium action spinning rod, about 3 sizes of hooks, a spool of 20 lb. fluorocarbon leader, a few jig heads, some small egg sinkers and split shot is about all you need to fish inshore and on the patch reefs. I often don't even use a weight, if I do usually just a split shot. Offshore takes a LOT of tackle to be effective, but don't worry, the boats coming that are planning to fish offshore will have everything needed, but luck

That's where the spear gun comes into play

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 2:05 pm

by gstanfield

Is that Browning tackel bag? If so it's the same one I have

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 2:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yes, it matches my Browning pistol bag

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 2:26 pm

by gstanfield

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 2:01 am

by flyfishingmonk

I had a bass trip planned to Lake Fork two weekends ago. Gosh darn it if the whole family didn't get the flu, including me, a couple days before. I had to cancel.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 12:56 pm

by Uncle D

flyfishingmonk wrote:I had a bass trip planned to Lake Fork two weekends ago. Gosh darn it if the whole family didn't get the flu, including me, a couple days before. I had to cancel.

Lake Fork, I would have had to go sick or not.

Edit: Wait a minute

I don't think I know how to bass fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 3:10 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Uncle D wrote:Lake Fork, I would have had to go sick or not.

For real. But then the little wife may not have liked me when I got back.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 10:56 am

by Uncle D

Remember the 11th commandment: It is better to ask for Forgiveness than to ask for Permission.

Don

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 1:54 pm

by Aripeka Angler

test

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 2:24 pm

by Joe H

Where you at there Richard, looks like a couple of Puffin in the center of your picture.

Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 2:35 pm

by Joe H

Got out with my twin Brother and nailed the Perch over the weekend.

It was a good day!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 2:48 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice mess of bait, I mean perch, Joe

That's good fishing! Yall in short sleeves up there finally?

Looks like the birds are having some good fishing in Richard's pic too

I'm not, raining here, but starting to get ready for the Keys

I decided to ditch my outriggers for trolling. The OD18 cockpit is just too small to troll 4-6 rods, plus teasers, and deal with the outrigger halyards and paraphernalia too. We stayed tangled up trying to do that. So I came up with an idea to use the outrigger bases as extended, adjustable rod holders that I can swing out to the sides for trolling. It will give us some additional spread without being a nuisance, as well as 2 more rod holders. Plus I can remove them in seconds and still use the bases for outriggers. So I took my idea and my bases to Raymond's shop, and came home with these

I don't have enough roof clearance to put a rod in it, but you get the idea.

Edit: Patent Pending

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 2:10 pm

by Southern Gent

Greetings, Bream Fishing at Ferriday,LA. Lake Concordia & Lake St. John. My cousins and I fish the first full moon in May each year. Running late this year due the other family commitments.

I'll fish my McKee Craft 14ft Scoundrel with fishing buddy Howard from Conyers GA.

Only the truth will be told this weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 2:20 pm

by Prarie Dog

Southern Gent wrote: Only the truth will be told this weekend.

How 'bout next week.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 2:24 pm

by Prarie Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:So I took my idea and my bases to Raymond's shop, and came home with these

We would appreciate you leaving Raymond alone so he can work on our stuff.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 2:28 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:
Edit: Patent Pending

Cool didn't see this post earlier I think my poles will look good in there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 2:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

Cool didn't see this post earlier I think my poles will look good in there

I tried to put them in there for the picture but they wouldn't fit under the tent. Your rods look great though!

We would appreciate you leaving Raymond alone so he can work on our stuff.

He is a busy man. I shouldn't need anything else done for a while

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 11:18 am

by Cracker Larry

Heads up

Got to be careful with those things

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/335 ... into+boat/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 8:05 am

by topwater

Nice, a torpedo with teeth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:10 am

by tech_support

another good day of schoolies fishing. We kept of those aforementioned tooth missiles

total count (of what we did not let go) was 14 dolphin, 1 king for the smoker, 1 cuda and 1 non migratory Feo for the pinfish and bull sharks.

We saw 4 sailfish too, 2 free jumpers, 1 corralling bait with his sail, and one hooked up to another boat. Summer is here, bait has moved up the coast, fish are biting and the seas are calming....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:16 am

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:another good day of schoolies fishing. We kept of those aforementioned tooth missiles

total count (of what we did not let go) was 14 dolphin, 1 king for the smoker, 1 cuda and 1 non migratory Feo for the pinfish and bull sharks.

That's one nice mirror

question: aren't some of those Dolphins to small to take in?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:27 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice day Joel! I need a blue water fix myself, won't be long

Peter, the dolphin have a 20" size limit.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:46 am

by tech_support

yes, 20" to the fork. Those were all prob 24" and bigger. A few of them on a little 6" yozuri, most on trolled lures/ballyhoo, and about 6 on cut bait (chunking to catch followers). Best part is that we only had to go about 13 miles out - I still had cell phone coverage

I cant wait to wear out my vacuum packer on bottom fishing from the keys trip

I have plenty of Dolphin for a while

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:52 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Peter, the dolphin have a 20" size limit.

Isn't that a very small limit?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:06 am

by Joe H

Peter's spoiled.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 12:16 pm

by peter-curacao

Joe H wrote:Peter's spoiled.

Joe H

LOL

That's not a Dolphin,

but serious I always thought they start to spawn when they are about that size (20"), could be wrong of coarse, probably I am.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 1:06 pm

by Cracker Larry

LOL That's not a Dolphin,

What do you call it? Dorado, or Mahi-mahi? We call them dolphin.

http://www.safmc.net/FishIDandRegs/Fish ... fault.aspx

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 1:17 pm

by Joe H

Larry,
I swicthed the picture on him, he was right. Ha.

I had this one up there.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 1:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dang Joe, that's pretty slick! I'm getting slow

Wahoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 1:46 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:
LOL That's not a Dolphin,
What do you call it? Dorado, or Mahi-mahi? We call them dolphin.

http://www.safmc.net/FishIDandRegs/Fish ... fault.aspx

I know you call them Dolpin, we mostly call them Dorado, I like Mahi mahi though, I believe it means strong fighter or something like that, don't ask me in what language though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 1:30 pm

by peter-curacao

Well that went easy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTw9QapciPg

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 1:37 pm

by tech_support

A stink missile

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 1:39 pm

by tobolamr

A stink missile? Huh?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 1:48 pm

by tech_support

they are super smelly fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 2:48 pm

by tobolamr

I learn something new every day... never knew they were smelly... If I EVER come to a Florida builder's meet, let me tell you, I'm gonna get me a massive education on saltwater EVERYthing!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 2:52 pm

by Cracker Larry

There ain't much that stinks worse than a cuda, maybe a shark, probably not

I was wondering why Joel kept that cuda

I know some people eat them, but I don't even want one in my fish box stinking up the good fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 2:58 pm

by peter-curacao

I never noticed a barracuda smells heavier than other fish, must be the trade winds

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 5:10 am

by whosmatt

Not that there was a skunk in my boat, because I hadn't wet a line until today, but I got it out of there anyway. After a rough morning ( paving work at the launch ramp) and a slow bite early, I found the ticket (turns out to be just after slack tide) and caught as many kelp bass as I could handle.. by which I mean I caught them until I absolutely had to leave and go home for a social function. First time fishing in the salt and they were chewing swimbaits like they were candy. Lots of shorts but quite a few keepers too... let them swim away for somebody else, since my time was tight and I didn't have time to clean fish. Good fun, and an excellent way to put to use my freshwater tackle. Feels nice to get a little fish smell (if not blood) in the boat.

Randomly, somebody took a photo of the hot mess at the launch ramp (with the paving going on) and caught me launching and posted it over at bloodydecks.com (So Cal centered fishing forums). That + my fishing report generated a lot of interest about the boat. http://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/inshor ... ost2709359

-M

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 7:43 pm

by BassMunn

Got a video of my son catching his first decent bass 2 weeks ago, just took it with my phone so it's not great, fish was around 2kg or 5lb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n39Uq8mO9XQ

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 11:32 pm

by peter-curacao

BassMunn wrote:Got a video of my son catching his first decent bass 2 weeks ago, just took it with my phone so it's not great, fish was around 2kg or 5lb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n39Uq8mO9XQ

That is one of the coolest vids I saw in a long time! I loved the delicate way he put the bass back in the water! great kid great teacher!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 10:02 am

by topwater

Thats what its all about right there

Nice fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 3:33 pm

by Prarie Dog

Awesome job BassMunn, they joy a kid gets from catching a fish is what it's all about. Great video and good job coaching your son!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 8:25 am

by Southern Gent

I took Greg Brown AKA " sparkisimo " Bream fishing yesterday at a lake club I belong to. 300 Crickets and spinning rigs yielded a day of fun for both of us. We threw back the hand size bream until we got into the larger fish like 1 lb bluegills.
For a fellow from Ohio Greg has taken to the south. The man uses " Sweet Home Alabama " as a ring tone.
Good man and a great day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 2:52 pm

by dborecky

Peter,

Here is all the info you can stand on the dolphin. http://dolphintagging.homestead.com/History.html

This guy did a sudy on them. It is amazing that they grow about 2 inch a wk. The perfect food fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:01 pm

by Joe H

BassMunn,
That was a fantastic video, He'll never forget that one!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 9:17 pm

by peter-curacao

dborecky wrote:Peter,

Here is all the info you can stand on the dolphin. http://dolphintagging.homestead.com/History.html

This guy did a sudy on them. It is amazing that they grow about 2 inch a wk. The perfect food fish.

Thanks for the link

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:52 pm

by robbiro

I had an interesting Memorial Day fishing trip. A friend had a group of us over and we were catching small (under a pound) bass and then this one bit!!

i slipped on the bank,, got muddy, but kept the fish on the line and landed her. We had no scales, but I said to several there, she had a seven pound head and a five or six pound body!
http://gallery.bateau2.com/albums/userp ... -3_web.jpg

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:45 pm

by tech_support

not my fish or even my story, but impressive enough I have to share it. got this picture from a buddy yesterday - caught in Bimini

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 4:59 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dang, that's some fine sushi right there

And Bimini is just right across the river from the Keys

Definitely will need Doc's Fin Nor and Peter's harness for that. Not even certain I've got enough boat to put a tuna that size in, but it would sure be fun to try.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 5:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

We had no scales, but I said to several there, she had a seven pound head and a five or six pound body!

Robbie, that is one heck of a bass too

You should have weighed that fish, it's record book size

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 6:48 pm

by robbiro

CL, it is a PR, but not even close to a state record. Mississippi record for largemouth bass is 18.18. That fish is about 6 (I did not have any scales with me and the pond owner did not have any, she went back in to grow some more.) Plenty of head, but the body was not filled out too well, too many small bass in the pond. I do have the permission of the owner to help weed out some of the small ones. I know that the kids will enjoy helping.

Keep on Buildin'
robbie

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 3:17 pm

by tech_support

Got a text of another BF tuna caught in Bimini, this one looks a little smaller than the fist picture, but it is 704 lbs

. Make me thing the on in the picture above is closer to 800. I bet the Bimini air strip is a busy place this week

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 3:42 pm

by Aripeka Angler

shine wrote:Got a text of another BF tuna caught in Bimini

That's funny, I also just got a text of a BF tuna caught and released in Bimini

This came from Derrick.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 3:54 pm

by tech_support

my baitrunners are all spooled up with 50 lb braid, lets go to bimini

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:43 pm

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:not my fish or even my story, but impressive enough I have to share it. got this picture from a buddy yesterday - caught in Bimini

Well that should cover the gas money

what did he catch it with?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:45 pm

by tech_support

A piece of corn

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:46 pm

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:A piece of corn

???

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:50 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Somebody is in the "I'm about to go on vacation in the Keys" mood

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 5:04 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:
shine wrote:A piece of corn
???

Peter, Joel is just joking around

We use tiny bits of corn to catch bluegill fish in the south. They are about the size of your hand

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 5:50 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:
peter-curacao wrote:
shine wrote:A piece of corn
???
Peter, Joel is just joking around We use tiny bits of corn to catch bluegill fish in the south. They are about the size of your hand

I was curious to the line and reel he used, it looks like a 80 not sure though and yes of course I like to know the bait also

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 6:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I was curious to the line and reel he used, it looks like a 80 not sure though and yes of course I like to know the bait also

That is for sure at least an 80. Derrick said his friend found the fish in 70 feet of water, probably feeding on YT snapper as they migrate north. Maybe the bait was a live beeliner or YT snapper? He said his buddy released the BF tuna in his pic. He said the BFT spawn in the Gulf of Mexico and migrate north to cooler water. Derrick also said the BF tuna meat is better for sushi after they spend the summer in cold water...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 6:45 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:
I was curious to the line and reel he used, it looks like a 80 not sure though and yes of course I like to know the bait also
That is for sure at least an 80. Derrick said his friend found the fish in 70 feet of water, probably feeding on YT snapper as they migrate north. Maybe the bait was a live beeliner or YT snapper? He said his buddy released the BF tuna in his pic. He said the BFT spawn in the Gulf of Mexico and migrate north to cooler water. Derrick also said the BF tuna meat is better for sushi after they spend the summer in cold water...

Thanks Richard, couple weeks ago I saw a program on discovery could be travel or history channel also, it told the story about the Tuna trade in Japan man that's BIG business over there, for the price of one good tuna you could buy yourself a small apartment

Btw are you still gonna rent a 25 er at the meet? thought I saw some were you are bringing a boat again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 6:54 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Btw are you still gonna rent a 25 er at the meet? thought I saw some were you are bringing a boat again

Peter, I already rented the offshore boat

Not a Contender but a newer production boat with twin Yamaha motors. It should be fine for anywhere we want to go. And yes, I am bringing a Bateau boat for my kids to use also.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 7:28 pm

by Cracker Larry

for the price of one good tuna you could buy yourself a small apartment

Small apartment, heck

If a 593 pounder brings $736K, you could get a waterfront mansion for an 800 pounder

http://www.the9billion.com/2012/01/05/s ... h-auction/

The head of a sushi restaurant chain in Japan has paid $736,000 (56.49 million yen) for a single 593 pound bluefin tuna, at the first Tsukiji market auction of the year in Tokyo. This was nearly double the highest price paid last year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 7:48 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:
for the price of one good tuna you could buy yourself a small apartment

Small apartment, heck If a 593 pounder brings $736K, you could get a waterfront mansion for an 800 pounder

http://www.the9billion.com/2012/01/05/s ... h-auction/

The head of a sushi restaurant chain in Japan has paid $736,000 (56.49 million yen) for a single 593 pound bluefin tuna, at the first Tsukiji market auction of the year in Tokyo. This was nearly double the highest price paid last year.

LOL I knew this was comming!

just didn't know who was first to comment

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 7:51 pm

by peter-curacao

Btw that pic in the article, WTF was the editor thinking?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 8:00 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:
Btw are you still gonna rent a 25 er at the meet? thought I saw some were you are bringing a boat again
Peter, I already rented the offshore boat Not a Contender but a newer production boat with twin Yamaha motors. It should be fine for anywhere we want to go. And yes, I am bringing a Bateau boat for my kids to use also.

That's great to hear, I like to see some of your builds also! and my offer if sharing the rental fee still stands!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 8:21 pm

by tech_support

Peter, I was just making a joke, sorry I did not explain

Im not sure what they used, but probably something trolled. I dont hink they catch them by "chunking" as they do up north. This is a neat video of the blue fin up on the shallows of the bank, amazing they had to get up to plane to chase the fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrEesRJERgE

Somebody is in the "I'm about to go on vacation in the Keys" mood

Yes Sir

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 8:31 pm

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:Peter, I was just making a joke, sorry I did not explain

Don't worry about it enjoy your vacation! I'm sure you deserved it

don't forget about my kiwi's

shine wrote: This is a neat video of the blue fin up on the shallows of the bank,

Neat? I think it is awesome! very cool vid!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 9:43 am

by majorgator

Small apartment, heck If a 593 pounder brings $736K, you could get a waterfront mansion for an 800 pounder

Yes, a small apartment...have you seen the housing prices in Tokyo

Maybe still a bit of an exaggeration, but when watching an episode of House Hunters International (yes, I actually enjoy that show), they were looking at small studio or 1 BR flats, about 600 SF that costs between $500K and $1M.

Tuna in Japan is a BIG DEAL!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 9:57 am

by peter-curacao

majorgator wrote:
Small apartment, heck If a 593 pounder brings $736K, you could get a waterfront mansion for an 800 pounder
Yes, a small apartment...have you seen the housing prices in Tokyo
Maybe still a bit of an exaggeration, but when watching an episode of House Hunters International (yes, I actually enjoy that show), they were looking at small studio or 1 BR flats, about 600 SF that costs between $500K and $1M.

Tuna in Japan is a BIG DEAL!

I saw in a other show (I believe it was anthony bourdain) that most apartments there don't have a kitchen, people eat and live mostly outside their homes .

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:07 pm

by plumbertuck

Made it about 3 miles offshore to some of the artificial reefs off of the end of Cape San Blas / Mexico beach. Bottom fishing in about 30 feet of water only yielded some small sharks, some angelfish a few pinfish.,
I will wait for calmer weather to go further to the deeper reefs.
Had a great time with my son, the boat did great.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 3:15 pm

by Fred in Wisc

Took my young friend Joshua (7) fishing for the first time. The bluegills were spawning and once he got the hang of hooking them he didn't want to stop. Fished through 3 rain showers, finally told him we had to go when it started thundering and getting dark.

No catch and release with this guy, he was intent on bringing home some fish. Everything he caught went in the cooler. Some of those fillets were the size of tortilla chips. But he was excited to bring dinner for his mom and his little brother.

Looks like I will have to repaint the canoe this summer. It's a Swift Canoe, scaled to 12' long. Once I had the panels zip tied I test fit to make sure it would fit up the stairs and I had about 4" of extra space, so I spliced in a 4" strip in the center to widen it a bit. Kinda redneck but I didn't want to cut all the panels again. It's been a great little boat, 6 years old now. Rows fast and easy, or scoots around with a little 2hp motor.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:48 pm

by Mad Dog

Way to go Fred. Another young man hooked on fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:16 am

by MarkOrge

God Bless you Fred, that is what it is all about !!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:45 pm

by tobolamr

Fred, what lake was that on? Just wondering if I've been there at one point!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:51 pm

by Fred in Wisc

Little Muskego in Waukesha County. Shallow weedy little lake in the 'burbs, but good populations of panfish and largemouth. One of my favorite spots to take kids, the action is usually pretty good and it's close to home.

Thanks for the attaboys. This young fella was in my Scouts at church, nice polite kid, but no dad at home. His mom is great but not an outdoors person at all. You should have seen her reaction when he popped open a cooler full of fish and said he brought dinner. She near panicked. You could tell he loved that....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:56 pm

by tobolamr

Ah ok. Never been there. But it reminds of of Fowler in downtown Oconomowoc... That's a fun lake to canoe & fish in, imho...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 3:02 pm

by Fred in Wisc

Yep, it's got a similar look and feel. Fowler's got some nice bass in it I've heard, but you have to get them out of the slop.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 3:32 pm

by tobolamr

Or out of the edge of the slop...

And it's not so much "slop" as it is an intensely heavy mat of lily pads. At least, from what I recall. It's been a few years... If you want to see SLOP, I can show you some SLOP up here!

Either way - good times, lots of fish to catch, and lots of lakes to visit!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:23 pm

by Larry B

Went out to do some fishing last night. ended up with 5 nice Flathead. Here is a picture of the biggest at 40#

Had to get a picture of my boat in there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:55 pm

by gstanfield

Nice cats Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:27 pm

by cali123

Wow! That 40 pounder must have pulled like a Mack truck. The 5-7 pound channel cats that I catch are pretty tough, I can't imagine 40.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:17 am

by Joe H

Very nice Fred.
Larry, I love your pictures of those big ol cats, did you spend the night?

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:50 am

by Larry B

Nice cats Larry

Thanks George

Wow! That 40 pounder must have pulled like a Mack truck. The 5-7 pound channel cats that I catch are pretty tough, I can't imagine 40.

Yes, it was a fun fight. I wasn't ready for it and my drag wasn't set proper and he dang near took my rod and reel from me

I use 100 lb. power pro braid, because of all the trees and rocks in the lake. You have to be able to power them out before they get you snagged up.

Larry, I love your pictures of those big ol cats, did you spend the night?

Yes I always spend the whole night while fishing for Cats. I've got my boat set up so I can make a full bed in the bow, air mattress and all

Pictures on request

(without me in the bed)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 2:44 pm

by gstanfield

I'd love to see some pics of your fishing setup. When I lived in GA we did a lot of night fishing to help prevent heat stroke

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:53 pm

by Larry B

gstanfield wrote:I'd love to see some pics of your fishing setup. When I lived in GA we did a lot of night fishing to help prevent heat stroke

George Moved it here: To OD18 in Arizona

http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php ... start=1040

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:23 pm

by tech_support

some pretty (but small

) fish from the week in Marathon

shot a few of the red grouper, a small hogfish. We caught a few undersized blacks/gags, and were cut off by some good ones. Caught about 50 plus little mangroves along with a bunch of other fish. Caught two moray eels as well, one of the them was huge green one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 12:45 pm

by Joe H

Well I didn't make it to the Key's fishing the Great Lakes ain't so bad!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:34 pm

by stickystuff

We use those for bait down hereLOL Nice fish Joe.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 3:48 pm

by tobolamr

Joe - nice fish! He's about what, 48"?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:20 pm

by gstanfield

Well, the pic's bit old, but here's me fishing in the Suwanee River a "few" years ago

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dang George, that's about the same time Stephen Foster wrote the song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S0keeGIgcY

Joe, that's a fine fish right there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:51 pm

by gstanfield

hey now, I'm not that old CL

I'd guess and say this was taken around 1988 +/-

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:16 pm

by Joe H

Tobolamr, yeah that's probably about right, maybe a bit bigger

, I don't really know we never measured or weighed him, it took a little longer then we wanted to get the hook out so we had to get him back in the water before it was too late.

Thanks Larry, how was your vacation?

Come on Ken, they don't get too much bigger then that up hear

, beside's you guy's haven't shown me anything bigger down there just yet! ha.(maybe next year)

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:28 am

by thb

George,
Is that the bridge near Branford?
Regards
Tom in Steinhatchee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 6:14 pm

by gstanfield

I think it must have been the bridge on US441 by Fargo, GA. I don't remember us going into FL on that particular trip and I remember the trip fairly well considering how long ago it was. This google image seems to match, given the difference in years it appears the bridge has been rebuilt and the boat ramp now has a visitor center or something...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 6:27 pm

by peter-curacao

Cola creek in Suriname

Edit:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:05 pm

by stickystuff

Before ya can catch anything that big or bigger down here ya got to learn how to hold yer mouth jus right.

Nice fish by the way.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:59 am

by Cracker Larry

Before ya can catch anything that big or bigger down here ya got to learn how to hold yer mouth jus right.

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/339 ... gator+gar/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:20 am

by tech_support

A first for me. Cant wait to eat it, meat looks awesome, at least 15 pounds of fillet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:23 am

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:A first for me. Cant wait to eat it, meat looks awesome, at least 15 pounds of fillet.

Cool what is it?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:38 am

by tech_support

African Pompano. Here is same fish while still alive, very cool looking.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:17 pm

by majorgator

Departed Clearwater at about 5 PM on Saturday which Richard and 2 of his buddies, headed about 50+ miles out to 120 feet of water, got back to the dock at about 3 PM Sunday. We proved that the Gulf Fisheries Council is dead wrong on their Red Snapper assessment (some 150 +/- red snapper later). Imagine the insanity aboard our vessel as we were releasing 10 and 12 pound snapper only because we had bigger fish in the box. Would have never believed that we would have been saying "I hope its not another red snapper, please something besides a red snapper." And we got some gags too.

Great trip, great captain, and great first mate

You know it was a good trip when you're sore the next day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:26 pm

by Mad Dog

shine wrote:A first for me. Cant wait to eat it, meat looks awesome, at least 15 pounds of fillet.

NICE!!!

I've seen a few from our part of the Gulf but now many.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:28 pm

by Cracker Larry

Great pompano Joel

Great snapper and grouper fishing too, Seth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:34 pm

by Mad Dog

majorgator wrote:Departed Clearwater at about 5 PM on Saturday which Richard and 2 of his buddies, headed about 50+ miles out to 120 feet of water, got back to the dock at about 3 PM Sunday. We proved that the Gulf Fisheries Council is dead wrong on their Red Snapper assessment (some 150 +/- red snapper later). Imagine the insanity aboard our vessel as we were releasing 10 and 12 pound snapper only because we had bigger fish in the box. Would have never believed that we would have been saying "I hope its not another red snapper, please something besides a red snapper." And we got some gags too.

Great trip, great captain, and great first mate You know it was a good trip when you're sore the next day

You guys have really got me itchin to go fishin!! Great story!

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:52 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Joel! I have seen AP but I have never landed one. I always wondered how they taste. Too bad the July 5th trip didn't work out, Travis and Brad killed 'em again last night. They were out 100-120 miles in 200 feet...

Would have never believed that we would have been saying "I hope its not another red snapper, please something besides a red snapper

Me too!! I was counting them in my sleep last night

Umm, they need to open the season for more than 40 days

It's ridiculous...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:09 pm

by peter-curacao

Man I have to finish that boat of mine !!

shine wrote:African Pompano. Here is same fish while still alive, very cool looking.

Indeed very cool looking fish,Is it a fighter? what other fish can I compare the meat with?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:19 am

by tech_support

peter-curacao wrote:I compare the meat with?

broiled up a couple pieces with just salt/pepper and some butter 3 minutes each side, wanted to get an un-flavored idea of the meat. Its one of the best fish meats I have ever had. Firm, buttery, and sweet. No hint of fishy flavor, and not oily at all. Almost like a regular pompano and halibut got together. My daughters tore it up.

I heard that they are still out there, so Im going to try and get another one.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:38 am

by Bluefish2

Those are great fish! Nothing like that around Boston.
But we do have stripers and unbelievable numbers of squid.
Mad the mistake of giving a friend one of the flies I tied. So course I could not buy a fish. We fished the exact same fly on opposite sides of the boat and his fish keep getting bigger and bigger, he started at 23" striper and is currently up to 32".
I have not caught a fish yet on flies.
BD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 9:56 am

by tech_support

about 40 pounds. Shot him with my new gun, first time I pulled the trigger on it

I am lucky with new guns. There were about 10 HUGE Goliath grouper right under that buoy (600 pounds or more) so I did not want to get into a brawl with a speared fish, I hooked my shooting line up to a grouper rod with 100 braid. Shot the fish and then my buddy reeled him in, I got back in boat and gaffed him

Also caught a few big Spanish mackerel, then made a couple drops on a ledge on the way home, one vermilion snapper and got rocked up a couple times by something pretty big

great day of fishing, but when got back to ramp I found that someone had crashed a jetski into my boat the night before

Will post more on that in the repair section....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:00 am

by Cracker Larry

Great fishing and shooting Joel, but that sure suxs about the boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:47 am

by Larry B

Looks like a lot of fun

Don't really want to spear fish, but someday I'd sure like to go to Flordia and fish rod and reel

You guys sure do have some great fishing grounds

Thanks for the pictures, I'll be watching the repair on your boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 5:24 pm

by Mad Dog

Great fish but very sad about your boat.

Curious about how the impact caused that kind of break in the hull.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:05 am

by Fonda@kauai

Nice fish shine. Didn't know you dove

In hawaii pompano are called "kagami", one of the tasiest reef fish around. The sashimi is awesome as well

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:12 am

by majorgator

Beautiful cobia! That's some fine eating right there. BTW, before I even read the post I could tell you shot him. Hooks don't cause that much blood

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:03 am

by tech_support

maddog,

the hole in the hull is the old seacraft hull vent. Previous owner of the boat closed up the hull vents and he just used a little matt. Hull flexed enough on impact to pop that patch right out.

one of the tasiest reef fish around. The sashimi is awesome as well

Fonda, after having it I could not agree more! Im not much of a diver, but when the seafood does not come to me by normal mean, I dont mind going in after it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:41 pm

by smilinmatt

African Pompano are my favorite eating fish from my area. They're very similar in taste and texture to "white tuna" that's served in sushi restaurants, without the unpleasant side effects (google "escolar"). Last year after getting yellowfins off Venice, I got a couple APs. We went to a couple parties, where I made up trays of sliced AP and yellowfin. Both times the AP went first.

Very unique way of landing the cobia. Looks like that one put up a little more fight than the one you got in Crystal River a couple years back.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:46 pm

by Mad Dog

shine wrote:maddog,

the hole in the hull is the old seacraft hull vent. Previous owner of the boat closed up the hull vents and he just used a little matt. Hull flexed enough on impact to pop that patch right out.

Gotcha! It was just hard to imagine an impact hole with right angles. Sorry you have to go through the hassle though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:34 am

by majorgator

They're very similar in taste and texture to "white tuna" that's served in sushi restaurants, without the unpleasant side effects (google "escolar").

Now why do you have to go and ruin a good thing

I've eaten a bunch of escolar, but against my better judgement, I followed your advice and took a look. No more for me

http://blog.medellitin.com/2008/12/esco ... -fish.html

Where is the controversy in a buttery, delicious fish? I would say it is in the laxative like effect it has on a certain percentage of the population. Well, a 'laxative like effect' is how my fish monger described it. Others would describe it as closer to diahhrea. An expert would call it 'keriorrhoea'. Literally translated, it means 'flow of wax'. Oily orange droplets pouring out your pooper. Keriorrhoea occurs because the wax esters in the flesh of the fish pool up in your intestine.

Some reports of Escolar related illness include cramping, nausea, diarrhea, the itis, and other abdominal pains. This could be the result of severe Keriorrhea or could also be Scrombroid poisoning. Escolar related Scromboid (or histimine poisoning) is the result of high levels of histidine being converted to histimine usually as a result of poor storage.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:03 am

by tech_support

smilinmatt wrote: We went to a couple parties, where I made up trays of sliced AP and yellowfin. Both times the AP went first.

I will have to try it that way. I vacuum packed a bunch of it in the freezer. It has a really nice texture and "grain" very much like tuna. This is half of the meat from that fish, makes me hungry...

smilinmatt wrote:Very unique way of landing the cobia. Looks like that one put up a little more fight than the one you got in Crystal River a couple years back.

Got the idea from that post CL made about the guy who shot his buddy's fin to pull him up after he passed out from SWBO. I did not want to loose him in the buoy chain or to the Goliaths.

You know, I had a nice head shot at first, but I had the safety on

It was the first time I had loaded that gun up so i was not familiar with it. Thank goodness for dumb cobia.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:52 pm

by wadestep

July 1st was opening day here for Gag grouper, so Robin and I went out for a day of bottom fishing. Gags have been everywhere. However, for some reason we loaded up on Reds (7 reds, 1 gag).
Here's Robin with a gag

Early on in the day we were drifting over hard bottom and Robin starts yelling that there's a big cobia under teh boat. I was just dropping a live pinfish down, and it didn't last 10 seconds - the cobia grabbed it and I was able to wrestle him in. He went ballistic after hitting the boat, flinging blood oeverywhere, and thumping he box so hard I had to stand on it!
He also was a 40# fish before gutting.

And here's the day's total catch - 4 grouper per person and the cobia.

My freezer is now restocked! We eat fish dinner about 3x/weeek.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:02 pm

by tech_support

NICE !!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:30 pm

by designlady

Real nice. Great catch!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:38 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a great picture

Sure looks nice out there, an OD18 sort of day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:26 pm

by MarkOrge

So much for posting a picture of a nice smallmouth LOL

Wow great fishing !!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:12 am

by wadestep

Cracker Larry wrote:That's a great picture Sure looks nice out there, an OD18 sort of day

It was definatly an OD18 day. we were out there about 8 hours, and for about 30 minutes we had a tiny little wind ripple. The rest of the day was like glass. Wish they were all like that...
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:22 am

by Cracker Larry

Wish they were all like that...

Yeah, but I reckon you need some sloppy ones to make you appreciate the good ones

I'm heading down on Friday for a grouper/snapper trip with Richard. Sure hope the seas look like that, the last couple trips have been a little roughish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:10 pm

by Joe H

Wade,
Dude! That looks like one great fishing day, I like taking my wife out fishing, sometimes we even get some fishing in! ha.

Larry, you guy's have a great fishing trip, one of these time I'd love to make arangements to fly down and join you guy's for the weekend.

Mark, post those pictures, I do, Smallmouth fishing is great fun! I might go today after work, I hope to post some pics, that will make me

.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 1:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

This video was filmed in Charleston, SC yesterday, and posted on the local fishing forum. By midnight it had gone viral and made the late night TV shows. Today it's on all the news stations. Pretty cool video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcuYjDR2tSg

Sure makes you think about sticking your hands in the water to land or release a fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 1:13 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:This video was filmed in Charleston, SC yesterday, and posted on the local fishing forum. By midnight it had gone viral and made the late night TV shows. Today it's on all the news stations. Pretty cool video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcuYjDR2tSg

Sure makes you think about sticking your hands in the water to land or release a fish

That one was even in a Dutch newspaper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:23 pm

by stickystuff

Went fishinh yesterday. No grouper, lots of sharks and catfish. Coming in tothe ramp and the big black drum were thick. all you needed was some crabs and you could hook up till your arms fell off. we stopped for about 1/2 hour amd messed around with them to no avail. oops, my partner did catch one about 20 lbs. We were soaken wet from being caught up offshore in an horendous thunder storm. Haden't prayed in a long time but the man upstairs looked out for us. Lightening was every where.I have been within 100 yards from two people killed by lightening while fishing. It's not a purty sight. I have a lot of respect for storms . First thing I do is get the hell away. If not lay down all the rods. You do not want any graphite lightening rods sticking up in the air. Nosir re Bob. Not this old man. Be careful out there Larry. Guaranteed afternoon storms all this week and weekend. Nasty stuff.Bring a rain suit and a good ground rod.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

Be careful out there Larry. Guaranteed afternoon storms all this week and weekend. Nasty stuff.

That's pretty much guaranteed from now until fall I think. I'm cautious, but worrying about lightning on the ocean is like worrying about rattlesnakes in the woods, or sharks while swimming. If you worried about it too much you'd never leave the house, and lightning might still come in the window and kill you in your chair

Bring a rain suit and a good ground rod.

I don't mind getting wet. But we'll bring radar

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:27 am

by Cracker Larry

I had a great weekend fishing with Aripeka Angler, Majorgator and a couple of other new friends

Saturday was rough, real rough, and we fished 68 miles offshore in 6-8 seas. It was some tough fishing, and tough riding too. The things we do for fun. Still managed a few nice fish, a big gag, a big AJ and a monster ray that almost put me down. I think it had something to do with the constant chum stream coming from the boat

Came halfway back in at 8 kts with every wave breaking over the boat

Dodged thunderstorms on the way in too, they were pretty impressive, lightning on both sides of the boat. Didn't get struck, did get wet, but was already wet so it didn't matter much.

Sunday was much better, seas calmer and we caught a full limit of gag grouper, plus, and a few other assorted fish, a small cobia and a very large nurse shark. Again had to dodge thunderstorms coming in, with lightning all around. I only took a couple of pictures all weekend, Saturday was too rough for photography, and was too busy catching fish on Sunday.

This is one I took at the dock after Saturday's trip. Notice the man holding the fish is about half gray and half green. He was one sick pilgrim all day, felt real bad for him but couldn't do anything about it and almost joined him at the rail a few times. This was one of his first offshore trips and he caught the 2 largest fish of the day, not sure if he'll ever get on another boat though

He kissed Richard for getting him back on land, kissed the land, and hauled ass for home

I patted and kissed the Pursuit, then patted and thanked the Yamahas. I wasn't going to kiss Richard but I was glad to get my feet on land too. Think Seth was glad also

Sunday was better. The expression is priceless

Thanks to Richard for another great weekend, with great friends

Freezer is re-stocked with fillets

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 11:50 am

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks to Richard for another great weekend, with great friends

You are certainly welcome Captain

I had a great time too.

Saturday was rough as a cob though. Here is the only picture I took before the hurling started

Bo will probably never fish with us again

Hopefully, the weather will be better next time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:22 am

by majorgator

This is about the only useful picture I took of the trip:

Saturday was rough, real rough, and we fished 68 miles offshore in 6-8 seas. It was some tough fishing, and tough riding too

Wait, that's not what NOAA said

I've never been in conditions so poor. That picture of Bo holding the AJ is very telling: a crooked picture, the boat leaning sideways, no view of the horizon, Bo with a little bit of throw-up dripping from his mouth...

All I can say is WOW, what a day that was. Certainly happy to see land again. That trip to the bow to pull the hook nearly did me in. I had never felt my hands and stomach vibrate like that. Another 20 minutes and I would have hurling alongside Bo, thank God we moved on!

Overall though, I never felt in danger thanks to the capable hands of our captain! Thank you Richard for another memorable trip, and thanks to Richard, Cracker, and Bo for some good company.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:02 pm

by peter-curacao

Pussy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 1:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

No, he wasn't either

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 7:39 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I met up with Derrick offshore so we had two boats fishing some of my favorite spots. Man it was slow tough fishing early in the day, my boat only bagged 3 grouper and Derrick had caught 4 grouper, shot another 2 and speared 8 hogfish. We split up and headed for home at 2pm with our tails tucked between our legs

The guys on my boat decided that they wanted to hit one last spot on the way in

The last spot was the best, we got 7 fish in about 30 minutes...

Cooking some fish on the grill right now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 7:55 pm

by peter-curacao

Bon appetit Richard and Derrick

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:22 am

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:Bon appetit Richard and Derrick

Thanks

Not sure how Derrick cooked his but we gave ours the grill treatment...

It was fabulous, I will have to post the recipe later

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:02 am

by tech_support

no great catches this weekend, hazy sunrise Sunday, pretty sunset on Friday

ON sunday we did catch a few kings and few little tunny (aka "bonito"), as well as half a dozen seabass. Sea bass were big enough to pull fillets off of. I kept a little tunny to experiment with, will cook it a couple ways (smoke it with king and grill it with the seabass). I read about someone making tuna salad from it, so i might try that too. I bled it right away and iced it well, cut the blood line out (fish is mostly one big blood line

) and was left with 4 "loin" strips.

only picture we took of a catch was this octopus. He was not happy and he actually "looked" angry.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 4:12 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I kept a little tunny to experiment with, will cook it a couple ways (smoke it with king and grill it with the seabass). I read about someone making tuna salad from it, so i might try that too. I bled it right away and iced it well, cut the blood line out (fish is mostly one big blood line ) and was left with 4 "loin" strips.

Joel, I bled and iced the little tunny I turned into a tuna salad. This is how I did it...

1) Bled and iced the fish in a saltwater slurry
2) Trimmed the fish just like you did
3) Soaked the fillets overnight in saltwater
4) Dropped the fillets in boiling water spiced with Old Bay
5) Pulled the fillets out and quick chilled them on a bed of crushed ice
6) Crumbled up the fillets over a green salad with bleu cheese
7) Smothered the salad with Italian dressing

Umm... it was ok

A bunch of work for a salad. I did want to try it, it was not great... but just ok

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 4:20 pm

by robbiro

Shine,
How do you unhook one of those critters

Robbie

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 5:01 pm

by tech_support

he had the hook in one of his tentacles, reminded me of this guy holding the key/hook...

Richard, I will try that also. If Im already cleaning fish, its no big deal to cut out some meat for tuna fish salad. Trying to get a majority (or as much as possible) of kids protein from fish. Pediatrician says research links better brain development with omega 3 type protein. I just need to see how much mercury they have in them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 5:19 pm

by wadestep

There's some interesting research going on with caffeine and mercury. The long and short of it is that if you consume caffeine at the same time as cooked fish, you actually get almost no mercury from the fish at all. However, I don't know about caffeine and kids - when I was young we weren't allowed caffeine.
reference:
http://www.roaste.com/CafeRoaste/News/2 ... cury-10572
it was a study done in Montreal - just google "fish mercury caffeine"

I've also been told that the bloodline is where many of the neuroreceptors are in a fish - ie the lateral line - and that is also where much of the mercury is stored. I don't know that for sure, but I believe it.

Robin and I eat fish about 3x/week, so I'm always looking out for this type of info. Especially when it may mean to drink more rum and cokes!
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 5:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

We also eat seafood about 4 times a week, but I'll pass on the little tunny

Those octopi eat pretty good too. Much better than that bloody bonito

They can be a chore to unhook and will leave sucker marks all over you. Given the chance they will bite the bug juice out of you too

The beak on those things will put a parrot to shame.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:10 am

by tech_support

seabass and little tunny.

soaked tunny it in teriyaki for 20 minutes before grilling, did not taste bad, but when you are used to eating "real" tuna this way you tastes buds are expecting somethign different. I think it best not to pretend its tuna.

Kids ate the heck out if it though with just a little more teriyaki dripped over the meat. I like it better than chicken breast or speckled trout, which is not saying a whole lot. I smoked the other two strips to try making dip, and I have some plain grilled meat to try as tuna fish salad

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:19 am

by Cracker Larry

Should have kept the octopus

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:24 am

by tech_support

i know

next time.

Anyone know a recipe for moray eel?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:02 pm

by Cracker Larry

Moray is excellent, any fish recipe works good with it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:52 am

by tech_support

My buddy and my godson came for a weekend of fishing. Weather only allowed a little offshore, but we got a cobia and did some snorkeling on the steamer wreck off our beach. Fished the river one day and got a big trout. Trout was released cobia was not.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:57 am

by majorgator

Not really a fishing report, but worth sharing anyway...
Spent some time yesterday on Keewaydin Island, which is just north of the mouth of the Big Marco River (Marco Island, FL). Its only accessible by boat, but has a beatiful beach that turns into a wild party spot on the weekends. We "staked out" our area just south of the crazy crowd. Its quite a scene, but still a neat place to go hang out for a few hours.

We never can get little Eli to wear his hat like a normal person...always likes it pulled way down...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:58 am

by majorgator

Nice work Joel. Cobia is certainly one of the best eating fish I've ever had.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 12:31 pm

by Uncle D

majorgator wrote:We never can get little Eli to wear his hat like a normal person...always likes it pulled way down...

Gonna be a pitcher.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 1:31 pm

by t-dog 21

Took my friend fishing, down at the local city lake on Tuesday. We were trying to catch some trout and sunfish on worms, but all we could manage were the smallest largemouths I have ever seen. We didn't catch anything over 4 inches, I couldn't even fit my thumb in the mouths of most of them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 9:58 pm

by whosmatt

Took a friend out yesterday. She wanted to catch a halibut, but I'm pretty clueless about those, so after drifting around for a while with some frozen squid (and her getting a little seasick) we went for a longish boat ride instead. I picked off a few decent calicos (kelp bass) while we were just funning around, and then we headed back to my favorite kelp spot, just out of the mouth of San Diego harbor off Point Loma. We began our drift just after sunset, throwing 5" Big Hammer swimbaits. She kept insisting we'd see bioluminescent organisms (which I doubted) but she was right. As we drifted across the kelp, the boat disturbed the organisms, which live on the kelp leaves, making a small but noticeable show of flashes. Then, she hooks up with something that obviously wasn't a 16" kelp bass. It was totally dark at this point, I'm hunting around for my headlamp, wondering if I need the gaff to land it. Turns out to be a 28" white sea bass (not a bass at all; it's a croaker) which is just legal but the largest fish landed on my FS17 so far. Excellent end to the day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:08 pm

by TRC886

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:45 am

by majorgator

That is a fish that I would know nothing about here on the east coast. I assume that its a fine eating fish??

...just out of the mouth of San Diego harbor off Point Loma.

If I could sidestep here for a moment...My uncle was a commander in the Navy, stationed at the Point Loma Naval Base. When he retired, I went out for the ceremony. He gave us a tour of the area, which was absolutely breathtaking. Below is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever encountered. This picture was taken at the Point Loma National Cemetery (I think I have the geography correct...)

The Pacific Ocean is indeed a mighty and magnificent beast. I was shocked at the differences between the Pacific and our Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean waters.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:45 pm

by whosmatt

majorgator wrote:That is a fish that I would know nothing about here on the east coast. I assume that its a fine eating fish??

It is indeed. I had my first yesterday. Put a fillet skin side down on a hot grill, brushed a mixture of olive oil, salt, and pepper over it, let it cook for a few minutes, then flipped it over (separated from the skin, which was stuck to the grill) back onto the skin and brushed the other side. I expected it too be more like striped bass, but it was much firmer with a mild flavor. Quite good.

majorgator wrote:
The Pacific Ocean is indeed a mighty and magnificent beast. I was shocked at the differences between the Pacific and our Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean waters.

Yes it is. I've been here just over three years now and I still find myself gawking sometimes, especially at how clear the water can be.

I still prefer my NC beaches for swimming, though. Too cold here most of the time.

And yes, you have your geography right. That cemetery is situated in a beautiful spot, as is the national monument at the tip of the point.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:33 pm

by wej

Little Tunny is good with corn.

Put little tunny under corn....cover with soil, water frequently for best results. Enjoy corn in several weeks...shortly after little tunny stops stinking.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 6:17 am

by LeeFitz

Haven't posted here for a while. Close to starting a build - but that is a whole other story.

I am Barramundi addict - the best all-round sport fish in the world, bar none!

Thought you might enjoy some recent BarraCam. Barra will aggressively take lures - 30 inch, 10lb model here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMvD_yDI ... r_embedded

Cheers

Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 12:29 am

by whosmatt

LeeFitz wrote:Haven't posted here for a while. Close to starting a build - but that is a whole other story.

I am Barramundi addict - the best all-round sport fish in the world, bar none!

Thought you might enjoy some recent BarraCam. Barra will aggressively take lures - 30 inch, 10lb model here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMvD_yDI ... r_embedded

Cheers

Lee

Nice. I have a collection of Barramundi Maulers http://www.huntingfishingtackle.com/The ... p_282.html but never knew exactly what a Barramundi is. Anything aggressive is my kind of fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 10:06 am

by Bowmovement

She wanted to catch a halibut, but I'm pretty clueless about those, so after drifting around for a while with some frozen squid

Matt,

Use a dropper loop rig and live bait for the Halibut. Look for sandy bottom also. In the big bay drift from the bait barge to the bridge. Buddy caught a nice one a couple weeks ago. 42" and 27lbs. We were off the coast of La Jolla about 100-120 foot of water.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:05 pm

by whosmatt

Bowmovement wrote:
She wanted to catch a halibut, but I'm pretty clueless about those, so after drifting around for a while with some frozen squid
Matt,

Use a dropper loop rig and live bait for the Halibut. Look for sandy bottom also. In the big bay drift from the bait barge to the bridge. Buddy caught a nice one a couple weeks ago. 42" and 27lbs. We were off the coast of La Jolla about 100-120 foot of water.

Matt

Dude, I was wondering if you were ever coming back to the board...

As far as live bait goes, I gotta get a bait tank. The boat is still a work in progress in that regard.

-Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:13 pm

by Bowmovement

whosmatt wrote:
Bowmovement wrote:
She wanted to catch a halibut, but I'm pretty clueless about those, so after drifting around for a while with some frozen squid
Matt,

Use a dropper loop rig and live bait for the Halibut. Look for sandy bottom also. In the big bay drift from the bait barge to the bridge. Buddy caught a nice one a couple weeks ago. 42" and 27lbs. We were off the coast of La Jolla about 100-120 foot of water.

Matt
Dude, I was wondering if you were ever coming back to the board...

As far as live bait goes, I gotta get a bait tank. The boat is still a work in progress in that regard.

-Matt

Jumped into another hobby for a while and didnt visit here very much. Its summer time and the off roading doesnt really happen so I cruised by the board. Saw the new PY12 plans and got me interested. I saw you splashed your boat. Congrats. It looks great.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:53 am

by whosmatt

Bowmovement wrote:
Jumped into another hobby for a while and didnt visit here very much. Its summer time and the off roading doesnt really happen so I cruised by the board. Saw the new PY12 plans and got me interested. I saw you splashed your boat. Congrats. It looks great.

Matt

Thanks. Glad to hear your're still alive and well. Let me know if you ever want to go fishing. I've got a boat now and am working on getting the proper tackle to handle something other than kelp fishing for bass, which is fun, but I want to work up to larger species. I've made a run out to the Coronados (for those not in our area, the Coronados are a chain of islands about 18 miles south of San Diego harbor and 8 miles off the coast of Mexico) and that was a great experience -- and I have my Mexican fishing license now. One of these days I'll take this little boat offshore, don't try to stop me.

-Matt

EDIT: Which one is the PY12? I haven't seen that yet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:19 pm

by Bowmovement

whosmatt wrote:
EDIT: Which one is the PY12? I haven't seen that yet.

Its the fishing kayak.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 4:15 pm

by cape man

Went last month just before the red snapper closed. Limited out on Red and Gag grouper, Red Snapper, and added a few nice Mangrove and Lane snappers. Numbers courtesy of a good friend here

After the bite stopped my friend went down and helped convince several into the boat...

Take a leak, light a smoke, get a drink and your sure to get a hit. This time it was a nice plum...

Was extremely rough that day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 9:03 pm

by majorgator

Dangit Craig. I hope someone properly vented you before you were released. I would have hated to have seen you floating on top of the water so helpless and all

Was extremely rough that day

Yes, I could tell by the reflections of the clouds on the water.

Good work my friend!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 8:44 am

by peter-curacao

Well that's also a way to do it!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:50 am

by Cracker Larry

Dang

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:23 am

by tech_support

Went fishing

Could not get any sardines, all the bouys were covered with blue runners. So what to do with a dozen 1 lb blue runners ? ......

got two of these guys off a deep wreck

then tried chumming/chinking with bonita chunks for dolphin, but nothing, so headed in to a buoy and shot a cobia, missed a second

I need to get better with my aim, it awful hard to wrestle these things when the belly is ripping out. I could use a good bungee too

not one of ours, but a plywood boat at the ramp, I like his tiki top

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:31 am

by Walkers Run

That's a great day on the water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:52 am

by Cracker Larry

Dang you sure blew a hole in that cobia! Did you use a powerhead on it?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:58 am

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish

You sure had better weather than we did this weekend...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:01 am

by peter-curacao

Nice

I have a question though (probably a stupid one)but If you shoot a fish won't you ruin the meat if you shoot it wrong? (gall bladder)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:09 am

by tech_support

Cracker Larry wrote:Dang you sure blew a hole in that cobia! Did you use a powerhead on it?

no, they just have such soft skin. Plus my aim is not great. The second fish I tried to shoot int he head... and I missed

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 2:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I just got these from my guide in Kodiak, AK.

I am getting fired up

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:28 am

by cape man

Are Cocker Spaniels in season up there? What kind of terminal tackle do they use?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:13 am

by tech_support

I thought that was the bear bait

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 10:12 am

by peter-curacao

peter-curacao wrote:Nice I have a question though (probably a stupid one)but If you shoot a fish won't you ruin the meat if you shoot it wrong? (gall bladder)

Okay probably a very stupid question?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 10:54 am

by tech_support

Its tastes the same to me no matter where I shoot it

I ate some of it last night. I suppose if you shot it in a way that pushed some of the nasty guts into the meat then you would want to cut that portion of the meat out, but I have not had that problem yet.

On that particular fish the spear went in just below the spine about 4" back from gills. Not a lot of meat in that area to ruin when the spear ripped through the belly.

I was sad to read that cobia is now on the higher mercury content list

This is an article from my old home town news paper HH Island packet about it, once a month is not acceptable

http://www.islandpacket.com/2011/05/17/ ... worry.html

I found a fish farm in VA that is trying to raise mercury free cobia (in the mountains, in fresh water

). Maybe I can spear them there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:28 am

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:Its tastes the same to me no matter where I shoot it I ate some of it last night. I suppose if you shot it in a way that pushed some of the nasty guts into the meat then you would want to cut that portion of the meat out, but I have not had that problem yet.

Okay thanks, just thought it works the same as when you clean a fish and gut the gall by accident, probably it doesn't because it's still underwater when you shoot it?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 12:14 pm

by Cracker Larry

I was sad to read that cobia is now on the higher mercury content list This is an article from my old home town news paper HH Island packet about it, once a month is not acceptable

The article is over a year old, but still accurate. I don't consider it acceptable either, but cobia aren't as bad as many on the list. There are warning signs at every boat ramp now advising how much of what fish is safe to eat, and there aren't many that are recommended over once a month, if at all, pregnant women should eat none, etc.. It's not just cobia, but most pelagic fish like mackerel and swordfish too, some inshore species in salt water, and all freshwater fish are pretty much on the Do Not Eat list. Redfish, trout and flounder are still considered safe in SC, but who knows

Here is a current list posted by the SC DNR .

DO NOT EAT

http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/water ... notEat.pdf

The homepage for fish consumption advisories in South Carolina http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/water/fish/index.htm

Florida isn't much better, here is their fish consumption advisory homepage http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/ ... index.html

It's a real scary thing for a family who eats seafood 3 or 4 nights a week

Now I know what's wrong with me

But the store bought beef and pork and chicken scares me even worse, not to mention canned food, and I ain't eating anything that says made in China, so I'll have to take my chances with the fish. They probably don't even test chicken for mercury.

They claim that most of the mercury gets into fish from acid rain, not sure about that

How much could rain affect swordfish and King Mackerel?

I found a fish farm in VA that is trying to raise mercury free cobia (in the mountains, in fresh water ).

Well, if the mercury is coming out of the sky attached to raindrops like they say it is, I doubt VA is any safer than anywhere else. Cape Man would know the answer to that better than most of us, that's what he does and he knows some stuff!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:13 pm

by tech_support

from EPS site

Symptoms of high exposures to inorganic mercury include: skin rashes and dermatitis; mood swings; memory loss; mental disturbances; and muscle weakness. People concerned about their exposure to inorganic mercury should consult their physician.

so far Im only showing memory loss, far as I can remember

I would have thought cobia would have less than AJ's - mullet looks safe

Sheephead might be the winner for mercury/taste trade off.

interesting to see the different measurements of same species from different bodies of water

here is the link to the cobia farm. I guess if the farmed fish's food is not part of the normal mercury concentrating food chain (like in ocean) then its not compounding in the flesh.
http://www.virginiacobiafarms.biz/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:16 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Mercury is some nasty stuff...

I got this pic last night from Derrick. His friend shot the grouper, 75 lbs. gutted...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 11:06 am

by cape man

I have a colleague at work that eats tuna and/or sardines for lunch EVERY DAY. We cautioned him so many times about mercury that he actually went down and had tests run...nothing. Afterwards I did some searching and found the mercury issue is over blown in my opinion, and can be traced back to a fishing community in Japan in the 50's, and the overall conservative nature of many health warnings. Here's a site I found quickly this morning from UC Davis.

http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/pubs/mercury.htm

Here's the section that hits home to me the most:

Why We Have Not Suffered From Eating Fish

Researchers found that some fish, including tuna, can block and reduce the toxicity of mercury in their tissues. This research may explain how we have safely eaten fish containing levels of mercury higher than allowed by FDA. Most experts agree that the 1 ppm action level for methyl mercury in fish has a considerable margin of safety built into it.

Only one suspected case of methyl mercury poisoning occurred in the U.S. from eating fish. A woman on a fad diet ate 12-1/2 ounces of swordfish a day for 10 months, and later returned to the diet for 4 or 8 week periods. The woman developed mild mercury poisoning symptoms, but doctors misdiagnosed her symptoms on several occasions. The woman was off her diet for 5 months and lost almost all her symptoms by the time the doctors suspected mercury poisoning. Samples of her hair, however, still retained high but not toxic mercury levels. Doctors could not confirm the diagnosis of mild mercury poisoning, but believed the excessive consumption of swordfish caused the symptoms.

Coal burning releases mercury into the atmosphere that then drops out in rain (or snow), and at lower pH's is more soluble (i.e. acid rain makes it more available in the environment - the fish). It also occurs naturally in many freshwater systems, especially those with peat associated with them, such as the Everglades and much of south Florida. Once eaten it stays in the body and over time can be biomagnified by predators (much like ciguatera). However, if there was really such a big issue with mercury poisoning, we would have more than one confirmed case in the United States.

Other studies have repeatedly shown that a regular diet of fish and seafood has far greater benefits to humans than the concerns over mercury and other contaminants (e.g PCBs, etc.) and the thresholds established are extreemely conservative.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 5:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

See there, I told yall that Craig would know

Other studies have repeatedly shown that a regular diet of fish and seafood has far greater benefits to humans than the concerns over mercury and other contaminants (e.g PCBs, etc.) and the thresholds established are extremely conservative.

Yep, I'll keep on eating seafood

Ain't getting out of here alive anyway.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:15 pm

by cape man

If you can't stop people from wanting to kill and eat animals, either farmed or wild, make them think they aren't safe to eat...hmmm

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

You are a smart fellow

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 8:35 pm

by cape man

It's the swordfish and king mackerel. Pure brain food!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 6:37 am

by majorgator

Funny how people get worked up about mercury in fish, but they turn a blind eye to GMO's, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, canola oil (derived from an industrial waste product), pesticides/herbicides on their nice green veggies, johnees disease (a precursor to alzheimers, found in 98% of the cows in commercial dairies), preservatives in food, chemically derived synthetic vitamins, etc.

I'm with Craig on this one: eat all the fish you can get

Cubans and other Caribbean natives have always eaten barracuda without even a remote fear if ciguatera poison. And my guess is that generations of Floridians that came before us did the same

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 9:28 am

by tech_support

majorgator wrote: Cubans and other Caribbean natives have always eaten barracuda without even a remote fear if ciguatera poison. And my guess is that generations of Floridians that came before us did the same

My grandmother and her grandmother and everyone in between ate a lot of mullet, whiting, sheephead, crab, shrimp. Not a lot of swordfish going around for them, or king mackerel for that matter. Mostly what could be harvested with a Sein of a small boat in a tidal zone.

Im interested in learning a lot more about this.

Funny how people get worked up about mercury in fish, but they turn a blind eye to GMO's, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, canola oil (derived from an industrial waste product), pesticides/herbicides on their nice green veggies, johnees disease (a precursor to alzheimers, found in 98% of the cows in commercial dairies), preservatives in food, chemically derived synthetic vitamins, etc.

I agree with that. But we do avoid those risks already, for the most part. I think its worth starting a separate topic. I know the answer I want to find and that I sort of live by now; that the risk is overblown. I need to do more research though.

Thank you Craig for chiming in, nice to have an insiders perspective.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 12:46 pm

by Uncle D

Cracker Larry wrote:
Yep, I'll keep on eating seafood Ain't getting out of here alive anyway.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 8:36 am

by Cracker Larry

It won't be long before they won't let us catch fish to eat anyway. The Feds are really pissing me off with their junk science

Black sea bass had been closed for almost a year. They opened the season June 1, but reduced the limits to 5 fish. They've now announced that the catch shares have been met and they are closing the fishery again on Sept. 4, until next June! Gee, they let us fish for 2 months.

Red snapper has also been closed for 9 months, but the generous feds have decided to open it for us in September, for 2 friggin weekends. Unbelievable

Check this out:

NOAA Fisheries announces the opening of the 2012 commercial and recreational red snapper fishing season in South Atlantic federal waters. Based on a recommendation by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (South Atlantic Council), the commercial red snapper season opens at 12:01 a.m., local time, on September 17, 2012, and closes at 12:01 a.m., local time, on September 24, 2012. During the open commercial season, the daily trip limit is 50 pounds gutted weight and there is no minimum size limit for red snapper.

The recreational fishing season will open for two consecutive weekends made up of Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The recreational red snapper season opens at 12:01 a.m., local time, on September 14, 2012, and closes at 12:01 a.m., local time, on September 17, 2012; the season then reopens at 12:01 a.m., local time, on September 21, 2012, and closes at 12:01 a.m., local time, on September 24, 2012. During the open recreational season, the bag limit is one fish per person per day and there is no minimum size limit for red snapper.

The intent of this action is to provide fishermen the opportunity to harvest the red snapper 2012 annual catch limit and enhance the social and economic benefits to the fishery. The commercial and recreational annual catch limits for 2012 are 20,818 pounds gutted weight and 9,399 fish, respectively. The sector annual catch limits are based upon allocations previously decided by the South Atlantic Council.

NOAA Fisheries may change the commercial and recreational season dates if severe weather conditions exist. If severe weather conditions exist, NOAA Fisheries will announce via NOAA Weather Radio and a Fishery Bulletin any change in the red snapper fishing seasons. Additionally, NOAA Fisheries will monitor the commercial landings and may re-open the commercial fishing season in 2012 if landings are less than the annual catch limits.

After the conclusion of the commercial September 17-24, 2012, red snapper fishing season, red snapper may not be harvested or possessed in federal waters of the South Atlantic.

Harvest and possession prohibitions also apply to state waters for vessels holding federal snapper-grouper permits.

We need an election, or a revolution.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:27 am

by majorgator

In respone to CL's post:

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is nothing more than massively oversized government overreaching all normal and reasonable bounds. The agencies responsible for fisheries management is full of people who worship the environment instead if embracing it. For the most part, they've been appointed by an administration that favors world governance over liberty and sovereignty. They've taken sensible management approaches and replaced them with extreme fringe ideology. A revolution is indeed required if there is to be any hope restored, not just to fisheries management but the country as whole.

I find this paradox extremely noteworthy:

During the open recreational season (6 days), the bag limit is one fish per person per day and there is no minimum size limit for red snapper.

The intent of this action is to provide fishermen the opportunity to harvest the red snapper 2012 annual catch limit and enhance the social and economic benefits to the fishery.

I guess I just don't understand where the "economic benefit" is going to come from

I'm sure that fisherman from all over are clamoring for the opportunity to spend hundreds of dollars on fuel, ice, bait, tackle, etc. for the chance to go out and catch and keep 1 single red snapper at a time when the grouper fishery is closed too. I don't appreciate how they try to make it sound so positive.

We can go on and on about this, but the truth is that the majority of Americans don't care. How many people outside the GOM and southern Atlantic states even care about saltwater fishing? That's what really sucks about this whole thing; the voice of reason is weak compared to more nationally broad topics. Let's just clean house again in DC and go from there...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 12:05 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm sure that fisherman from all over are clamoring for the opportunity to spend hundreds of dollars on fuel, ice, bait, tackle, etc. for the chance to go out and catch and keep 1 single red snapper at a time when the grouper fishery is closed too. I don't appreciate how they try to make it sound so positive.

Note also that they are closing black sea bass a week before they open the snapper "season", so you can't keep those either. It's not an accident. Yeah, right, I'm going to run a boat 30 miles offshore and spend $300 to catch 1 red snapper

What a boost for the economy. That should save the charter boat industry for sure. These people piss on our feet and tell us it's raining. The bottom is covered in Sea bass and red snapper, you can't even grouper fish because you can't keep the bait down long enough without catching a snapper or blackfish.

I wonder why anyone would buy an offshore fishing boat today? Fishing as we've always known it is over with. And like Craig said earlier, the fish we are still allowed to catch, kings, cobia and such, they tell us are not safe to eat. Also part of the plan to end fishing by us lowly citizens. They don't seem to understand that it's our fish, not theirs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 12:40 pm

by Royce

These limits have nothing to do with the president. As you know, they've been in place for years, and continue to get more restrictive based on the National Fisheries voodoo science. In the northern GOM, limits haven't been as restrictive as in the Atlantic, but it's getting extremely difficult to operate a charter fishing business when you have a red snapper season that is 30-40 days long. The charter fishermen are hoping to be able to segregate their portion of the limits away from the recreational fishermen so that they can have more control over their own destiny. They would much rather see 12, 3 day weekends than 36 straight days , etc. If we're looking to fix this through elections, then we have to fix congress. They have the power to change the law and control funding. I'm party agnostic in this case - both sides have held congress over the past 22 years and neither have put together a plan based on real science. And I agree with Larry, why would you spend mega bucks on any boat right now. Hardly makes sense - but then again who in their right mind would even attempt to build a boat when they turn them out by the hundreds everyday

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 12:48 pm

by Cracker Larry

As you know, they've been in place for years, and continue to get more restrictive based on the National Fisheries voodoo science

No, no limits and closures like this have ever been in place until this administration came along. Are you kidding me, 1 red snapper a trip and you can fish 2 weekends a year

I've been fishing here for over 50 years and the last 4 years has almost completely killed offshore fishing and the fishing industry.

4 years ago, red snapper were open year around, 10 per person. Black sea bass opened year around, 20 per person. Grouper open year round, 5 per person. Are you seriously telling me it's not the administrations doings?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 12:56 pm

by Royce

In the GOM we've had restrictive limits for years. I'm not sure how you got left out

It sucks - no doubt. We're currently at 2 fish pp with a 45 day season (I think). Certainly not as restrictive as what you have, but sucks nonetheless. My beef is with National Marine Fisheries as we've been fighting this battle for years and years. I still think it transcends administrations.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

4 years ago, this was a legal limit of bottom fish, and we could do it every day of the year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:13 pm

by Royce

If there is a bright side, it is that your snapper are going to get huge and plentiful. However, it will just make everything more frustrating. As a kid, I would talk to the old captains about how they found snapper before lorans. They told me that they could see them on top of the water. Even as a kid I called BS on that one. Now, every time we go snapper fishing the fish come up to the surface. Last year, I threw a nice 8lb snapper on the deck and the mate said "what are you doing that for - cap'n says we aren't keeping anything under 12lbs." and we commenced to catch 26 snapper, all 12 lbs plus - and in 45 minutes time. It doesn't take a scientist to see that the fishery is now under fished.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

As a kid, I would talk to the old captains about how they found snapper before lorans

I started offshore fishing long before LORAN was invented, I am one of the old captains

And we didn't have any trouble finding fish, or finding our way back home. I've been fishing offshore since Eisenhower was President. I'm all for reasonable catch limits and seasons and good conservation. It works, I've seen it work, but this administration's policies has nothing to do with fish management and everything to do with people management.

Our snapper are already huge and plentiful

And the largest one I ever caught was on the surface on a kingfish drift line, with a live beeliner for bait. 120' of water. It weighed 42 pounds.

Edit: Back before there were any limits at all, it was common for us to bring in 100-200 snapper a day, and that many sea bass, and 50 grouper too. 1,000 pounds was a normal days catch.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:48 pm

by majorgator

In the GOM we've had restrictive limits for years...

I'm not sure what you're specifically referring to, but I vividly remember that from about 2005 through 2008 (and even some in 2009), our company had the first Monday of every month booked with a charter captain in Cedar Key (GOM). Our specific targert was grouper, and if I remember correctly, it was a limit of 5 grouper per person, all could be gags but only 1 could be red. No limit on seabass at the time. Now we didn't go every month, as the weather or "real work" sometimes got in the way, but every trip I made with him yielded a boat-limit of fish. Many days we were back before quittin' time.

The inshore species have been strictly regulated as long as I can remember, but who wants more than a couple reds and 5 trout anyways? Snook are another story. They're closed in GOM waters until September 2013. Before this, you could only keep one anyway, and even then you had to have a permit. Having spend the summer in SW FL, I've seen snook schools in the hundreds. Its too bad that catching them aint as easy as seeing them.

But I don't recall ever seeing total fish closures for long periods of time like we've had the last few years. Some people refuse to believe that politics and left-wing ideological agenda could play a role in this. However, when you spend some time talking to people who have grown up and lived under socialist governance only to relocate for a chance for freedom and liberty, you start to see a lot of similarities.

I started offshore fishing long before LORAN was invented, I am one of the old captains

Larry, think about the depth of that comment. You're saying that you've lived long enough to see the invention of a great new technology as well its demise

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 2:00 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's another thing the SOB did that really pisses me off, shutting down LORAN. Unbelievable.

I remember when we got our first LORAN, it cost a couple thousand dollars in the 1960s and it only received one station at a time. You had to look through a hood into a green screen and cycle match the waveforms to get one LOP, then tune to the other frequency and do it again, and then cross the 2 LOPs on a chart. Tedious, but we thought it was great. That and a green flasher sonar and we were set

I still prefer LORAN to GPS. Or I did.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 3:00 pm

by Cracker Larry

I found an old picture of myself at work in my office, dated 1981. 31 years ago we had a decent LORAN and a thermal Lowrance paper chart recorder. I could find some grouper with that paper recorder, it had 100 shades of grey

Spent $10 a day on paper and stylus too. Paid for it with fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 5:02 pm

by Larry B

Thats a cool picture CL, gotta love the good times in days past

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 6:45 pm

by Royce

I remember those old LORANs well. Had to use one to navigate a shrimp boat from LA to AL one cold thanksgiving. We had a furuno paper machine. Still can smell that burned paper. My last year charter fishing was '88. Still no limits on red snapper at that time. However, I do remember that I only caught one red snapper that whole summer. We made our trips on what we call mingo snapper but I think the real name is vermillion. We could still catch a lot of trigger fish and some big amberjack back then, but amberjack were already starting to decline. Back then, we wouldn't say that we had a good day if we didn't catch 350 lbs of fish. Not bad for a 6 pack.

On another note, we very rarely caught king mackerel. Once the net bans went into effect in S. Florida, then the king mackerel fishery started recovering. The limits suck, but we are catching much bigger fish now. The problem is that once you let the feds start to manage the fishery, they never stop. They just keep clamping down. The red snapper limits are primarily done by tonnage. So as the fish get bigger, you have to catch fewer. After they cut you down to 1 or 2 fish each, then they start cutting back on days fished. Its a death spiral. Because of the success of the limits, you can now catch fewer fish

Just to stir the fire one more time. I think the bag limits started in 1990 under Bush 1. The sustainable fisheries act came along in 1996 during the Clinton administration - but both houses were controlled by the Republicans. I guess I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. Government will regulate you any time they have the opportunity.

I learned to fish with LORAN, although ours was one of the first automatic ones -not the one that CL described. LORAN A would get you close to the fish, but you still had to be a good fisherman to find them. LORAN C came about in the '80s and could pretty much put you on the fish, especially if you had any decent fishfinder. GPS almost eliminated the need for the fish finder. How big of a role did technology have in overfishing? I say a very large role.

BTW, I make my living in technology so I'm far from anti-technology. Alright, I'm laying off of politics before we have to relocate to the bilge.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:34 pm

by whosmatt

Cracker Larry wrote:I still prefer LORAN to GPS. Or I did.

Any particular reason? I'm just curious. I'm not old enough to know LORAN, or at least I was never exposed to it.

-Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:37 am

by Cracker Larry

Just to stir the fire one more time. I think the bag limits started in 1990 under Bush 1. The sustainable fisheries act came along in 1996 during the Clinton administration - but both houses were controlled by the Republicans.

Yes, and we needed bag limits then. We were taking way too many fish. The limits were reasonable and the fishing improved because of them. There are a lot more fish now than there were in 1990. There is a big difference between reasonable limits based on science, and closing entire fisheries except for 2 weekends a year, with a limit of 1. Only the liberals have ever done anything that stupid.

How big of a role did technology have in overfishing? I say a very large role.

What overfishing. We haven't hardly been allowed to fish for the last 4 years, how could it be over fished? Who except the current crop of fools in office can even claim there is overfishing? If anything our area is under fished. There is absolutely no scientific proof of overfishing, except they say so

. How can they even determine how many fish were landed in a 2 month black bass season? I don't know of one person who was asked how many fish they caught. Pure BS.

Technology or not, 10% of the fisherman still catch 90% of the fish. Technology can't replace knowledge and skill. It helps dummies find their way home who couldn't otherwise but I don't think it led to over fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:22 am

by Mad Dog

I'm missing my fishing reports guys...

I need my daily dose so I don't get too discouraged by being stuck in this office all day every day.

We just blew by 90,000 views on this thread. Let's make sure we can keep it growing, please.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:37 am

by tech_support

I'm missing my fishing reports guys... I need my daily dose so I don't get too discouraged by being stuck in this office all day every day.

We just blew by 90,000 views on this thread. Let's make sure we can keep it growing, please.

MD

I second that, maybe one for mercury poisoning and one for fishing regulations

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:42 am

by Cracker Larry

I might give a fishing report, if they'd let me fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:13 am

by fastlane

Its been an excellent year up here on the east coast. Striped bass, Sea bass, Blue fish and fluke ( Summer Flounder) have all been really good this year. Here are a few pictures from this season so far ..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:24 am

by Cracker Larry

Those are some fine flounder

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:31 am

by cape man

THANK YOU FASTLANE!!! Beautiful fish, and back to the topic heading.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:39 am

by Cracker Larry

Cracker Larry wrote:I still prefer LORAN to GPS. Or I did.

Any particular reason? I'm just curious. I'm not old enough to know LORAN, or at least I was never exposed to it.

-Matt

Yes, several reasons. LORAN is generally more accurate, especially in repeatability. Once the machine has been to a spot, you can return to it and be exactly on it every time. GPS accuracy varies day to day and hour to hour. Sometimes I'll be in the middle of the river and my GPS shows me 100 yards in the marsh, other days it's pretty close, you just never know. Depends on how many satellites are overhead and their relative angles. LORAN is land based so the relative angles never change.

GPS is very susceptible to bad weather. With heavy rain or cloud cover you often lose the signal, right when you need it the most. Just like my satellite TV, it doesn't work good in bad weather. LORAN reception is not affected by bad weather, it always works.

Plus I've got over 1,000 fishing drops marked with LORAN numbers, and converting them to GPS is tedious and time consuming and fairly inaccurate. It would take me the rest of my life to convert these numbers and test them all.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:57 am

by Aripeka Angler

Nice looking fish pics Lane

I better not get started on fishing closure topic

I'm missing my fishing reports guys...

I promise you one in few days, If I don't freeze to death

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 1:19 pm

by majorgator

Now here we are talking about mercury and other cautions of consuming fish, and I get an email from the University of Florida inviting me to participate in a study about Ciguatera poisoning. It doesn't appear to be a private study, so here's the link in case anyone's interested. It took me literally 3 minutes to do.

https://redcap.ctsi.ufl.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=p4PS3T

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 2:14 pm

by Mad Dog

FastLane... you're killing me.

Nice fish! Thanks for the report.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 5:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

One of our almost extinct red snapper, limit 1 per person, for 2 whole weekends this year. This wasn't one of the weekends. Released.

Almost extinct gag grouper, limit 1 per person, for about 2 months this year.

Not my pics but both taken this week off Hilton Head, SC.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 3:34 am

by LeeFitz

Cracker Larry wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:I still prefer LORAN to GPS. Or I did.

Any particular reason? I'm just curious. I'm not old enough to know LORAN, or at least I was never exposed to it.
-Matt
Yes, several reasons. LORAN is generally more accurate, especially in repeatability. Once the machine has been to a spot, you can return to it and be exactly on it every time. GPS accuracy varies day to day and hour to hour. Sometimes I'll be in the middle of the river and my GPS shows me 100 yards in the marsh, other days it's pretty close, you just never know. Depends on how many satellites are overhead and their relative angles. LORAN is land based so the relative angles never change.

GPS is very susceptible to bad weather. With heavy rain or cloud cover you often lose the signal, right when you need it the most. Just like my satellite TV, it doesn't work good in bad weather. LORAN reception is not affected by bad weather, it always works.

Plus I've got over 1,000 fishing drops marked with LORAN numbers, and converting them to GPS is tedious and time consuming and fairly inaccurate. It would take me the rest of my life to convert these numbers and test them all.

That is interesting. I regularly use GPS for fishing and for flying. I am confident that I get consistent results to within about 3 ft. Some of the older portables say +/- 30 ft, but I have put a lure in a tree, marked the spot on a hand-held GPS, and gone back weeks later on a BIG tide and recovered my lure.

Cheers

Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:47 pm

by wadestep

We got an alligator permit this year. In Florida, you have to apply in a lottery-type system to get the permits. Robin (my wife) got one, and we went out to try our hand at if this weekend. Neither of us had ever gone alligator hunting before, so we talked to some people, prepped some rotten chicken and leaders, and went out near Moorhaven, FL.

We got on the water about 2AM, and were soon spotlighting aligator eyes. But we could not get near them, and they were not taking the chicken bait.

Legally, we were only allowed to fish until 10AM, and finally at 9:15 things started to happen. The first one ate a 6-lb rotten chicken on a wire leader. However, in FL, no baited hooks are allowed. So, you wire on a 2" wooden dowel and hope the gator eats it and fully swallows it. The, we pulled it in on a grouper rod, harpooned it with a speargun, bang sticked it, cut it's spinal cord (I thought) and taped the mouth shut.

Happy, we hauled it up onto the boat and started running back to the ramp. All of a sudden, the lizard 'woke up', thrashed around, and crawled right off the boat while we were doing about 30 MPH! Luckilly it was still attatched to the harpoon (we hadn't been able to get the harpoon tip out of the skin yet) so we were able to haul it back to boatside. Then the bankstick wouldn't work (damaged after first use). So, we just hauled it back in and Robin sat on it the rest of the ride to the ramp.

Turned out to be 8'2" and about 300 lbs. This is Robin and the gator, before it came back to life.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

That sounds familiar

A gator ain't nothing to fool with casually, don't you let that girl get hurt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:59 pm

by peter-curacao

Hmmm I like gator meat

maybe a stupid question but why didn't you shoot it trough the head once in the boat?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:33 pm

by wegcagle

I'm sure that next time Wade will shoot him between the eyes.

Personally I would've thought that harpooning it, hitting it with the bang stick, and cutting his spinal cord was enough too

I've never hunted gators, but it sure does seem like fun. I can only imagine how a 300lb 8 ft gator bends a grouper rod.

Great picture and nice gator.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:38 pm

by wadestep

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:53 pm

by wadestep

peter-curacao wrote:maybe a stupid question but why didn't you shoot it trough the head once in the boat?

the state of Florida - in its wisdom

- does not allow the use of regular firearms when harvesting gators. What a stupid law - only increases the risk. However, we had shot it with a bang stick (.44 magnum). Underwater, this leaves a hole you could easily push a golf ball through. I have no idea how it was still alive.

Sure am glad we had taped the mouth shut. I am less afraid of an alligator's body/tail than those teeth! I think i might have jumped out of the boat first if his mouth was still open.

peter-curacao wrote:Hmmm I like gator meat

stewed alligator in creole sauce -
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emer ... index.htmlIt's whats for dinner.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:09 pm

by peter-curacao

wadestep wrote:
peter-curacao wrote:maybe a stupid question but why didn't you shoot it trough the head once in the boat?
the state of Florida - in its wisdom - does not allow the use of regular firearms when harvesting gators. What a stupid law - only increases the risk.

Okay I understand what you are saying I think

harvesting is caching it in a way they (the law) approve? but after you did that in a legal way and it is in the boat can't you just shoot it between the eyes? safer for you and your beautiful wife and more humane for the gator I think?

wadestep wrote:
peter-curacao wrote:Hmmm I like gator meat
stewed alligator in creole sauce -
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emer ... index.htmlIt's whats for dinner.
wade

Man that looks good! unfortunately we don't have gators here (still walking around whit a crazy idea though)
maybe I can try this recipe with iguana.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:53 pm

by wadestep

Peter - I agree, it would make much more sense to just shoot them after getting them onto the boat. however, i believe it is illegal to use a gun on them at all. Regardless of when you shoot them. It's rather dumb, but it's the law. I bet this recipe would be great with iguana.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 9:00 pm

by peter-curacao

Okay I hear you,thanks for the reply

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 9:40 pm

by robbiro

During Mississippi's gator season, this is the word from our game and fish folks about the end of the fight.
"Alligators may only be dispatched with a shotgun with shot size no larger than #6 shot or with a
bangstick chambered in .38 caliber or larger. All shotguns or bangsticks must remain cased and
unloaded until the alligator is restrained. No alligator may be dispatched until it is restrained by
a noose or snare around the neck or leg so that the alligator is controlled." MDWFP alligator hunting manual.

robbie

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 2:18 am

by LeeFitz

Thought you fellas might enjoy this!

Here's a screen shot off my Humminbird 898 sidescan sonar of Barramundi stacked up in the bottom of a hole at the mouth of a creek.....

..... and here is one of the Barra that fell to a small plastic lure known here as a Threadybuster.

Oh yeah, and here's a pic of me at play!

Cheers

Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 12:01 am

by flyfishingmonk

Lee that is very cool!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 1:47 am

by Aripeka Angler

Coho salmon fishing on the Pasagshak River

Dave with a fish...

Fishing the Uganic River in the morning...

Edit...It's about 48 degrees and the wind is blowing 40 mph easy in the pic

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:35 am

by wadestep

i love seeing these Alaska pictures. What trips!
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:47 am

by Cracker Larry

I'd be there with him if it wasn't so dang cold

Nothing about that picture looks warm. Sure is a nice fish though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:49 pm

by Aripeka Angler

It's not that cold Captain

If I keep up the pressure, I'll talk you into a trip one of these days

Here is another fish, I forgot to rinse him off for some reason

Edit, I did remember to wash this one off yesterday...

Edit 2, Kodiak Brown bear pic taken from a fishing float raft. No guide, no problem, just us chickens

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 8:24 am

by wadestep

The way you guys are dressed up in the top picture (with the dirty fish), it looks just as cold as I'd imagine

Looks like lots of fun.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 9:40 am

by Cracker Larry

it looks just as cold as I'd imagine

Yep

Great pics though!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:46 am

by Aripeka Angler

wadestep wrote:The way you guys are dressed up in the top picture (with the dirty fish), it looks just as cold as I'd imagine Looks like lots of fun.
wade

It's a load of fun

I have a bunch of pics and videos but it is hard to post them due to slow upload speed. I will try to upload some of them when I get back from fishing this morning.

On the weather...It changes faster here on Kodiak Island than any place I have visited. One minute it is sunny and 55 and the next minute it is 40 and raining sideways

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 11:53 am

by cape man

Not as exotic as Kodiak Island, but the same species... Had a meeting last week in Seattle and stayed a few days afterwards with a friend who lives in Gig Harbor. Fished Friday afternoon and got one. Saturday four of us fished in the Edmond's Coho Derby and caught our limit of 8. Weather was absolutely AWESOME both days.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 12:05 pm

by peter-curacao

cape man wrote:

Always nice to see that happy face

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 12:12 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm waiting to see that bald head

Nice fish Craig. You do get around, and got the best job in the world too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 5:35 pm

by PJPiercey

FYI this is an illegal fish you are proudly displaying to the world

All wild salmon have the adipose fin intact.

edited to add:
WA Fishing Regs
Release wild COHO.
June 26-Sept. 30

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 6:11 pm

by peter-curacao

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:16 pm

by cape man

PJ, You're an idiot, and I resent you accusing me of breaking a fishing law.

http://www.fisharc.com/derbies/49-2012_ ... Conditions

Wild Coho are legal in areas 9 and 10 of Puget Sound right now.

from the Edmond's Derby rules...

Only Coho (Silver) salmon may be weighed in to qualify for prizes.
Both hatchery and wild will be weighed in.

But I do think you (and I mean YOU) should release any fish you ever catch.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:25 pm

by peter-curacao

Graig don't worry just gave him a big tire to kick! when that one is worn out I post him a new one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:Graig don't worry just gave him a big tire to kick! when that one is worn out I post him a new one

I didn't get the pic for some reason

I was guessing it was a pic of a giant douche bag

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:40 pm

by cape man

Said my piece and we'll leave it here. More than happy to continue this in the Bilge, but let's make sure this thread stays with the theme of happy anglers and pictures of dead fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

I didn't get the pic for some reason I was guessing it was a pic of a giant douche bag

I didn't get it either, I thought it was a limp d*@k. And PJ, in case you don't know it, Cape Man happens to be the director of aquaculture at the University of Florida, and knows more about fish than you ever thought about. FYI

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:57 pm

by peter-curacao

Tire kicker doesn't apply to that (ex) Yugo?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:05 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:Tire kicker doesn't apply to that (ex) Yugo?

Troll is a better description

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:14 pm

by Cracker Larry

let's make sure this thread stays with the theme of happy anglers and pictures of dead fish!

My son Chris with a cobia. Angler is happy, fish is dead

Edit: Legal too, PJ, in case you were worried.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Troll is a better description

He can't be a troll, they aren't allowed

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:19 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
let's make sure this thread stays with the theme of happy anglers and pictures of dead fish!
My son Chris with a cobia. Angler is happy, fish is dead

Edit: Legal too, PJ, in case you were worried.

Heck yeah, Cobia

These are legal too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:28 pm

by Cracker Larry

Trolling you say..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:30 pm

by Cracker Larry

Uh oh

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That's the kind of trolling I like

Edit, nice red snapper

Is it legal

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:34 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:That's the kind of trolling I like

Then you will like it here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

Angler happy, fish dead, angler almost dead too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

Edit, nice red snapper Is it legal?

I don't know, you'll have to ask Doc that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:37 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:That's the kind of trolling I like
Then you will like it here

Dang skippy

I will be be there for the splash

Give me a couple a days notice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:38 pm

by peter-curacao

LOL did that gave you a woody Larry?? or what is that on the bottom of the pic??

LOL

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

That isn't me, it's an old friend, and that's a leather rod belt that flipped up

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:42 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:
peter-curacao wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:That's the kind of trolling I like
Then you will like it here
Dang skippy I will be be there for the splash Give me a couple a days notice

I will! I believe we have 30 to 40 flights a week now from good old ole Miami!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:43 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:That isn't me, it's an old friend, and that's a leather rod belt.

Yeah yeah sure he/it is LOL

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:46 pm

by Cracker Larry

No, I promise. This is me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:52 pm

by Cracker Larry

That fellow and I grew up across the street from each other and our parents were friends with each other before we were born. Our fathers served together in WWII and Korea. We are 2 months different in age and have been friends for 59 years

He worked with me on charter boats for several years and we've been through a lot together in many places. But he ain't me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:54 pm

by Aripeka Angler

On a lighter note, Photobucket is way faster and easier to upload fish pics. I found my cobia photo and uploaded it into a post in less than 30 seconds. All that from a I-pad

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:58 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:That fellow and I grew up across the street from each other and our parents were friends with each other before we were born. Our fathers served together in WWII and Korea. We are 2 months different in age and have been friends for 59 years He worked with me on charter boats for several years and we've been through a lot together in many places. But he ain't me

I didn't mistake him for you. I also keep up with fish regulations in my state

Alright, enough of that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:00 pm

by Cracker Larry

Edit, nice red snapper Is it legal?

Maybe we better ask PJ, he seems to be the fish police

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:08 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
Edit, nice red snapper Is it legal?
I don't know, you'll have to ask Doc that

I will have to save the question for the campfire at the fishing shack

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:38 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Cracker Larry wrote:
Edit, nice red snapper Is it legal?
I don't know, you'll have to ask Doc that

Just for the record and the "socialist fish police"

The ARS was vented properly, released and it swam to the bottom

It was the second fish caught on my new to me Cape Horn

NO LAWS BROKEN HERE

TROLLS BE GONE

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:43 am

by Ankle Deep

Richard:
Will you be posting any more Kodiak photos? I would love to see them.

It's a small world....I'm headed to Uganik Bay on Monday. I expect I will see your boot prints along the river.

I good friend lives there year-round. It's an annual trip for me but usually in November to hunt deer. This trip will be for visiting and some fishing (if the silvers run late and some halibut are still hanging around the bay). We may shoot a deer if it's an easy one.... I will be returning in November for the rut and the serious hunting.

I love Kodiak.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:22 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Ankle Deep wrote:Richard:
Will you be posting any more Kodiak photos? I would love to see them.

It's a small world....I'm headed to Uganik Bay on Monday. I expect I will see your boot prints along the river.

I good friend lives there year-round. It's an annual trip for me but usually in November to hunt deer. This trip will be for visiting and some fishing (if the silvers run late and some halibut are still hanging around the bay). We may shoot a deer if it's an easy one.... I will be returning in November for the rut and the serious hunting.

I love Kodiak.

Paul, I love Alaska too! It wouldn't take much convincing to talk me into moving up there. I will download and post some more Kodiak photos this weekend. The Uganic River was awesome

Absolutely unspoiled too...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:05 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I fished with my yankee neighbor and his son Garret today. I couldn't ask for finer folks to share the neighborhood with

It was a pretty day...not too hot...the fish were biting...life is good!

We kept a limit of gags(6), two nice red grouper, three triggerfish and a few grunts just because Garret wanted to keep some. The highlight of the trip was a lost cobia. I think it may have been close to 100 lbs

It was an great fight but I guess I put too much pressure on the fish.

Garret with a nice gag grouper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 3:13 pm

by Steven

Result of my morning trip on an overcast drizzly day.

Started off slow and released a nice Sand Bass since it wasn't looking to promising. Then caught a couple hybrid stripers. Fried fresh fish for dinner.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 9:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Good looking fish Steven

Do they taste pretty good?

View from the helm today at 40 kts. Beautiful weather

Strange looking jellyfish we spotted, beautiful creature.

29 inch Gag grouper...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 10:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dang, that's a calm ocean

Nice gag too!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 11:30 pm

by nc_robbie

Have not posted of even checked out the boards in the past few months between working and taking the little ones fishing time has been a scarce commodity….here is my 4 year old with his first red to beak the 19inch mark……what a happy kid!!! Fishing the Pamlico sound nc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 7:51 am

by cottontop

That's one happy boy. You now have him hooked for life. Keep taking that time with your family. Before you know it they will be grown. John

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:45 am

by Steven

Aripeka Angler wrote:Good looking fish Steven Do they taste pretty good?
]

Thanks. They are good eating. Firm and flaky. A little mild for my preference, as I like a strong fishy taste, ala bluefish, but good. You guys with your beautiful offshore species make me jealous.

Steven

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 9:27 pm

by Prarie Dog

About twice a month we get an email from Grandpa that has a pic in it that looks like this. He caught it off the dock at our place on Caney Creek in Texas. BTW, if you can't tell he's smirking, that's a 28.5" fish, pretty too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 9:42 pm

by Mad Dog

Nice fish guys.

PD did Grandpa put a tag on that fish or CPR?

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 9:43 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That's a nice red

Not as big as our "buck fever" red, but a good one

Grandpa looks happy!

Steven, thanks for the report on your catch. Stripers are on my bucket list for fish I want to catch...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:12 pm

by Cracker Larry

PD did Grandpa put a tag on that fish or CPR?

Having met Grandpa Sy, I'm thinking blackened redfish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:42 pm

by Prarie Dog

Charles, he must have tagged it cause it was too exhausted to revive. Neither he or Grandma like killing Redfish, they usually release all they catch but this one will get eaten, maybe on the halfshell. Hooter turned us on to that at the 2011 meet and it's really good. Grandma could do blackened too. You know this kinda sucks, after working all day and eating a ham sandwich for supper talking about how Grandpa is gonna eat that fish is hard to do. Ya'll see now why he sends me those pictures.

He'll probably call in a few and tell me all about how hard he fought etc.!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 11:41 pm

by t-dog 21

He just sent me a text saying that he just caught a couple keeper trout for breakfast in the lights off the dock

Wish I could get in on the action

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 3:45 pm

by AtTheBrink

We fished Falcon this weekend. Water was low,low,low! But my first fish was a 9 lb Rosie! Beautiful bass, an little thin though. We thought the fish was over 10 lbs when i got it in the boat but 2 boga's don't lie, they both read a hair over 9 lbs. That was it for me for the weekend. We had so heavy rains and the Rio Grande was dumping tons of dirty water in the lake. We'll get'em next time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:11 pm

by Mad Dog

Prarie Dog wrote:Charles, he must have tagged it cause it was too exhausted to revive. Neither he or Grandma like killing Redfish, they usually release all they catch but this one will get eaten, maybe on the halfshell. Hooter turned us on to that at the 2011 meet and it's really good. Grandma could do blackened too. You know this kinda sucks, after working all day and eating a ham sandwich for supper talking about how Grandpa is gonna eat that fish is hard to do. Ya'll see now why he sends me those pictures. He'll probably call in a few and tell me all about how hard he fought etc.!!

I feel your pain PD. I just cancelled a guided trip for next week cuz my guys backed out on me.

I was really looking forward to some over sized red fish action. Been bummed out all day.

Definitely on the half-shell for me. Once I learned that trick no more messing with those tuff hides.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:24 pm

by wegcagle

Steven, thanks for the report on your catch. Stripers are on my bucket list for fish I want to catch...

Come on to Augusta sometime Richard. Late March, early April we can fill up a boat with 10lb stiper and football sized hybrids. All it takes is a trolling motor, a boat full of live bait, and a couple cases of beer

Will

BTW: What a great catch Sy

I'm sure that fish tasted a little like heaven

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

wegcagle wrote:
Steven, thanks for the report on your catch. Stripers are on my bucket list for fish I want to catch...
Come on to Augusta sometime Richard. Late March, early April we can fill up a boat with 10lb stiper and football sized hybrids. All it takes is a trolling motor, a boat full of live bait, and a couple cases of beer

Will

Sounds like fun Will! I am supposed to be going fishing in a lake in east Tennessee at about the same time next year. Perhaps a side jaunt to Georgia is in order as well

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:27 am

by wegcagle

Works for me. If it's around the first week in April I will be in Augusta. If not, just let me know your schedule and I will see what I can do.

Since I make the schedule this year, days are freeing up a little easier than in the past

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:12 pm

by Uncle D

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 3:26 pm

by robbiro

I was always told that you throw those things as far as you could, not drop them over the side. Even Crocodile Dundee threw his away from the boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 3:46 pm

by Steven

Oh my word!! I'll be on the lake in a couple hours.

Report to follow. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 3:28 pm

by majorgator

Here's the video for the above GIF...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql-fxWArc_k

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 5:15 pm

by Uncle D

Yea, feel bad about posting it now...

http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/stuntma ... ndables-2/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 1:39 pm

by ks8

Thank you for doing and posting the research I carelessly had not done. I presumed it was a safe stunt, but I forgot for the moment how internet content is often not what we imagine, fake when it looks real, but sometimes very real when it looks staged or faked. I had emailed the gif to some friends, and now have forwarded an apology, with the link to the story, and with gratitude for your followup.

Sometimes I wonder how we have over the years associated entertainment with even the appearance of reckless deadly thrill, and turned a blind eye to very real consequences that people risk and experience for the sake of what we imagine to be *purely entertaining*. For those who might argue that this stuntman died the way he would have wanted, I don't buy it, for I am sure that is not the resounding chorus of what all his family and friends wanted for him or what they were sure he unquestionably wanted for himself. After all, the early blast was a tragedy... not a celebration. I have strong doubts that he or anyone else intentionally planned his death, and the wounding of the other stuntman ... for their joy.

It is the sort of day where I couldn't let that one go. I hope my words did not offend anyone...

I'd rather be an example to someone, by taking them out to catch some dinner from the boat.... and yet I am very grateful also for all you who have served to protect this country

so that the only thing we need fear when going out fishing is our own stupidity

in failing to respect the circumstances of being out on a boat in the middle of big water, or even being out floating on icy cold little water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:00 pm

by Cracker Larry

Speaking of dinner...

A friend of mine from a local forum got this lobster on Saturday, offshore Georgetown, SC. We grow some big lobsters up here! Anyhow, I thought it was a great picture and worth sharing..wish it was mine

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:40 pm

by peter-curacao

Lobzilla

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:42 pm

by Steven

Holy goodness. Wow batman!!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 6:28 am

by LeeFitz

I figure its time for some more Barra porn from Downunder!

Cheers

Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 9:20 pm

by Steven

Took little man out this morning and nabbed a couple decent hybrids. First use of the new iPilot trolling motor. Making a separate post on that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 9:33 am

by peter-curacao

Steven your boat looks great

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:06 am

by wadestep

I was in the Dry Tortugas over the weekend - about 70 miles west of Key West. The fishing was average by the standards down there, less mutton snapper than expected, but we did clean up on big red grouper, and dove and speared a few hogfish while we were at it.

this was the first test for the bigg cooler box I built, and it held 240# of ice and 40# of dry ice just fine - could have held more fish and lasted 4 days instead of 3:

Fort Jefferson in AM

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:18 am

by peter-curacao

Great pics thanks for posting, wade that fish you are holding in the first pic looks delicious as it is

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:21 am

by tech_support

that's definitely a trip I want to do pretty soon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:36 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish and pictures, Wade

I haven't been to the Tortugas in 20 years, sure would like to go back.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:49 am

by Cracker Larry

This is my buddy Raymond with a Savannah redfish. Andy, Bradley, I told yall they were biting

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:21 pm

by Prarie Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:This is my buddy Raymond with a Savannah redfish. Andy, Bradley, I told yall they were biting

Awesome fish Larry, that fish is about the same size the one was that Richard and I got buck fever on.

Guess this is why he hasn't sent me any news on the leaning post, you guys are fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:53 pm

by Cracker Larry

The sounds are loaded with these big bull reds right now.

I just hung up the phone with Raymond,and he's finishing up the sewing work on your leaning post as we speak

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:23 pm

by Prarie Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:The sounds are loaded with these big bull reds right now.

I just hung up the phone with Raymond,and he's finishing up the sewing work on your leaning post as we speak

COOL!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:10 am

by Doc_Dyer

Cracker Larry wrote:This is my buddy Raymond with a Savannah redfish. Andy, Bradley, I told yall they were biting

yea, We need to plan a trip over there (and pick up some items)

and drop off Andy's boat at Raymonds for his polling platform
would love to catch one of those on a fly

see ya soon,
Bradley

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 8:41 am

by Cracker Larry

See ya Friday, Doc

Edit: unless this dang tropical storm messes up the weekend

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 3:01 pm

by Prarie Dog

Had a question for you guys that live in Tennesee. Is there anything notable, interesting, or special to do in the Nashville area that involves, boats, boating, fishing or even boat stores

, (swmbo won't like that last)

We're going over there the first weeked in November for T to play in a hockey tournament so whatever we do will have to work with his games.

Went to Phoenix last year and found the motor for the Muncher and got to see Larry B's really fine OD18. When you can go to the desert and find a good boat experience anything's possible.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:10 am

by SmokyMountain

I lived in Nashville for a year or two. There is a bass pro shop that has a decent marine section, also down town there is a fly fishing store called Cumberland Transit that I used to frequent.

As far as fishing, the harpeth, and little hartpeth river has good smallies biting this time of year. There are various state / local parks that you can access and wade fish. Also, about 77 miles to the east is the Carney Fork River. That's a decent tail water fishery for trout (some big browns) There are a few TWRA wade access points.

If you want some good Mexican go to the LaHacidenda off Nolensville Pike.... great burritos (not so good part of town)

If you want give me a call 865-six-four-zero - 5-6-one-four.

Wish you were a few hours east and I'd take you all fishing on the Phantom..... I'll be down that way this weekend (about an 30 minutes south of Nashville) for my son's soccer tourney.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:46 pm

by Doc_Dyer

SmokyMountain wrote: Wish you were a few hours east and I'd take you all fishing on the Phantom..... I'll be down that way this weekend (about an 30 minutes south of Nashville) for my son's soccer tourney.

its just 3 hrs east

nothing like driving from Colorado

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:43 pm

by cape man

Leaving a meeting I have in Memphis on the 1st around lunch and heading to my sister's in western Virginia (11 hours). Thinking of stopping somewhere in Tennessee that evening to break the trip in half. Where are you guys and what's for dinner?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:14 pm

by Prarie Dog

nothing like driving from Colorado

[/quote]

Doc, we're flying in to Nashville. In the past we've made some long road trips going to these deals but I think we're over that.
Andy offered to send us some info on diners, dives and floor shows to take in while we're there. He told me he lived there for a couple of years and knows the town. I do know some local knowledge can be priceless, the Chamber of Commerce brochures are filled with the last place most folks want to go. Too bad your trip got canceled this weekend but maybe the fishing will be good after this big honkin storm goes by.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:47 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I took the boat offshore this morning, we targeted other fish instead of gag grouper because they are out of season. We went out about 30 miles, it was too rough to take pics out there in the morning. Almost lost Danny overboard but I jambed my hand into his back pocket and pulled him back into the boat

We ended up with 4 kingfish, 2 nice Spanish, 2 black sea bass, 2 key west grunts and 3 huge throw back gags.

Danny got this king on the rod and reel Frazoo gave me

Thanks again if you read this post

We used a #3 planer, 40 foot of leader and a big green king spoon...

Filets for the smoker...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 8:24 am

by cape man

Fire up the Smoker!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 8:40 am

by Cracker Larry

A year's supply of fish dip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:05 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:A year's supply of fish dip

For sure, that's about all king is good for

I season and smoke the kingfish for 8-10 hours, vacuum bag and freeze the finished product in individual portions. All I do to make my fish dip is thaw out the fish and add whipped cream cheese, finely chopped onion and chives. I like it on crackers with Louisiana hot sauce

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 3:57 pm

by flyfishingmonk

I did a little fly fishing just outside of Yellowstone Park a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. Here are a few pics. The first two are the same fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 4:10 pm

by Southern Gent

Headed to Leeville LA. the Weekend before Thanksgiving. Fall fishing Speckled Trout & Red Fish. My Burris Cousins and i have done this trip for the past 8 years. Fishing Bayou Lafourche and the surrounding flats and bayous.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:15 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Southern Gent wrote:Headed to Leeville LA. the Weekend before Thanksgiving. Fall fishing Speckled Trout & Red Fish. My Burris Cousins and i have done this trip for the past 8 years. Fishing Bayou Lafourche and the surrounding flats and bayous.

Man that is awesome! Do you fly fish for them? How big do the reds get? One of the places I want to take my PH18 when it is complete is LA.

Casey

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:18 am

by Uncle D

Aripeka Angler wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:A year's supply of fish dip
For sure, that's about all king is good for I season and smoke the kingfish for 8-10 hours, vacuum bag and freeze the finished product in individual portions. All I do to make my fish dip is thaw out the fish and add whipped cream cheese, finely chopped onion and chives. I like it on crackers with Louisiana hot sauce

I haven't ever even heard of fish dip but that sounds like the deal for kings. We have always just made 1 in. vertical cuts along each side and pop out the meat. King fish balls.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:04 pm

by Boater45

A friend of mine will marinate king's for about 24hrs in Italian dressing and then grill it up, with some lemon juice.....pretty tasty!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 5:47 pm

by Dougster

Uncle D taught me the King balls thing last summer at the builder's meet. They were really pretty good smoked with a teriyaki marinade, served as an entree. The balls are small enough to give plenty of surface area for the marinade. Made good fish spread as per Aripka Angler's recipe as well. The teriyaki and the smoke helps a lot. I did two other marinades which I've forgotten, 'cuz they didn't do as well. One King goes a long way.

Likes his dinner Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:02 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Guys, I am not suggesting you can't eat kingfish fried or grilled. King just tastes best smoked IMHO.
I fished SKA kingfish tournaments for about 10 years down here in Florida. I have tried every trick to doctor up king mackerel to make them taste like some other fish and they still end up tasting like king mackerel

Don, you gotta try making some fish dip

Here are some pics of about a third of the king we caught during the smoking process. I used pecan tree wood, dead orange tree wood, green hickory nuts, oak twigs, green leaves from a hickory tree, and some lump charcoal for smoke...

The fish isn't burned, it's just seriously smoked up. Maybe I can bring some to a boat meet one of these days

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:17 am

by smilinmatt

The fish isn't burned, it's just seriously smoked up. Maybe I can bring some to a boat meet one of these days

That's the best way to smoke mackerals and kings. They have enough oil in the meat that they stay moist. When the small spanish mackeral are running, I like to smoke them up like that - tastes just like beef jerky.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:16 pm

by Uncle D

Aripeka Angler wrote:Don, you gotta try making some fish dip Maybe I can bring some to a boat meet one of these days

Richard, I'll try that recipe next season. Hope to just see you guys at a meet again!! One of these days I'm gonna make the Florida trip.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 7:25 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Uncle D wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:Don, you gotta try making some fish dip Maybe I can bring some to a boat meet one of these days
Richard, I'll try that recipe next season. Hope to just see you guys at a meet again!! One of these days I'm gonna make the Florida trip.

Don, I am positive you will like the smoked kingfish dip recipe

Is the kingfish run finished for you guys? They are biting great here...I would go catch some more but I got a year's supply

The 2011 Texas meet was very nice. Sandi and I sure enjoyed meeting you and all of the rest of the Texas gang

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 9:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

I would go catch some more but I got a year's supply

About one a year is enough for me too

They are still biting here a little offshore, but are getting deeper now and moving south. Too strong for our taste, except in a dip.

I used pecan tree wood, dead orange tree wood, green hickory nuts, oak twigs, green leaves from a hickory tree, and some lump charcoal for smoke...

Any fish that you have to do all that to,then smother it in cream cheese, onions, chives and Tabasco, when you get it done just throw away the fish and eat the oak twigs and hickory leaves, with the cream cheese and chives and Tabasco on a cracker. It all taste the same

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 12:44 pm

by Uncle D

Aripeka Angler wrote:Is the kingfish run finished for you guys?

Sorry, missed this Richard. I guess it's perty much done. Last time I fished was flounder gigging last weekend in Oct. They close Nov. here cause we don't have enough fishies.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 4:32 pm

by Larry B

Finally got out yesterday. Knew it was going to be cold, but endured it all night and end up with this Flat at 23lbs, Turned him loose right after the picture.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 4:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dang! What a catfish

Nice. Nice hat too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 5:00 pm

by cali123

Nice cat. A mad bomber hat and shorts--- Thats funny right there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 5:29 pm

by Larry B

cali123 wrote:Nice cat. A mad bomber hat and shorts--- Thats funny right there.

Hey, it was cold out there last night, I had just taken off my long sweat pants,

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:20 pm

by cali123

Sorry, I couldn't see those sweat pants from where I was sitting.

I have one of those hats and use it when I need to.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:34 pm

by TRC886

Beautiful day, Saturday. Temps in the mid-sixties, no wind, no other boat traffic, and some fish

10 BIG white perch and 1 trout:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 1:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice catch

Strange mix of fish to a Ga. boy though. Aren't white perch a fresh-brackish water fish? We don't get many white perch this far south, but never in salt water. The trout we only catch in the salt.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:03 pm

by TRC886

Cracker Larry wrote:Nice catch Strange mix of fish to a Ga. boy though. Aren't white perch a fresh-brackish water fish? We don't get many white perch this far south, but never in salt water. The trout we only catch in the salt.

Yes for the perch, and I don't know much about trout, but I believe that the (local) trout love to spend the winters in the same brackish/fresh water that the perch inhabit. Local fishermen tell me that, currently, you can catch them pretty-much anywhere.

These fish were caught in a small, narrow, crooked creek with a lot of deep holes, and were caught around 12-14 feet deep. We were targeting the perch using bottom rigs baited with shrimp, and the trout was an incidental catch, hitting the shrimp just like the perch were doing.

I'm surprised that you don't have trout up in the brackish creeks and marshes. A trout is a trout, and I don't know why they would behave differently there than here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:30 pm

by Cracker Larry

Our saltwater trout, speckled trout, will only move into brackish water when rainfall is low and the salinity high, but the white perch we have never even get close to the salt. We don't see many white perch this far south anyway so I don't have much experience with them. They few I've caught have been in upper freshwater rivers, 40 miles from the coast.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:26 pm

by AtTheBrink

I don't know anything about white perch, looks like a white bass without the stripes, but I have caught specks in some pretty fresh water. We caught trout, largemouth bass and redfish in almost that many casts in the Louisiana marsh in Lafitte and Venice. Your trout's spots look a little different than the one around here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:00 pm

by flyfishingmonk

I was out of town most of last week and before my Saturday evening flight back I was able to fish a pond within walking distance of where I stayed. It was glad I packed my fly rod. A friend of mine took me to the pond. I did not even know it was there. I caught this pig on my 8 weight with a green and white deceiver minnow.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:05 am

by Boater45

My nephews new boat:

Speckled Trout - need bait!! It was easy to find the bait boat.

Oyster bed!!! secret spot....

17 specs.....all +15"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:36 am

by Cracker Larry

Those Everglades are nice boats

I didn't know they had oysters and specs in Oklahoma

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 2:55 pm

by Boater45

Ha!!

I went to Mississippi for Thanksgiving, we were able to force a fishing trip in

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

Went fishing this morning with my friends Raymond and Big Dave. And a fine pair they are

Hard to think of a better way to spend the day

Do yall ever ask yourself why you fish

Is it really about the fish

I commented today on how many thousands of hours we had spent between us watching a cork or a rod tip. But imagine how many more are wasted watching TV.

Once in a while we even catch some fish

Today wasn't great, but wasn't bad either. We targeted trout and caught about 40 , released most of them and kept 10, along with a flounder and a whiting.

But that isn't really why we go, I think...

Fish on

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:21 pm

by Prarie Dog

Did you knock Raymond in so you could save his life??

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:23 am

by flyfishingmonk

Looks like a great trip.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:49 pm

by Uncle D

No pics but spent last week on the water with my amigo Louis. Can't count all the flounder we gigged, but it was a bunch. Biggest went to about 28". Limits every day except on the last day. 2 tides that nite so very little water movement. Good time all in all but not much work on the boat although we did get in a few licks. Back to the whipping post.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 7:30 am

by smilinmatt

I took the OB-19 down to the Keys last weekend to try and hit the wahoo run. We spent three days diving the blue water looking for them. We only found one school, but that was enough.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 8:30 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice Wahoo, Matt

That must be fun with a speargun

Can't count all the flounder we gigged, but it was a bunch. Biggest went to about 28".

Nice! Flounder gigging is a lot of fun and good eats.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:51 am

by tech_support

congrats on the wahoo, that's impressive.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 3:02 pm

by wadestep

blue water spearing, especially wahoo, must be kinda the pinnacle of the spearfishing sport. Were you using those throw flashers? I just read an article in Florida Sportsman about wahoo live-baiters using flashers under bouys. Hmmm.....

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 3:14 pm

by Cracker Larry

I thought this video was worth sharing with any fisherman, but especially those with young children.

http://vimeo.com/55425456

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 4:47 pm

by callyb

That is a wonderful video. It's not just for those with small children, but for those of us who have older ones too. Makes me wish I could go back and have them that little again. You know they tell me how to fish now... They may not be the best fisherman, but they are my favorite fishing partners. I need to go dig through some old pictures.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 7:05 pm

by Cracker Larry

I thought so too, Carl. Almost makes me want to go back again too, but then again, maybe not. I probably couldn't do any better the second time

Here are a couple of old ones....

When my son was born, I was trying to make a living on the river. Many days I would take him out with me instead of putting him in daycare. Before he was big enough to walk good he would go out with me pulling shrimp nets. I used to stuff his little butt in a bucket while I was hauling nets and handling lines, to keep him clear of trouble.

He spent many days on the water with me before he ever turned 5. Dori was working shift work at the hospital and Chris went to the river with me. I can't even remember his first fish, wish I could. I was also operating a towboat service and he helped me tow boats at all hours of the night and day. He probably towed more boats before he was 5 than most people do in their life

This is Chris and Dori, in one of my first home built boats. I built it in the early 1980s. Dang, Dori had big hair

He is 24 now, and we still fish together

Sometimes I wish i could still stuff his butt in a bucket

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:08 pm

by AtTheBrink

Larry you just have to get a bigger bucket!

That's awesome you have such a good relationship with your son. My boy loves to fish too. Boat building? Not so much. Sanding doesn't hold a 11 year old's attention

. But he can't wait for.me to finish so we can fish more. We.haven't had a boat in over a year so it has been tough. Thank God for good friends with boats that take us fishing!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:13 pm

by Cracker Larry

Larry you just have to get a bigger bucket!

Heck no, he might stuff me in it

He's not much on boat building either, but he's always willing to give a hand when I need some help with anything. He's a good youngun

His only problem is, he's too much like me. Wonder where that came from

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 6:21 am

by stickystuff

Never had a boat when my young uns were growing up. We spent a lot of time bass fishing in ponds in my area. My youngist always caught the most' He wpold be scratching his ass or picking his nose when a bass wold hit. He is now married and has two boys who like his dad love to fish. I just wish we were closer to our homes.four hours apart and getting on our lives makes it tough to do. I sure miss the good old days.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 1:14 pm

by tobolamr

stickstuff, is that the son up here in Wisconsin, about an hour from me?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:59 am

by tech_support

finally got the boat back in the ocean, filet supply back out of the red zone....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:02 am

by tech_support

same fish, I took a better picture of my buddy holding it than he did of me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:07 am

by flyfishingmonk

shine wrote:same fish, I took a better picture of my buddy holding it than he did of me

That happened with me and a huge tarpon I caught. My buddy's pic of me holding the 80 lb+ fish was awful!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:14 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice Cobia, Joel

We had an epic day yesterday with redfish and trout. Haven't had a bite like that since you and your Dad fished with me a couple of years ago. We got to our first drop about 0900 and the fish were chewing. They bit solid all day and we never moved the boat until we left at 5 pm. They were still biting when we left. Both the trout and reds were huge, out of about 50 redfish, 49 were well over slot, and most of the trout were in the 20" range. We also caught 8 black drum over 10 pounds and 20 more in the 2-3 lb. range. It was the kind of day you dream about and don't see very often

And of all the days not to bring the camera

We only had my partner's old cell phone with a broke screen and the pictures were dismal

But caught fish like this continuously for 8 straight hours.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 11:52 am

by flyfishingmonk

Sounds like a great time Larry!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:33 pm

by tech_support

That sounds like a heck of a day Larry .

OK, so you win the bad picture contest

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:59 pm

by Cracker Larry

If that one doesn't, I've got some that will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 1:05 pm

by flyfishingmonk

Cracker Larry wrote:If that one doesn't, I've got some that will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:15 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Joel, that is a really nice cobia

Did you weigh it before you restocked the freezer?

Richard, we caught twice that many today in South Carolina, and most of them were twice that size Come on up 2 of us released a 5 person limit of trout (50) a 30 redfish alll larger than slot.

Larry, sounds like fun! If you can give me a list of weekends with good tides, I will make plans to come up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:58 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Aripeka Angler wrote:Joel, that is a really nice cobia Did you weigh it before you restocked the freezer?

Richard, we caught twice that many today in South Carolina, and most of them were twice that size Come on up 2 of us released a 5 person limit of trout (50) a 30 redfish alll larger than slot.
Larry, sounds like fun! If you can give me a list of weekends with good tides, I will make plans to come up.

and me and sonner will try to come down

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:58 pm

by tech_support

Aripeka Angler wrote:Joel, that is a really nice cobia Did you weigh it before you restocked the freezer?

No, did not weigh it, but it was pretty heavy. Probably around 50 lbs, big enough to steak the filets

yum yum

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:07 am

by Aripeka Angler

Doc_Dyer wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:
Larry, sounds like fun! If you can give me a list of weekends with good tides, I will make plans to come up.
and me and sonner will try to come down

Nice

I will wait to hear from the Captain

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:13 am

by Cracker Larry

I'll do it and let yall know.

The problem this time of year is getting a day with decent weather that match days of good tides and moon. Wednesday was beautiful, 70 degrees, sunny and calm. Yesterday it rained all day, and today it's blowing 35 kts and it's 45 degrees

Supposed to be 25 tonight

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:00 am

by flyfishingmonk

Now that is getting chilly!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:43 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:I'll do it and let yall know.

The problem this time of year is getting a day with decent weather that match days of good tides and moon. Wednesday was beautiful, 70 degrees, sunny and calm. Yesterday it rained all day, and today it's blowing 35 kts and it's 45 degrees Supposed to be 25 tonight

You know me, I'm always optimistic about the weather

Pick a few dates, the weather will be beautiful

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:46 am

by Cracker Larry

I think it's laying down now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:43 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:I think it's laying down now

Winter has finally arrived here too. It was 85 degrees two days ago, it's supposed to be 29 in the morning. I may have to fish for sheepshead this weekend, they love cold water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

We caught a couple on Wednesday by accident, but there was an old fellow by himself in an aluminum jonboat down the bank from us wearing them out. He was there when we got there and still there when we left, no telling how many convicts he put in the cooler

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:34 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Sheepshead taste pretty good but I sure hate to clean 'em. Makes my fingers ache just thinking about it.

I thought Prarie Dog was gonna bleed out when he got stuck by one on his boat in Texas

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:04 pm

by whosmatt

I caught a sheephead on Monday, my first.. then hightailed it out of the kelp to watch this:

Was taking a buddy out on my FS17 for his first trip on the boat; he flew in to visit for a long weekend. We were fishing and heard it blow once, but I thought it was just a seal or something close. Then we saw it... We drove out of the kelp and into a pod of dolphins, which bow rode on the boat for a while as we followed the whale. Here's a vid and photo of the dolphins:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOb2bui6Mjk

And we caught up to the whale eventually, and paced it for about 5 miles. Never got too close; didn't want to spook it. Couple of sportfishing boats joined us for a while, but eventually we were all alone with it. Never got good video, but this is the best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTRhaGW5UaM

Awesome day on the water. The sheephead was the only fish we caught but we spent most of our time following the whale.

-M

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:30 pm

by Larry B

Matt, great pictures and video

Looks like a nice day on the water. I need to get over that way with my OD

Where do you launch at?
Larry B

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:55 pm

by whosmatt

Larry B wrote:Matt, great pictures and video Looks like a nice day on the water. I need to get over that way with my OD Where do you launch at?
Larry B

It was an exceptionally nice day. That's about as flat as it ever gets here. We got lucky... one day between winter storms. I launch out of Shelter Island. Let me know if you're making a trip and I'll be glad to show you around or just give you the scoop on where to launch, get bait, etc.
-Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:57 pm

by Larry B

whosmatt wrote:
Larry B wrote:Matt, great pictures and video Looks like a nice day on the water. I need to get over that way with my OD Where do you launch at?
Larry B
It was an exceptionally nice day. That's about as flat as it ever gets here. We got lucky... one day between winter storms. I launch out of Shelter Island. Let me know if you're making a trip and I'll be glad to show you around or just give you the scoop on where to launch, get bait, etc.
-Matt

Thanks for the info Matt. I'll be sure to let you know. Won't be for a few months or more, but plan to make it this coming year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:18 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Great pics and video Matt

Funny, I just logged on to post a photo to celebrate the 100,000 view of this thread. I looked for an hour to find a decent worthy photo and it was of a whale too. I will save mine for another day...Maybe I'll just post a pic of some water splashing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:19 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I can't resist, water splashing off a whale behind our boat in AK....

And a pic of warm water splashing off my boat in Florida...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:44 pm

by Larry B

Those are some really great pictures

You must have a really good camera to catch that stuff:D

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:46 pm

by whosmatt

Aripeka Angler wrote:I can't resist, water splashing off a whale behind our boat in AK....

And a pic of warm water splashing off my boat in Florida...

WOW. I'd have been terrified if that whale had breached that close to my tiny boat. And awed. Great pics.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:05 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Larry B wrote:Those are some really great pictures You must have a really good camera to catch that stuff:D

Thanks! Sandi took the whale photo with a Canon EOS 5D MK III. She uses some kind of super duty long range lense, not sure of the model

Edit....Matt, thanks

No danger for us on that whale breach, we were in a 35' boat...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:31 pm

by whosmatt

Aripeka Angler wrote: Thanks! Sandi took the whale photo with a Canon EOS 5D MK III. She uses some kind of super duty long range lense, not sure of the model

Edit....Matt, thanks No danger for us on that whale breach, we were in a 35' boat...

It's beautiful. Humpback?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:51 pm

by Aripeka Angler

whosmatt wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote: Thanks! Sandi took the whale photo with a Canon EOS 5D MK III. She uses some kind of super duty long range lense, not sure of the model

Edit....Matt, thanks No danger for us on that whale breach, we were in a 35' boat...
It's beautiful. Humpback?

Yes sir, that's what it is. It's amazing all of the life that thrives in that cold water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 11:15 pm

by Mad Dog

Over one hundred thousand (about half was me checking in) views. Almost three thousands posts. Thanks everyone.

I started this thread back when I was spending all my time and money on my rebuild and had neither time nor money for fishing. Those days seem so long ago. Still not much time for fishing

but I appreciate it when you all share your adventures. Keep a good thread going.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 10:36 pm

by TRC886

I hope everyone's had a wonderful Christmas

Mine was not too bad

, Mom cooked Sunday and SWMBO cooked yesterday so today I glued some ply (http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=36768) and went fishing

Caught one "purty lil" rock around 16", but they have to be 18, so back he went

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 1:32 pm

by tech_support

Took daughter out for first "offshore" trip on Christmas eve. My dad and youngest sister went as well. Caught a bunch of jacks and lady fish at the nuclear plant outflow. Turned one of the lady fish into a small bull shark.

leaving the inlet

you can see how rough and cold it is....

guys next to us wrestled a Goliath up (there are hundreds of then down there). They released him no worse for the wear.

Daughter was mostly interested in having a "party" for the jacks in the bait well. We had 5 or 6 in there partying for w while. She also wanted to know why the ladyfish's "body fell off" (used the head for the shark bait). Bull shark's name was "Bruce"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 9:14 pm

by AtTheBrink

Man it's too bad you can't keep one or two of those jewfish a year. I "heard" they are some fine table fair.

Two Daddies and their girls! That trip sounds like it was a lot of fun. I enjoy every minute of the daughter & daddy time I get with my two girls.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:03 am

by TRC886

That's a great way to spent Christmas Eve

Enjoy this time while you can; kids grow up wa-a-ay too fast

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 5:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

Squeezed in a short trip with Raymond and Big Dave on Christmas Eve. We did pretty good, 35 fish in 2 hours

This trout doesn't look like much, but Dave has a 72" chest, so it's bigger than it appears

Our inshore fishing has been fantastic this fall and winter, so far

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 8:30 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fishing report Captain

Your friend Dave reminds me of Derrick's fishing buddy Don Smith. He was a nose guard for the Falcons back in the 80's. They both make nice fish look like bait

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 8:52 pm

by Southern Gent

Cracker, Those are nice Speckled Trout. Folks that don't fish the Winter in-shore in the South sure miss some Great Fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:45 am

by Cracker Larry

Your friend Dave reminds me of Derrick's fishing buddy Don Smith. He was a nose guard for the Falcons back in the 80's. They both make nice fish look like bait

Yeah, Dave is a heck of a man. 6'6" and about 350, not an ounce of fat. He could pick me up with one hand and throw me across the river

He's also the chief criminal psychologist for the Savannah sheriffs department and has got stories that will curl your toes. He sees it all and it aint pretty

Fishing is his stress relief.

Cracker, Those are nice Speckled Trout. Folks that don't fish the Winter in-shore in the South sure miss some Great Fishing.

For sure, if you can stand the cold it's the best inshore fishing of the year. Our trout stock got hurt really bad the winter before last, and the one previous to that were both record cold and we lost most of our trout. Went a year without hardly catching one, then last year was mild and they started coming back. Caught a lot of shorts last year, not many keepers, but this year is almost back to normal. We've had several 100 fish days this fall, with big fat trout

I still release them all, unless they are gut hooked and obviously won't survive the release.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:08 am

by Southern Gent

Venice Louisiana is hot for Big Speckled Trout due to the Low Mississippi River Conditions. Speckled Trout don't like fresh water, with the Low MS. River conditions, Saltwater has pushed up the lower MS. River Delta areas. Fishing between the weather fronts is the ticket yielding 3lb to 5lb specks.

Lake Charles LA. Area " Big Lake " area is the other area for Big Trout in S. LA.

Happy New Year to all.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:32 am

by TRC886

Went out again Friday. Only caught one undersized rock, but I saw a mighty nice cat

Edit:
http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=37104

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:20 pm

by MarkOrge

We enjoyed a great week just before Christmas on teh north pacific coast in Costa Rica. Got some grouper and snapper but nothing huge on Tuesday on the charter I arranged, but the nicest catch was my first Jack dragging a rapala off the back of the catamaran on the way back from the sunset sail.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm jealous

Surprised you didn't catch any sailfish or marlin, this is the prime season for bill fish. I like Costa Rica. Great people, great fishing, and a lot of cool stuff to see and do

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:53 am

by stickystuff

I ended the year yesterday in the Cross Florida barge canal. When the water gets to cold offshore the canal usually stays about 20 degrees warmer, thus the trout usually stack up in the back end where the canal meets with fresh water. The temp finally reached around 60 deg. yesterday so Off i went to the happy hunting grounds. The trout were there but very picky and lures had to be worked very slow. The bait of the day was Berkley gulp jigs. Rootbeer and chartreuse tails. Of course I didn't have any. All I had was solid chartreuse. Managed one keeper trout. Lady fish were hitting all over the place. Switched to an old cotee jig red and white and made a cast. Slowly reeling then bump, bam. Off it went. Thought it was a big redfish the way it was fighting. After about 5 min finally got it to my boat and it turned out to be a nice snook. Guestimated to be around 12 to 15 lbs. Man I was so tempted to stash it in the boat and head for the house. Of course they were out of season and besides that the Fl Marine patrol office is right behind the boat ramp. So like a good boy I released it to becaught again another day. Great way to end the year. First one I caught after three hook ups this year. Best eating fish next to redfish in my opinion. Happy New Year everybody.Picture in my cell phone .NOW TO FIGURE HOW TO POST IT. i AM NOT ON LINE WITH MY PHONE.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:21 am

by Cracker Larry

That sounds like a good way to end the year, Ken. Text me the picture and I'll post it for you. Happy New Year!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:06 am

by Southern Gent

Fishing New Years Day 1983 Revisited January 1, 2013

It was 32degrees at 6:30AM ( The high temperature for the day ) when I met Captain Head at the Riverside Marina for a Full day charter to fish the Homosassa river area.

My wife Pat and I had Honeymooned at Riverside Inn in February 1971 but for some reason I never got around to fishing that week.

We were living in Brandon Mississippi in 1983 and wanted to go were it was warmer after Christmas. We arrived in Tampa December 26th to be greeted to Snow and a hard freeze hitting all of Florida.

To say I was unprepared for Fishing in Cold weather was an understatement. New Years day 32 degrees temperature and I had a pair of dress wool slacks under my khaki cotton pants, a light dress sweater under my London fog windbreaker and I bought a vented cap at the Riverside Marina bait shop as I was picking up our Sandwiches and drinks for lunch.

Captain Head was a third generation commercial fisherman 84 years old and fishing guide was his retirement activity. I accepted the old pair of work gloves he found in the bottom of his tool box as we motored out to the mouth of the Homosassa river.

The wind was past the breeze stage as we arrived at the mouth of Homosassa river but we tried the Redfish and Speckled trout for a couple long hours with shrimp. The sun was up but hiding behind clouds as the North wind whipped the marsh grass and us. I had a great fishing partner and interesting character and we fished on.

About 9:00AM Captain Head said, Let's try something different. We stowed our gear and motored back up river until we were in site of the Riverside Inn and he eased the anchor over and the boat swung around pushed by the out pouring of the Homosassa Springs.
He set a second anchor so we were broadside in the river current.

It was about 9:30AM when he passed me a spinning rig with a green and yellow mirro-lure and show me where to cast about 30 yards east of our anchorage. By now there were a few other hearty fishing souls easing out of the Marina area and it was getting colder. The wind rose and fell between 8MPH and 15MPH as I recall.

Would you like a beer the good Captain ask? Do you have a Gun on Board was my reply? Why do you want a Gun, The Good Captain ask? Because only under the threat of death would I touch anything colder than I am right now.

Our first fish of the day was a 2lb to 3lb Speckled trout caught on that Mirro-lure and he and I pull Speck after Speck for the rest of the morning.
Put your rod down said the Good Captain as each boat would start past us, it didn't matter if I had a fish on or not. We were hot into the fish, he wasn't sharing the spot.

We stopped about 11:30AM to Noon and had our sandwiches. Then back to slinging that Mirro-lure. His igloo cooler was full to the top with big Speckled Trout about 1:00PM when he ask " Have you caught enough fish today " Yes Sir, let';s go to the dock and get a cup of coffee.

It was about 2:00PM when Captain Head motored East on Homosassa River to the warmth of his house, I contracted with one of the Marina guys to clean and pack my cooler.
I left with a grin and a lifelong memory of a great day fishing with a wonderful fishing partner.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:53 am

by AtTheBrink

Happy New Year! That was a great story. I remember that freeze in '83. It was cold here in Texas too. We had huge fish kill. I remember my dad running a sprinkler in the back yard to keep the pipes from freezing. We woke up to icicles covering the tree in the back yard and an inch of ice covering every blade of grass within range of the sprinkler. Growing up in deep South Texas, my brother, sister and I had never seen anything like it! Our Winter Wonderland, even if it was just a 30 foot circle...

We haven't had a cold snap like that since then, thank God!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:54 am

by TRC886

Southern Gent wrote:My wife Pat and I had Honeymooned at Riverside Inn in February 1971 but for some reason I never got around to fishing that week.

No fishing

Gee, I wonder why

Great story

Thanks for sharing it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 9:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Great story Bill

I bet the manatees were thick in the springs that day. I like the Homosassa River a lot, your story makes me want to go fishing there soon.
I also remember that late December weather in '83. Sandi and I were staying with my Mother in Lake City, FL for the holidays. The low one day was 9 and the high was 20. It was brutally cold for Florida, some places in the panhandle were close to 0 for the low...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 2:58 pm

by Cracker Larry

That was a good story, Bill

Homasassa is a beautiful place.

I fished again yesterday with a neighbor and good friend. We had a gap between cold fronts and decided at 10 pm Friday to go for it. No Excuse needed a test ride after her service work and to burn some fuel that's getting old anyway, so we left out at 0700, with the thermometer at 30F and ice in the boat

Went to one of my super secret fishing holes and it looked like Walmart parking lot on a Saturday

Oh well, everybody move over and make some room, I ain't riding another mile in this cold, got to have some relief

It was a beautiful day, mostly sunny and calm, but COLD

Water temp 49, it's dropped 8 degrees since last week. The fish were biting pretty good and we caught about 35 trout and 8 black drum. No redfish this trip. Mrs. Cracker was wanting some fresh fish for dinner so I kept 2 trout and 1 drum about 6 pounds. Released the rest. Yall all know what a trout looks like, so I'll spare those pics.

I'm going to see if Raymond can build me a top like this one

Sharp, huh?

I've been fishing this spot off and on for about 10 years and it's consistently good, but what's really cool about it is a pair of Bald Eagles who are usually there fishing with us. They stay up in a dead snag and watch us like eagles. Got to be careful playing a fish on the surface or they will swoop down and snatch it from you

They also clean up any wounded fish that kick on the surface after a release. They are almost a sure bet fishing indicator, if you go in the creek and the eagles are there, the fish will be there too. If no Eagles, might as well go somewhere else.

God bless America

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 5:01 pm

by Southern Gent

Cracker, I sure like that 4 poster Bimini top on the jon boat. I do love the Winter fishing. Bill

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 7:07 pm

by AtTheBrink

Larry, y'all have some beautiful scenery over there!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 7:22 pm

by Cracker Larry

Cracker, I sure like that 4 poster Bimini top on the jon boat.

I could build you one just like it, for the right price

Larry, y'all have some beautiful scenery over there!

Yes, we do

The Low Country marshes are my home. I've been a lot of places, but I always come back here. We've got some pretty good fishing too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:52 am

by tech_support

caught my first permit. Took a couple dozen big pinfish out to a deep wreck, hooked up with some monsters but sharks got them all. Only two fish we could get up fast enough were two small cobia, one got off at boat and the other was just barley too small to keep

locked down drag with 100 lb braid, still could not get them up before sharks got them...

A water spout formed about 1/2 mil from us, we decided to give it a chase. At its biggest it was maybe 50' wide at base, we could see the air moving up inside it. We were at an angle where the sun hit the bottom mist of the funnel and it glowed like a rainbow, super BRIGHT. pictures do not do it justice, it was one of the most spectacular things I have seen in person. Got a video if it too.

video of water spout. its long, but best part is about 2:00 to 3:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB2z4-abVl0

On the way in we stopped at a near shore wreck and found permit eating crabs off the surface. We netted up a crab and tossed it to them. Kept the permit to try, meat looks just like a pompano, cooking it tonight.

We did not get what we went targeting , but nature gave us more than what we hoped for

video of permit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M7JDPfCphA

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 11:19 am

by Cracker Larry

Very nice, Joel

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 1:04 pm

by tech_support

this is what the back side of the wreck looks like

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 1:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

Love those Humminbirds

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 1:37 pm

by Joe H

Man, you Guys know how to live! Nothing but unsafe ice here!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 1:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

Delta is ready when you are, Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 2:41 pm

by Joe H

I'll check flights prices when I get home from work!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 3:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

Anytime you want to come down for a few days of fishing Joe, you know you are welcome. We've got a spare room and the boat stays fueled and ready

And if it's too dang cold here, we'll drive down to Richard's and crash his fishing shack

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 6:43 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Joel, great photos

Congratulations on the permit, is that wreck close to the site of our next builder's meet?

Cracker Larry wrote:Anytime you want to come down for a few days of fishing Joe, you know you are welcome. We've got a spare room and the boat stays fueled and ready

And if it's too dang cold here, we'll drive down to Richard's and crash his fishing shack

Any time you guys want to escape the cold, just let me know. It is supposed to 80 degrees for another week, not too bad for January

Joe, remember this boating trip?

That was a lot of fun and warm

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 7:17 am

by Joe H

Joe, remember this boating trip?

Oh yeah! That was very fun, that looks so good, it's to damn cold here, I wanna be there NOW.

Anytime you want to come down for a few days of fishing Joe, you know you are welcome. We've got a spare room and the boat stays fueled and ready

And if it's too dang cold here, we'll drive down to Richard's and crash his fishing shack

You guys are too kind, As soon as my niece gets her house done in Georgia we are coming down, I wish I could escape earlier but work won't allow it right now, really busy but that’s a good problem to have! (so they tell me)

Joe & Janet

BTW: I showed the above pics to Janet, she's checking out the Calendar now, ha.

OUCH!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:34 am

by tech_support

Aripeka Angler wrote:Joel, great photos Congratulations on the permit, is that wreck close to the site of our next builder's meet?

Hi Richard, its pretty far, maybe 25 miles from the Sebastian inlet. Its 15 miles ESE of Ft. Pierce inlet, thats where I leave from. It a 400' navy supply ship on the edge of the gulf stream, "muliphen"

There a lot of good spots closer to Sebastian and in June they should be holding all sorts of neat stuff

Are you thinking of bringing your big boat?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:21 am

by Aripeka Angler

shine wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote:Joel, great photos Congratulations on the permit, is that wreck close to the site of our next builder's meet?
Hi Richard, its pretty far, maybe 25 miles from the Sebastian inlet. Its 15 miles ESE of Ft. Pierce inlet, thats where I leave from. It a 400' navy supply ship on the edge of the gulf stream, "muliphen"

There a lot of good spots closer to Sebastian and in June they should be holding all sorts of neat stuff Are you thinking of bringing your big boat?

That's not too terribly far

Is it a published number or a super secret, guard it with your life spot?

I am not planning to bring my boat, I am hoping to ride with Brad if he promises not to scare me

I was thinking maybe we can meet up with you out there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:25 am

by Cracker Larry

Me too

Bradley is bringing his Cape Horn 26 and he owes me a fishing trip

Richard, the weather forecast this weekend looks perfect for killing some of the king's fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:37 am

by tech_support

Is it a published number or a super secret, guard it with your life spot?

Its pretty easy to find, on most of the fishing charts. There are couple other wrecks in the vicinity as well.

I will be more than happy to provide whatever numbers I have.

One of the best places that time of year is an area called bethel shoal, its an offshore shoal that comes up to about 45' and it gets covered with bait, and it drops off to 90 ledges in a mile. Last June, its was constant rod bending on a whole range of fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:32 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Aripeka Angler wrote: I am hoping to ride with Brad if he promises not to scare me

dont want to scare anyone

i'll let you drive

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 4:27 pm

by cape man

A teaser shot...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 4:40 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Doc_Dyer wrote:
Aripeka Angler wrote: I am hoping to ride with Brad if he promises not to scare me
dont want to scare anyone
i'll let you drive

You know I'm just teasing

It sometimes does come in handy having a couple of extra co-pilots onboard.
I take people out sometimes who have no clue how to get us in if I were to croak.

Richard, the weather forecast this weekend looks perfect for killing some of the king's fish

It looks like we are going to have nice weather. Hopefully, we can find something that is in season

I will be more than happy to provide whatever numbers I have.

Sounds great! I have only fished over there once so I don't have any numbers...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

Hopefully, we can find something that is in season

Not to worry, I'll bring the season(ings)

A teaser shot...

Go wash your sandy crack and give us a full report

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:18 am

by cape man

Most of the pics are at home and I haven't had time to resize and load them. That was a pic of my new shark reel and the 3 Iron rod...

We hit the beach at 10:00 am Sunday the 30th after a 6+hour drive to Flamingo. Just 4 of us this year, all buddies from Peace Corps in the early 80's (we trained together in Ft. Pierce Florida, and the three of them went to Kenya and me to Tunisia). Made a trip out with one guy and most of the gear, and then ran back and picked up the other two, the canoe they were paddling, and their ice chest (they may or may not have been drinking more than paddling...). The weather was awesome, and while we had neighbors the first three nights, the last two nights we had the entire place to ourselves with dead calm waters, nice camp fires, and GREAT food (Caribou steaks from Canada, fresh venizen backstrap and loin from my property (got a little 4-pointer three weeks ago!), Caribou burger chilli, ground venizen dirty rice, wild rice pilaf from Minnesota, fresh fried sea trout, sea trout/permit ceviche, and fried eggs or an omelet, bacon, and grits each morning.

The shark rig is a result of a recent book I read titled "Battles with Monsters of the Deep". 1937, British guy and his "secretary" fishing Belize, Honduras, and the Pacific side of Panama for shark, jewfish, sawfish, rays, and anything else LARGE. Most of it was on ropes from a small skiff or in the larger motor boat. We landed a small (40lb?) black tip that I'll post a pic of later, and had three runs on the line that may have been bigger fish (lots of water movement.. The plan was to put two guys in the canoe with a large fish and go for a sleigh ride, chasing them with Clara. Had about 900' of poly rope, a 1/8" twisted stainless leader, a swivel the size of your thumb, and a 10.0 hook. Weighted it down with a panty hose full of sand (when a fish takes off, the panty hose runs and the sand empties. It worked.). Had three bicycle inner tubes tied into a belly of the line in series about 15 feet back from the bait to provide shock. Maybe next year I can show a true "monster" battle...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 1:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

Had about 900' of poly rope, a 1/8" twisted stainless leader, a swivel the size of your thumb, and a 10.0 hook. Weighted it down with a panty hose full of sand (when a fish takes off, the panty hose runs and the sand empties. It worked.). Had three bicycle inner tubes tied into a belly of the line in series about 15 feet back from the bait to provide shock.

Light tackle this trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:57 am

by cape man

Yeah it was just 3/16" poly...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:48 pm

by Prarie Dog

WOW

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:55 pm

by cape man

As promised, some pics from the annual Cape Sable adventure. The OD18 is a perfect camping machine...

Going out with a week's worth of "stuff" in the canoe and Clara.

First night grilled caribou steaks and white tail backstrap

Stone crab attack (caught some beauties in the trap)

Another south florida fish falls prey to a pixie from Colorado...

Lots of drift wood for night

Here's the little black tip we caught on the hand line.

Had some friend's behind the boat for about half a mile.

Dinner can't be fresher

All packed up and the beach is scoured clean (cleaner than we when we got there.).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 12:49 pm

by AtTheBrink

That looks like an awesome trip! Glad the weather was nice for you guys and the fishing looked pretty good too. Looks like a good time was had by all and y'all ate like Kings!
Thanks for posting the pictures.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:56 pm

by MarkOrge

Wow ! My wife, daughter, and myself love the boat camping. I just wish I could do it on tropical salt water !

Interesting you cooked up some Caribou - they have those down there? Just kidding - where did you go for the Caribou hunting?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 6:56 pm

by smilinmatt

Stone crabs and caribou, I bet that is a first!

I wish I had a story to compare, but mine pales. Big fish, but dull story (sometimes doing things perfect takes away the fun). He was in the boat within 60 seconds of pulling the trigger. 86# amberjack, that rolled over for me. At least the gun was made from wood and epoxy, so that earns some points (friend of mine built it).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:08 pm

by majorgator

Dangit Matt, you're a beast!

And an honorable mention for the little guy behind you (that wouldn't look so little if you weren't holding that monster)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 8:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Beautiful pictures, Craig.

It was good seeing you and Pattie over the weekend too!

Nice AJ Matt. 60 seconds! It usually takes me 30 minutes

I just got back from a great weekend of fishing with Aripeka Angler. Derrick also joined us on the
Saturday trip. We spent 2 days doing some brute force grouper digging in the Gulf of Mexico. The bite was about as good as it gets and we kept the rods bent double all weekend. Returned today with a cooler full of grouper fillets and a lot of sore muscles

Sorry, didn't take a picture all weekend, but sure had a large time

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:53 am

by cape man

WOW!!!! Matt that is an awesome kill! I'd be afraid to shoot something that big and strong, but looks like you nailed him just right.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 11:22 am

by tech_support

Awesome fish Matt, how far down do you have to go to get the shot? That deep wreck I posted the fish finder image of has those schools coming up to about 50' of the surface

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:47 am

by cape man

Funny how small the world is... Our new graduate student, Jon brought in a batch of AJ fillets that he got last weekend off the coast from a 93 lb AJ. Told him about Matt's 86 lb fish, and guess what? They were spearing together! So my question is Matt...why didn't you post the pic of the bigger fish?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:54 pm

by tech_support

what a beast!

I dont think I have a seen a fish that big underwater, besides the goliaths/shark/tarpon, nothing I have thought about shooting anyway. Wheels are turning

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 7:02 am

by cape man

nothing I have thought about shooting anyway.

Especially while free diving!

I will say i'd rather shoot an AJ like that than try and reel it in on a hook!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 8:24 am

by smilinmatt

I didn't think I needed to mention that mine was the "small" fish.

The video of my fish is a little on the dull side. I don't think Jon got a video of his, but if he did it will be almost a feature length movie. He managed to hit it in the spine, but somehow managed to not do any damage to the fish (the big hole is where we had to dig his shaft out of the fish). It took him for quite a ride.

https://vimeo.com/57463480

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 2:12 pm

by cape man

AWESOME!!! Yeah Jon told me the story of his ride with the float.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:08 pm

by Joe H

Doh, de, doh, de, doh, out to the bay I go!

Ha
Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:12 pm

by cali123

Fishermen from the south don't understand the lure of "hard water". Did you do any good ??

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:24 pm

by Joe H

Hey Cali
A few small Perch, maybe next time!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:31 pm

by majorgator

Fishermen from the south don't understand the lure of "hard water".

Maybe so...buts the temps in my area are going to be pushing 80 degrees today and through the weekend. No "hard water" in my future

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

77 in Savannah right now, perfect for February

A few small Perch, maybe next time!

You stand in the snow and fish through a hole you drill in the ice for a few perch

That's wanting to fish bad! You ain't right, Joe

Doc Dyer came down this past Friday, pulled his boat down for Raymond to build a dive tank rack. We were going to fish Saturday, but it was 25 degrees Saturday morning, so we didn't. Crazy weather this year, freezing one day and 80 the next

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:13 pm

by MarkOrge

Heh CL, now you know how dedicated us northern fishermen are !!

Then again, you haven't seen some of the interiors of the "ice huts" we use (A.K.A. "Man Shed")

Check this one out.....

http://www.ontariofishingforums.com/for ... shing-hut/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 9:45 am

by tech_support

Got a couple of triple tail, larger on was 18 lb. smaller 12. Nice looking meat, have not tried it yet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:13 am

by Cracker Larry

Those are nice tripletail, Joel! They eat really good, too.

Heh CL, now you know how dedicated us northern fishermen are !!

Then again, you haven't seen some of the interiors of the "ice huts" we use (A.K.A. "Man Shed")

Oh yeah, those are some nice shacks for sure, the problem is you have to get to them, and get home again

If I've got to dress like this, it's WAY too dang cold for me

This is how a person should dress to go fishing. If you need more clothes than that, it's time to go south

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:49 am

by Joe H

This is how a person should dress to go fishing. If you need more clothes than that, it's time to go south

I’m an avid Ice Fisherman, I love it, but I’m certainly not going to argue about that!

I'm thinking next month for a visit! ha.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:49 am

by Cracker Larry

Come on down, Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:53 pm

by Mad Dog

shine wrote:Got a couple of triple tail, larger on was 18 lb. smaller 12. Nice looking meat, have not tried it yet.

I hear those are great table fare. Good catch. Must have been fun on light tackle.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 9:25 am

by tech_support

not much of a fight, I speared them

We actually tried tossing live shrimp to them at first, but they were not hungry. Whats interesting is that you cannot spear them in state waters, but you can in federal. They were on a buoy about 5 miles out.

While I was in the water, FWC pulled up for an inspection. They had heard a distress call and thought it was us. I got out of the water and showed them everything, no problems. First time I have been boarded in this boat. They seemed more interested in my new shark shield device than the boat, they thought I was joking when I told them not to touch it or they would get shocked

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:12 am

by AtTheBrink

Joel, what is this "shark shield"? I am interested in hearing about it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:43 am

by tech_support

Im not sure it would stop a crazy mako or a bound and determined great white, but the reviews I read prove enough to me that the make things uncomfortable on the bull sharks

http://www.sharkshield.com/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:19 pm

by AtTheBrink

That is a neat device. Never heard of it before this. Pretty expensive but if I was a diver I would sure have one strapped to my leg! And as for the bull sharks, those are the ones you really need protection from, aggressive SOBs!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:48 pm

by whosmatt

Superbowl Sunday... how does any beer-drinking, football-loving American male spend it? Well, for me, it was fishing. The weather was too good not to. Hit the bait barge in SD bay for a half scoop of anchovies and headed down to Mexican waters because the rockfish (not stripers, for you east-coastershttp://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mspcont4.asp) are closed to boats in CA for Jan and Feb each year.

Hit a spot about 25 miles south of the bay and 7 miles offshore called the rockpile. It was my first time there. It's a well-known spot in-season for yellowtail, but we were just after taco fish... we were the only boat there, though tons of dolphins, seals, and birds were working the area. Anchored up in about ~105 ft of water and went to work, fishing anchovies on a carolina rig. 2-3oz egg sinker and a bead above a swivel w/ about 3 ft of fluoro below it and a #2 hook.

Tons of activity on the finder. Bite was hot until the current stopped. Boated 15 fish and lost a couple bigger models due to breakoffs (cracked guide on my companion's rod, I think) but made it home in time to clean the fish, make tacos, and watch the superbowl on my DVR. Biggest was 4-5lb california sheephead.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 1:10 am

by flyfishingmonk

Those look tasty!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:06 pm

by whosmatt

flyfishingmonk wrote:Those look tasty!!!

Thanks! They were. I have a bunch more in the freezer. Best I've had of this class of fish is the California Scorpionfish, which is called a sculpin around here. None of those in this bunch but they make amazing tacos. Got one on Christmas day, along with a few of the models in the photo. They're dangerous, having poisonous fins, but the flesh is tasty. It's nice to be able to get a mess of tacos during the off-season, for sure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 12:46 am

by Handturkey

Caught this 26 inch trout when I was kayak fishing in a redfish/trout tournament this past weekend.
He was a lot of fun on 10 lb test.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:12 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice trout Harrison

Did it win? It probably would have here, we don't catch many that large.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:58 am

by AtTheBrink

That is a nice trout!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:55 am

by flyfishingmonk

That is a very nice fish! I did some bass fishing yesterday but it did not produce anything worthy of a picture. Maybe next time. The water is still a little cool.

Casey

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:16 pm

by Handturkey

Nah Cracker, the winning fish was an 8lb redfish.
But thanks guys, he was quite the ride. He pulled me around in the kayak for about 15 minutes.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:34 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Handturkey wrote:Caught this 26 inch trout when I was kayak fishing in a redfish/trout tournament this past weekend.
He was a lot of fun on 10 lb test.

Nice fish son

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree

I hope you ate that fish if you didn't release it...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:38 pm

by peter-curacao

Hope he didn't lost his spear catching that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:54 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:Hope he didn't lost his spear catching that

Peter, how to heck are you doing? Looking forward to seeing you at the Sebastian meet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 3:30 pm

by Handturkey

Aripeka Angler wrote: Nice fish son The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree I hope you ate that fish if you didn't release it...

I can give you a run for your money in inshore fishing pops. But you have me beat on the offshore aspect. Come down here to Fort Myers and I'll get you into some big reds.

peter-curacao wrote:Hope he didn't lost his spear catching that

Haha No spears involved in these shenanigans. I could've speared a few porpoise though, they were playing with my kayak.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:46 pm

by peter-curacao

Olaf Grimkowski’s 1320# blue marlin
2/18/2013 Ascension Island

“We had a pretty slow season until now when it comes to marlin fishing but it seems to be true that when you have a long hard time you are saving up for something special.

Well we had our special day today. Phil Riley (co-owner in the Harmattan) and his friend Kevin Gardener went out with us for another day of trolling the deep. We fished the south west side of the island and at around 1:30pm a massive fish hit the short left. In the distance we saw her lunging and she looked promising.

After 3 surface runs she went a bit deeper and for the last 90 minutes Kevin fought her on sunset. Emil Ruud had to let go of the leader 4 times (wiring his first marlin ever) until the fish was controllable. After 3 hours the fish was pretty finished and we brought her in.

The Scalemaster said it weighed 1320 pounds
The short length of the fish was 149 inches
The girth was 83 inches and a touch less on the anal fin but only 19.5 inches around the tail
The fish was caught on the Black Bart Abaco Prowler single hook rig.”
– Paco Saca

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:56 pm

by AtTheBrink

That is one heck of a fish story! Thanks for posting it Peter.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:30 pm

by wildbill

Is that a new Atlantic Blue Marlin record? If not it's close.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:34 pm

by wildbill

Look's like the record is 1400lbs. I thought I was close.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yep, 1402. That's a heck of a fish

I'd need a bigger cooler

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:37 pm

by MarkOrge

Wow. Amazing.

So, I am really not feeling like posting a picture of a Lake Trout or Smallmouth Bass now LOL

Great post, I am going to share this one with all my fellow fishing enthusiasts !

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 3:58 pm

by peter-curacao

And now one under more primitive circumstances, no fancy reels, rods or rigs and no we don't need a bigger boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 6:56 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's real serious fishing right there

That's feed the village fishing, it's not sport. Those men are some kind of tough.

Since it is a nasty winter night and most of us aren't getting to fish very much, I'll post this link to Saltwater Sportmans Fish Babes of the year contest

http://www.saltwatersportsman.com/galle ... OTU1MjIzS0

The grand prize winner, Heather, is a local SC lady, AKA Ladyshrimpkiller here in the Low Country. She is very serious about her fishing. The others contestants are pretty good too

2012 Fish Babes Contest Winners
We spotlight each of the 12 monthly winners from the 2012 contest, plus showcase grand prize winner Heather Leman.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 3:01 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That's a nice looking fish Captain

Here's a fish my son's fishing buddy caught. He's a good sized boy to put the redfish in perspective.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 5:20 pm

by Southern Gent

First catch a Redfish: Court Bouillon Recipe. A traditional French Court-Bouillon
is a mildly seasoned liquid used to poach fish and seafood.
... In Louisiana, Court-Bouillon evolved over time to become a
thick and hearty roux-based stew.

1. In a large pot, make a chocolate colored roux. 15 minutes
of stirring 2/3 cup of vegetable oil and 2/3 cup of flour.
2. Stir in 2 cups of chopped onion, 1 cup of chopped bellpepper,
1 teaspoon of minced garlic. Cook until vegetables are softened.
3. Add 2 cups of diced tomatoes and 1 (10 oz) can of diced tomatoes with chiles. Cook for 30 minutes on medium-low.
4. Add 1 quart of fish stock or water. Add salt and and cayenne
to taste. Cook for 1 hour or until mixture is thickened.
5. Add 2 1/2 pounds of Redfish, skin and bones removed, cut
into 2 inch chunks. Cook for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
6. Add 1/4 each of green onions and fresh chopped parsley, prior to serving.

Serve over rice and with french bread.

Ca C'est Bon (Sa Say Bohn) "That's Good"

From Launch Leeville on Facebook

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 8:27 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That fish recipe sounds tasty Bill

I think the fish in the pic got thrown back though...
The boys told me how much that redfish weighed, I'm scared to repeat the weight for fear of not being believed

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 10:19 pm

by Southern Gent

Richard, That was a 45" to 50" Redfish probably weight in the 35lb to 40lb range. Best eating size 20" to 25"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:07 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Southern Gent wrote:Richard, That was a 45" to 50" Redfish probably weight in the 35lb to 40lb range. Best eating size 20" to 25"

You are pretty close on the weight

That fish didn't come from our waters though, he caught it in South Carolina before it got cold...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:12 pm

by tech_support

lost a 40+ cobia yesterday

He was swimming just off the beach and I tossed a jig to him, gobbled it up, handed rod to buddy but I guess I didn't set the jig enough (using mono) and he spit it out. Was so mad I went home and cooked up some of his cousin that I have in the freezer. Filet supply getting low again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:14 pm

by tech_support

To be clear: I cooked up some of the cobia's cousin, not my friend

i wasn't mad at him

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 5:38 pm

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:To be clear: I cooked up some of the cobia's cousin, not my friend i wasn't mad at him

Hahaha

that's funny!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:41 pm

by Southern Gent

A possible new USA record & a New Alabama state record

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013 ... tripe.html

DORA, Alabama- James R. Bramlett, 65, landed a 70 pound striped bass from the Black Warrior River near the Gorgas Steam Plant Thursday February 28, 2013.

The fish was weighed on certified scales and officials and a fisheries biologist with the Alabama Department of Wildlife and Natural Resources were at Bramlett's home today to make it official. The fish is 45.5 inches long and has a 37.75 inch girth.
Record Striped Bass caught by Dora man on the Black Warrior River DORA, Alabama- James R. Bramlett, 65, landed a 70 pound striped bass from the Black Warrior River near the Gorgas Steam Plant Thursday February 28, 2013. The fish was weighed on certified scales and officials and a fisheries biologist with the Alabama Department of Wildlife and Natural Resources were at Bramlett's home today to make it official. The fish is 45.5 inches long and has a 37.75 inch girth. It tops the previous state record by 15 pounds that has stood since 1959. That fish was caught on the Tallapoosa River. The catch may become the new IGFA world record for a landlocked stripe bass. That record currently stands at 67pounds, 8 ounces. (Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com) Watch video
It tops the previous state record by 15 pounds that has stood since 1959. That fish was caught on the Tallapoosa River.

The catch may become the new IGFA world record for a landlocked stripe bass. That record currently stands at 67 pounds, 8 ounces. That record has stood since May, 1992.

Bramlett's wife Janice urged him to go fishing Thursday. She will be in the hospital next Tuesday for a procedure and will need him to take care of her when she gets home.

He went to one of his favorite spots on the Black Warrior River near the Gorgas Steam Plant. He said the fish rolled on top of the water so he threw his bait in that direction. After a battle that lasted more than 20 minutes, he landed the record striped bass and immediately called his wife.

Bramlett used a Mustad 6.0 hook, Ambassador 7000 reel, a catfish Ugly Stik rod with Berkley Big Game 30 pound test line to catch the fish of a lifetime.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:52 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Wow!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 6:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a big fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 7:07 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote: That's a big fish.

Small story though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:04 pm

by Bluefish2

That is a huge stripedbass! I have a question though. I thought most freshwater stripers were hybrids of some kind. How is it that does not look like a hybrid? Aren't hybrids small by comparison? Dammed in when the dam went up? They catch a few each year in NH but nothing like that, just relatively small ones <30".
BF2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 7:24 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I don't know much about stripers so I can't answer your question BF2. Here is a web link with more intel on the fish and the angler...

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/512 ... ord+books/

It has a lot of the same information as the link Bill posted

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:11 pm

by Boater45

Oklahoma Stripers are not hybrids but we do have hybrid Stripers also....if that makes any sense!!

The striped bass is actually a saltwater species which has adapted to freshwater environments. The Department of wildlife imported the species in the 1950s to help fill open-water niches that were created as man-made impoundments were constructed across the state. Self-sustaining populations of striped bass are now found in lakes Texoma and Keystone and in the Arkansas River navigation system.

Hybrid striped bass are produced in hatcheries, generally by fertilizing striped bass eggs with white bass milt. Hybrids are best identified by their two distinct, rough tongue patches. Hybrids display broken-lined body patterns which can be helpful in fish identification, however, both white bass and striped bass may also possess broken-lined sides.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:28 pm

by Bluefish2

Thanks Boater45,
That explains a lot. Did not realize that there were plantings in the south and mid western states that were not hybrids.
Also explains why I thought hybrids were much smaller, they are. The next striper I usually think of west of Georgia is San Francisco bay.
BF2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 7:47 pm

by Aripeka Angler

We went offshore today. It was pretty day

Grouper are closed so we had to improvise

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:04 pm

by AtTheBrink

Nice improv job! Those AJ's look tasty!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 9:10 am

by Cracker Larry

Why did you keep that nasty shark

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:12 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Why did you keep that nasty shark

Harrison's friend Bo wanted to get a blacktip shark, he said it is his fovorite fish to eat.

They were starting to doubt the captain, then we scored

PITA to clean...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 3:55 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Why did you keep that nasty shark

I was wondering that too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

Bo wanted to get a blacktip shark, he said it is his favorite fish to eat.

It's about a 19 on a scale of 20 to me, right behind toadfish

I wouldn't even put it in the same fish box with the AJs.

They were starting to doubt the captain, then we scored

They were in good hands

Did you come in with an empty bait well, or one pretty full

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:51 pm

by Handturkey

We're going to eat some black tip tomorrow. I'll let you know how it tastes.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:16 pm

by Cracker Larry

I know how it tastes

Hope you washed that fish box good.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:36 am

by whosmatt

Bluefish2 wrote:Thanks Boater45,
That explains a lot. Did not realize that there were plantings in the south and mid western states that were not hybrids.
Also explains why I thought hybrids were much smaller, they are. The next striper I usually think of west of Georgia is San Francisco bay.
BF2

I grew up fishing Kerr Reservoir in VA/NC (straddles the border) which also has a self-reproducing population of striped bass. I sure do wish I could catch them here in San Diego. Somebody got lucky and caught a 28lb striper in the surf out here a few years ago but you don't hear much about them. I think they stocked them for a while but they didn't take.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:38 am

by pee wee

Cracker Larry wrote:I know how it tastes Hope you washed that fish box good.

I've never tasted blacktip shark, but I'm a fan of bonnethead. Makes some good ceviche; pretty tasty just about any way I've tried it. Sharks are a pain to clean, though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:15 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cool story from the waters where I fish

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/gr ... ories.html

I remember the young Captain when he was a boy fishing in the SKA...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:46 pm

by Joe H

Richard,
That's insane! When we going out?

BTW: The next time you pull your boat over and say "you can swim here" I'm gonna think twice about it. ha.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 3:02 pm

by AtTheBrink

A Great White in the Gulf! That is awesome! Thanks for posting that article Richard. For more entertainment guys, read some of the absolutely idiotic comments that have been posted by morons from across the country. The "poor fishy had to struggle for hours with a hook in its mouth, now it is traumatized" comments are the best.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:36 pm

by Bluefish2

When you have a chance to see creatures like this in real life consider yourself lucky. Very few have seen these sharks up close and personal. On cape cod they have seal tours to look at grey seals. What the tourists really want to see is the sharks.
I love the wildlife, just not from the inside.

BF2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 11:59 am

by Aripeka Angler

Speaking of great white sharks, check this out

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/shark-a ... e-18805355

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 12:32 pm

by peter-curacao

Shark water, full version is on youtube since 2 months so those interested watch it when it's still there!
Sharkwater - The Story "An eye-opening film...visually stunning... this movie will change the way you see our oceans." - Bonnie Laufer, Tribute Magazine For filmmaker Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... I1YBCMqbik

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 11:36 am

by AtTheBrink

My friend Larry and I went out to one our favorite areas yesterday. The fishing was a little slow but we pushed thru and made a good day of it. We started off fishing an area called the Land Cut. This is where the Intracoastal Waterway connects the upper Laguna Madre to the Lower Laguna Madre. We started by throwing topwaters while trolling along the drop off and there was just no takers. So we switched up to soft plastics on 1/8 oz jigheads. And right off the bat Larry nails a beautiful 28" 8 lb speckled trout! Got picture and then released her.
(I'll put the pic here shortly)
A few casts later I catch a redfish that is just short of the slot at 19". We thought we were on to something! Nope, that was it. We fished the drop off for another hour with no takers. From there we moved on to the north and started drifting the skinny water looking for redfish and trout in the pot holes. The first drift we caught nada. Moved south a bit and right off I catch another short red, 19". We started seeing more life up on the flat the longer we drifted. Saw some black drum but couldnt get them to eat and we saw 3 or 4 huge reds that would have been fun but they wouldn't eat either. After moving again we found some fish willing to eat. Here is a 31" 12 lb red that I caught
(Pic coming soon)
All told we caught about a dozen trout from 15 to 28 inches and 5 redfish from 16 to 31 inches. We brought home 6 trout, 3 over 20", and one 24" red. Talking to others that fished here yesterday we had an awesome day. Some our best guides came in with very few fish. It was a good day!

Thanks for reading!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:09 pm

by tech_support

got out this weekend. Beautiful day, but not many fish (edible anyway) in the boat. Saw a huge dolphin under some weeds but he left before we could get a live bait to him. Had some spotted dolphin (mammal types

) going nuts all around the boat, they were worked up and excited to see us for some reason. Also two pair of fornicating logger heads

, so I guess the beaches will be getting dug up soon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:21 pm

by Bluefish2

Admit it the kid caught the bigger fish. They always do.

bf2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:13 am

by tech_support

Was invited for an overnight trip to Bahamas. Left Saturday at 1:00, came back Sunday 4:00. Pretty snotty conditions, got beat up a little. Plan was to look for yellow fin tuna, but they were not there. Ended up with 10 blackfin and skipjack tunas. Slept on anchor about 20 miles west of Walkers Cay and night fished on the reef. Limited out on snapper, muttons, yellow tail, and big dog tooth, and number of small strawberry grouper. On the way back, we jigged up limit of AJ's and a cero mackerel. Good trip, even without the large pelagics we were after.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:00 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice trip

Are you still cleaning fish

Slept on anchor about 20 miles west of Walkers Cay and night fished on the reef.

I used to love Walkers Cay, but doesn't 20 miles west put you in the middle of the stream in about 7,000 feet of water?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:14 am

by tech_support

maybe we were closer, mantanilla shoal is where we anchored up, its about 15 miles west of Walkers, between Walkers and the corner. Ive never been to Walkers.

Are you still cleaning fish

actually, have not started yet

I needed all 11.5 hours of sleep I got last night to recover. Fish are packed in ice waiting for me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:18 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Joel, that is a nice fishing report

I want to fish the Bahama Islands some day. Is that a cubera in your pic?

Larry B, you have probably already seen this story...but here it is in case you haven't

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/excursio ... the-state/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:48 pm

by Boater45

Aripeka Angler wrote:Joel, that is a nice fishing report I want to fish the Bahama Islands some day. Is that a cubera in your pic?

Looks like a Dog Snapper aka: "Dog Tooth"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 6:55 am

by Walkers Run

Great job!!! Did you have any problems with sharks stealing your catch fishing the Matanilla?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:10 am

by tech_support

Walkers Run wrote:Great job!!! Did you have any problems with sharks stealing your catch fishing the Matanilla?

not really, hooked only one myself. Other guys hooked a few, but never lost a fish. Was using a grouper digger with heavy braid, it was a quick trip up for the snappers

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:42 pm

by Aripeka Angler

My Michigan friends Joe and Janet are taking a break from the cold and his P19 to visit his mom just down the road from me. We are going out in the morning to get some fish. We hope to post some pics of a great trip

Meanwhile, Harrison and Bo are out of school and wearing out the redfish in South Carolina. They let this girl go after a fast pic so she could fight another day. Biggest one I have seen since "buck fever" in POC, Texas

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 8:15 am

by Cracker Larry

Texas ain't got nothing on us when it comes to redfish

Where is Harrison fishing?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 11:51 am

by Prarie Dog

Nicest one I've seen since "Buck Fever". Pretty fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 10:42 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Texas ain't got nothing on us when it comes to redfish Where is Harrison fishing?

Larry, he is in the Hiton Head area. He said he is fishing in a land locked saltwater lake

I have never seen one of those lakes but they must be good

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 10:44 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Prarie Dog wrote:Nicest one I've seen since "Buck Fever". Pretty fish.

Thanks! I was thinking about you when I saw the pic

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 9:31 am

by tech_support

he is in the Hiton Head area

Thats just what I was thinking when I saw that picture yesterday. The growth around the edge of the water is a give away. I grew up fishing those ponds

I caught a red a little smaller than that one out of a tiny pond in Hilton head plantation. I could take a stab and say that he is standing in front of spring lake pond in HH plantation, or maybe one in port royal plantation

If it is, then it could easily be one of the same fish we used to catch (that fish is at least 25 years old

Baby tarpon are in the ponds in sea pine.

When the tide starts running through the culverts, its like a dinner bell. I have caught some big flounder in those ponds too. Its crazy to catch a fish that big in pond you can cast your line all the way across.

Great picture

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 10:19 am

by Cracker Larry

Yes, those tidal ponds on HHI have some epic fishing. They aren't really land locked, there are flood gates that let the water in and out.
Like Joel said, they also hold some huge flounder, small tarpon and more recently snook. And some monster alligators

It is highly recommended not to eat the fish because of all the fertilizer, weed killers and pesticide run off from the developments.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:19 am

by cape man

Been so long since I visited don't know if I still can post a pic

Went down to Grand Cayman for a week to judge their fishing tournament (I know...tough work if you can get it?). During the day while they were out trolling for the big ones, I was stalking the flats with 8lb test and a small gold spoon.

Day 1

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:34 am

by cape man

day2

day3

Break in fishing...took a trip out to the sand bar, aka "stingray city"

Along with us on the boat for the day was the producer of Extreme Fishing (a TV show here in Florida) and Lace Allenius, a writer for Gaff magazine...nice Blue Runner...

They released over 12 blue marlin and this was the big fish at the weigh station, a 73.3 lb yellowfin tuna.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:56 am

by Cracker Larry

When I grow up, I want to be you

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:53 pm

by Prarie Dog

Craig, in the pic Captioned "....nice Blue Runner". What are you referring to?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 1:00 pm

by cape man

Why the fish of course...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 1:07 pm

by SmokyMountain

When I grow up, I want to be you

I second that!!!!

That sure is a really really nice "blue runner".

Oh is there a fish in that picture

???

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 1:53 pm

by Prarie Dog

Thanks, just now spotted the fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 3:51 pm

by peter-curacao

I still don't see it!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 9:10 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice pics Craig. You have a great gig with that tournament

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 11:14 am

by wegcagle

Along with us on the boat for the day was the producer of Extreme Fishing (a TV show here in Florida) and Lace Allenius, a writer for Gaff magazine...nice Blue Runner...

How can that be a nice Blue Runner....It's not even as big as her boobs

Nice pics

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 7:18 am

by majorgator

Craig, we're all thankful for the tireless work you put into that tournament. Thanks to people like you, those GAFF girls are able to continue their trendy lifestyle of bikini-clad photo-ops. Great work my friend! Cheers to you

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 8:03 pm

by peter-curacao

Thought you guys might like this
http://www.marlinmag.com/blue-marlin-fi ... nder-video

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 1:21 pm

by tech_support

thats a big fish. I love the their accents, I know a girl from Tobago and she has the same "Irish" accent.

On a smaller scale.... got a decent size blackfin

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 1:42 pm

by Doc_Dyer

Pic of last trip to Panama City Beach Florida for some diving and spearing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 11:57 am

by tech_support

caught few dolphin, one gaffer and 4 slingers. Lost a nice wahoo at the boat (mono leader), and saw half a dozen free jumping sailfish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 2:34 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice

Did you get those off Vero Beach?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 2:52 pm

by tech_support

Hi Richard. Yes, we were 15 - 17 miles out.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 4:46 pm

by Walkers Run

Wish I had a boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 5:18 pm

by peter-curacao

Nice!! Dorado one of my favorites over here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 5:48 pm

by Mad Dog

shine wrote:Hi Richard. Yes, we were 15 - 17 miles out.

Dang I wish I could get to wahoo, dorado and sails that close to shore.

Way to go Shine. Keep on living the life.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 9:07 pm

by Aripeka Angler

shine wrote:Hi Richard. Yes, we were 15 - 17 miles out.

Thanks Joel. I heard a report on our local Catch 47 channel that said the dolphin were biting pretty good off Vero

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 9:04 am

by AtTheBrink

Walkers Run wrote:Wish I had a boat.

Me too! One day we will finish our Walker.

Nice catch Joel!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:13 pm

by Joe H

Nice catch Doc & Joel,

How about a little back yard Bass:

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:24 pm

by peter-curacao

Joe H wrote:Nice catch Doc & Joel,

How about a little back yard Bass:

Joe H

You're a lucky man living in a neighborhood like that

Nice bass also

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:30 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dang Joe, don't let that little dog go swimming, the bass might eat it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 10:21 pm

by Joe H

You're a lucky man living in a neighborhood like that Nice bass also

Thanks Peter, the canal is my access to the Great Lakes, it's usually very clear but we have had lots of rain run off lately, we need the rain here, the water levels are very low.

Dang Joe, don't let that little dog go swimming, the bass might eat it

Larry that little dog loves fishing, if I put that fish down he'll tear into it like a pit bull, when we are out in the boat fishing he knows what pole is going to get a hit before I do, it's uncanny.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 10:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dogs are smarter than we are. Mine don't say much, but I try to listen to him

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 8:59 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice looking fish Joe! I should get up there one of these days when I collect that powerball check

No one has stepped up and collected the thing, I may start checking the neighborhood trash cans for the lost ticket...

We went offshore this weekend for red snapper. The seas were flat most of the first day and we caught a ton of throwback gag grouper and amberjack. This was a 24 hour fishing trip, we do it a couple of times a year. I only took two pics on the trip, I will tell you guys why later...

Here is a pretty good AJ and a spent fisherman...

The sun went down later and we set up on a freshwater spring in 125' that is about 60 miles ofshore. It was really cloudy so the red snapper didn't fire off until around 10 pm. We got 7 in the boat in about 15 minutes and I hooked what I thought was a big boy.
I decked the fish and it turned out to be a chunky gag grouper. I was using a tandem 8/0 Owner rig. The first hook came out fine but the fish decide to jump out of my hand and get some payback. The free hook went through the bottom of one of my fingers, hit the underside of the nail and came out of the end. Of course the fish was still hooked to my hand while he is flopping around the deck

It is pitch black and the guys who were with me were freaking out. One of them grabbed a set of stout wire cutters, removed the fish and cut the end of the hook off. Man it felt good when they backed that hook out...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:29 am

by wadestep

OUCH! that sounds bad. I definatly forgive you for the lack of further pictures.

I've had a number of bad cuts, but never a big grouper hook me back! I can only imagine...
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 12:04 pm

by Joe H

The free hook went through the bottom of one of my fingers, hit the underside of the nail and came out of the end.

Richard, I cringe just thinking about it! Ouch!

Also, thanks again for the transom hole template.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 11:02 am

by tech_support

small fish. Caught 6 peanut dolphin (all the same size as the one in the cooler), shot a small cobia and a rainbow runner. Never eaten rainbow runner, but have heard they make great ceviche, so going to try some RR Ceviche tonight.

Found the peanuts following a big leather back turtle.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:37 pm

by Mad Dog

Great catch Richard and Joel!

You guys are killing me... I'm so jealous.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 6:56 pm

by Cracker Larry

A couple of friends here on the Georgia coast. Awesome video

You ain't got to live in Florida to catch fish

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2MC8bK ... edit?pli=1

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 7:17 pm

by majorgator

Larry, all I can say about that video is WOW!!!!!!!
They did some really nice work on the video. And for what its worth, their spearfishing techniques are just like what Derrick described...shooting the fish after its come broadside and just as it quarters away from you.

You ain't got to live in Florida to catch fish

hmmm...I think I recognize that section of the gulf stream, and I'm pretty sure its closer to florida

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 8:20 pm

by Cracker Larry

I think I recognize that section of the gulf stream, and I'm pretty sure its closer to florida

It's about 100 miles north of Florida, Seth, that's Savannah

Those guys live 12 miles from me. Not really the Gulfstream either. That tower is one of a series of Navy towers that string the coast about 30-35 miles offshore in about 100'. They make an electronic fence that can see a shrimp fart from 1000 miles away. The Gulfstream is usually another 20 or 30 miles out.

It is a hell of a good job on the video. The fishing is typical but the video is outstanding I thought.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:00 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Sweet video Larry

I needed a salt fix

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

You a long way from salt in Oklahoma my friend

You coming home tomorrow?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 11:13 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:You a long way from salt in Oklahoma my friend You coming home tomorrow?

Oklahoma is a fantastic place to visit

A little too far from the saltwater for me though. We are flying back home on Sunday...

Off topic....we went through Moore on Wednesday. Oh my God what a disaster that is! I met a quite a few people who are helping. It's amazing how tough and resilient the folks are here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 11:59 pm

by whosmatt

Caught this lingcod last weekend and it puked up a beautiful whole squid for me. Used the squid (figured fresh dead, right?) on a jig to slow troll for white sea bass. None that day, but that's fishing.

The mackerel was the bait. Didn't reuse that one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:07 am

by tech_support

I have been trying to get a trip put together to visit that tower. I have a buddy that lives in Sapelo. Maybe that video will get him inspired to do it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:07 am

by Cracker Larry

Wow, that lingcod is an ugly fish

Heck of a squid too, you sure that's not an octopus?

I have been trying to get a trip put together to visit that tower. I have a buddy that lives in Sapelo. Maybe that video will get him inspired to do it.

Here's another one for you, Joel. Different tower, different guys, last Wednesday. This one is off of St. Simons. If you've got a fear of cudas, this is the place to cure it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dh813yH ... e=youtu.be

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:54 am

by tech_support

thats pretty cool. Nearest thing we have here are a few offshore buoys, cudas stack up just like that, but they are mostly smaller. Never had a problem with a cuda, but I get a little nervous around the pack of Goliath groupers that huddle at the base of the buoy

. As soon as you swim down towards them, they start barking and looking up at you

Never have caught a ling cod, but I bet they taste good. Seems like Ugly things that live in deep cold water tend to taste great.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:01 am

by tech_support

made first try for swordfish. Two 1 hour long drifts with no bite, good thing we had some chum and some free lined baits out..........

went 6/6, all on cut ballyhoo and 20 lb spinners

smallest fish (not even in the picture was 20 lbs). Best dolphin day I have ever had by a long shot. All happened in about 30 minutes.

Three very happy fathers on father's day...........

what the Ft Pierce inlet looked like on the way back in, Bahama clear...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:48 am

by majorgator

Nice Joel!
I'm headed to a dolphin tournament later this week in Islamorada, so hopefully we do as well as you did

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:07 am

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Joel!!

Pic from Bradley and Andy of some nice American Red Snapper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:07 am

by tech_support

Thanks Richard

nice snapper

I need to put in some time and get some snapper/grouper spots over here. I would trade 2/1 doplhin for sanpper/grouper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 4:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

Beautiful catch of dolphin, Joel! I've never caught a swordfish, never targeted them either. The boats that fish for them are doing well now off SC. I know Derrick has a lot of deep drop experience, me, almost none. Not sure I want to reel up 5 pound weights from 1200' of water either

Do you use break-away weights?

I would trade 2/1 doplhin for sanpper/grouper

But dolphin are more fun to catch, to me

They like to run and jump and put on a show. Big old grouper pull straight down in the rocks and make you work real hard. The grouper do eat much better though. Catch and release dolphin fishing is fun. Catch and release grouper fishing not as much. If I'm going to work that hard, I want some meat in the box

Pic from Bradley and Andy of some nice American Red Snapper

I've been getting pics all week from the scoundrels too

Good mess of ARS for sure. The mountain men seem to have got it figured out

I like the sign on the fish cleaning table

Seems to me like the water would be the best place to put them

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 2:50 pm

by MarkOrge

I like the sign on the fish cleaning table Seems to me like the water would be the best place to put them

I'm with CL.

I have to ask - why not toss the leftovers from filleting in the salt chuck? Does it create a shark hazard or maybe there just aren't enough crab and other things to enjoy the leftovers?

Really nice fish by the way - one of my favourites for sure, except I have to buy them up here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:17 am

by tech_support

Not sure I want to reel up 5 pound weights from 1200' of water either Do you use break-away weights?

We used one 16 lb and one 15 lb weights

The 15 lb was a concrete weight, and it broke off pretty easy with a little throttle. The 16 lb was rebar and we tried to reel it all the way up, 3 guys taking turns and we got it all the way up in about 15 minutes of low gear cranking. My break away "system" is just having the weight rigged to 30' of 30 lb test, hanging off the main line from a longline clip, it breaks at around 20-25 lbs of pressure. With 1600' to 2000' of 130 braid out and the big leader/bait, with the weight broken off it still takes around 15 lbs of drag to reel it in

From what I understand, the weight helps to hook the fish, sometimes the "bite" is signaled by the rod unloading and 10 minutes later the fish is on top. I really want to catch one this year

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:34 am

by majorgator

Our fishing tournament was pretty decent, but we couldn't get away from the schoolies. Trolled north/south on the "hump" off Islamorada, along with the rest of Monroe County. Ended up with half a dozen smaller dolphin and half a dozen blackfin tuna in the 5# range. Funny, though, we placed in the top 3 spots for blackfin tuna out of 19 boats. People were having a hard time that day, as several chartered boats came up empty. No pictures.

A boat next to us at the marina did hang up a 120# swordfish. Apparently, that's kind of a rarity down there for daytime fishing. I didn't hear how they did it, but they claimed that the fish would be worth about $4K or $5K at market

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:39 am

by tech_support

majorgator wrote:Our fishing tournament was pretty decent, but we couldn't get away from the schoolies. Trolled north/south on the "hump" off Islamorada, along with the rest of Monroe County. Ended up with half a dozen smaller dolphin and half a dozen blackfin tuna in the 5# range. Funny, though, we placed in the top 3 spots for blackfin tuna out of 19 boats. People were having a hard time that day, as several chartered boats came up empty. No pictures.

A boat next to us at the marina did hang up a 120# swordfish. Apparently, that's kind of a rarity down there for daytime fishing. I didn't hear how they did it, but they claimed that the fish would be worth about $4K or $5K at market

Thanks for that report, heading down there (marathon) next week

a few blackfins would be nice.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 3:02 pm

by flyingcow

I know it's not much for you saltwater guys, but...

I hit my daily limit on smallmouth for the first time last Thursday. These four were in the morning, then one more in the evening. They made some very tasty dinner at the campsite that night!

(PS, don't mind the "stringer." the actual one broke mid fishing trip.)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 3:45 pm

by Southern Gent

flyingcow wrote:I know it's not much for you saltwater guys, but...

I hit my daily limit on smallmouth for the first time last Thursday. These four were in the morning, then one more in the evening. They made some very tasty dinner at the campsite that night!

(PS, don't mind the "stringer." the actual one broke mid fishing trip.)

Flyingcow

You did eat well off those Smallmouth Bass. Freshwater fishing is just different from Saltwater Fishing. But no less fun. Bill

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:47 pm

by cali123

Nice stringer of Smallies.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:01 pm

by Cracker Larry

If we put bait on a stringer like that, something would come up and eat them

Better put a big hook on the end of the line

Edit: Any fish is a good fish

But we can't use stringers here in salt or fresh water, or they will be ate in minutes.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

We used one 16 lb and one 15 lb weights The 15 lb was a concrete weight, and it broke off pretty easy with a little throttle. The 16 lb was rebar and we tried to reel it all the way up, 3 guys taking turns and we got it all the way up in about 15 minutes of low gear cranking.

Jeez Joel, yall do that for fun

How long you reckon a 100 lb. sword would take? If I was you, I'd invite Derrick along on the next trip, he got some big azz Cristal electric reels and he knows how

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:14 pm

by Joe H

Nice catch of Smallies Flyingcow!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:45 am

by msujmccorm

Fish beware! I took my 4 year old granddaughter fishing for the first time and she loved it. She won't touch the fish or bait but she does a good job hooking and reeling them in.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:52 am

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 7:20 pm

by Aripeka Angler

27 days without a day off from work

I needed a fishing fix today with the family

My son and daughter with a couple of keeper grouper...

We only fished for 3 hours but we got 9 nice fish...

Life is good

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

Scoundrel

Nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:50 pm

by Prarie Dog

Looks good Richard, sounds like you're working too hard.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 11:10 pm

by AtTheBrink

Is that flounder in there? Surprised to see that with the grouper.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 7:18 am

by Cracker Larry

No flounder there, gag grouper, red grouper and mangrove snapper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:31 pm

by majorgator

No flounder there, gag grouper, red grouper and mangrove snapper

I gotta say, that one in the middle does look mighty like a flounder

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

OOPS

It is a flounder doing a grouper imitation. Nice one too!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:09 pm

by Joe H

OOPS It is a flounder doing a grouper imitation. Nice one too!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 11:04 pm

by Aripeka Angler

AtTheBrink wrote:Is that flounder in there? Surprised to see that with the grouper.

Good eye Mike

In my area of the GOM we have nice reef fish mixed in with inshore fish like flounder. We never got any deeper than 41 feet yesterday... It is really a special area to fish, lots of variety. We don't target flounder but get a couple or three every season...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 9:09 am

by Boater45

Last summer I caught a 21lb flounder 36miles off the coast of Mississippi in about 80ft of water. Use to work shrimp boats when I was younger and we would drag those suckers up at all depths.

**CORRECTION 12lbs not 21lbs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 9:49 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Boater45 wrote:Last summer I caught a 21lb flounder 36miles off the coast of Mississippi in about 80ft of water. Use to work shrimp boats when I was younger and we would drag those suckers up at all depths.

21 pounds! Wow, that has to be close to the Mississippi state record! I have never seen a flounder bigger than 7 lbs.
I would love to see a pic of that fish...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 10:25 pm

by Boater45

Aripeka Angler wrote: 21 pounds! Wow, that has to be close to the Mississippi state record! I have never seen a flounder bigger than 7 lbs.
I would love to see a pic of that fish...

Sorry that was supposed to read 12lbs!! I have a picture somewhere...I need to find it. It was 29 inches long.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 10:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

21 pounds! Wow, that has to be close to the Mississippi state record!

About twice the state record. It's 10lb, 4 oz.

Y'all should have have officially weighed that fish

http://www.ms-sportsman.com/downloads/m ... ecords.pdf

The IGFA all tackle world record for southern flounder is 20lb, 9 oz. http://wrec.igfa.org/WRecordsList.aspx? ... 20southern

The IGFA all tackle world record for summer flounder is 22lb. 7 oz http://wrec.igfa.org/WRecordsList.aspx? ... ,%20summer

I've caught, gigged and speared a lot of flounder, from 6" of water to 60' and never seen one over 12 pounds.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 10:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sorry that was supposed to read 12lbs!!

Ahhh..

That's still a dang big flounder

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 12:44 am

by TRC886

My son and a buddy went out on one of the Capt'n Stacey boats yesterday. They caught a variety of fish, but he caught the "big fish of the day". Here he is with his nice gag grouper, while one of the other fish is still on the stringer:

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 6:45 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice gag!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 7:38 am

by TRC886

Thanks! It's his first first one, and he's beginning to love blue water fishing as much as you do. He said at first, he thought he had hung the wreck. As he started gaining line and feeling a gentle tugging, he thought he had caught a shipwreck on one hook and a small fish on the other

Then the rod rod doubled over

and it was on

Yep, if he had participated in the "big fish" pool, he'd have won the pot.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 11:48 am

by Bowmovement

TRC886 wrote: Capt'n Stacey

Used to be one of my yearly field trips in school. Been a while since I heard that name.

Matt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:53 am

by tech_support

Was planning on another attempt at swordfishing yesterday, but there were big t-stroms offshore. So instead I drove around my buddy and dropped him over some spots closer to shore. I was a taxi driver and he was the fish collector

cobia was 42, groupers 17 and 24. 12 total Mangroves, 1 flounder, 1 sheepshead, 2 almaco jcks (i jigged them up

) for fish dip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:26 am

by tech_support

while jigging up the almaco jacks from a deep wreck, a 30+ pound bull dolphin followed it up, then a sail fish free jumped about 20 times off the bow. It was a fishy day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:40 am

by Cracker Larry

Are the Almaco jacks down there wormy? The ones we get here are as wormy as Amberjacks. I know (been told) the worms won't hurt you, but I can't bring myself to eat something that looks like this when you clean it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:05 am

by tech_support

Not too bad, they are small. The AJ's are not that bad either. Maybe 75% of the fillet is worm free. Mostly in the tail or concentrated in places where you can cut them out. The meat is for smoked fish dip only, so maybe I will call it worm dip so I dont have to share it.

I know people will eat almaco fillets, and I guess I would try it too if it were not for the two freezers full of dolphin/cobia/grouper/snapper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:42 pm

by Boater45

shine wrote: I know people will eat almaco fillets, and I guess I would try it too if it were not for the two freezers full of dolphin/cobia/grouper/snapper

That sucks...I'd hate to have two freezers full of dolphin/cobia/grouper/snapper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:01 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's better than a freezer full of Atlantic jacks for sure

I'd hate to have two freezers full of dolphin/cobia/grouper/snapper

I'd hate not to have at least one freezer full

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:00 pm

by Boater45

You both suck....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:21 am

by BarraMan

What species of fish are these?

Look very similar to what we call Mangrove Jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:23 am

by Cracker Larry

Mangrove snapper. Lutjanus griseus, is a snapper in the family Lutjanidae. It is also known as the gray snapper, mango snapper, or cabellerote.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:31 am

by topwater

I agree with Boater45 .... you both suck

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:40 am

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:51 am

by Southern Gent

Cracker Larry wrote:Are the Almaco jacks down there wormy? The ones we get here are as wormy as Amberjacks. I know (been told) the worms won't hurt you, but I can't bring myself to eat something that looks like this when you clean it

Fellows, Most of the warm water fish have worms at some time of the year. Cooked with olive oil glaze we call that supper.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:53 am

by Cracker Larry

Not the ones I eat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:55 am

by topwater

I just got back from Marathon in the keys , went out for 8 hours and caught a bunch of tuna.
Got skunked on dolphin and its prime time down there for dolphin

Next time I go to florida I am just going to give Joel the money and have him take me out

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:57 am

by tech_support

What species of fish are these?

Mangrove snapper are one of my favorites, pretty easy to get and taste great. Also, low on the mercury relative toe the others.

That sucks...I'd hate to have two freezers full of dolphin/cobia/grouper/snapper

Its been a good month of fishing, at least here at home it has.

Went to the keys for a week and we were blown out, only got a couple small grouper and some hogs, all eaten fresh not enough to freeze.

Next time I go to florida I am just going to give Joel the money and have him take me out

and you wont even have to give me any money

just bring the ice/food/beer

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:33 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Are the Almaco jacks down there wormy? The ones we get here are as wormy as Amberjacks. I know (been told) the worms won't hurt you, but I can't bring myself to eat something that looks like this when you clean it

Talking about worms, it could be worse

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... z2Z6eXUzZK

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:49 pm

by gk108

peter-curacao wrote: it could be worse

Dang! I've seen the lampreys in the Great Lakes, but that's a monster!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:17 pm

by AtTheBrink

gk108 wrote:
peter-curacao wrote: it could be worse
Dang! I've seen the lampreys in the Great Lakes, but that's a monster!

So glad we don't have those nasty things down here in the gulf...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

That is a basty nastard right there

Glad we have gators to deal with things like that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:00 pm

by MarkOrge

Just go Salmon fishing northern Pacific Coast around the Grizzlies. Worse yet Polar Bear - they are always hungry, and no human can out run them. Fish with a buddy that you can out run is my advice.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:26 am

by BarraMan

Its been a while - but here's some recent Barramundi fishing action from Downunder!

Cheers

Lee

http://youtu.be/Lh1IXtclMyc

This bloke was watching the whole thing!

http://youtu.be/CjsJrvF-x1Q

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 10:17 am

by AtTheBrink

Those barramundis just look fun to catch! One of these days I want to make it down there to fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:25 pm

by tech_support

first sailfish.

Thanks to our absurd federal fish regulations, the above picture is illegal...... if I released the fish. Cant take a sailfish out of the water for a picture. If you have HMS permit, which I do, you can harvest one. Being my first sailfish and a very excited young man visiting from out of state, I was going to get a good picture. Sailfish will be served on many crackers and enjoyed by many people.

I suppose you can harvest one, then 30 seconds later decide to throw it away (alive and well), but since I dont want any trouble I obey the law to the letter.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:58 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish for an Atlantic sail

They eat just fine too

I bet that youngun was excited!

Speaking of absurd regulations, the SAFMC in all their wisdom and generosity are granting us a recreational red snapper season again

It opens the last weekend this month and lasts exactly 3 days

With a 1 fish/person limit

And for more absurdity, did y'all read this? http://www.bradenton.com/2013/08/04/464 ... rones.html

Authorities using drones to enforce fishing laws

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2013/08/04/464 ... rylink=cpy

Be real careful with fillet and release fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 2:04 pm

by tech_support

less risk to sneak in to this country illegally than to fish without a lawyer

Yeah it was a big sail, going to see about getting a few more this weekend, will not harvest any more for now.

Speaking of absurd regulations, the SAFMC in all their wisdom and generosity are granting us a recreational red snapper season again It opens the last weekend this month and lasts exactly 3 days With a 1 fish/person limit

Its so absurd, its now laughable.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 6:00 pm

by wegcagle

Great fish Joel. He's certainly a lucky little guy. I bet his heart was pounding out of his chest

Heck, I'm 32yo and have never caught a bill fish

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:59 am

by tech_support

Heck, I'm 32yo and have never caught a bill fish

Well, Im 38 and that was my first. Got number two yesterday

Plus a nice dolphin for the box. Burned 26 gallons.

took a couple videos... Brought a baby tiger up to the boat, what a pretty fish. I tested my shark shield on him, he would not come near the bait until I pulled the electrode out of the water. If I dipped it back in, he moved off quick. Somewhat reassuring. You can see in the background of the video the buoy that I swim around

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu4w4dlZhaE

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice

You're getting them dialed in for sure, and having more fun than I have been lately

Shark video was good too. What kind of camera is that?

Well, Im 38 and that was my first. Got number two yesterday

If I could make a humble suggestion, so that you live to see number 4

I'm 60 and have caught quite a few, too many to remember. That sail picture scares the crap out of me. I love ya and don't want to lose ya. I know you aren't a fishing dummy and hope the camera angle is deceiving, but I'll say this to anyone who encounters their first billfish.

Given the opportunity, that fish can kill you. Please treat the bill just like a loaded shotgun, hot, cocked and safety off. Never, never, ever let that bill point towards you, anyone else, or even remotely close. Not even for one second. Turn it loose if it does. Don't let it get 90 degrees to the boat. One strong flick of the tail and one head swipe can run that bill through your throat or chest, or land him right in the boat with you. Always keep the fish pointing forward and parallel to the boat, with boat in gear and moving forward fast enough to control the fish pointing forward in a safe direction. Even when you think they are wore out and done, they often have enough left for one more lunge.

This has been a public service announcement

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:43 pm

by Mad Dog

That's good advice CL. Thanks.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 3:45 pm

by tech_support

advise taken

I held his bill in the water facing forward with boat in gear (like I have always seen), friend took boat out of gear to take picture. He had already cracked his bill on the transom/rubrail

Video is a Hero2 GoPro. Here is another one, its very long, skip to 20:15 and you can hear a Goliath "bark".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whMoFx-rqFw

Re: Anyone Fishing? FS18 doing well

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:07 am

by hooter

Found a pod of interested redfish on my predawn wade (ironically while looking for trout).

4 casts and 4 fish (first was oversized at 28.5 and therefore released)

chased reds the rest of the day connecting with 12 total and releasing the rest for procreation.

3 weeks ago found some trout

hOOt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:44 am

by AtTheBrink

Nice Job Hooter! I have a question for you if you don't mind. How high off the deck is your platform? I am about to have mine built and I haven't decided on exact heighth yet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:07 am

by Mad Dog

Way to go Hooter!! Good to see you found some time to fish. Where were you, generally speaking?

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:14 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote: Please treat the bill just like a loaded shotgun, hot, cocked and safety off.

The power of a bill fish (1:21 min result 2:05 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojNjQsXp ... ture=email

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:22 am

by hooter

AtTheBrink wrote:Nice Job Hooter! I have a question for you if you don't mind. How high off the deck is your platform? I am about to have mine built and I haven't decided on exact heighth yet.

About 28-30 inches. I'd have to measure it but Im not near the house for a while.

hOOt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:23 am

by hooter

Mad Dog wrote:Way to go Hooter!! Good to see you found some time to fish. Where were you, generally speaking?

MD

San Antonio bay reefs

I'll be out of town and will miss the meet this year. Have fun.

hOOt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 11:05 am

by AtTheBrink

hooter wrote:
AtTheBrink wrote:Nice Job Hooter! I have a question for you if you don't mind. How high off the deck is your platform? I am about to have mine built and I haven't decided on exact heighth yet.
About 28-30 inches. I'd have to measure it but Im not near the house for a while.

hOOt

Thanks! Appreciate the info. Awesome catch of reds and trout. Did those trout come on a fly as well?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:41 pm

by tech_support

A blue marlin swam up on the beach down the road from my house. I suspect he was about to die (sick or gut hooked or something). Story is that the kids (high-school age) were skim-boarding and this thing swims right up to them, he was being chased by a shark

Saw this yesterday, I cant imagine getting in the water with that thing. I hope Guy Harvey doesn't end up like Steve Irwin ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbx55L6SAbE

Here it is in our local paper.....

http://www.tcpalm.com/photos/2013/aug/14/446715/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:50 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Congratulations on the sailfish landings Joel

Catching sails is a blast

Check this out. A kid who works for me has an uncle who is the senior editor of the Saltwater Sportsman magazine. He sent him this pic from Alaska...

The fish weighed 270...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 8:13 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a heck of a flounder

A blue marlin swam up on the beach down the road from my house.

Joel, I wonder if those kids that pulled it up the beach had a HMS permit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 9:16 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:That's a heck of a flounder

That's a heck of right arm that left guy has, how does he do that?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 9:36 am

by Rogerdog

He has the drag set nice and tight!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:50 am

by Bowmovement

Nice halibut!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:49 am

by tech_support

that halibut looks delicious.

Joel, I wonder if those kids that pulled it up the beach had a HMS permit

I dont think so.

Permit goes with a boat.....maybe they could register their skim boards.

NOAA will need to convene a meeting on how to address the issue of people without boats harvesting marlin. Should only need a couple of days in Hawaii and a dozen bureaucrats to solve this pressing issue.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:57 am

by AtTheBrink

This problem needs to be addressed by the top dog himself! I can't believe the government is letting those criminals walk free!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 7:55 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Me and my two girls went out fishing today

We got six grouper like the one in this pic...

We had a huge cookout at my neighbors' house in Hudson. They were wanting to know when Cracker is coming back down

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 8:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dammitman! Nice gag. When should I leave? Tell Chuck hello

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 1:01 am

by BarraMan

I've been fish'n!

Just haven't been catch'n!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:29 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Dammitman! Nice gag. When should I leave? Tell Chuck hello

Thanks, it was a nice fish. Lost a couple that were bigger too

I think October will be the best time to go out and get 'em. Work will be calmed down a little by then. It's been a busy summer.
I will say hi to Chuck and Karen for you. They must have had 100 people over for supper yesterday. Shrimp, venison, hog, grouper and more side dishes than I could count

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:47 am

by Cracker Larry

October sounds great, give it time to cool off a little bit. Tell Karen to make the pasta salad

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 11:40 am

by wegcagle

Nice gag Richard

Took my 6yo nephew striper/hybrid fishing on the lake. He landed two 5-6 lb slab hybrids, and lost a nice fish. Never saw it, but my nephew went home and told his mom/dad that we hooked a huge shark, and that it broke the hook

Based on the his excitement level I think he'll be talking about the time he caught Jaws pretty soon.

No pictures because I forgot my camera, and my phone battery died

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:54 am

by tech_support

Nice grouper Riachard

Never saw it, but my nephew went home and told his mom/dad that we hooked a huge shark

Fished on my friend's boat on Saturday, he brought his 6 and 7 years old boys. As far as they were concerned, we were Marlin fishing (we were trolling for dolphin

) but they would make up huge teasers with what ever they could find to try and "bring up a marlin", seeing that level of excitement gets you fired up

Went out yesterday on my boat to the same area and saw a marlin free jumping

, so maybe those kids aren't too crazy.

On Friday we got about 50 dolphin, 7 keepers. Caught them all under weed mats pitching cut bait to them. Sunday we caught another sailfish but nothing for the cooler. We have landed a sailfish on each of the last three trips in the seacraft

No pictures of the peanuts, but I think we have a good picture of the sailfish..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:17 pm

by Joe H

Me and my two girls went out fishing today

Isn’t it great to get out with the kids, I managed to get out for a couple of hours with 2 of my girls.

My daughter Ashley:

My Granddaughter Allie:

And fishing in the backyard with the Grandkids.

Gotta love it!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 3:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

Those are some nice fish Joe, must have been fun on the Snoopy rods

Life really doesn't get much better than this

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:49 am

by Aripeka Angler

Great to hear from you Joe

Your girls look very happy...that really makes a day on the water special!
Nice fish too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 7:51 am

by cottontop

Nice to see everyone catching fish and having fun with their families. It has been a long year. I really hope to have my boat back in the water soon(thought it would have been much sooner). My oldest grandson asks me at least once a week when we're taking the boat out again. Larry, it won't be long and you will have grandchildren and know how much fun they are. John

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:22 am

by Mad Dog

Nice reports guys!!

Glad to see so many fishing reports. I guess I'm saving my all my report the end of season (not over yet). I have had more days on the water this year than I've had in a long time because of a treat I've given myself. SWMBO allowed me to put our boat in a valet storage facility which has been fantastic. With one hour notice they have my boat launched, fueled and ice in the boxes. We drive up load the tackle and off we go. When the day is done, the dock hands meet us and help with docking then help tote the tackle and stuff back to the the truck. Here's the best part, they lift the boat out of the water, flush the engine and pressure wash the hull then put it back in storage. So for the season I don't have to trailer the boat nor clean it. I don't take many luxuries in my life, just don't see the point usually, but this valet boat service is the way to go for an old guy like me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 1:13 pm

by Joe H

Thanks Larry,
Allie is something special, she loves the whole aspect of fishing, catching the bait, catching the fish, cleaning the fish, and best of all eating the fish!
And she will tell you herself, that’s her Dora The Explorer fishing pole, the other one might be a Snoopy pole, ha.

Richard,
Ashley remembers you cooking up fresh Grouper at one of the builders meets a few years back, she wants to know if you will take us out Grouper fishing sometime??? (me too)

BTW: I drilled the holes in the transom using the template you sent me, thank you very much.

John,
You have an endless summer there but hope to see you back in the water soon.

MD,
We have those services too at some of the Marina’s here in Michigan, people love them but I hear they are not cheap, if my boat wasn’t in the water behind the house I wonder if I would use it as much as I do, whatever it takes to get us out doing what we love is worth the price.

Thx
Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Joe H wrote:
Richard,
Ashley remembers you cooking up fresh Grouper at one of the builders meets a few years back, she wants to know if you will take us out Grouper fishing sometime??? (me too) BTW: I drilled the holes in the transom using the template you sent me, thank you very much.

Thx
Joe H

Joe, you and Ashley are welcme to come fish with us anytime

I will be planning a couple of trips in October if you can get away for a few days....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 6:16 pm

by Mad Dog

Joe H wrote:MD,
We have those services too at some of the Marina’s here in Michigan, people love them but I hear they are not cheap, if my boat wasn’t in the water behind the house I wonder if I would use it as much as I do, whatever it takes to get us out doing what we love is worth the price.
Thx
Joe H

No, it is not cheap. Around $300 per month. If I had a place on the water like some of you guys I wouldn't be so happy with this set up. However, I live 175 mile inland and had been towing my boat to the coast each trip. The savings on truck fuel, wear and tear, not having to launch and retrieve on my own, and no boat cleaning after a long day on the water makes it worth while. And, if I take a notion to make a day trip (which I do) it's all good.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:40 am

by majorgator

Shrimp, venison, hog, grouper and more side dishes than I could count

Not bad for some yankees

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:58 am

by Cracker Larry

Shrimp, venison, hog, grouper and more side dishes than I could count

Not bad for some yankees

They are settling right into southern living, now if we could just get them to lose those Minnesota accents

Sounds like fingernails on a chalk board

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 10:47 am

by tech_support

first wahoo on the seacraft.....

he was living under this.....

a homemade escape boat. made with fiberglass panels and a small gas engine, inflatable bags around the outside. Drug runners and human traffickers use big/fast/stolen boats, this "boat" was built with escape in mind. Trying to find out more info on it. It was pretty close to shore and there were a lot of other boats to see it before us.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 11:05 am

by Cracker Larry

That's not a wahoo, it's a weehoo

I hope those refugees made it to shore safely. I hate seeing stuff like that. Lot of misery in this world. What would it take to cause a man to load up his family on something like that and take off with destination and future unknown

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:20 pm

by tech_support

Seeing things like that help you appreciate of what you have.

That's not a wahoo, it's a weehoo

it was sure cute, really hard to get the steaks off though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 2:18 pm

by gk108

shine wrote: it was sure cute, really hard to get the steaks off though

Do you skin it or scale it or just eat it like a sardine

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

I bet the folks in that home made boat would have ate it like a sardine

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 4:46 pm

by BarraMan

The Barramundi fishing has been a bit slow this year due to the poor wet season, but seems to be picking up as summer approaches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn5WV5Xueys

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:36 am

by tech_support

had a great trip yesterday.... 2 swords, 2 dolphin, and a gag grouper

the bigger sword was a "pumpkin", the meat is supposed to be even better than regular swordfish. Will see about that tonight....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:39 am

by Cracker Larry

Way to go Joel

Dang those steaks look good, you've got my address right

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 1:29 pm

by Mad Dog

Way to go Joel. You're making it look fun!!

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:36 pm

by Benny Howard

All this talk about has given me the fishing bug too,still gonna be a month or 2 getting the xf20 in the water though. In the mean time the boss asked me to come up with a trip for 12-15 of us in Oct or early Nov. I know somebody in this group should have some good suggestions. Last year we went out of Pensacola in Oct and could do that trip again. It probably needs to be between Charleston, Pensacola and Jacksonville, coastal or inland, just so we can all stay in a fairly close group to fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 5:02 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice sword Joel

Did you weigh the fish in your photo?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 9:51 am

by tech_support

Thanks guys

You're making it look fun!!

Very fun to research something completely new, work at it, make it happen - like building a boat for the first time

There is a lot of "pondering" and garage testing of tackle

you've got my address right

Did you weigh the fish in your photo?

no, but the plug was very heavy, around 100 lbs. Headed and gutted it on the boat, then stuffed into bag. My bag is 50" long and the plug had to be bent. From looking at other fish that length it was prob 130-150.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 9:53 am

by tech_support

Benny Howard wrote:All this talk about has given me the fishing bug too,still gonna be a month or 2 getting the xf20 in the water though. In the mean time the boss asked me to come up with a trip for 12-15 of us in Oct or early Nov. I know somebody in this group should have some good suggestions. Last year we went out of Pensacola in Oct and could do that trip again. It probably needs to be between Charleston, Pensacola and Jacksonville, coastal or inland, just so we can all stay in a fairly close group to fish.

What sort of fishing do you like to do" GA and SC coast have their best inshore fishing in the fall, from Nassau all the way up to Charleston. I do not know much about the Gulf side

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 9:55 am

by Cracker Larry

Will you be bringing boats or looking for guided charters?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 2:12 pm

by Walkers Run

Went out Sunday with my son on a friends boat. 4 nice fish by 9:00 AM

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 9:33 am

by Benny Howard

Shine asked
Will you be bringing boats or looking for guided charters?

Last year was offshore, but personally I prefer inshore. Offshore everyone stays together on the same boat, that was the appeal for him last year but he wants to try something "different". We have considered a canoe/kayak drift trip but a couple of the guys couldn't handle that. We did a couple of trips to Brunswick/SSI for bull reds, in Oct, but got "skunked". We have even talked about some type of preserve hunt in Nov or Dec but that would be tough to put together for that many people. Needs to be a service with everything furnished by the guide though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 8:37 pm

by Aripeka Angler

WR, very nice dolphin

I haven't caught one yet this year...

My buddy Dave sent me this photo from Kodiak Island, AK. Man I miss AK...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 8:38 am

by Cracker Larry

Joel, Dori and I have been enjoying the success of your sword fishing labors

Try some wrapped in bacon and grilled! Thanks again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:54 pm

by tech_support

My pleasure Larry.

Wow that looks good. Will try the bacon wrap on my next steak

Going to make another run out to the sword grounds when the moon comes back around in a couple weeks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:30 pm

by Cracker Larry

Don't forget my address

That's good fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:29 am

by smilinmatt

It's hard to make something not taste good when it's wrapped in bacon, but a couple of my favorites are grouper cheeks and cobia chunks.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 4:15 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That looks mighty tasty Captain

I will have to try that...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 4:33 pm

by Cracker Larry

It was

We like to do the same thing with scallops too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 6:15 pm

by gk108

Cracker Larry wrote:It was We like to do the same thing with scallops too.

We sure do

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:50 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I gotta brag on my oldest youngster, she has turned out to be a pretty good angler

She caught and released this nice snook today....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 5:20 pm

by Cracker Larry

She looks like her Momma

Nice fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 9:31 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:She looks like her Momma

I'm glad for that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 8:32 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote: We like to do the same thing with scallops too.

We like it too! great late night snack! thanks for sharing,
El copycat Pedro

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 8:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

That looks good! What is the other dish, Pedro, plantains I think? We can't get decent plantains here

Joel's swordfish steak here tonight

A little lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, some spicy stuff, brushed with olive oil and grilled to perfection

Black beans and rice to go along. Fantastic!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:58 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:That looks good! What is the other dish, Pedro, plantains I think? We can't get decent plantains here

We have plantains here in our garden, Gloria is a master in growing those things (doble sentido) LOL

but what you see in the pic is just garlic bread

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 8:54 pm

by Cracker Larry

I think you burned the bread

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 10:57 pm

by Aripeka Angler

We went out 60 miles today with Derrick

It was a nice day... we got 20 nice mangroves, 1 yellowtail snapper, 2 beeliners,1 red grouper, 1 american red snapper and 4 huge reef donkeys...

Derrick cranking on a snapper...

Most of the snapper were bigger than this one...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 2:08 pm

by Joe H

Richard,
She looks just like Sandy! It's great when you can get out with the kids, looks like you a Derrick tore it up too, fantastic.

Larry, you guys are just teasing us northerners knowing the seafood we get up here isn't the freshest in the world, hell I'm not even sure where most of it comes from.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 5:06 pm

by Cracker Larry

It's shrimping season now Joe, and no, these shrimp were not pond raised in a Thailand cesspool

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:36 pm

by Joe H

It's shrimping season now Joe, and no, these shrimp were not pond raised in a Thailand cesspool

Now you’re just messing with me!

How about some fresh water fair, grilled cedar plank walleye, deep fried perch, grilled asparagus, and some other fixing’s.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:14 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a beautiful spread right there, Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:51 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Hey Joe, Steph indeed looks like a younger version of Sandi

Sorry I couldn't make it up to Michigan, it's been a weird year. Maybe next year...

Larry, good looking cooler loaded with shrimp

I have never caught them...can you give us a tutorial on how you do it?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 6:30 am

by majorgator

Joe, that is indeed a nice picture. I've never had walleye...is it similar to bass?

Larry, good looking cooler loaded with shrimp I have never caught them...can you give us a tutorial on how you do it?

Richard, I've never done it either and every year we talk about heading down to the St. Johns for the "run". From what I understand, when they're running in the St. Johns, the tactic is to simply delpoy your cast net and then retrieve

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:35 pm

by Joe H

Hey Seth, Nothing like Bass, Walleye to me is the best tasting freshwater fish along with perch, It has a mild fish-like taste and is delicate, light, and flakey, similar to flounder, really good!

Richard, that’s too bad, I had your days planned out, I was up in northern Michigan deer hunting last week at my brothers cabin and his son was there, he’s a charter Captain on the Great Lakes and after telling him about ya-alls southern hospitality said whatever we wanted to do he would take us out, duck hunting, musky, walleye or Bass fishing,,, it’s probably for the better though, I’m slammed at work right now and I think they would have a fit if I take anymore time off this year

Oh well, Jan and I will down that way in the spring, hope to see you then.

Larry, those shrimp sure do look good, hope eveything is going okay with you and Dori, love ya man!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:20 pm

by Larry B

Found this while searching some stuff and thought I'd share it. I thought it was cute, along with Reality for some.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 10:52 pm

by gstanfield

I agree with Joe in regards to walleye. They are far and away the best tasting fresh water fish in my opinion.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:05 am

by blueflood

I second that...it has a mild sweet flavour on my taste buds !

Marc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:17 pm

by peter-curacao

Went out today, only 1 small tuna good for 3,6 kg loins incl. tartar meat, we had to go back early to help some lady who got a concussion on a banana ride

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:13 am

by Cracker Larry

That sure looks great. Love fresh tuna

Make sure you don't cook it too much

(That's a joke, I know better).

What kind of tuna is it? And whatinhell is a bananna ride

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:38 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:That sure looks great. Love fresh tuna Make sure you don't cook it too much (That's a joke, I know better).

What kind of tuna is it? And whatinhell is a bananna ride

A big eye

A charter company here (http://www.mermaidboattrips.com) offers day trips to klein Curacao (little Curacao) once there you can take part in different activities including a banana ride, don't know the exact name, it looks like a banana to me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:49 am

by wadestep

It's a bad picture, but it's also Robin's first deer. Last weekend. Small buck, about 120+/- lbs.

Down here, a 150# deer would be about the largest you'll find.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:57 am

by Aripeka Angler

Nice looking tuna steaks Peter

I had some raw YF myself yesterday.

Wade, that's a fine deer

Did Robin get the first deer blood ritual?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 11:35 am

by tech_support

nice tuna meat, we do not get much big eye tuna here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 12:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

Big Eye is fantastic! I wish I was having dinner at Peter's house tonight

Dang Wade, that wife of yours is something else

Fish catchin' (I've seen her do it), gator huntin', deer slayin', boat building engineer and all round southern lady, and looks good doing it too

You done real good with that one. Here she is working on some dolphin in that little school we found off Marathon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 1:52 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote: Make sure you don't cook it too much (That's a joke, I know better).

LOL

no cooking required

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

That makes my stomach cry. Dang Pedro, that looks fabulous

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 8:35 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Went out fishing today with my hog exterminator and his wife

We killed and threw back a ton of gags...

Happy fisher folks

Yeah, I need to paint my dock

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:24 am

by tech_support

wow, thats a great trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 4:05 pm

by Aripeka Angler

shine wrote:wow, thats a great trip

The best part was we were only in 35 feet of water

After we got plenty of grouper we decided to troll for mackerel to get away from the gags. Didn't work too good, we released 8 keeper sized grouper in less than 30 minutes pulling a king spoon behind a #3 planer. Only had one line out...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 4:17 pm

by tech_support

Didn't work too good, we released 8 keeper sized grouper in less than 30 minutes pulling a king spoon behind a #3 planer. Only had one line out...

now your rubbing it in

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 4:47 pm

by wadestep

Aripeka Angler wrote: Wade, that's a fine deer Did Robin get the first deer blood ritual?

Yep, that's what's on her cheeks. She balked a little at first, but I told her that's just how it goes. Kinda like getting thrown off the boat when you catch your first billfish. I still was surprised she did the deer blood thing, though, I think she was still in shock!
PS - Nice catch the other day - those groupers look great!

Cracker Larry wrote:Dang Wade, that wife of yours is something else Fish catchin' (I've seen her do it), gator huntin', deer slayin', boat building engineer and all round southern lady, and looks good doing it too You done real good with that one. Here she is working on some dolphin in that little school we found off Marathon.

I sure got lucky with that one! Better than I deserve most days. Thanks.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 8:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

now your rubbing it in

I'm telling you, he is rubbing it in

I was supposed to be down there this weekend with him

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 8:42 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
now your rubbing it in
I'm telling you, he is rubbing it in I was supposed to be down there this weekend with him

My bad

Joel and Larry, the season is open until December 3rd, maybe if everything goes well we can sneak in a trip in late November?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 4:56 pm

by Fred in Wisc

Caught my biggest salmon to date on a fly rod.

36.5" and estimated 18 pounds. Pretty fun on a 7 weight rod in a little river.

Unfortunately I stepped on the rod wrestling him into the cooler. You can see the tip at the top of the pic, broke off about 18", dang it. Not sure if I should buy a new one or build a custom rod. Thinking an 8 or 9 weight this time though.

The photo isn't real good, just a cel phone pic and it was dark out already so he looks way darker than he was. Tasted great smoked, though!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 6:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice Fred

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 12:13 pm

by HTJ

My son in law to be and I went out for a lazy half day offshore a while back. We culled and sorted our way through maybe 25 snapper (and the most athletic Atlantic Sharpnosed shark I have ever encountered) to get these keepers and a nice Spanish Mackerel. The snapper are fairly entertaining on a diamond jig fished with an appropriately light rig. And beyond big and plentiful if you make the run to get into 120' or more of water.

[URL=http://s1115.photobucket.com/user/ ... .jpg[/img][/url]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 6:46 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish HTJ

I love red snapper

Derrick and I went out after lunch today to catch some fish. It was flat calm and we were able to shoot out 27 miles in just under 45 minutes...

This is Derrick with a couple of nice fish we got in 35 feet...

I think Derrick got some pics on the water, maybe he will put them up later...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 7:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

Dang nice gags. I need to head south

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 9:43 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Aripeka Angler wrote:Nice fish HTJ I love red snapper

Derrick and I went out after lunch today to catch some fish. It was flat calm and we were able to shoot out 27 miles in just under 45 minutes...

This is Derrick with a couple of nice fish we got in 35 feet...

I think Derrick got some pics on the water, maybe he will put them up later...

One of Derrick's pics. Gag me with a spoon

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 7:39 am

by tech_support

pretty awesome right there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 8:11 am

by Benny Howard

I was in Steinhatchee 2 weeks ago on a kayak trip. Hooked up with some nice trout and 1 25" red and 1 18" flounder. Not many fish, but had a great paddle trip going out of the creeks. Got into some tailing reds one morning (reds tailing for miles, every where you looked) but could not get a bite. They would push a mud minnow out of the way to find whatever they were after, even dropped a crab in front of one of them and he turned it down.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 11:27 am

by HTJ

Pending world record smile!

As anyone that has fished the western Gulf knows we dont get alot of good weather days to go offshore, sometimes you just have to scratch the itch with a box of dead shrimp and some croakers or hardheads. Little HTJ has been going out with me since he was 2 months old and other than constantly trying to throw my pliers over the side is developing into a fisherman.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 1:17 pm

by Mad Dog

That's a priceless set of pics.

Know what you mean about the offshore opportunities. Everytime I see one of Richard's pics from Florida I get a case of envy.

I did spend the past two days inshore near Aransas Pass with SWMBO. The weather of course was not in accord with the forcast but we gave it a shot. I found some reds under the slot and one keeper trout. No flounder, go figure. To my surprise the red drum were all caught on top water lures. What a rush on light tackle to see one blow up on the lure then take off on a dead run. SWMBO's not into the fishing but she does love to read, so I give her uninterupted book time while I stalk the flats. Win-Win.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:50 pm

by HTJ

Yeah at least once per year I come home beat up and disgusted after a forecast of 1'-2' turns into 3'-4' on a 4 second interval with 20 knots of wind, ususally promising to sell my boat and become a bay fisherman. But then we get one of those magic days in the Gulf with not a ripple in sight and you can't beat the 40 lb kings and ling off your line and massive weedlines form up swarming with mahi and the odd surprise wahoo threatens to remove your thumbprint and...ahhh yes the Gulf gives but it demands patience.

Now if Cracker Larrys stinking cold front would just move on and leave us be, it's blowing so hard now I saw an airplane flying backwards...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 3:36 pm

by Cracker Larry

Now if Cracker Larrys stinking cold front would just move on and leave us be, it's blowing so hard now I saw an airplane flying backwards..

Our forecast is for 40 kts for the next 2 days, and temps falling like a rock

I come home beat up and disgusted after a forecast of 1'-2' turns into 3'-4' on a 4 second interval with 20 knots of wind,

That ain't no sea for a sailor

And if you think the FL gulf coast is calm, you just ain't been there very often

It can be a mighty sloppy piece of water

Everytime I see one of Richard's pics from Florida I get a case of envy.

I could show you pics of a few trips I've had with Richard that you probably wouldn't be envious of at all, except I was too busy holding on and trying not to puke to take many pictures

Wasn't much to see anyway except water on all six sides. This is Capt. "I think it's laying down now" Richard we are talking about here, the master of optimism, if not weather forecasting

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 5:01 pm

by HTJ

That ain't no sea for a sailor And if you think the FL gulf coast is calm, you just ain't been there very often It can be a mighty sloppy piece of water

Believe me I have been there and done that

. I dont think we have anything that matches Jupiter inlet for nasty

I will however take east coast swells over GOM chop any day! It seems to just be relentless at times, there have been 4 doable weekends this year and I was quite proud to have made it out for 2 of 'em. And since our tuna trip to LA got blown out last month my missus grew weary of hearing me cry and just bought me a new top from Atlantic Towers. Life is good, if windy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 7:03 pm

by Benny Howard

I posted a few weeks ago and we talked about my boss getting a company trip up. He ended up booking a offshore trip out of Pensacola 2nd week in Dec. Never tried offshore that time of year but sounds like it could be one of the "deadly catch scenarios y'all are referring to but I'm game if he is.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 2:13 pm

by Southern Gent

Benny, Winter Fishing out of Pensacola or other Gulf Ports is a matter of hitting between fronts moving through. It's My personal favorite time. Best Wishes. I'm fishing Leeville LA. The week before Thanksgiving for the 9th year some years it was shirt sleeve weather and others had white caps in the minnow bucket.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:25 pm

by Aripeka Angler

This is Capt. "I think it's laying down now" Richard we are talking about here, the master of optimism, if not weather forecasting

My thinking is if it's really bad, you have to be careful not to look scared in front of the crew

It was blowing 30-40 today, I was plenty happy on land...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:16 pm

by gk108

Aripeka Angler wrote:It was blowing 30-40 today, I was plenty happy on land...

My land wasn't the safest place today. I had 2 large limbs break out of my oak trees. No boats were damaged.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 9:24 am

by tech_support

you have to be careful not to look scared in front of the crew

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 9:35 am

by Cracker Larry

Don't let him fool you, I've seen him scared once. Don't think it had anything to do with the weather though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 10:28 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Don't let him fool you, I've seen him scared once. Don't think it had anything to do with the weather though

How are you looking for a road trip? We are going out next weekend if it's not blowing...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:29 am

by Cracker Larry

How are you looking for a road trip? We are going out next weekend if it's not blowing..

I would love to Richard, but Dori starts her radiation treatments next week and I need to see how she does with that. If she's feeling bad I can't leave her for a weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:44 am

by Aripeka Angler

We are wishing Dori has a speedy recovery Larry

Please let her know we are thinking about her.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:46 am

by Cracker Larry

Will do, thanks. She also said thanks for the card y'all recently sent her

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 8:11 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Wow, got talked into venturing out with a neighbor 25 miles today in a 17 foot Triton. Pretty nice little boat...damn, little waves look big in a small boat

Pics...Got a limit of fish

The excited boat owner

Me with a 31 inch gag, can you get that ruler out of the pic

The ride out of the channel at Bayport

Going out on my boat in the morning...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 8:31 pm

by Cracker Larry

Rubbing it in some more, huh? Like salt in a wound. And look at those short pants. I'm wearing 3 shirts. Y'all suck. I'm coming. Think I'm moving south

What is that, a Drone spoon in that gag's mouth? Did you catch it trolling?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 8:48 pm

by Aripeka Angler

What is that, a Drone spoon in that gag's mouth? Did you catch it trolling?

Yes, we have been almost catching a limit of gags in 20-30 minutes trolling king spoons. We have been saving a couple of fish of our limit for brute force live bait drops

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 8:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Cool. Figured it was trolling. Keep that invite open until Wednesday and I'll let you know.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:06 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Will do Captain

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 6:05 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Mrs. AA and I spent our day off fishing

It sure is nice having a wife who doesn't mind getting fishy

It was a cloudy, dreary day without a breath of wind. Really weird, it's usually howling ahead of a cold front

We got a limit of fish despite the full moon and the dropping barometer...

Typical fish, check out the fog and flat sea...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 9:51 am

by tech_support

thats awesome.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:44 am

by wadestep

That's a nice gag - sounds like you guys really have been catching them! I'm jealous - every weekend here for the past 6 has been too windy, and no extra days off... and the freezer's empty of fish...
30 mins of trolling and you're at your limit - rough life

.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:52 am

by Cracker Larry

and the freezer's empty of fish...

I just pulled out our last package of grouper steaks for tonight's supper. Doing my best to make it to Hudson this weekend

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 3:08 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Wade, It's been a great fall for shallow water grouper

I usually don't troll for them but they are so thick I think you could catch them with anything. Trolling seems to help with weeding out the dinks too. I haven't fished any deeper than 39 feet on my last 4 trips...

Doing my best to make it to Hudson this weekend

It's going to have to be fishing Friday/Saturday. It's going to be howling on Sunday and I don't think it's going to lay down

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 3:32 pm

by Cracker Larry

Howling here. 50 degrees and 25 kts. It looks like I can get a hall pass and the weather will be decent Saturday from what I see.. Saturday night and Sunday look like a blow out for sure.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... 2734207362

Saturday: ENE wind 5 to 8 kt becoming variable and less than 5 kt. Mostly sunny. Seas 1 ft or less.

I like that, but I know they lie

If it still looks good to you, I can head down Friday morning, fish Saturday, and come home on Sunday. Mrs. Cracker says go while I can

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 6:15 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
If it still looks good to you, I can head down Friday morning, fish Saturday, and come home on Sunday. Mrs. Cracker says go while I can

Come on down

Saturday is looking good!

Saturday: Northeast winds around 10 knots then becoming north in the afternoon. Seas 2 feet or less. Bay and inland waters a light chop.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 8:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Unless I tell you otherwise, I'll see you Fri afternoon, usual time. Should I bring some trolling lures

I reckon you are pulling those spoons on planers ?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 8:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

It's going to be howling on Sunday and I don't think it's going to lay down

When Richard says that, start filling your sand bags and boarding up the windows

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:26 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I will be looking for you on Friday. Bring a couple of king spoons and #3 planers if you already have 'em. If the weather is good it should be great fishing

Edit...The fishing is going to be great even if it's howling

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

I think it will lay down

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 5:56 am

by stickystuff

Larry, Call me before you head back home. I am only about 30 to 45 min. away from Richard. I actually live about 1 mile from the park where we had the CR Get together. 352 342-6619. I am one block off Hwy 19.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:38 pm

by majorgator

Northeast winds around 10 knots then becoming north in the afternoon. Seas 2 feet or less. Bay and inland waters a light chop.

I remember a similar forecast prior to a trip about a year ago.

Let's hope that NOAA has it together for your trip this weekend

On the other hand, I'm going to see how many does I can kill on Saturday. Should we place a bet on who comes back with more meat?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:10 pm

by Aripeka Angler

majorgator wrote: Should we place a bet on who comes back with more meat?

I think so

Are we weighing dressed meat in packages or on the hoof or fin

We may be going to a wreck, I'll see your does and raise you 4 amberjacks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:32 pm

by Cracker Larry

I've got plenty of deer for the killin' in the front yard. Pick one. I like the small ones best, can't eat horns anyway

Living here takes all the sport out of deer hunting. Ain't got no grouper my front yard though, but I've got friends who have

Larry, Call me before you head back home.

I'll call you, Ken, thanks!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

majorgator wrote: Should we place a bet on who comes back with more meat?

Seth, I'd take that bet

I'll see your does and raise you 4 amberjacks

I'll just let Richard handle the AJs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

majorgator » Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:38 pm

Northeast winds around 10 knots then becoming north in the afternoon. Seas 2 feet or less. Bay and inland waters a light chop.

I remember a similar forecast prior to a trip about a year ago.

I don't think anyone on the boat that day will forget that trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:52 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I invited Bo this weekend but he said no

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:00 pm

by Joe H

You guys suck, freezing rain, all of the boats are out of the water in winter storage, no fishing around here until hard water!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

I've got a 6 acre piece of land I could sell you, where the water seldom freezes, except in the dogs water bowl sometimes on bad days, and deer walk through the yard every day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:06 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Joe, I would move south

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

I invited Bo this weekend but he said no

Poor Bo. He might still be throwing up from that trip. He was one sick pilgrim that day

I doubt he'd ever get on a boat with you again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:14 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
I invited Bo this weekend but he said no
Poor Bo. He might still be throwing up from that trip. He was one sick pilgrim

That was a rough trip

I don't want any more of that unless it involves epic fish catching. 8- 12 seas suck. See you tomorrow Cracker.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

That was a rough trip I don't want any more of that unless it involves epic fish catching. 8- 12 seas suck. See you tomorrow Cracker.

Ya think ? How can you have epic fish catching in 8-12' seas? The drift that day was about 20 kts, and anchoring the boat was uh, problematic at best. Pulling up the anchor a couple times was, uh, worse than that

If we were NFL players we'd be dead right now

Didn't someone take a picture that day? It wasn't me, but you could look in all 6 directions and see nothing but water

Not a sport for the faint of heart, a crappy boat or a bad captain. We still caught some very nice fish though, as rough as it was, but I think everybody threw up at least once. Some more than once. The best thing about a bad day is that they help you appreciate the good ones:D

I don't care what the weather does, I don't care if the fish bite, I don't really even care if I puke, but I'd rather not

Looking forward to seeing you again tomorrow.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 6:23 am

by majorgator

Didn't someone take a picture that day?

Yeah, if I remember right it was a picture of Bo holding a giant grouper. The picture has almost sideways and the waves in the background appeared perpendicular

That was the last time Bo smiled until land appeared on the horizon.

I'll see your does and raise you 4 amberjacks

Venison makes better smoked sausage than AJ's

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 7:16 pm

by Cracker Larry

When you put a Georgia Cracker and a couple of Florida Crackers together on a boat, good things can happen

We could not have ordered a better day, perfect temperature, calm seas, blue sky, and the gag grouper bite was epic just ahead of this cold front

Got back to the dock right before it started to blow. Don't even know how many fish we caught, but it was a lot, freezer is stocked for another 6 months

Great weather, great fishing, great friends, life just doesn't get better than yesterday

Was having too much fun to take a picture all day, except a couple at the dock.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 7:24 pm

by peter-curacao

¡buen provecho! wish I was there with you guys!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:05 am

by stickystuff

We did almost as well as the two cracker boys did. My friend and his wife went 13 miles out and had 4 nice big grouper in the 10# range.I left my camera in the truck. did take some pics with my cell phonebut am not on line with my phone. I have tried to download pics before but to no avail. Any body know how? I am on Sprint for phone.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:39 am

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:¡buen provecho! wish I was there with you guys!

We had a great time Peter

Someday we will have to get you out with us

Hey Ken, text those pics to me. I will put them up for you

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 12:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

24 packages of grouper fillets, vacuum packed and in the freezer

Thanks again Richard and Derrick, yall are some fine shipmates

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:20 pm

by Aripeka Angler

You're welcome Larry

I sure enjoyed the heck out of that trip. Just one week left in the season and looks like a blowout. We couldn't have picked a more perfect weekend

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:31 pm

by Cracker Larry

Or better company to share it with

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:22 pm

by HTJ

I'm telling ya, you guys are on the wrong side of the gulf, you really need to come enjoy this....

GMZ300-261015-
SYNOPSIS FOR HIGH ISLAND TO MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL OUT 60 NM...
STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY.
THE APPROACH AND PASSAGE OF AN UPPER LOW...WITH ITS ASSOCIATED
NORTHEASTERN GULF SURFACE TROUGH...WILL MAINTAIN A VERY TIGHT
OFFSHORE PRESSURE GRADIENT. ELEVATED SEAS AND MAINLY SCATTERED
SHOWERS THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

GMZ370-375-261015-
WATERS FROM FREEPORT TO THE MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL 20 NM TO 60 NM-
WATERS FROM HIGH ISLAND TO FREEPORT 20 TO 60 NM-
345 PM CST MON NOV 25 2013

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT

TONIGHT
NORTH WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 8 TO 11 FEET. SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT.

TUESDAY
NORTHWEST WINDS AROUND 25 KNOTS. SEAS 8 TO 10 FEET
BUILDING TO 9 TO 12 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN
THE MORNING...THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.

TUESDAY NIGHT
NORTH WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 8 TO 11 FEET. A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE EVENING.

WEDNESDAY
NORTH WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS DECREASING TO 15 TO
20 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 6 TO 9 FEET SUBSIDING TO 4 TO
6 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON.

I cant remember the last fishable day we had, and certainly no keeper grouper 13 miles out. I am officially jealous

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

It's the same on this side of the gulf, and the Atlantic. We knew we had a very narrow weather window to fish, took advantage of it and got in a great trip just a couple hours ahead of it. Calm most of the day, then the wind backed to the north and picked up. We were expecting it, that was our signal to leave. By the time we got back in it was blowing 15. By the time we had the boat and fish cleaned it was blowing 20. A little later it was really blowing

This is my current forecast... no fishing here for a few days either. Got to get it while the getting is good

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING... .WED...W WINDS 20 TO 25 KT WITH GUSTS TO 30 KT. SEAS 6 TO 8 FT...

Synopsis...HIGH PRESSURE TO THE NORTH WILL STEADILY SLIP OFF THE COAST TONIGHT. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP IN THE GULF OF MEXICO AND TRACK THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT...RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA. A TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY...WITH COOLER HIGH PRESSURE TO BUILD FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THIS WEEK INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.
Tonight: ENE wind 11 to 13 kt becoming ESE after midnight. A chance of rain, mainly after 1am. Seas 3 to 4 ft.

Tuesday: SE wind 12 to 15 kt becoming S in the afternoon. Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Seas 4 to 5 ft.

Tuesday Night: S wind around 18 kt. Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Seas around 5 ft.

Wednesday: WSW wind 18 to 21 kt becoming WNW in the afternoon. A chance of showers before 1pm. Seas 3 to 4 ft.

Wednesday Night: WNW wind 14 to 16 kt becoming N after midnight. Mostly clear. Seas around 3 ft.

Thanksgiving Day: NNE wind 12 to 14 kt. Sunny. Seas 3 to 4 ft.

Thursday Night: NE wind 11 to 13 kt. Mostly clear. Seas around 3 ft.

Friday: NNE wind 14 to 16 kt. Mostly sunny. Seas around 3 ft.

Friday Night: NNE wind 13 to 15 kt. Partly cloudy. Seas 3 to 4 ft.

MARINERS ARE REMINDED THAT WINDS AND SEAS CAN BE HIGHER IN AND
NEAR TSTMS.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:52 pm

by HTJ

Larry you getting any rain with those flat

seas? It's poured here all day, and a mite frosty too. One o them yanks definitely left the door open.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:56 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Pretty much the same here. We are going Saturday, I think it will lay down

Hazardous marine condition(s):

Small Craft Advisory
Hazardous Weather Outlook

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO MARINERS...
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING......
Tonight: Southeast winds around 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet. A slight chance of showers in the evening...then a chance of showers after midnight.

Tuesday: South winds 20 to 25 knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet. Showers and a chance of thunderstorms.

Tuesday Night: West winds 20 to 25 knots. Seas 6 to 10 feet. Showers and a chance of thunderstorms.

Wednesday: Northwest winds 20 to 25 knots. Seas 6 to 10 feet.

Wednesday Night: North winds 20 to 25 knots diminishing to around 20 knots after midnight. Seas 6 to 10 feet.

Thursday: Northeast winds around 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet.

Thursday Night: Northeast winds around 20 knots. Seas 3 to 5 feet.

Friday: Northeast winds around 20 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet.

Friday Night: Northeast winds 20 to 25 knots. Seas 3 to 5 feet.

Saturday: Northeast winds around 20 knots. Seas 3 to 5 feet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 9:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

Larry you getting any rain with those flat seas?

Raining, cold and blowing 25 kts here. The flat seas lasted about 10 hours, and we were there for them

I think it will lay down

The best quote ever

I hope it does for you when your kids come in for the holidays. I bet you can squeeze in another good opportunity between fronts. Only need 8 good hours to catch a mess of fish. Timing is everything this time of year and you are pretty good at that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:19 am

by tech_support

nice fish

Its 10'-13' sea over on this side

its been 15 to 25+ knots for 3 weeks.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:10 am

by Cracker Larry

This is going to be an ugly week for doing much of anything

Larry you getting any rain with those flat seas?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 12:26 pm

by Joe H

by Cracker Larry » Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:10 am

This is going to be an ugly week for doing much of anything

WOW, hang on to your hats! My garage is heated, you can always come up here and help me with my wireing!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 6:34 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Brrr

Another successful trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 7:56 pm

by Southern Gent

My Buddy and I fished Leeville,LA. Thursday afternoon 11/21 & Friday 11/22 Limited out on Specks and a couple RedFish. Saturday 11/23 was tough with 20MPH winds and cold. We fished and caught a few fish. Sunday my 40HP engine quit at the Marina Exit ( Clean living Pays ) Towed in cleaning all our fish.

Monday morning while returning Home a fellow T-Boned me totaling my 1995 Silverado 4x4. No personal injuries to either of us. He hit me, had he made it in front of me. Well your never know.

No sleep with a new Baby and a Cell phone user caused this wreck.

We have fresh fish and I'm looking for my next Truck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 8:17 pm

by robbiro

Congrats on the fish and ouch on the being run over by a CELL PHONE NERD!! Best wishes on finding a new ride. Hope that your holidays were good even with the interesting activity.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 8:43 am

by Southern Gent

Thanks Robbie

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 9:00 am

by Cracker Larry

Another great trip, Capt. Richard

Harrison's new GF looks good too

If you ever quit your day job, you'll make a fine charter boat captain

Dang, Southern Gent, sure glad nobody was injured

It was about time for a new truck anyway

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 6:57 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:If you ever quit your day job, you'll make a fine charter boat captain

Thanks but I don't think I could handle the stress if it was like the trip Sunday. Fog, fog and more fog. Cold wet and more fog. Sometimes I couldn't see the bow pulpit. Sure glad I had radar or we would have run over 2 or 3 small boats. Had to idle the channel in the Devil's Rock Yard going out and coming in. The Humminbird track was the only way we stayed off the rocks...
But it was all good because no one got hurt and the boat didn't break

And we hammered the gags

Bill, sorry to hear about your accident! Glad you weren't injured and hope you are well compensated for your lost truck

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 9:08 am

by Cracker Larry

Sometimes I couldn't see the bow pulpit. Sure glad I had radar or we would have run over 2 or 3 small boats. Had to idle the channel in the Devil's Rock Yard going out and coming in.

I'd be concerned about all those dang stone crab pots, and those friggin gill nets

I couldn't believe that gill net we came across last week stretched out for 2 miles

That thing could ruin your whole day.

it was all good because no one got hurt and the boat didn't break And we hammered the gags

That's my definition of a perfect day on the water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:04 am

by Aripeka Angler

I didn't see the gill net guys on Sunday. Glad I didn't

I just got this from my marine science major son. I think he is doing research in Estero Bay

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 11:12 am

by tech_support

Went out on Saturday. The plan was to go way out for daytime swordfish, but weather conditions were a little sloppy so we stayed in a trolled. I was joined by Bob (walkersrun) and his son Patrick; both local customers and forum members. Bob is building the CS25 and Patrick just wrapped up a nice seacraft rebuild

Nice day, action was decent, company was excellent. Sailfish tournament guys were all over, we saw several boats with double sailfish hook ups.

Ended up with a nice sized sail, and small dolphin, kingfish and bonita. Lost a gaffer sized dolphin

most fish were in close, less than 120'

the sailfish fleet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 11:36 am

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:02 am

by wadestep

Finally had good enough weather last Sat to get offshore. We rode about 30 miles out with the Pop-in-law and my wife. Fishing was fairly good. We drifted and bottom fished all day - mixure of both dead and live baits, in about 70-80' of water. The total count was about 40 grouper, of which 6 were keepers (plus one big, endangered gag we threw back).

Those grouper rounded out to 36 grouper dinners!.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:05 am

by Cracker Larry

Those are some big reds

Nice.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:21 am

by Benny Howard

Loving the pics y'all. Got the bug for our Saturday bottom trip out of Pensacola. Hope the weather don't hurt us.

.SATURDAY...SOUTH WINDS 13 TO 16 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. SHOWERS
LIKELY AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.

We have to make a decision tomorrow on whether we want to go through with it or not. I'm thinking we'll
probably be okay in a big boat but somebody will get seasick for sure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:22 am

by Benny Howard

BTW - temp 72 degrees forecasted.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:54 am

by tech_support

Nice Grouper Wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:57 am

by Cracker Larry

We have to make a decision tomorrow on whether we want to go through with it or not. I'm thinking we'll
probably be okay in a big boat but somebody will get seasick for sure.

Don't worry Benny, it will lay down

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 6:38 pm

by Benny Howard

It's not me I'm worried about. We have one of our guys that can't get away from the dock good before he starts but he keeps going.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 7:46 pm

by Cracker Larry

I know what you mean, always good to laugh at people who feel worse than you do, until you are there and feel the same way. Ugh, it's an ugly feeling

No Excuse is going fishing early in the morning, no matter. It might not be above freezing, it might be raining, it will surely be windy, but it's time to fish and that's what I'm going to do, might even catch some shrimp. Too cold to fiberglass anyway

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 8:18 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:always good to laugh at people who feel worse than you do, until you are there and feel the same way.

I hate to do that and never will! karma's is a B..ch!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 9:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

hate to do that and never will! karma's is a B..ch!!

I will

Of course that gives them every right to laugh at me too, and that's cool. If you've never been seasick, you just never been out much, because it can and will happen to all of us sometimes. My stomach is usually pretty solid, but there are some days when it's not. If you're feeling pretty good first thing in the morning after a long rough night, a good swig of gasoline in the ice along with the morning orange juice will cure that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 9:21 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote: If you've never been seasick, you just never been out much, because it can and will happen to all of us sometimes.

I agree, I stay about half sick almost every time I go out. I have to tell myself I am having fun even when I'm not

Nice fish Wade

Holy cow that's a big red grouper...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:39 pm

by Benny Howard

Larry, where would you find shrimp this time of the year? (or is it a secret).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:39 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote: If you've never been seasick, you just never been out much, because it can and will happen to all of us sometimes.

I was when passing the channel from Holland to Ramsgate UK, men that was hell, although it isn't a very long trip it seemed like an eternity sailing that sea.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 1:09 pm

by wadestep

Aripeka Angler wrote:
Nice fish Wade Holy cow that's a big red grouper...

Thanks! - The pops-in-law had never been out with us before (just retired down here), so it was fun watching him drag in the most impressive fish of the trip. Robin, on the other hand, kept feeding the sharks and jewfish... Had to break off 3 HUGE fish we couldn't stop and didn't want to waste an hour on. She did land about a 6 foot shark, and made it look easy, so I can only guess on the fish she didn't stand a chance on.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 4:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Wade, great you were able to put Robin's dad onto some fish

I get more fun out of watching friends catch than myself. Especially big fish like that one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 7:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Larry, where would you find shrimp this time of the year? (or is it a secret).

It's a local secret, but I'll tell you

We use a technique called deep holing. This time of year the shrimp congregate in the bottom of some deep holes in medium size rivers. They bunch up real tight and when you find them you can catch a lot in a hurry. The trick is to find isolated holes about 35' deep, zoom down with a good fish finder with bottom lock turned on and once you know what to look for you can spot them easy. My machine shows them as blue hash marks right on the bottom. Sort of like grouper fishing

It requires a special cast net called a deep hole net, with heavy weights and nylon webbing sewn around the bottom perimeter. Some people just use duct tape. The webbing gives the net more resistance and keeps it open while it falls 40 feet.

We had to go to 5 different holes today before we finally found some shrimp, but once we found them we filled the livewell with one cast and half a cooler with another. Then went fishing, used too much time hunting bait. Fish bite was non-stop from low tide to high, one of those days where you catch or miss a fish every cast. Probably caught near 100 mixed trout, redfish, black drum and sheepshead. Nothing large, nothing much short either, mostly slot fish except 1 sheep about 6 pounds. Left them biting at almost dark. And dang it was cold out on the water today

My bones are still cold.

No Excuse was happy to get out and stretch her legs too, she had been feeling neglected

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:34 am

by tech_support

NICE day

I thought I remembered them putting restriction on the big hole nets

Maybe it was just in SC. Its great fun to pull in 20+ lbs of shrimp in one toss.

nothing much short either, mostly slot fish except 1 sheep about 6 pounds.

We were up in Athens a couple weekends ago, and there were two separate downtown restaurants selling sheephead at $25+ a plate.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 5:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

I thought I remembered them putting restriction on the big hole nets Maybe it was just in SC. Its great fun to pull in 20+ lbs of shrimp in one toss.

We were in your home waters, Joel. Colleton and Cheechessee rivers. They have a closed season now in the coldest months when it's the best, but we've had a cold fall and they were early in the holes this year. It closes in a couple of days for food shrimp, closed Dec. 16- April 1. You can still cast for bait all winter, but are limited to 12 dozen in the boat, dead or alive.

Pulling that big heavy net up from 40' when it's full of shrimp is about as much fun as pulling in Richard's anchor

But the rewards are equally good, as long as you drop it in the right place the first time or 2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:21 pm

by Benny Howard

That's awesome Larry. I'm not too proud to go this time of year if I think there is a good chance of it being productive. I can fish
or go skiing but If the fish are biting, I'll prefer that anytime.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:24 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm not too proud to go this time of year if I think there is a good chance of it being productive. I can fish
or go skiing but If the fish are biting, I'll prefer that anytime.

Fishing is always productive Benny

It's not always good for the freezer but it's always good for the soul, and some days it's good for character building

The fish have to eat every day no matter what the weather or time of year. You have to adjust the methods and tactics to catch them and wear more clothes to do it, but winter fishing is as good as summer, sometimes better, just different. And skiing requires snow, I don't do snow.

I had all intentions of doing some boat work yesterday, but a fishing buddy called me and asked if I wanted to squeeze in one more trip for the year. Sand a boat in the cold, or go fishing in the cold, hmmmm, decisions..

Hell yeah, let's go fishing

It was windy, cloudy and cold. I wore my long underwear, flannel lined jeans, 2 pair of socks, insulated boots, 4 sweatshirts, a heavy jacket and a sock hat. Still dang near froze to death. My teeth were chattering hard enough to induce extra rod action.
We were too lazy and late on the tide to throw the deep hole net so we went to the bait shop in Beaufort to buy some live shrimp. They were out of shrimp, dangit, so we were left with mud minners and fiddler crabs. Bought every minner they had, 6 dozen, and 50 fiddlers. Had a pound of dead shrimp too.

As we were pulling into our favorite little creek 3 dolphin were swimming out with smiles on their faces, not a good sign for redfish and trout. That proved to be true. We caught zero redfish, nada, and only a half dozen small trout barely legal size, but about 50 black drum, most of them 1/2" short of legal but 1 whopper, they fight good, half a dozen sheepshead, only 2 barely legal keeping size, 1 small flounder who was lost and a half dozen yellowtails who were also very lost.

We fished until almost sunset and down to our last 2 dead shrimp, then I made the biggest catch of the day

My partner hooked on one of our last shrimp, threw it out then set his rod down to light a cigarette. A fish hit it hard and snatched the rod clean out of the boat

It looked like a water ski going up the creek. I had just reeled in my carolina rig and sent a long cast towards the retreating rod. Somehow I managed to hook it up solid and fought it plus the fish on it slowly back to the boat. My partner grabbed the rod then played in the fish

Another fat sheepshead, one of the best of the day

He told me that was a $200 cast

Packed it up and went home. Only took one picture all day, on the ride back in. Not a bad end to 2013.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 5:01 am

by cottontop

I agree with you about being on or near the water and fishing just about beats anything else. Happy New Years "everyone". John

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:40 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fishing report Cracker

I haven't been able to go myself but you will like this report. This fish was caught today on the GF12 boat you built and Harrison finished

It was a nice 27 inch red on a top water plug...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:53 am

by stickystuff

Richard, Was riding around yesterday in Aripeka. Couldn't remember where your house was. I have address out in my shop. Just didn't have it with me. Figured you weren't there any how. Just had to get out of the house and went for a ride.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:29 am

by Cracker Larry

Beautiful redfish Richard. Like father like son

Glad to see the GF12 is being put to good use

Ken, you were looking in the wrong town, it's in Hudson

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 3:50 pm

by stickystuff

dang. Drove right through Hudson. Oh well. He prob. wasn't there anyhow.. Thanks Larry. Bundle up boy. You gonna need an extry blanket.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 4:54 pm

by Cracker Larry

You ain't kidding about the extra blankets

15 degrees tonight with a 40 mph wind

I won't be fishing tomorrow.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:09 pm

by Handturkey

Heres a better picture of the 27 inch red i caught yesterday.

Cracker, the boat is awesome you can pole from the front or the back depending on the type of fishing you're doing. Here's a picture poling from the front with my buddy Bo fly fishing behind me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:41 am

by cape man

another successful trip to Cape Sable.

Caught some nice big snook (catch and release...

)

two shark (this one on a hand line

Weather started to go to hell. This was 4:00 am Saturday morning. Went to at least 25 knots from the SSE, and by the time I got in and moved her she was going airborn in between the breakers.

We came home Saturday afternoon riding on a glass smooth sea, but yesterday night it was howling 25-30kts and dropping into the upper 40's.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:58 am

by Cracker Larry

Cracker, the boat is awesome you can pole from the front or the back depending on the type of fishing you're doing. Here's a picture poling from the front with my buddy Bo fly fishing behind me.

Great pictures and fish Harrison. Glad you like the boat, I think it's probably the most boat you can get for 12 feet

Cape Man, have you got all the sand out of your cracks yet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:03 pm

by cape man

Cape Man, have you got all the sand out of your cracks yet

Maybe you can come down and give me a hand

We did get out of there at just the right time. I pitty anyone that was there last night and this morning. It's one thing when the sun is out, but those wee hours of the morning being forced out of the tent to deal with the slop are NOT fun! First time I was actually scared I might loose the anchor and have Clara smashing on the shore or heading to Cuba.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Maybe you can come down and give me a hand

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:38 pm

by Steven

I need to move to the coast. Went to the lake yesterday to try for some winter stripers. Nice day but not a bite. Still had fun though. I'm a salt water fisher at heart. Lake fishing sucks. Not enough variety. But it's what I have.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 12:25 pm

by Handturkey

Went out yesterday for a couple hours on the GF12. I poled my buddy around and put him on a nice little 23 1/2 in. redfish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:38 pm

by cape man

Nice "little" fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:58 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish son

I gotta get down there and check out some of your redfish spots.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:30 pm

by peter-curacao

Giant Bluefin tuna nets $1.76M in Tokyo
http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013 ... tokyo?lite

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 3:59 pm

by tech_support

another sailfish tournament. This was about 15 miles off Vero Beach this weekend, more than 15 boats in one place. All these boats came from Stuart, running past us 30+ knots

Figuring all those guys wouldn't be racing all that way for nothing, we followed them north

We only managed 3 dolphin to 15 pounds, but it was sure nice out.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 9:51 pm

by Handturkey

Had another good day in Hellpecknee Bay down near Fort Myers. Took my buddy out and got us on some nice redfish, including this 26 inch redfish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:42 am

by Cracker Larry

That redfish sure is red

You're getting real good at this Harrison

Are you using artificials or natural bait?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:57 pm

by Handturkey

Cracker Larry wrote:That redfish sure is red You're getting real good at this Harrison Are you using artificials or natural bait?

Thanks Cracker, I should start a guide service soon.

I always use artificial baits, whether its gulps, paddletails, or top water. But if I go out with someone who's weaker at casting (under mangroves) I typically just use shrimp with a popping cork. Artificial baits are a lot more successful for big reds down here though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:40 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish

Thanks Cracker, I should start a guide service soon.

Does that mean a bigger boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:13 pm

by Cracker Larry

Does that mean a bigger boat

I know where there's a nice red XF20 that doesn't get a lot of use

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:21 pm

by Handturkey

Aripeka Angler wrote:Does that mean a bigger boat

I don't think i need a bigger boat right now. Plus the only boats that can get back to where i fish during low tide are kayaks, gheenoes, and super shallow boats.

Cracker Larry wrote:I know where there's a nice red XF20 that doesn't get a lot of use

I'm not sure if I could get away with that or not

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 10:29 pm

by Lon

Just had to put this link here so that Cracker Larry would sharpen his auger blades and pull on his ice cleats.

On the linked page scroll down to the fishinwithbrittanies entry and look at the three photos.
Sorry I can no longer do much of this but it's around me and out there.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/in ... 63435.1440

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:31 am

by wadestep

We were up in the forest near Tallahassee, FL last weekend. I'd was tired, having been busy all day when Robin and I decided to call it quits around 4:30 and sit for an hour or so in a stand overwatching a corn feeder. It was the last weekend of general gun season, but we were going to let any deer go that wasn't a 'deer of a lifetime'. So we were just relaxing when along comes this hog. We'd never seen any hogs on our property before, only once a year or so on a game camera. I glanced up, saw it, looked down to get the earmuffs on and the rifle ready.
Next time I saw it was through the scope, and I figured it to be about 50 yards away and around 130#. The shot was true, and it went down in it's tracks. We got out of the stand, and started walking, and walking, all the way to 110 yards. As we were walking, the hog kept getting bigger, and bigger - no 'ground shrinkage' here! Estimated at a stong 300 lbs!
Excuse me for looking like a serial killer, but those are my hog cleaning clothes, and it was cold.

And the best part is that the meat is excellent - just like from Publix. I was worried about it being a boar, and big, but no problems.
By far the worst part of the experience was the 1/2 mile drag before we could get to the truck. Robin and I were hooked up like a team of dogs, and still had to stop every 80 yards or so.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:11 am

by gk108

That's a big hog!

By far the worst part of the experience was the 1/2 mile drag before we could get to the truck.

Was it one of those places where a ¼ mile as the crow flies is a half mile hike because you have to detour around a sinkhole or two?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:17 am

by tech_support

nice pig!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:43 am

by Cracker Larry

That's not a pig, it's a hogasaurus rex

Nothing drags harder than a hog, especially a big hog.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:30 pm

by wadestep

gk108 wrote:That's a big hog!
By far the worst part of the experience was the 1/2 mile drag before we could get to the truck.
Was it one of those places where a ¼ mile as the crow flies is a half mile hike because you have to detour around a sinkhole or two?

Yeah, the land is planted pine, so every 10 feet you have to go up and down these 1-2' high berms. And of course, the land was as wet as I've seen it, so it was definatly dragging around and through the puddles. And it managed to get stuck on just about every tree within a 10 foot radius, jerking us to a sudden stop.

The next morning I woke up and tried to rise off the air mattress, and my hamstrings cramped so hard I just fell flat on the ground and lay there for a while. Couldn't even move.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:47 pm

by wegcagle

Nice hog Wade

I'm surprised that it tasted so good. It must have been soley grazing on nearby farmer crops.

The next morning I woke up and tried to rise off the air mattress, and my hamstrings cramped so hard I just fell flat on the ground and lay there for a while. Couldn't even move.

I bet Robin had already gotten up and ran 5 miles

Hope to see you guys in Boca.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:07 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice kill Wade

I'm glad I didn't have to drag that beast a half mile.
We have the same type of planted pine terrain up where I hunted this year. My camp is 10 miles north of I-10 near Lake City.
You mentioned you feed your game corn. Do you have any problems with an overload of bears when you feed corn?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 9:18 am

by gk108

Aripeka Angler wrote:You mentioned you feed your game corn. Do you have any problems with an overload of bears when you feed corn?

I was wondering if the hog was competing with the deer for that corn and other food. Might mean bigger deer next year.

On the subject of keeping up with the girls, my daughter got her second deer a couple of weeks ago...

She started fishing in bass tournaments on Lake Seminole last year, so I won't be surprised if I get some pictures of lunkers this year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:55 pm

by wadestep

Aripeka Angler wrote:My camp is 10 miles north of I-10 near Lake City.You mentioned you feed your game corn. Do you have any problems with an overload of bears when you feed corn?

We are about 10 Mi S of I-10, north of perry. Last year we did have a problem with a big bear. When the bear was around the feeder the game camera only showed him, and no deer. Robin even saw him in the day while deer hunting from a ground blind. She wasn't too thrilled with that close encounter.

This year no bear, and lots more deer. We did go through 3 feeders before figuring out how to hang them to be bear-proof.

You can see the wire we had to use, and the metal wrap on the tree. And no way can you use a tripod feeder.

I do think that hog had recently claimed the feeder, and probably was running off anything else. last year we kept the feeder going all summer, and that gave the bear plenty of time to set up home under it. this year, only got it going 3 weeks before muzzleloading season, and had great success (2 deer off one feeder, 1 off the other). We've also got a foodplot going, and it is also very productive, just turned out that we didn't shoot anything on it this year.

gk108 wrote:I was wondering if the hog was competing with the deer for that corn and other food. Might mean bigger deer next year. On the subject of keeping up with the girls, my daughter got her second deer a couple of weeks ago...

Here's to hoping! It's great that your daughter got a deer - always good to see younger people into it, and also girls.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 6:01 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Thanks for the reply on the bears Wade

Great images on the game cam too. I have had bunches of bears around me this hunting season, I am going somewhere else next year. I have seen 3 big bears and stepped over a thousand piles of skat over the last two months. The FWC needs to reopen the bear season in Columbia County, IMHO.

Good job Gary with raising a fine looking young lady and a great hunter too

Thanks for posting the photo....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 8:27 am

by peter-curacao

Bad fishing day yesterday, after a lot of crap like this

We got visitors what made the day (ignore the music, or not

)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZxvt_t96hU

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:36 am

by Cracker Larry

Marlin bait

Nice video, I always enjoy dolphins

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 11:47 am

by wadestep

I've also found that bonito fillets make some of the best grouper baits - nice and bloody and stinky baits, and the skin keeps it on your hook until you decide to cut it off with a knife!
Not the most exciting things to catch, though. I always think - Maybe it's a blackfin! but usually not. Just another bloody bonito...

Actually, looking again, is that a blackfin? It's got big eyes and longer pectoral fins? I have a hard time telling unless it's in my hand.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 12:13 pm

by Cracker Larry

I think it's a little tuna, and that's why Peter has tuna tubes

Bridle rig that little guy and slow troll him

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 12:18 pm

by peter-curacao

As far as I know it's a little big eye? we did catch a lot of bonito also, I indeed a made those into trolling strip bait.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 12:22 pm

by Cracker Larry

I agree with the species identification Peter. Juvenile Bigeye.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:49 am

by smilinmatt

We took the OB-19 down to Key West for the full moon wahoo run this year and had a pretty successful trip. My son Barrett shot his first wahoo (as well as the other two guys on the trip). We were the smallest boat out there, but it didn't seem to bother the fish. I also got to watch a sailfish swim by as he checked out our flashers, and I saw my first sawfish in the water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 10:12 am

by tech_support

awesome

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 11:43 am

by Cracker Larry

awesome

My thoughts exactly

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 11:49 am

by tech_support

now the wheels are turning in my head .........

Matt, are they there though winter?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 2:34 pm

by smilinmatt

now the wheels are turning in my head .........

Matt, are they there though winter?

Funny you should ask that. They winter all along the SE coast and the Keys. During the full moon, they congregate (to spawn I assume, because all the ones we caught had empty stomachs and no roe or sperm. We arrived on the waning moon). The big ones like to cruise along the outer reefline. I know of several people that target them in your area. You drift with flashers and chum (they love squid, no flasher is complete without a big, plastic squid on the bottom). You need a big float and use a breakaway system. We use 80# floats and they can take them under. When you shoot a wahoo, there's only two spots to aim for - the head (make sure it's going to go through the skull and/or gills) or between the adipose/anal fin and tail. They have a lot of tendons in the tail and they won't rip out if you hit it near the back of the fish.

Wahoo spend there entire life in the top 60' of the water column, so you usually don't have to dive deep to find them. They do have incredible camouflage from the surface. They seem to just materialize directly below you, you rarely see them coming when you're on the surface. We typically dive down to 30 or 40' and just hang there.

The cobia will also be showing up soon and are in the same general area. Just be ready for the bull sharks, they patrol the same area. That's the nice thing about the Key West reefs. 99% of the Gulf bulls winter on the Bayside wrecks in the Keys, while 99% of the Atlantic bulls winter off the Palm Beaches.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 4:14 am

by glossieblack

For the fly fishers out there ....

http://www.orvis.com/news/fly-fishing/v ... A.facebook

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:09 am

by Walkers Run

smilinmatt wrote:We took the OB-19 down to Key West for the full moon wahoo run this year and had a pretty successful trip. My son Barrett shot his first wahoo (as well as the other two guys on the trip). We were the smallest boat out there, but it didn't seem to bother the fish. I also got to watch a sailfish swim by as he checked out our flashers, and I saw my first sawfish in the water.

I just saw this post. WOW! Shooting a wahoo is on my short list of things to get done. Thanks for the lesson!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:46 am

by Handturkey

I've always wanted to shoot a wahoo. I'm so jealous.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:48 am

by Handturkey

I put my buddy Tarter on the first redfish he's ever caught yesterday. Nice little 24 inch red in Hellpecknee Bay.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 7:20 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice red son

Y'all keeping a few to eat?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:21 am

by tech_support

Walkers Run wrote: WOW! Shooting a wahoo is on my short list of things to get done. Thanks for the lesson!

Any time you want to try it around here, let me know

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 4:23 pm

by Walkers Run

shine wrote:
Walkers Run wrote: WOW! Shooting a wahoo is on my short list of things to get done. Thanks for the lesson!
Any time you want to try it around here, let me know

We're in (me and 2 of my boys). Sure sounds like smilinmatt has it figured out.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 3:41 pm

by cape man

Had a conference in Seattle earlier last week and stayed over this weekend to fish in the Gardiner Bay salmon derby (6+lb Chinook to get on the prize board). Our boat posted 9 fish for the 4 anglers, and this 11.6 lb took 12th place. I also won the award for the farthest traveling angler. The weather was CHALLENGING each day, but we brought in 13 fish and released 5 small ones and a nice 50-60 lb halibut.

Brought two home in my checked bag, so will be eating salmon for a while. Must say it felt really good to start sweating this afternoon while walking around the farm with a short sleeve shirt on.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 3:56 pm

by cape man

When I say the weather was challenging, here's the data from Smith Island, which was just a few miles north east of where we were fishing in the Strait of Juan del Fuca.

We were out and got chased home at 3pm on 3/14, 1pm on 3/15, and again at 12:30pm on 3/16.

Puget Sound, the Olympic peninsula, and the whole area is absolutely gorgeous, but the water and weather changed REALLY fast. It went from glass to 4-5 foot breakers with no period between them in less than 10 minutes on the 14th. At one point I was wondering if someone on this forum would be posting on my behalf..." he died fishing..."

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

At one point I was wondering if someone on this forum would be posting on my behalf..." he died fishing..."

The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before - Neil Gaiman

I was holding your pictures and waiting to hear back from you

Did I ever tell you that you suck

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:16 am

by cape man

Many times.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:35 am

by smilinmatt

Crazy weather. Glad we don't have to put up with that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:44 pm

by MarkOrge

Nice Salmon ! Man I miss B.C. / West Coast.

Did you get a chance to put down to crab

Good thing I am now addicted to Bass to keep me from remembering. Until I see the odd post like this....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:44 pm

by MarkOrge

Nice Salmon ! Man I miss B.C. / West Coast.

Did you get a chance to put down to crab

Good thing I am now addicted to Bass to keep me from remembering. Until I see the odd post like this....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 5:03 pm

by cape man

Crabs were closed for recreation. The tribes had LOTS of traps still out. Our boat won two nice traps for one of the fish we posted on the ladder.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:16 pm

by BarraMan

We fished The Hinchinbrook Channel for our first Barramundi of the season last weekend.

My #1 deckie boated this nice fish and dropped another similar fish beside the boat.

I boated a pretty scrawny just legal fish - and threw it back. All up we landed another 6 undersize fish.

The Barra season has been hard going so far this year, but hopefully things are looking up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 7:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish. Those look like fun. Do croc tails eat as good as gators

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:45 am

by BarraMan

They say croc is good eating Larry, but I have never had the pleasure. You can only eat farmed croc here as the ones in the wild are fully protected.

I thought you might like to see where I fish.

Cheers

Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:02 am

by justin_dwyer

Hey Lee, nice fish mate

Great to see you are getting a few barra over there. That looks like nice fishing country. My wife has told me how good the walk around Hinchy is, so hopefully we'll get over there some day and catch a barra from your side.

Here is a 75cm that I got last week, heading out again on Thursday...hoping to get my first metrey.

Cheers
Justin

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 10:05 pm

by Prarie Dog

Nice looking Barra, at least I think, don't know much about them.

We were finally able to get away last week and go to our place in Sargent Tx. The weather down there has been cold and wet, we were able to fish two of five days but on Friday we ran into a nice spot that yielded some nice reds, black drum, sheepshead, and a keeper flounder. Here's a few pics, the first is the nicest fish we caught by Alicia, a 28" Red, in the Pic you can see her custom rod, built by Cracker Larry. It casts amazingly well and puts a quick whipping on everything ever caught with it.

In the last pic you can see our new BBDawg she goes by Boo, our old BBDawg Rocky succumbed to Cancer in December, she's his replacement and hasn't been introduced to epoxy yet but we think she'll do fine. In the next pic you can see we managed to catch her too, this last pic is taken at the vet. LOL

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 11:27 pm

by cali123

Nice fish.

Poor pup

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 8:09 am

by Cracker Larry

Glad to see that pink rod catching fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 12:01 pm

by majorgator

Last week was Spring Break, so we took a few days and had some family goof-off time. Both boys wanted to go fishing, and of course not being opposed to that, I was all for it. But, as much as I like saltwater fishing and a good boat ride, we agreed that it would be MUCH easier to just hit up a friend's pond. An hour into the fishing, we had enough Bluegills for a mighty fine family fish fry.

Here they are, excitement mounting. The fish were biting so quickly that it was a 2-man job just to bait hooks and remove fish!

Here's Shepard watching his bobber go down. At times, there was a lot of watching and not so much reeling

Here's Shepard with one of the many fish he caught.

And then we have Eli holding his mighty catch too!

Here's a picture of the stringer with 17 bluegills of varying sizes. We could have easily added 3 times this many with about another hour or so of fishing, but as is often the case, little kids begin to get antsy. Overall, one the best fishing days I've ever had

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 4:54 pm

by Boater45

majorgator wrote:
Here's a picture of the stringer with 17 bluegills of varying sizes. We could have easily added 3 times this many with about another hour or so of fishing, but as is often the case, little kids begin to get antsy. Overall, one the best fishing days I've ever had

That's AWESOME!! Thanks for sharing!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 5:40 pm

by Lon

Dad, you're doin' good work.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's great Seth. When my son was that age and we would walk down the road after school and fish for bluegills in a neighborhood drainage pond. We made our bait from flour and water based bread dough, touch of vanilla extract, with whatever smashed up worms and bugs we could round up for flavor

That stuff would catch everything from bass to catfish, bluegills and mullet. Good memories

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 11:32 pm

by ks8

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:56 am

by Prarie Dog

Great job Seth. We were at Sea Center Texas and I took a pic of this, I think, bronze statue that's in front of the visitor center. Funny how those folks down in Texas think it's a good idea for us to take our kids fishing. The Sea Center is the largest hatchery on the Texas Coast, it also reserves a half acre pond with a nice deck for folks to take their kids fishing. This pond is full of Reds that'll go about 4 pounds. The guide told us the reaction of children from the inner city of Houston, that never thought they'd have a chance to go fishing--seen it on TV, when they caught one of those reds was something to behold. We need to take more kids fishing!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 5:42 am

by majorgator

Thanks all! My dad and grandparents used to take me hunting and fishing at an early age too. Memories like that last forever to children.

Paul, that's a really neat picture and monument. Parents are falling short these days in the rearing of their children. Too much selfishness and not enough focus on what boys need to do/learn in order to become men and girls the same. We're guilty of it too much ourselves. Our boys spend a lot of time outside with me in the garden, working on things, building thing, etc. Thats how I was raised, a and I'd like to think I turned out OK

I know a young woman that recently got a flat tire and called her dad. Her fiancé was in the passenger seat, but he was no help because he didn't know how to change a tire. A real man, even if he had never done it before, would never have let this task go undone in front of his girl!! Both her and him are good folks, but what the world are they gonna teach their kids????

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:18 pm

by ks8

When I was, oh, I guess around five years old, I was with the family at a cottage on Cayuga Lake in NY. Out at the end of a dock we saw fish swimming in and out of the pilings. We had no fishing pole, but my dad went back into the cottage, came back and produced a straight pin, needle nose pliers, some scrap fishing line, and a piece of bread. He made sure this was going to be my first time fishing, even without a pole. He bent the pin into a hook, tied it to the line with some sort of involved mystery knot, made a small lump of squished bread as bait on the hook, did some chumming with some of the rest, and handed me the string. He told me to keep it tight bringing it up once there was a bite, since there was no barb. Into the water it went. The first nibbles were exciting. After having to bait again several times, I'll never forget pulling up that first fish and dropping it on the dock. It might have only been about six inches long, but to me it was a trophy fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 11:40 am

by Handturkey

Kappa Alpha Order and Sigma Chi, two of the fraternities down here, hosted a tournament in honor of our friend Jesse. Jesse passed away on March 11, 2014. He was a avid fisherman and a really good friend to a lot of us. All the proceeds from the Jesse M. Woodyard Redfish Classic went to his family who inherited his school loans. We raised almost $4,000 from the tournament and we're selling t-shirts that will also add to the funds we will have raised.

Tuna and I fished the tournament together. I put him on this 25 inch 5.25lb redfish and we placed 6th out of 26 boats.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:22 pm

by ks8

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

Way to go Harrison

I'll buy a T-shirt.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 8:28 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Handturkey wrote:Kappa Alpha Order and Sigma Chi, two of the fraternities down here, hosted a tournament in honor of our friend Jesse. Jesse passed away on March 11, 2014. He was a avid fisherman and a really good friend to a lot of us. All the proceeds from the Jesse M. Woodyard Redfish Classic went to his family who inherited his school loans. We raised almost $4,000 from the tournament and we're selling t-shirts that will also add to the funds we will have raised.

Tuna and I fished the tournament together. I put him on this 25 inch 5.25lb redfish and we placed 6th out of 26 boats.

Great job son

I know Jesse's parents need and appreciate your help.

I would like to help as well. Can you give us a contact and an address where we can buy a shirt?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 8:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

Richard, you raised a fine young man

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 8:37 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Richard, you raised a fine young man

Thanks Larry

I can't take all of the credit, his mother is pretty awesome.

Jessie's family didn't have the advantages our kids had which is why they could use some help...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 9:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

I can't take all of the credit, his mother is pretty awesome.

Yes, she is

First class lady is what she is.

Glad to help. Let me know how.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 10:09 pm

by Cracker Larry

I put him on this 25 inch 5.25lb redfish and we placed 6th out of 26 boats.

Dang, there were some good fish entered into that tournament! Tough competition for sure. We have a 23" slot limit on reds, catch a lot over that but it's not legal to keep them, even for a tournament. That 27" slot in FL makes for some nice keepers. Wish we had that here. I like 18-27 a lot better than our 15-23 slot, not that I ever keep many anyway, but we usually catch more fish that are over slot than under.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 5:11 pm

by wegcagle

Sounds like a great time and a great cause. I'm good for a couple of shirts as well Harrison. Just let me know who and where to send the check. How many shirts do you have left? I may be able to sell a few more around Augusta as well.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 10:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

Time here to go cobia fishing, going to try to get out next week.

Check out the travels of this cobia. Pretty amazing. Dang fish gets around, wonder how many times it traveled back home

Copied from http://www.charlestonfishing.com/forum/ ... _ID=144823

This just in from Dave Harter over at Hilton Head...

Fishermen,
I received an email from a Florida fisherman that he had recovered one of our Hilton Head Reef Foundation cobia tags while fishing on April 6th. While recovering one of our tags is not rare, he was fishing in Sandestin Beach Florida, on the panhandle. This cobia was originally tagged by Don Hammond and me while fishing at the Betsy Ross Reef June 23rd 2009 on the ?Black & Blue?. The cobia was 31 inches and about 12 pounds when tagged, traveled about 1100 miles and grew to 56 pounds and 54 inches over 4.8 years. Attached is a map. The weight indicates it was likely a female.
She was about 2 years old when tagged making her about 7 when caught.
Don and I took a fin clip, so hopefully SCDNR will have more info later on her DNA.

Dave Harter

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 2:00 pm

by fukes

Well, unless that map is just a guestimate of the route the fish took and not some plotting through gps signals from the tag or something, I would say that fish is a pretty slow swimmer to take 5 years to get there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 2:05 pm

by fukes

My last fishing trip was a couple months ago. Not my most productive trip. I'm on the right.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 3:54 pm

by Aripeka Angler

[/quote]

Hey Larry, that red dot off Clearwater is about where the springs are

That cobia saw it from the Marquesas and made a beeline for it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:23 pm

by Cracker Larry

Fukes, I'm highly suspicious of those red dots too, considering the tag was just a standard plastic numbered tag. That fish had a lot of opportunities to take shortcuts, or to have even made the round trip several times during the 5 year period. The only real facts are where and when it was tagged, and where and when it was caught again. The route couldn't be anything more than inaccurate speculation

Hey Larry, that red dot off Clearwater is about where the springs are

That's what I thought too. How did you let it get past you

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:26 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Lucky fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:31 pm

by ks8

I'm thinking it probably makes that trip once a year... swim eat swim eat swim eat swim eat ... make more fish ... swim eat swim... get caught for a photo op ... swim eat swim eat swim eat ...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

I think the same thing. Sure didn't know a cobia would move that far though. That fish has probably run a gauntlet of anglers from start to finish, coming and going, 5 times, and that's a lot of fishermen from SC to the panhandle

Lucky fish

I'd say so too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 8:55 pm

by Handturkey

Sorry about the delayed response. There was some miscommunication with everyone so I'm just now learning that we are completely out of shirts. But thanks so much for offering to buy some, if anything else comes up fundraising wise for Jesse and his family, I'll make sure to pass it on to you guys

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 10:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

Keep up Harrison

If we can help let us know.

Menhaden oil

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:02 pm

by peter-curacao

Menhaden oil mixed up with chum leaving a trail while trolling, does it work?
If so where's my best chance to score it or an alternative here locally? we don't have real bait shops here

Re: Menhaden oil

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:10 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:Menhaden oil mixed up with chum leaving a trail while trolling, does it work?

Yes it does for slow trolling. The nastier the better. Mix cat food with chum and oats and whatever you can find. Freeze it, put it into a mesh bag and drag it behind the boat while towing a couple of live baits at idle. Not much good for fast trolling...

Re: Menhaden oil

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:20 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:
peter-curacao wrote:Menhaden oil mixed up with chum leaving a trail while trolling, does it work?
Yes it does for slow trolling. The nastier the better. Mix cat food with chum and oats and whatever you can find. Freeze it, put it into a mesh bag and drag it behind the boat while towing a couple of live baits at idle. Not much good for fast trolling...

Richard thanks for the quick answer, huh

cat food and oats I can find that LOL

, what is slow trolling in your book? in other words how many mph max? does it work with artificial lures or a combo lure + ballyhoo?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:34 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Peter, I can only answer with how we troll in the GOM.
We troll three different ways...
Live bait over areas we know hold fish. We chum like crazy and make figure 8's over the target area. 1 mph max...
Hardware, plugs, lures, etc. We don't chum with this method. 5-10 mph, depending on the fish we are trying to catch.
Run and gun, look for floating stuff or rips and use one of the above methods to catch fish.
One thing I can tell you, I catch fish at home way better than I do anywhere else.
It's all about learning your local waters

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:40 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:Peter, I can only answer with how we troll in the GOM.
We troll three different ways...
Live bait over areas we know hold fish. We chum like crazy and make figure 8's over the target area. 1 mph max...
Hardware, plugs, lures, etc. We don't chum with this method. 5-10 mph, depending on the fish we are trying to catch.
Run and gun, look for floating stuff or rips and use one of the above methods to catch fish.
One thing I can tell you, I catch fish at home way better than I do anywhere else.
It's all about learning your local waters

I know, but fishing at the moment over here it's really to cry

so I was looking for a different approach.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:44 pm

by Aripeka Angler

What kind of fish are you trying to catch?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:51 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:What kind of fish are you trying to catch?

Tuna, wahoo, Mahi
Sunday I'm going out I was thinking trying live calcutta rigged Bonito (if I can catch them) with chum for a difference
For the Mahi I don't know better than lures or/and ballyhoo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:04 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I think you have a great plan

Don't be shy about throwing some bait into a feeding frenzy instead of trolling

Tight lines my friend

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 11:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

I almost never chum when trolling but I always keep some ready in case we get into a school of dolphin, tuna, or whatever. Cut fish, cut squid, small whole fish, shrimp, whatever ya got. Hook one fish on the troll, stop the boat and chum and chunk to bring the rest of the school over to play

We often chum when anchored up on a wreck or reef.

For trolling baits I normally pull ballyhoo or mullet rigged with a skirt of some kind. Some weighted, some not. Can you get ballyhoo in Curacao? Also skirted cut strip baits work well. I usually prefer natural to artificial, but there are some dang good artificials that catch a lot of fish. A cedar plug and a big drone spoon have a long history of putting meat in the boat.

Wahoo like a fast moving trolling bait, 12-20 knots is not too fast for wahoo, kings or even dolphin will hit a fast bait too, but I do best with dolphin at about 8 kts. Ballyhoo with small skirts seem to be best overall.

Fish congregate near structure and structure has a lot of meanings. A ship wreck is structure, A weed line is structure that forms along current rips. A floating pallet, anything different can hold fish. A Temperature break of a few degrees is structure. Underwater pinnacles and mountains that create current upwellings. are structure. 2 conflicting currents creating a rip and a weed line is structure. Tha'ts where the bait is, and the fish are tracking the bait. Find the structure, find the bait, find the fish. Also never quit looking for diving birds. The bird stay with the baitfish and the gamefish are just below. The birds know where the fish are

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 6:50 am

by majorgator

How did you let it get past you

Tag or no tag, the data collection would have come to a swift end had I of landed that cobia

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 7:23 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:I almost never chum when trolling but I always keep some ready in case we get into a school of dolphin, tuna, or whatever. Cut fish, cut squid, small whole fish, shrimp, whatever ya got. Hook one fish on the troll, stop the boat and chum and chunk to bring the rest of the school over to play We often chum when anchored up on a wreck or reef.

For trolling baits I normally pull ballyhoo or mullet rigged with a skirt of some kind. Some weighted, some not. Can you get ballyhoo in Curacao? Also skirted cut strip baits work well. I usually prefer natural to artificial, but there are some dang good artificials that catch a lot of fish. A cedar plug and a big drone spoon have a long history of putting meat in the boat.

Wahoo like a fast moving trolling bait, 12-20 knots is not too fast for wahoo, kings or even dolphin will hit a fast bait too, but I do best with dolphin at about 8 kts. Ballyhoo with small skirts seem to be best overall.

Fish congregate near structure and structure has a lot of meanings. A ship wreck is structure, A weed line is structure that forms along current rips. A floating pallet, anything different can hold fish. A Temperature break of a few degrees is structure. Underwater pinnacles and mountains that create current upwellings. are structure. 2 conflicting currents creating a rip and a weed line is structure. Tha'ts where the bait is, and the fish are tracking the bait. Find the structure, find the bait, find the fish. Also never quit looking for diving birds. The bird stay with the baitfish and the gamefish are just below. The birds know where the fish are

Larry good morning my friend, you also thanks for your answer.
Seems that we use the same tactics for Wahoo and Dolpin, I use the same trolling speeds and lures, yes Ballyhoo is available here, they even sell it in the supermarket, lays between the salmon and Panga

I like to use it with island skirts (lures) most of the time, not so often I use naked Ballyhoo, maybe I should try that more often.

I and most of the others here never use chum, some do it but that's a seldom, that's why I want it to try for a difference, especially because fishing is so bad at the moment. I know weed lines, pallets, and other structures are fish magnets but as you can imagine with our trade wind that's a seldom also, our government placed some fish buoys a couple of weeks ago, I don't think the did a good job, they don't have (underwater)umbrellas, so people including me start to attach stuff to them, pallets , palm leaves etc,but they still don't have enough growth to attract fish

We are always happy if there is a drilling ship or rig waiting under our cost, those mostly have fish around them

Of course we do have wrecks but we are and not always in the possibility to anchor, or it's way to deep or we are not allowed because of reef protection which is logic, and birds I know but at the moment it looks like they all died because of a nuclear attack

luckily we still find the most beautiful birds on the island itself unfortunately not above sea

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 7:55 am

by Aripeka Angler

Peter, in addition to all of the tips and tactics we mentioned don't overlook the power on networking. If you have a few friends who fish regularly they can be a great help in locating areas that are holding fish. I know pelagics move around but sometimes a tip like "dolphin are thick in 600 feet" can be a great help. Also, the guys at the bait shop can be valuable too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:15 am

by gk108

majorgator wrote:
How did you let it get past you
Tag or no tag, the data collection would have come to a swift end had I of landed that cobia

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:19 am

by Walkers Run

Aripeka Angler wrote:Peter, in addition to all of the tips and tactics we mentioned don't overlook the power on networking. If you have a few friends who fish regularly they can be a great help in locating areas that are holding fish. I know pelagics move around but sometimes a tip like "dolphin are thick in 600 feet" can be a great help. Also, the guys at the bait shop can be valuable too

Don't forget to listen to the VHF. Al the fisherman out of our inlet use the same chanel. First thing in the morning it's where's the bait fish. The charter boats still use the old LORAN C lines on the chart to let each other know where they are. People love to talk about the fish they are catching. If you have charter boats get to know these guys. When they hear you on the radio they might hook you up. Works for me

Oh by the way your boat is so beautiful who cares if you catch anything

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:29 am

by Cracker Larry

Another good tactic for pelagics, especially if bait is scarce, is pull plenty teasers and create as much surface commotion as possible. Dredges, spreader bars, daisy chained Boone Birds, daisy chain plastic squid...As small as No Excuse is I can pull a spreader bar with 36 plastic squid behind it off the T-top. a Boone Bird chain off one stern cleat and either a daisy chain squid or bowling pin teaser off the other. Create a ruckus that fish can't miss.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:40 pm

by TRC886

I finally went fishing last weekend; season goes out at the end of this month. Out of the 7 or 8 I caught Saturday, and the 9 that my son and I caught Sunday, only 4 were (barely) legal. Here is Saturdays' fish, Sundays' fish were the same size:

We fish the spring spawning run in the Roanoke River the same way this guy is fishing. I'm seriously considering trading my son in for a new fishing pardner

:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwATMVno7tc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:53 pm

by Cracker Larry

Fat bellies on those stripers, are they full of food or roe? We don't catch many stripers here. Any fish you catch with your son is a good one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:14 pm

by TRC886

Cracker Larry wrote:Fat bellies on those stripers, are they full of food or roe?

Buck roe. I was surprised that the top one was male.

Any fish you catch with your son is a good one

Amen

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 2:33 pm

by majorgator

I'm seriously considering trading my son in for a new fishing pardner :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwATMVno7tc

If a girl tries to fish the rivers around here dressed like that, she'll be eaten alive by mosquitoes...if the sand gnats don't get her first.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 5:15 pm

by peter-curacao

Went out to catch some chum meat, came back with this Yahoo! Wahoo!

SOB bit my finger

6 kg filets

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 5:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice Hoo, Peter!! Finally got some good blood in the boat

That is some fine eating fish!! Tell me your aren't running it through that grinder for chum

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 5:59 pm

by Walkers Run

Good to eat and fun to catch. It's official Lucky Shot raises fish!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:01 pm

by ks8

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 3:23 pm

by smilinmatt

SOB bit my finger

Hope you still have 10 fingers!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

No kidding! If you even touch those teeth you'll get a nasty cut. If that thing bites you, you are likely to lose a body part

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:01 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:No kidding! If you even touch those teeth you'll get a nasty cut. If that thing bites you, you are likely to lose a body part

Well maybe I indeed was exaggerate a little, hey every fisherman does that

what happened was that he hit his head against my finger scraping it with his teeth, what indeed left a nasty cut up to the bone,wound closed up but finger still doesn't bend all the way

Thanks for the concerns though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:11 pm

by ks8

I think it is worth it to get that looked at by a Doc, he might give you antibiotics. Those teeth aren't clean. Down to the bone is not something to ignore. Hopefully all will be fine, but a second opinion (other than your own) isn't a bad idea.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 10:16 am

by tech_support

spring dolphin bite is going strong. Took my father-in-law fishing, this was his first trip fishing in salt water

It was just he and I, so we kept it simple, troll ballyhoo. He did a great job, reeled in 7 dolphin, did not loose a single fish

Ran across a pallet on the way in a picked up a triple tail, trigger fish, and speared a dolphin.

when we were drifting cut boat around the pallet, I look over and he has the spinning rod upside down, no anti reverse, and he is letting line out by reeling backwards

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 11:19 am

by peter-curacao

SWEET!

Good eats! bon apetite!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 11:40 am

by Walkers Run

What a great day Joel!! Did you go out of Ft. Pierce?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 11:52 am

by tech_support

Walkers Run wrote:What a great day Joel!! Did you go out of Ft. Pierce?

sure did. I sent you an invite

........

straight off from the power plant

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice mess of dolphin

How far out do you have to go?

I look over and he has the spinning rod upside down, no anti reverse, and he is letting line out by reeling backwards

LMAO. I've taken people fishing who have done that too

Looks like he learned fast and had a great day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:36 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote: LMAO. I've taken people fishing who have done that too Looks like he learned fast and had a great day.

LOL better that, then some big guy trampling all over your gear

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 4:36 pm

by tech_support

larry, the fish were caught in 90 to 160 SE of Ft Pierce. That range is about 9 to 12 miles from the inlet, from there it drops to 500 within another 2 miles. The day before the fish were caught out in 300+ (west wind that day) Dolphin bite has been really good and the extended forecast is for calm seas............

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice! That's within easy OD18 range on a good day

Dolphin and wahoo bite is good up here now too, and some blackfin, but the run is about 40 miles. I really need to move further south.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 9:11 am

by tech_support

went out saturday to daytime sowrdfish, lost one at the boat

heartbreaker. Came on the last drop of the day.

Consolation was another nice 15lb dolphin caught on cut bait while sword drifting.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 9:26 am

by Cracker Larry

lost one at the boat heartbreaker.

I bet, after all that work and reeling that would make me want to cry. Especially seeing all those good steaks swim away

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 9:58 am

by tech_support

I felt the line go slack as I was removing the weight, felt sick to my stomach.

I split the cost of an electric reel with a friend, but we still hand cranked it most of the way up. The electric really speeds up the drop/retrieve process, allowing more drops and more bottom time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:20 am

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:I split the cost of an electric reel with a friend, but we still hand cranked it most of the way up.

Full or assist? what did you get? I'm interested to get some reviews on brands and makes.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:29 am

by tech_support

have not had enough time to recommend it or not, but so far I like it a lot. It can easily pull 12 pounds of lead up in 5 minutes (low gear)

http://dolphinelectreel.com/

Mine is paired with Penn VS70. I love that you can go right to the manual reeling at any time with out having to switch anything. I bought mine used, but it had been basically rebuilt from the factory. It does not have any electronics in it, simple and pretty powerful.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:51 am

by Handturkey

Went out tarpon fishing last friday near Sanibel/Captiva just south of Boca Grande. We hooked one but he spit it almost immediately. We did catch three hammerheads 3 to 5 feet and two small black tips. My girlfriend caught the majority of them including this little blacktip. (She didn't want to get near the hammerheads for a picture

) The sharks were fun to catch at least, even if we didn't get any tarpon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 10:11 am

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:have not had enough time to recommend it or not, but so far I like it a lot. It can easily pull 12 pounds of lead up in 5 minutes (low gear)

http://dolphinelectreel.com/

Mine is paired with Penn VS70. I love that you can go right to the manual reeling at any time with out having to switch anything. I bought mine used, but it had been basically rebuilt from the factory. It does not have any electronics in it, simple and pretty powerful.

Thanks Joel, any experience with those Daiwa power assist reels?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 10:16 am

by peter-curacao

I'm always forgetting how to tie knots the right way, especially those you aren't making/using much, this is a cool Droid app for it, well I think it is, I'm almost sure it's available for Iphone also, so I thought I share
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... shingknots

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 12:27 am

by Fred in Wisc

Today was the opener for gamefish in Wisconsin. Had an epic bass fishing day- 27 or 28 bass in under 3 hours kayak fishing. All released, they haven't spawned yet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 9:10 pm

by Joe H

Hey Fred, that's a nice day out on the water, what lake?

I went out with my twin brother and his son today Walleye fishing, we each caught our limit of 6 fish, it was kinda cold and a bit of rain but still a great day!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 9:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish but ...

it was kinda cold and a bit of rain but still a great day!

You got to wear all those clothes in May? Jeez, did you have to fish through the ice or did it finally melt?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 8:05 am

by Joe H

You got to wear all those clothes in May? Jeez, did you have to fish through the ice or did it finally melt?

Ha, the ice wasn't out until about 3 weeks ago!

37 degree's this morning, uhg, but warming up to 65 today!

I should be in Boca with you guys next week for some warm weather but the boat is just too close to launch.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 4:12 pm

by Fred in Wisc

Hey Joe, nice "wally's" you got there.

I was fishing on Little Muskego Lake right near Milwaukee.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 5:00 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Joe

Went out in the GOM today to scout some new spots for the gag opener July, 1st.
Caught a TON of gag and red grouper.
My daughter with a couple of throwbacks...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 10:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish! Did you throw them back in the live well ?

Dang, that hurts.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 10:27 am

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Nice fish! Did you throw them back in the live well ? Dang, that hurts.

No, we chunked them all back

I did find a new spot yesterday that is covered up with big gags. They will still be there on July 1st

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 10:31 am

by Cracker Larry

They will still be there on July 1st

So will I

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 11:38 am

by peter-curacao

Almost ashamed off posting it

, but hey I thought this is part of the sport also.
Yesterday afternoon we went far out ( not my boat a Viking) off shore towards all the oil tankers waiting to be ported, hoping their strong lights would attract some fish, especially tuna.
Before dusk we had a big strike I took her to reel in, that was the moment that I wasted 2 1/2 hour of my life, well more of the fish it's life because at least I had fun!

We belief it was a 60 to 80+ kg Tuna,for 3 times we had the transom door open, the leader visible just above the water, but she wasn't ready to give up, forth time I had her again very close to the boat, I had her on tension all the time then it happened BAM!! lost her! WTF happened? I took everything in, Line and leader were fine, nothing wrong with lure and hook, we can not believe she came of the hook after 2 1/2 hours, especially because I had her under tension, we belive her jaw teared when I lost her, well it will be a mystery the sea took from me

Some pics without fish

,for me hard to look at because strikes like this doesn't happen to often over here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 3:57 pm

by Cracker Larry

Great pictures! The ones that get away are what keeps us coming back. That and fish in the freezer

Dang Peter, 80 kg of tuna would make a LOT of sushi

Advice if you want it. Loosen the drag a few clicks when the fish gets close to the boat. Most large fish lost happen at boat side. That is always where they fight the hardest. They seem to get an extra burst of energy every time they see the boat so expect several hard run's. When you get it close to the boat and the wire man has the leader, back off the drag even more, less than the strike setting. If the man on the leader has to let it go, just let it run and wear itself out. Catching a fish that size is like running a marathon, not a sprint.

How are you liking that fighting belt? Looks like it works good.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 6:28 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Advice if you want it.

Advice is always more than welcome

Cracker Larry wrote:They seem to get an extra burst of energy every time they see the boat so expect several hard run's.

Tell me about it

she was a fighter

Cracker Larry wrote:Loosen the drag a few clicks when the fish gets close to the boat

She had some slack, I was afraid of giving her more, should I ? I'm not sure if I did I could keep enough tension on the line.

Cracker Larry wrote:When you get it close to the boat and the wire man has the leader,

Unfortunately for three times the wire man didn't had a chance to get to the leader

Cracker Larry wrote: fish that size is like running a marathon, not a sprint.

You can say that,I was reeling and pumping for 2 1/2 hour

Cracker Larry wrote:How are you liking that fighting belt? Looks like it works good.

Great belt and harness, harness was on upside down beginning of the fight

Thanks again for receiving and bringing it to me!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 9:35 am

by tech_support

heart breaker !

lost a swordfish at the boat a couple weeks ago, and it made my stomach hurt.... and that was less than 1 hour

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 12:34 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Too bad on the lost fish Peter

Nice pics, it sure looked like a nice day

One of my guys at work has an uncle who is the senior editor of the Saltwater Sportsmen magazine.
He fought a huge bluefin tuna for over 6 hours on a fly rod off the coast of North Carolina. The fish eventually broke off.
He believes that it would have been a potential world record bf tuna on a fly rod...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 1:42 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:T.He fought a huge bluefin tuna for over 6 hours

Wow six hours!

I think I may had left 1 to 1 1/2 hour max in me but a total of six hour I don't think I would have handled that,

my hat is off to that guy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 2:42 pm

by wadestep

Where does Peter find all these funny 'smileys'???
Fainting, dueling sabres, white flags, red hats, ...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 5:41 pm

by majorgator

Where does Peter find all these funny 'smileys'???
Fainting, dueling sabres, white flags, red hats, ...

^^^^this^^^^

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 8:08 am

by tech_support

Dolphin still going strong, caught a 40 and a 20, plus some smaller ones yesterday!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 8:27 pm

by Cracker Larry

Damn Joel, don't hide this one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 25, 2014 9:02 am

by topwater

Nice Bull

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 26, 2014 7:55 am

by tech_support

Got a sword, small but a keeper! Had a couple sails on the way back in, and a small dolphin. Fish is hot!

Larry, I had some trouble post the picture of that big dolphin for reason on my phone:) he was long enough to be 60 lbs ! Skinny fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 26, 2014 9:21 pm

by tech_support

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 7:06 pm

by dborecky

Joel,

That's awesome and you suck!!!!

I need to go with you sometime. Also, you need to make it over here for the opening of gag grouper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 8:09 pm

by BarraMan

Barra fishing has been a bit slow this season so far, but I bagged this one last Sunday and rolled a couple of others.

Had a bit of a chat to "Old Mate" here - 16+ft of Hinchinbrook resident (and me in a 12' boat!

Back to building!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 8:24 pm

by justin_dwyer

Nice barra Lee, good feed for the family!
I reckon the barra is one of the best looking fish in the ocean, nice lines.
How do you fish for them, softies, hard bodies, etc?

A couple of weeks ago I did a fly fishing comp outside Darwin, first time I have ever fly fished and was stoked to get a barra on fly, not a big one, but great fun on fly.

Last week I had a mate up from down south and we went out a few days, we got some nice jew fish, man do they pull your arms off!!

Likewise, I better get back to building.
Thinking of taking a month off in July to catch up on the boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 2:18 am

by BarraMan

Ahhhhh Jewies!

Definitely on my bucket list!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 10:08 am

by tech_support

Wow, that fish looks a lot like our "sand trout" except its about 5x as big

The dolphin continue to bite.... my Dad caught this one yesterday, 25lb on the scale, had a few smaller ones too. Heading over to Boca today to try for something different

Just so no one thinks all I do is fish, this is my vacation week

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 10:41 am

by majorgator

Just so no one thinks all I do is fish, this is my vacation week

You go to work to build boats, then fish anytime between...yeah, life is tough

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 3:27 pm

by Mad Dog

Just learned that this weekend is "Keep America Fishing Day." I won't be celebrating the day (sad) but maybe some of you guys will.

http://keepamericafishing.org/fishing-day#.U487vCg21YG

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 4:30 pm

by tech_support

Just learned that this weekend is "Keep America Fishing Day." I won't be celebrating the day (sad) but maybe some of you guys will.

Planned on working around the house, but you sold me, i will go fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 1:35 pm

by Walkers Run

My son caught a nice wahoo yesterday ( while I was working

) 100' of water just north of Jupiter.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 8:23 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Bob

You couldn't make the trip? I'm had to work myself this weekend, getting caught up prior to the gag opening on July 1st.

Cloud pic from Seth, pretty cool

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:34 pm

by Cracker Larry

That wahoo is some fine eating right there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 10:17 pm

by majorgator

Cloud pic from Seth, pretty cool

Thanks for posting Richard. I've been lazy on my pictures...
I can't take credit for the pic though. It was taken by a friend of mine who lives in Islamorada.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 7:28 am

by Walkers Run

GO GATORS

It's a stretch, I know

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 8:06 am

by AtTheBrink

If I squint with one eye while laying on my left side facing east I can see it.

almost...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:50 am

by Noles309

Looks like a pile of mess to me.....not a atretch, pretty much on the money.....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:04 am

by tech_support

It's a stretch, I know

That is the paint fumes talking....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 2:30 pm

by tech_support

made a quick "other side" trip yesterday on a friends boat. Left ramp at 3:00 am, back to ramp at 11:30 pm. One nice 50lb+ yellow fin, couple nice black fins, a pile of small blackfin and skip-jacks. Also tried deep dropping and we limited out on yellow eye snapper, which I have never tried, but everyone says are really nice.

Fish are packed in ice still, hopefully my friend takes some pictures before cleaning them. Weather was great and seas calm

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 8:20 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I don't think you have to stand on your head to see this one...Unless you have hung out in Tallahassee or Athens

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 8:27 pm

by Cracker Larry

Now that's a gator

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 8:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Now that's a gator

Yes it is

You about ready for fishing fix?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:03 pm

by Cracker Larry

Past ready

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:58 pm

by tech_support

picture from Sunday

shark got the belly of the yellowfin. It was 40-50 lb fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 3:55 pm

by ks8

self edit.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 3:50 pm

by Boater45

The Redfish are biting on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

My Nephews taken on June 8th. The Cobia (aka: Ling, Lemonfish) was 58lbs and caught about 4 miles south of the ICW and the Port of Pascagoula. There are always moored ships out there.

My Nephew with 2 +20lbs Red Snappers

My Nephew with a 26lb Red Snapper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:52 pm

by tech_support

holly snapper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:18 pm

by MarkOrge

What Shine said, where are you guys ?? !!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 1:01 am

by justin_dwyer

Boater45 wrote:

Nice fish!
What do you call that fish on the left (the one that is striped)?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:54 am

by Cracker Larry

Fine snapper right there

Wish they would let us keep some here

They are gracing us with 3 weekends this year, and a 1 fish limit

What do you call that fish on the left (the one that is striped)?

Red snapper. Sometimes they look like that, especially after being on ice.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:06 am

by Boater45

The Snapper pictures were taken on June 7th about 45 miles south of the Pascagoula River in mississippi, they reduced the Red Snapper season on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to 9 days this year. The season ran from June 1st till June 9th, 2 Red Snapper a day limit per person, min length 16".

The Red fish were caught in the Mississippi sound, I fished every day and always caught my redfish limit. 3 a day per person, 18" min length 33" max length. I would normally run off shore to the South side of the barrier islands and fish the deep holes for speckled trout in the early morning, then cover the grass beds on the North side in the mid morning and then catch the crap out of the redfish inshore.

I left my boat in Mississippi and headed back there from July 1st to July 6th to target Speckled Trout. We are also planning several floundering trips. My freezer is full of Redfish and Snapper but I'm sure I can make room for a few more

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:08 am

by Boater45

justin_dwyer wrote:
Boater45 wrote:
Nice fish!
What do you call that fish on the left (the one that is striped)?

It's a Red Snapper, just the pigmentation on her is just a little wacked.....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:37 am

by tech_support

Pretty neat how fish can change color. Ever looked REALLY close at dolphin skin? Crazy! The sword we caught a couple weeks ago was glowing purple. I have speared fish and immediately their whole body color changes aft of where the spear ran them though - like short circuiting a light strip. Nature is amazing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:12 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Dolphin

My son Harrison with friends fishing off Marathon in the Keys

That's my son on the left...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 10:42 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's Daddy's boy

He ain't a boy no more though!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:31 am

by tech_support

nice bull! The dolphin bite continues to be great.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 1:45 pm

by Steven

Not as nice as the ones above, but starting to figure out this fresh water fishing. Can't wait to hit Port Aransas next month.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:41 am

by topwater

Steven is that a hybrid striper ?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:10 pm

by wegcagle

Looks like a striper to me. The hybrids we catch on the lake are more football shaped with a scale pattern that looks more like a checker board than "stripes." The best part about hybrids are that they pull like horses and are usually in big hungry schools

.

Can't wait for the early fall,

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2014 12:53 am

by Steven

Its a hybrid.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2014 9:29 am

by wegcagle

Interesting. The one's I've caught on our lake have a much more pronounced white bass body shape. Guess I a should've looked closer at the busted stripe pattern on the side

Bet it pulled like a beast

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2014 11:04 pm

by Steven

Thought I hooked a stump. Lake is very stumpy. Dead weight half way in and then it started moving perpendicular to the boat. I handed the rod to Josh and he got the big one of the day. Trolling dd22 crank baits at 3 mph bouncing off the bottom on a hump. I could see them on the graph and would get bit right after rolling over.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:39 pm

by Aripeka Angler

July 1st, woot woot

It was a great day to be on the water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

I knew you were fishing today

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:42 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:I knew you were fishing today

You would have approved the catch

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:26 am

by majorgator

July 1st, woot woot It was a great day to be on the water

I wish you could have done something about all that wind and big seas. It was rough out there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:29 am

by Cracker Larry

Did he tell you it was laying down?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:34 am

by majorgator

Did he tell you it was laying down?

When you see a little 17' runabout style boat 20 miles offshore, you can rest assured that it couldn't "lay down" much more

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:03 pm

by Aripeka Angler

majorgator wrote:
July 1st, woot woot It was a great day to be on the water
I wish you could have done something about all that wind and big seas. It was rough out there

We are on task for another tough day of fishing in the GOM in the morning. It's supposed to be blowing, we will see. I will post some pics

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

Without pictures this report is useless

Let's see some fish. Just the legal ones

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:43 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Without pictures this report is useless Let's see some fish. Just the legal ones

Have I ever told you a fish story?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 10:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

Only the ones that start with "this ain't no sh@t"

But I've never known you not to put fish in the boat either

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:42 pm

by Aripeka Angler

OK, pics as promised

Went out today with my daughter, my sister and her husband from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
First grouper bite for Dave from Oklahoma

And his fish, it whipped him

Me cranking on a gag, sorry about the finger in the pic

My daughter's fish, I think this one was 33" long...

Got a Cobia, it was 1 inch short. A school of permit swam by the boat but we didn't have anything they wanted

It was horrible rough early but layed down to flat calm in the afternoon....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:52 pm

by Cracker Larry

That first one is a good one for sure

2nd one not too shabby either. How did the other 20 look?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:59 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote: How did the other 20 look?

Not too good, I spent all day rigging, re- rigging, baiting, re-baiting, untangling, gaffing, doling out seasick pills. We only got 6 of our limit of 8 but everyone was happy and nobody got hurt and the boat didn't break

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

everyone was happy and nobody got hurt and the boat didn't break

My definition of a perfect day on the water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 8:57 am

by majorgator

That first picture looks like the one Bobby hooked for you on Tuesday

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 4:21 pm

by Aripeka Angler

majorgator wrote:That first picture looks like the one Bobby hooked for you on Tuesday

You mean the one he rocked for me?

That was a BIG fish

FYI, I think I lost one of my lower units coming in on Thursday. I should get the verdict tomorrow. They say no problem with fixing it before our next trip out...

The boys are at it again

Handturkey's first sail caught off of Boca Grande...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 4:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

Harrison has been kicking butt lately

Nice little sail, I love catching them because they put on such a great show. Jumping, tail walking , lit up like a Christmas tree.

Sorry to hear about the lower unit

Hope it's OK. I hate it when I have lower unit troubles

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:41 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Yes, he has been getting some nice fish. He always complained when I kept him out fishing for 18 hours as a kid but I guess it is paying off now that he can appreciate the experience...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:54 pm

by Handturkey

Dang you beat me to posting my fish on here! haha. By the way when I said Boca I meant Boca Raton. Sorry for the confusion! The sailfish was a lot of fun I think I found my new favorite fish to catch and videotape. We shot some footage on a GoPro Hero3+. I jumped in the water and got some underwater footage as well. And I put together a video on my laptop of our little trip. 3 sails total and got 2 of them to the boat. I'll post a link below of the video i made. Crank up the video quality and enjoy because GoPros take badass video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H6cB0c ... e=youtu.be

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:58 pm

by Handturkey

Aripeka Angler wrote:He always complained when I kept him out fishing for 18 hours as a kid but I guess it is paying off now that he can appreciate the experience...

And yeah dad I was actually thinking about that the other day. I guess its funny how things have changed!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's what I'm talking about. Tail walking

Fantastic video Harrison, you are your Daddy's son.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:08 am

by majorgator

Excellent video. The GoPro is definitely on my list of things to buy real soon.
Harrison, those other videos you linked to on your YouTube page remind of me of the pre-marriage, pre-kids days. Oh to be young again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:30 am

by Handturkey

haha thank you and I didn't know that anyone would watch those. I just mean't to link the sailfish video!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 10:05 am

by wegcagle

Nice

I like the underwater shot at the end.

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 10:10 am

by tech_support

nice summer sailfish action, they sure are fun.

Our dolphin size average took serious nose dive this past weekend

One of the prettiest little fish you have seen, perfect little specimens and not all dinged up like the bigger ones ... They were trying to eat the blinking lights off my swordfish rig, swarming it like bees

There were bigger one too, kept 6 for dinner

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 1:52 pm

by HTJ

Between changing jobs (a very good thing) and rehabbing a rent house (good thing but kicked my a##) I havent benn up to my usual lurking here, or even teasing Cracker Larry,but I have got some fishing in. My cousin tought the world was ending when the big Jack Crevalle hit, it was a thick, solid fish near 35 or so.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 1:58 pm

by HTJ

And the fattest blackfin I have ever seen, my cousin is 6' /260 for comparison.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:09 pm

by Cracker Larry

Back home from Florida. Long weekend, 400 miles down on Thursday, load the boat, eat and drink and catch up with some of the best men I ever met. Aripeka Angler, Wadestep, Doc Dyer, Smokey Mountain, Dborecky, MajorGator, Shine.. Up at 0430 on Fri. and left before daylight, fished 13 hours, stayed up late, up again Sat at 0445, ran 65 miles out in the GOM, fished 13 hours, stayed up late, got up early and drove 400 miles home. Worth every pain, I can sleep when I'm dead

The ocean was so rough we couldn't hardly stand it, I took this picture 40 miles offshore

and the fishing was slower than usual, but we bent a few rods,

I'm glad that Wadestep hooked this fish instead of me. Just about whipped him, which takes some doing..

Glad that Richard hooked this one and not me

400 pound shark about 9' long put a whooping on him, but he won and I released it at the boat along with a dozen smaller ones. I mostly ran the boat and mated all weekend. The boat is tight for 5 men fishing and somebody has to handle the boat and help with the fish. I enjoy it, keeps me in practice and lets Captain Richard fish instead of dealing with the boat all day. No rookies here, nobody needed babysitting, but big fish take 2 people and I'll let the young men do the heavy work

He later hooked a huge Goliath grouper that easily won that fight. Must of weighed 800 pounds

Caught some real nice gags too

Smoky Mountain had a horseshoe up his butt and caught more fish than anybody on the boat. That man fishes hard!
Team Dborecky kicked our butts with red grouper

But we did OK.

AJ's are a nuisance because the season is closed for about 2 more weeks. They wear you out and you have to release them. So do the reef sharks, which move in by the dozens when you get a good bite going. Caught a dozen of those.

Thanks men, I enjoyed the heck out of it and proud to share a boat with yall any day

I'm sure that others have more pictures, maybe they'll share.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 7:55 am

by majorgator

I'm still amazed at how flat the seas were. I've seen it that calm before, but to have it 2 days in a row was astounding. Though, at times I think we were all willing to trade it for a light breeze. Boy is hot out there. Either way, I'm just thankful for the time we were able to have together, and thanks to the capable hands of our fine captain(s), we had a safe trip.

Here goes my first attempt at Photobucket...

I always like taking these pictures on the way out. For me, this setting just sets the mood for the day.

Look close and you'll see a double sun...breathtaking for about 1 minute.

Richard decided to tangle with this tiny little nurse shark. I think he was trying to prove something

He was happy for it to be over, and she was released and swam away with her host of remoras.

And regarding that picture from dborecky, I'm not convinced. All we saw was a picture, and we were told that his crew took the fish home. Sounds like a fishy story to me

The sharks were fun to catch...once

Then they became a nuisance. The AJ's were fun too, but fortunately for them August isn't here yet. As Larry said, it was a great time with a bunch of fine people. Happy to do that again any day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:14 am

by Doc_Dyer

majorgator wrote: And regarding that picture from dborecky, I'm not convinced. All we saw was a picture, and we were told that his crew took the fish home. Sounds like a fishy story to me

Maybe a Video would convince you

*********** WARNING OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE *****************
and filmed VERTICAL….. sorry

…
….
…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oznz7_lLHaE

….
…..
…..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:03 pm

by majorgator

Maybe a Video would convince you

I know there is another video hanging out there on someone else's phone...perhaps we'll be able to see it. Its an important video, because it shows that even at the end of hard fought battle, the angler kept his wits and didn't want to lose that $3 weight hanging on his line. So what if Larry could have lost his hand, that lead might as well be gold

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 9:01 am

by tech_support

Thank you again to Borecky for the invite, and it was fun to fish DrDyer

Maybe a Video would convince you

If he was not sleeping or underwater, he was talking like that pretty much the whole trip

Im sorry I did not get to visit with the crew on Richard's boat, I had company getting in town that night and had to skedaddle to the east coast

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 8:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

it shows that even at the end of hard fought battle, the angler kept his wits and didn't want to lose that $3 weight hanging on his line. So what if Larry could have lost his hand, that lead might as well be gold

He owes me $3 for that sinker

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 8:52 pm

by Steven

This is one happy little dude. Daddy's pretty happy too. First time we've done this type of fishing. Caught a grab bag of fish. Live Shrimp on a Carolina rig. This is the first Jack we've ever boated. Quite the fight on the lightest rod. He caught it. I helped navigate it around the motor a couple times. He hooked something much larger after this one and I had to break it off to keep it from spooling him. Line was too light to turn him. Fixed that with some 30# braid afterwards. Live an learn. He has the knack. Out fished his granddad and me.

Granddad was pretty happy the day before. He's never salt water fished before.

More to come tomorrow.....Hopefully. Taking the daughters out to try their luck with us.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 8:53 pm

by Steven

Granddad was pretty happy the day before. He's never salt water fished before.

More to come tomorrow.....Hopefully. Taking the daughters out to try their luck with us.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:35 am

by Benny Howard

Okay, y'all I caught the bug looking at those pics and "the man" just asked me to help find someone to take us on a company trip
mid/late Oct out of SAV area. I know some of you should have some contacts there. Feel free to ctc me on my email if you have
any suggestions. Appreciate any help and keep the pics coming.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:49 am

by Cracker Larry

Steven looks like yall are having a good time

Okay, y'all I caught the bug looking at those pics and "the man" just asked me to help find someone to take us on a company trip
mid/late Oct out of SAV area. I know some of you should have some contacts there

That's easy. Capt. Judy Helmey. She's been running fishing charters for 40 years and the best I've ever fished with.
http://www.missjudycharters.com/ Book early, she will be very busy in October. Tell her Capt. Larry Teuton referred you.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:42 am

by Joe H

Yesterday was a hectic day at work, so got home, had dinner, went and picked up some night crawlers and headed out to the Bay, we had a pretty good wind yesterday so I was able to set out a couple of lines, kick back and drift with the wind, perfect evening made even better by the addition of a couple of REAL nice Walleye, finally got a little stink in the boat and some fish in the freezer!

Steven, it’s so much fun to get the kids out and actually catch some fish, how’d you do with the daughters?
I have the Grandkids this weekend so we will be out chasing fish, swimming and going to the Island Grill restaurant by boat.

Looks like you guys are having a great time down south too! One of these days soon Richard, Cracker.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 4:25 pm

by Steven

Did good. Pics on the camera so will have to post after we get home. Left computers behind.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 2:43 pm

by Mad Dog

At the Texas Builder's meet a day early to take advantage of the slack winds. Hit the end of the jetties about 30 minutes before sun up. Cruised about 20 miles out. We found a fleet of shrimp boats doing their thing. Had a floater diver rigged so I tossed it over while I baited the other lines. Before I get the next rod baited the first one begins to sing. Fish on, I get SAMBO sat down with the rod. Like a pro she brings the first fish to the boat. Gaff in, fish in box.

Brought 7 or 8 more to the boat. Kept our limit of 4.

Fed 2 to the dolphins. Those hound dogs were thick when we had a fish on.

Nice to be catching.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

The easiest way I've found is to upload them to photobucket with their app. From there you can copy and paste them here. If you can't figure it out, email them to me and I'll post them for you. LTeuton at aol dot com.

Glad you are catching fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice looking fish Joe! Not bad for a worm

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:12 pm

by Mad Dog

Thanks CL. Got them to photobucket. Just haven't figured out the linking step on my smart phone app.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:04 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice looking fish Joe

MD, when you get your pics on Photobucket just click on the figure 8 icon and tap the image code box and it will copy the pic into your clipboard.
The image brackets will automatically be added.
Looks like this....

The image code is the second box from the bottom. Tap to copy, paste into your post. Again, no need to add brackets like you do in the forum gallery...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:49 am

by Dog Fish

This SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!!

Red Tide Summary (July 25, 2014)

Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was detected in background to high concentrations in several water samples analyzed this week from offshore of Hernando County and in background concentrations in two samples collected this week from inshore waters of Charlotte and Lee counties.

Satellite images from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory at the University of South Florida show a bloom approximately 80 miles long and 50 miles wide 40 to 90 miles offshore between Dixie and Pasco counties. Karenia brevis was found not only on the surface, but also at depths up to 20 meters. This bloom has caused an ongoing fish kill in the northeast Gulf of Mexico. FWC’s Fish Kill Hotline has received reports of thousands of dead and moribund benthic reef fish including various snapper and grouper species, hogfish, grunts, crabs, sea turtles, flounder, bull sharks, lionfish, baitfish, eel, sea snakes, tomtates, lizardfish, filefish, octopus, and triggerfish. Reports of water discoloration have been received, but no respiratory irritation has been observed or reported. Short term forecasts of bloom movement by the Center of Prediction of Red Tides do not predict considerable movement of the bloom patch in upcoming days.

Additional samples collected throughout Florida this week did not contain K. brevis.

Current Map of Red Tide Counts - Week of July 25, 2014

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:56 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Dog Fish wrote:This SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!!

Red Tide Summary (July 25, 2014)

Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was detected in background to high concentrations in several water samples analyzed this week from offshore of Hernando County and in background concentrations in two samples collected this week from inshore waters of Charlotte and Lee counties.

Satellite images from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory at the University of South Florida show a bloom approximately 80 miles long and 50 miles wide 40 to 90 miles offshore between Dixie and Pasco counties. Karenia brevis was found not only on the surface, but also at depths up to 20 meters. This bloom has caused an ongoing fish kill in the northeast Gulf of Mexico. FWC’s Fish ve Kill Hotline has received reports of thousands of dead and moribund benthic reef fish including various snapper and grouper species, hogfish, grunts, crabs, sea turtles, flounder, bull sharks, lionfish, baitfish, eel, sea snakes, tomtates, lizardfish, filefish, octopus, and triggerfish. Reports of water discoloration have been received, but no respiratory irritation has been observed or reported. Short term forecasts of bloom movement by the Center of Prediction of Red Tides do not predict considerable movement of the bloom patch in upcoming days.

Additional samples collected throughout Florida this week did not contain K. brevis.

Current Map of Red Tide Counts - Week of July 25, 2014

Great to hear from you Brian, I wish it was under better circumstances. Yeah, red tide is in my backyard. I just got a report from a friend who said we have a crap load of dead fish 50 miles offshore

Hopefully it won't be as bad as the red tide we had in 2005...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:50 am

by Cracker Larry

Dogfish, where you been? Welcome back!

Maybe that's why the fish didn't bite real good last weekend

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 9:01 am

by Dog Fish

Hey, Richard - Larry
I have been recuperating physically and financially ( out of pocket

) from duel carpel tunnel surgery and a set of these off- road

knees.

VERILAST Technology uses advanced, low-friction surfaces for both sides of the knee joint, the femur bone of the thigh and the tibia bone of the lower leg. It combines Smith & Nephew’s award-winning OXINIUM* Oxidized Zirconium metal alloy and a “cross-linked” plastic component (XLPE), which together has been shown in laboratory testing to more than double the wear performance of the LEGION* CR knee replacement.

I am on the mend and doing good.

Larry, skiff looks great.

Hope all is well on y,alls home fronts.

Brian
not limping any more

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 11:03 am

by Boater45

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 11:32 am

by wegcagle

That's awesome

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 11:36 am

by Boater45

Son landing a nice Red with a sister assist

Nice little sheepshead

This dude had some spots, 26 on one side and 27 on the other...

We were trout fishing some deep holes on the south side of the barrier islands and there were hundreds of big sting rays and Manta rays. This little cobia was swimming on the back of a big ray and I tossed out a live croker on a popping cork with 12lb test. What a fun fight and a pretty fish.

Heading back to the Gulf Coast in a few more weeks for some late summer fishing. Put almost another 60hrs on the OB-17....no issues but she is getting some battle scars on the rubrails....lol

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:34 pm

by Walkers Run

Lobster mini season. The numbers weren't great, but I got to spend the day with my boys and get my salt water fix.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:26 pm

by Steven

Some pics from our vacation in Port Aransas. Caught a lot of fish anchored off the end of the north jetty using the Minn Kota anchor feature. I love that trolling motor.

Only Kingfish of the week. Only fished two days for them. The seaweed made trolling a pain.

Anyone know what this is. I can't make a positive id. Grouper of some sort?

A little Pompano action.

Most fun fishing my son has ever had.

Plenty of Triggers.

Small fish of the trip

She loves fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:47 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Anyone know what this is. I can't make a positive id. Grouper of some sort?

Y'all have weird colored red grouper

Nice pictures

And I haven't had dinner so those lobsters are looking good

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 9:00 pm

by Steven

Thanks Richard. Definitely no red in it. Not even on the id chart for Texas coast fish and not regulated in TX. Thanks for the ID.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 9:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

I think that grouper is either a gag or a calico. I don't know squat about Texas fish though

Great pictures, happy kids. Well done.
And those lobsters just make me hungry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 11:08 am

by Cracker Larry

Have yall seen this

Shore based long lining http://fishharvester.com/
Must be something illegal about that. Might be hard on swimmers and surfers too. What will they come up with next?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 11:54 am

by jacquesmm

Bizarre. A fishing drone?
There was kite fishing but here in Florida East coast, the wind blows the wrong way.

The use of a long line is disturbing, I have to check but I don't think that's legal here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 1:21 pm

by Mad Dog

Well that's pretty cool. It's a powered version of a sail line. I suppose in Texas we would have to follow the regulations for using a sail line (Nope. Just read the regs and doesn't meet the definition of a sail line or trotline). I would think the shark fisherman might be interested if this this is powerful enough. Usually they paddle lines out with their kayaks but with a drone it would safer and dryer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 1:46 pm

by jacquesmm

My brother in law fishes for sharks that way. From the beach, in a very lightly built N7 (our Nutshell), he rows a bag of chum and rigged hooks out through the breakers. We discussed putting a remote control on a trolling motor but never followed up on it.

It must be possible to design a small boat, drone type to do that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 3:56 pm

by majorgator

I can just envision my luck with that thing:

Goes 50' and gets hung up in weeds
Clear the weeds, re-deploy, hits a scalloper in the forehead, then proceeds to snag him with the hooks
---OR---
It barrels ahead, straight into an oyster bar
---OR---
It narrowly misses the oyster bar, due to turbulence caused by rednecks like myself shooting at it for fun
---OR---
The hooks hang up on an oyster bar, causing the unit to become entangled, broken, then drifts off to sea
---OR---
It works perfectly, only to bring my back a full stringer of saltwater catfish, pinfish, and jacks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 6:12 pm

by Aripeka Angler

jacquesmm wrote: I have to check but I don't think that's legal here.

That rig is not legal for coastal use in Florida unless you only use one hook.
Probably be ok in freshwater though...
I wonder if it comes with an optional stake out stick for the winch, otherwise a shark strike might be a problem

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 9:14 am

by wadestep

We just got back from a summer vacation up to central Canada (Ontario) to a fish camp on a lake. It is about 4.5 hours north of International Falls, then 16 miles down a dirt road, then across the lake via boat. I was originally looking for a fly-in place, but this was about 1/2 the price, and I decided it was 'remote enough'. Good decision, the people and the place were great. There are 5-6 cabins centered around a main lodge, and a sauna and fish cleaning house.
Our cabin with a big deck on the lake:

big 33" northern pike.

Lake trout - we caught all ours trolling (notice I was sporting a Bateau shirt!):

a northern pike and a few walleye:

Walleye became shore lunch:

and some perch:

Overall, we were busy catching fish the whole time. We only kept about 1/5 of the fish and that was enough for meals almost every night, and we brought about 14 meals home with up, packed deep in the luggage with dry ice. There was one big lake and 3 portage lakes. It was a lot of fun, I'd recommend the trip - wood burning stoves, lots of fishing, bonfires, beer, and a nice cabin with bathroom and running water. We saw bear, moose, grouse, fox, lots of bald eagles, and lots of fish. And, the 55L-75H degree weather was a welcome change for a week, compared to mid-90's!
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 9:21 am

by Cracker Larry

That looks like a great trip Wade

Scenery is beautiful, fishing looked great and 75 sounds real good to me right now!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 3:02 pm

by wegcagle

Looks like you and Robin had a blast Wade

I'll have to keep that one on the short list.

The inlaws and my brood went to Maggie Valley, NC for a long weekend. While we were there we took the kids fishing, and they caught 3 nice rainbows 14-16".

That's my little girl's first fish she's ever caught

Proud daddy moment for sure.

On the way there I got a call from my father in law....he said that the cabin owner had found "a few snakeskins" in the cabin. I walked into the place fully prepared to wage war against some monster copperheads, rattlesnakes, etc...Snakes on a Plane-style.

After a thorough inspection of the cabin I found a pile of baby king snakes, and a 5" snakeskin under one of the beds. Never did see the mother snake. Since my BIL is deathly afraid of snakes, and my father in law was ready to take a bazooka to the place, I got the honor of snake handler

I relocated all of the snakes safely about a 1/4 mile from the cabin. The kids loved getting to pet the little boogers (while I had their heads controlled of course) and I scored major points with the family.

. Outside of fishing and snake removing we built primitive fires (taught my nephew how to make a bow drill and use flint/steel), built (and sparkle painted) bow/arrows, and shot more beer cans with the pellet gun than I remember drinking

. All in all, a great weekend

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 3:16 pm

by wadestep

Hey Will - that sounds like a good time, also. First fish, looking like a snake-whisperer, and some beer!
I'm gonna have to try that bow-drill thing one day - from the looks of it, it's a good way to build some arm muscles...

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 10:35 am

by MarkOrge

Heh Wadestep - do you recall the name of the lake or lodge you were at ?

I was likely due west of you, we spent a week with the in-laws on their cruiser north of Killarney (NE corner of Georgian Bay)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 1:20 pm

by wadestep

Actually, I think I was NW of you? I was at Timber Point Camp on Aerobus Lake. It comes up in Google Maps with:
Timber Point Camp, Perrault Falls, ON, Canada
It is north of International Falls, US. We had a great time up there.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:53 pm

by Cracker Larry

Picture from Dborecky, who is in line at the weigh in at the St. Pete open spearfishing tournament. It's like the Olympics of spearfishing. That is one heck of a hogfish

Best of luck Derrick

Fish like that aren't luck, I know

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 10:47 am

by wadestep

wow. that's a NICE hog!
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 11:03 am

by Cracker Larry

I think he said it was 19.05 pounds gutted. Not sure why they would gut it

Maybe to make sure it didn't have a stomach full of fishing sinkers

I was once a judge in a big mackerel tournament with a fish fry to follow. I never knew how many fishing sinkers a mackerel eats until I saw some of those fish cleaned

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 7:38 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I got the same pic, nice fish Derrick

We went out this morning to 35 feet. No red tide

Limited out in two hours, 15 reds and 1 gag.
Pics...

We lost 5 or 6 HUGE fish. Also took my first go pro video. We will put that up when Harrison doctors it up

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 9:43 pm

by Cracker Larry

Beautiful Richard

That's great fishing there. Is Harrison standing on a 5 gallon bucket or did he grow that tall

Dang

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 10:49 pm

by Handturkey

Cracker Larry wrote:Is Harrison standing on a 5 gallon bucket or did he grow that tall Dang

I think Dad was standing on a lower part of the boat but I'm still about 6 inches taller than him.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 1:03 pm

by dborecky

We took the Hog Fish class for first place in the St Pete Open. Rules are all fish must be gutted and iced for weight in. The fish wieghed 19.05 lbs gutted. That is a pig!!!!!! We checked and the world record hog is 21 lbs 15 ounces. To give you an idea. That is a non gutted wt. the pic really does not do that fish justice. I have more on my phone but none shows the true size and mass of this fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 1:48 pm

by tech_support

amazing fish Derrick !

Nice haul of grouper Guys! Im glad the red tide has spared you

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:03 pm

by Walkers Run

[/quote]

I've shot a lot of hog fish. Nothing even close to that pig! Congratulations Derrick

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:54 pm

by Aripeka Angler

shine wrote:
Im glad the red tide has spared you

I got my fingers crossed. That catch is abnormal for 35' of water.
I think the red tide has chased them in close.
Almost every fish we caught was keeper size or bigger.

Cracker Larry wrote: Is Harrison standing on a 5 gallon bucket or did he grow that tall Dang

There was so much slime back there, I slid down into the motor well

You can see it dripping off the fish in the pic

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:17 pm

by Joe H

Wow, way to go Derrick!

Richard, what a fantastic catch! Thanks for the info the other day.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:03 pm

by wildbill

That's my favorite fish to eat on the planet

onehugehogbill

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2014 9:44 pm

by Fishwater

Invaded CrackerLarry's home turf and managed a few on fly.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 7:20 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice

You should have come by for a visit. Who did you fish with?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 9:44 am

by tech_support

nice red, and great camera angle.

got a sword Saturday. The plan was to night fish and get a couple daytime drops in before sun down. First drop, not enough weight, 12 lbs could not hold bottom, so brought it up and put 14 lb on. Next drop we hook up and fight a fish for 1.5 hours and he pulls off

Set up again, another hook up. This time we put the heat to it and she swims up, got to the wind-on and got the weight off in about 20 minutes, then the fish felt the reel instead of the weight and dumped a couple hundred feet off. Got her boat side, gaffed, and pulled over the transom in about 30 minutes

Just me and my neighbor. Cracked a beverage and set course for home under a moonless sky. The milkyway was glowing until we got within 10 miles of land. Dodged a couple cruise ships on the way in

. Probably a 200 lb fish, very fat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 11:41 am

by Cracker Larry

Awesome fish Joel

Dang, that's a lot of swordfish steaks ! I know you still have my address

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:12 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Congratulations Joel! That is a nice sword

I gotta try that kind of fishing some day...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:24 pm

by tobolamr

The pic of the fish by the kids is great! Nice catch, Joel!

And I was all excited with our 3.46lb smallmouth bass that got us 2nd Big Fish money from last week's tournament

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:39 pm

by tech_support

Aripeka Angler wrote: I gotta try that kind of fishing some day...

Its kind of like rolling 7/11. The odds are not great you will get it each time. Each time you do get one, the combination of how you do it is a little different

And I was all excited with our 3.46lb smallmouth bass that got us 2nd Big Fish money from last week's tournament

I have never caught one, but they look they fight.

I know you still have my address

I will need to make some more of those fancy foam boxes

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

I will need to make some more of those fancy foam boxes

Fancy is not how I would describe that, but it was effective

Those steaks were great

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 5:34 pm

by Walkers Run

Your my hero!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 7:23 pm

by Fishwater

CL, I fished with Tuck Scott out of Beaufort.
Unfortunately, no time to swing by...family trip. Next time for sure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 12:04 pm

by Aripeka Angler

My son Harrison made a video of our last grouper digging trip

Be sure to select HD in the settings...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 12:29 pm

by SmokyMountain

That's a great video!!! Tell Harrison he did a great job....makes me want to go back down.

Andy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 12:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

Fantastic video work

Fishing wasn't bad either

Nice job Hand Turkey

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:00 pm

by Prarie Dog

Great job Harrison. I'm hoping T has similar video editing skills, we have some to post but I'm clueless at that stuff.

Mr Prudhomme and I went to Texas last weekend and got a little fishing in. Caught a pretty good variety, nothing big or flashy. He's fished his entire life in Colorado and was astonished what an average day at the Texas Coast is like. A few pics.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 6:22 pm

by Aripeka Angler

SmokyMountain wrote:That's a great video!!! Tell Harrison he did a great job....makes me want to go back down.

Andy

Come on down, I still have your fishing rods in my garage from the last trip

I will hold off on shipping them back if you think you want to get in on some of our Fall fishing. It typically gets better every day as it starts to cool off. It's already started improving and the hard east winds from the storm in the Atlantic should help break up the algae bloom that lurks just beyond our fishing spots...

Hey PD, nice catch

Y'all get any buck fever fish sightings

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 9:42 pm

by MarkOrge

Echoing what Tobolamr said.... the bite died off on Big Rideau last weekend after a few days of pre-fishing for the Team Ontario Qualifier (top 12 from about 180 go to the U.S. for the B.A.S.S. Eastern Divisional next year)

I needed 4 more of these smallies.....

I think I'll do better next year in my Phantom 18 !

Awesome fish all around gents, wow you guys down there are blessed.

PS: Note the lucky Guy Harvey hat... gift from a friend that is down in your parts at least twice a year .....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 9:52 pm

by Prarie Dog

Hey PD, nice catch

Y'all get any buck fever fish sightings

[/quote]

What's funny is a month ago we were a little further up the cut where Dick caught the Spec and we saw several Reds that were not quite as big as the "Buck Fever" fish and we couldn't get them to bite anything. I thought about that big old Red down at POC and had a private laugh about it and the frustrations of fishing. Alicia caught a real nice one that trip, 30 inches or so.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:29 pm

by wadestep

Well, I got this new boat and just had to do something on it. Sooo... We planned to run from my house to the Dry Tortugas - about 130 NM, spend 2 nights - one night out fishing and another exploring the fort and sleeping in the anchorage. Then NOAA came in and said 15-20 knots. So off to plan B.
Plan B involved fishing off Fort Myers about 55 miles offshore, and spending 2 nights out fishing on the hook, maybe getting up to 70-90 miles offshore. There's some serious big fish out there. According to NOAA, we're looking at 10 knots essentially for 3 days straight.
Well, within the first mile offshore we knew something was wrong with the forcast. There was very close-stacked 4-5 foot waves, and even at 24 knots the whole boat was catching air and the props were spinning in the air. So, we slowed down to 16-18 knots and got to the first fishing spots about 30 miles out. already tired, the first 3 spots produced about 40 short grouper and only 1 keeper. Not good.
Then we ran about 7 miles further, still in a nasty 4', close packed sea. It was on. within 3-4 drifts over a small area, 4 of us put 15 more monster grouper into the boat. The seas calmed down to 2 foot, light winds, everyone was stoked.

So, in the calm seas, with NOAA predicting 10 knots or less still, we ran another 25 miles offshore. Well over 55 miles out now, around 7pm. Anchored up, dusk fell, and the wind and seas started getting larger... and larger...

Finally, about 3AM, we all decited another 30 mins the seas would be breaking over the bow on anchor. Not good. so, we had to pull anchor and head in, at idle speed from 3AM to 7AM. 4-5 footers now larger than the horizon, and 0 vis with no moon. Had to turn off our intended course at night because a wave or two broke over the bow. Finally, light came and we could run about 15 knots the rest of the 55 miles home (not directly home due to the wind direction). Not the most fun I've ever had. So much for NOAA.
However, we brought home a huge load of grouper and a few snapper. We should have quit while we were ahead. These filleted up to be 140 meals of fish!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:16 pm

by Walkers Run

What's the new boat? Did you find a Seavee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:46 pm

by Cracker Larry

I was invited on that trip and had to decline. Sounds like I'm glad I did

I've had some days and nights like that

Nice mess of fish Wade

Did the boat perform as expected?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 10:40 am

by pee wee

what is that black fish in the foreground, a sole?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 11:50 am

by Cracker Larry

Yep, rubber sole fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:36 pm

by wadestep

pee wee wrote:what is that black fish in the foreground, a sole?

Ha! That's good. I usually stick a sandal in the picture for scale.

Walkers Run wrote:What's the new boat? Did you find a Seavee

I looked and looked, but none came up for sale. I got tired of waiting, and got lured in by a boat I didn't think I wanted, until I saw it in person: a 29 Strike with twin Cummins 330s. The downside: I get just under 2NMPG vs the sea Vee's just over 3NMPG. however, the boat is MUCH bigger - about 13,000 lbs, 11' wide, and around 33'LOA. Also faster. Everything's a trade-off. It's also 16 years old, but immaculately kept.

Cracker Larry wrote:Did the boat perform as expected?

It did well. It's got a smooth ride, and felt very safe and solid. I didn't try running fast much in the big seas, I generally don't run boats that hard. But, in big waves and slower speeds it did very well. Seemed like the seas were just off the bow both going out and coming in, just my luck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 2:24 pm

by Walkers Run

Great job on the boat Wade, congratulations! That boat was on my short list when I bought my Sea Vee. Your gona love it!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 8:38 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice catch Wade

Glad you guys killed them.
I worked most of the weekend including today.
We did manage to get out for a few hours on Sunday.
Not good, thousands of dead or nearly dead fish

We got one grouper and two grunts in 6 hours of hard fishing.
I'm thinking it may take years for my area to recover from this event.
Depressing, I may sell my boat if this persists...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:42 pm

by wadestep

Wow - that's depressing. We've had the red tide here inshore before, but not offshore. It sounds really bad. I wonder how long the recovery will be.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 12:37 pm

by Aripeka Angler

wadestep wrote: I wonder how long the recovery will be.
wade

Me too. The guys on the FS forum are predicting at least 5 years. I hope they are wrong

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 3:39 pm

by wildbill

I'll be the optimist. 1 hurricane and 2 tropical storms should flush it out. She should be good to go by Christmas.

Dr. Bill

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 6:57 pm

by Prarie Dog

Mr Prudhomme had a rough weekend fishing on our local lake. Think he was on the menu.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 7:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

The guys on the FS forum are predicting at least 5 years. I hope they are wrong

Me too. Dang, in 5 more years I might be too old for that, or dead

I got an email update this afternoon from FWC that said it's 15 miles offshore. That really sucks!

I'll be the optimist. 1 hurricane and 2 tropical storms should flush it out. She should be good to go by Christmas.

Hope you are right. Hope it's good to go by Halloween

I've fished with Aripeka for at least the last 3 or 4 Halloweens, hate to miss it. We can still catch a crap load of pinfish and catfish off the dock though. They don't eat as good as grouper, but the company is good

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 7:38 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
I'll be the optimist. 1 hurricane and 2 tropical storms should flush it out. She should be good to go by Christmas.
Hope you are right. Hope it's good to go by Halloween I've fished with Aripeka for at least the last 3 or 4 Halloweens, hate to miss it. We can still catch a crap load of pinfish and catfish off the dock though. They don't eat as good as grouper, but the company is good

I love the optimism guys

We may have to run a LONG, LONG way but we will get grouper in October

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Or pinfish and catfish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:20 pm

by Cracker Larry

Mr Prudhomme had a rough weekend fishing on our local lake

Mr. Prudhomme has a nice looking yak!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 9:24 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:Or pinfish and catfish

I hope we do better than that. But it is what it is

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:12 am

by tech_support

I read a little last night on that red tide, very depressing, sorry to hear about it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:18 am

by Aripeka Angler

This is what it looks like from space.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:33 am

by Prarie Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:Mr. Prudhomme has a nice looking yak!

It is a real nice looking Yak and Canoe, he also has two other small boats that are all beautifully built. The ceiling of his garage is covered with small boats hanging on pulleys and ropes..... Will relay the compliment.

Happy Father's Day Barra

Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:23 am

by BarraMan

Fished The Hinchinbrook Channel for Father's Day!

Water temp 25o C.

Broke the Barra drought with a 64 cm fish that fell for my good old gold Bomber!

Dropped a bigger one that threw my vibe lure back at me - damn!

Chucked a lure about 20 times at a BIG Barra that was swimming along the edge of a creek - but it had the "ignore" button held firmly down - bugger!.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 9:59 am

by justin_dwyer

Nice work Lee!!

They can't resist the twitch, twitch, pause of a gold bomber can they

Have you fished with soft plastics much over there.

I was out in Darwin harbour a 2 weeks ago and we boated 12 barra (5 legal) and dropped another half a dozen. These were all caught on soft plastics. Mostly with Z-man MinnowZ 3" in the "space guppy" and "pearl" patterns, rig them weedless and throw them right in the timber.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:42 pm

by Handturkey

Howdy y'all,

I'm not sure if a lot of you know who I am, but if you're familiar with Aripeka Angler (he's my dad) than you might know me. For those of you who don't know who i am; my name's Harrison Grimes and I'm currently studying Marine Biology with a minor in geology at Florida Gulf Coast University. Recently, four of us received word that we would possibly be getting a sponsorship to make a movie about fishing around Florida. My roommate happens to be the Guy Harvey/Aftco Rep of the year (two years running). We sent a proposal into Guy Harvey/Aftco during this past summer for a sponsorship for a 12-16 day trip around Florida's fishing hotspots. They responded by sending down Chris's supervisor to see what we could do. He flew down to Florida and visited us and asked us, "put me on a snook no matter the size."

We took him out and needless to say this 38" slob was enough...

(John on the left is also going on the trip, the Aftco supervisor on the right)

He shook our hands and agreed to fully sponsor our trip this winter. Now, what are we doing for this trip? I thought you'd never ask. We're deciding between 12 and 16 days depending on certain circumstances, but as of right now: Our first stop might be "the Everglades" we haven't found a camp site for northwest side of the Everglades but if we can we might consider adding a couple days to fish for tarpon and snook in the backwaters up there. The three main spots we will be stopping (we think) will be Flamingo, Islamorada, and Mosquito Lagoon. We are looking for camp sites in Flamingo and Mosquito Lagoon at the moment. We already have a place to stay in Islamorada.

Now why am I ranting and raving about this trip? Well because we want to make a badass movie about four friends traveling Florida with Gheenoes fishing for tarpon, redfish, snook, permit, bonefish, and whatever else we can get into. Guy Harvey and Aftco already agreed to share our movie/videos on their facebook, website, instagram and other social media sites. We already have gotten a sponsorship by Yeti who sent us some apparel, stickers, etc for our trip. We received the nod on another sponsor as well by the name of Flounder's Flies who will be tying all of our flies for the trip. And we also are currently talking to GoPro and Skinny Water Culture as well. A cool thing about all of our sponsorship apparel etc for the trip, we're taking it and donating it to the JMW annual fishing tournament. Last year we lost a fellow student, avid fisherman, and close friend and we (his friends) put together a fishing tournament in 2 monthes and raised almost $6,000 to give to his family who inherited his student loans. So this year we're taking apparel and stuff given to us by these sponsors and donating them to Jesse's annual tournament making our sponsors not only supporting us and marketing themselves in our trip, but also they're getting further acknowledgement at the tournament in February.

But personally, the coolest part of our trip is that if we get enough views and hype about our video, this could turn our four dreams into a reality. All of us going on the trip (two marine biology majors, one environmental science major, and one marketing major who wants to guide when he graduates) want to do something in the fish(ing) field. And Guy Harvey/Aftco told us that if this trip is cool enough we will get the nod on another (bigger) trip this summer. And perhaps help us all along our career paths further down the road.

So, if any of you know of any - campsites in the aforementioned locations, guides around there who would be willing to talk to us or even take us out if they're given the proper exposure, or fishing/boating/apparel companies who you think would be interested in sponsoring our trip please let me know!

And thank you for reading that book I just wrote.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 9:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Double thumbs up to you Harrison. You are your Dad's son for sure. Cracker Built Boats is in on the sponsorship. I ain't got Yeti or Guy Harvey money but we can support a good cause

Got a Paypal account?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 12:00 am

by BarraMan

Is that what you guys call a common snook (Centropomus undecimalis)

Interesting!

Looks very similar to the mulloway or jew fish (Argyrosomus japonicus) from Eastern Australia

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 4:06 am

by BarraMan

Have you fished with soft plastics much over there.

Justin, I have not had much luck with soft plastics, apart from vibes such as Threadybusters. I'll give your suggestion a go!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 6:03 am

by justin_dwyer

Lee, not the best pics, but you can get the drift of how I rig them.

I use a 3/0 worm hook with the flat part of hook sitting in between the two fins on top (so it is weedless) and a small been sinker in the loop.

Then you can throw it right into the lilies, timber, etc....worry about getting them out after you have hooked them

Let me know if you have any success or need any more tips on these lures.

Cheers
Justin.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:09 am

by Handturkey

BarraMan wrote: Is that what you guys call a common snook (Centropomus undecimalis)

Interesting!

Looks very similar to the mulloway or jew fish (Argyrosomus japonicus) from Eastern Australia

Yeah, thats the common snook and it does look very similar. Very cool fish. Its always very interesting to see the genetic variation between fish from different continents that have similarities. I always thought the barramundi looked like our snook.

Cracker Larry wrote:Double thumbs up to you Harrison. You are your Dad's son for sure. Cracker Built Boats is in on the sponsorship. I ain't got Yeti or Guy Harvey money but we can support a good cause Got a Paypal account?

Haha no Cracker we don't have a paypal account set up. We haven't really accepted any monetary support yet, but I'll talk to the guys and we'll figure something out if you're willing to help!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:10 am

by crackedconch

My hat's to you guys for such an endeavor!!! It's very impressive to see young people taking such ambition to do something so worthy. With that said, talk to Kent Hickman with Breathe Like A Fish. He usually gets involved with stuff like this, plus he's in with the Skinny Water Culture guys. If you're in the Tampa area this weekend, he should be at the Florida Sportsman Expo at the fair grounds.

As for camping, I wouldn't camp in Flamingo this time of year. One word......MOSQUITOS!!!!!! They'll eat you alive! Usually no one camps there until it starts to cool down. Islamorada camping, try Long Key State Park. I think it's like $40 per night and you're right on the water.

Good luck with your adventure and I look forward to keeping up with you progress........Tight lines!!!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:20 am

by tech_support

You can camp on many of our spoil islands in the indian river lagoon, also up at the Sebastian inlet park. The mullet run is just kicking off, we had 100+lb tarpon busting mullet onto the sand the other night. Surf fishing is great at dusk and the lagoon is good all the time. The Sebastian inlet at night is where crazy huge snook/reds/tarpon are caught

Edit: It looks like you focusing on inshore, but if you want try a swordfish trip, i might be able to put something together for you.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 12:30 pm

by tech_support

on the subject of fishing reports....

We had a double on swordfish Sunday night

Both undersized fish, but we landed them both, cute little devils. This was my first time night fishing, was pretty fun to see them under the boat, but I must say I like the day timing better

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:57 pm

by Mad Dog

I managed to get a day off and took my pastor fishing out of Port O'Connor yesterday. We managed a variety of fish, Sheepshead, mangrove snapper, baby red snapper, Spanish mackerel, trigger fish, even juvenile Amberjack. But a first for me was this Tripletail. Only 17" but legal. Found this one under a patch of Sargasso grass. Coaxed it out free lining a live shrimp. I have no idea who the drug dealer is holding my fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice TT Mad Dog, very good eating fish too! That's a heck of an outfit.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:59 pm

by Mad Dog

Cracker Larry wrote:Nice TT Mad Dog, very good eating fish too! That's a heck of an outfit.

Thanks CL. Got some history of the big C in the family so I try to help my own cause when I can.

MD

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 6:55 am

by BarraMan

Thought you might like this pic of the subject of my obsession for the past 14 years !

A mate of mine with a 120 cm (47") Barra caught on a lure. I think this bloke has some Barramundi DNA in him!

Man he catches some nice fish!

My biggest Barra to date is a 102 cm specimen caught on a live bait, and my best Barra on lure is 92 cm.

PS: We don't weigh Barra - we just measure them. The magic metre+ is regarded as a trophy fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 5:40 pm

by Southern Gent

That's a nice fish in any country. Barramundi are some kind of fish considering you compete with Salt water Crocs for them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a nice fish in any country.

Sure enough

Nice fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:21 pm

by Aripeka Angler

MD, sounds like you had a great day catching

Tripletail is one of my favorite fish to eat.
Barraman, your barramundi is a freshwater equivalent of our saltwater snook. I have hand fed barramundi bait fish in a tank. They look like cousins from different mothers

The strike is the same, violent!! Snook strike hard, barramundi a little harder.
Capeman has some huge barramundi at his lab

If barra and snook are not related they should be

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:32 pm

by BarraMan

Barra are at home in fresh or salt, or something in between!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 8:52 pm

by Aripeka Angler

BarraMan wrote:Barra are at home in fresh or salt, or something in between!

Read up more on your Barramundi today. I knew a little bit about your fish but got more enlightened with research.
Now I have a new bucket list adventure to plan

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 9:03 pm

by Cracker Larry

Now I have a new bucket list adventure to plan

To the land down under

I don't think I could stay on a plane that long, or deal with all the airport hassles and everything else involved with flying 10,000 miles these days. Nope. Not me. Have to settle on AJs for big fish. Send me a postcard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 9:14 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
Now I have a new bucket list adventure to plan
To the land down under I don't think I could stay on a plane that long, or deal with all the airport hassles and everything else involved with flying 10,000 miles these days. Nope. Not me. Have to settle on AJs for big fish. Send me a postcard

I don't think it would be much worse than flying to Costa Rica, we have both been there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 9:31 pm

by Cracker Larry

I don't think it would be much worse than flying to Costa Rica, we have both been there

Much worse to me. It's only about 6 hours from Savannah to Costa Rica. I figure those Barrimundi fish are at least 36 hours of travel time away from me, plus 36 back. NFW am I'm flying 12,000 miles, one way, to catch a fish. That one got away. I'd go batshit crazy spending 20 hours on an airplane. Nope, ain't going to happen

The Barrimundi looks like fun for sure, but Costa Rica is 20 hours closer to home, each way. And they've got some pretty good fish too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 12:27 am

by BarraMan

26 hrs travel time from Savannah to Barra Central, CL !

You can do it!

Local Barra guide is rapidly closing in on 2000 x 1M+ Barra for his clients.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:19 pm

by majorgator

Someone just forwarded me this video of the black grouper that I'm told won the St. Pete Open this year in the grouper category.

WOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU4wCKFCRwo#t=60

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 7:51 pm

by BarraMan

majorgator wrote:Someone just forwarded me this video of the black grouper that I'm told won the St. Pete Open this year in the grouper category.
WOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU4wCKFCRwo#t=60

I struggle to get excited about videos like that!

What was the ultimate fate of those fish? Were they eaten? I very much doubt it. More likely just the subject of some "look at me, look at me" pics!

Spear fishing is a snorkel only activity in Oz - no scuba allowed. Personally I would be happy to see it banned completely. Big Grouper like those are also fully protected in my part of the world. No great skill involved in putting a spear through one of those big fish. On the Great Barrier Reef they come up to you to say "hello"!

Don't get me wrong, I don't have an issue with hunting or fishing if the target is ultimately put to some productive use, ie food, fibre, leather etc.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:39 am

by Doc_Dyer

majorgator wrote:Someone just forwarded me this video of the black grouper that I'm told won the St. Pete Open this year in the grouper category.

WOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU4wCKFCRwo#t=60

nice video

I would have liked to killed everyone of those lionfish

If you have never eaten one of those, you need to

AWESOME eating fish, plus they are an invasive species, and all need to be killed
even the 1" fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:58 pm

by wadestep

BarraMan wrote:No great skill involved in putting a spear through one of those big fish.

That video is awesome. I hope to accomplish something like that some day, but I know the years of effort and LOTS of money that goes into being able to find a fish like that on a specified tournament day. If anyone thinks he can just jump into the water in Florida and shoot a fish of this quality on demand, I'll guarantee you it's not possible. (Jewfish excepted)

I don't specifically know if those fish were eaten or not, but to me that's what spearfishing is all about. There's something special about a zero waste/by-catch, SCUBA experience that also provides food for your dinner table. That's what spearfishing is to me, and if you get right down to it, spearfishing is more 'ethical' than catch and release fishing.

One shot, one pre-selected fish to eat, vs multiple caught fish to release. Those 'released' fish have certain mortality rates also, and no-one was even attempting to harvest them for food.

(this is NOT directed at barraman's type of fishing, but instead at the general sentiment that spearfishing should be banned, or restricted to snorkeling. No-one would have ever been able to spear this grouper at 200+ feet deep without SCUBA. I also practice catch and release fishing quite a bit. ...and DEATH to lionfish!)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:36 pm

by majorgator

What was the ultimate fate of those fish? Were they eaten? I very much doubt it. More likely just the subject of some "look at me, look at me" pics!

I'd be willing to bet that these fish definitely were eaten. It is greatly frowned upon these days in our part of the world if such fish are taken only for the trophy and not for the table. Now did those particular fisherman eat it...??? I'd be willing to bet that the meat was given away to others or donated.

BTW, I don't know if its true or not, but I heard that the big grouper was shot in 120' depth.

I would have liked to killed everyone of those lionfish

If you have never eaten one of those, you need to

AWESOME eating fish, plus they are an invasive species, and all need to be killed
even the 1" fish

While I've never eaten one, I've heard that they are indeed tasty as you say....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:51 pm

by wadestep

I don't know if the story is correct, but I'll split the difference with you

"When I rolled over the boat, I could hear the goliath grouper booming 160 feet below," Bennett proclaimed. "I knew they would be competing with black grouper for the same spot."
from :
http://outdoors360.com/article/9975-pou ... Bny0Wfu2Uk

Anyways, I don't know anyone who can free-dive that deep, and spear a fish. Some guys are unbelievable free-divers, though. I'm going to go look it up. About the deepest I've hear of on a regular basis is 80-ish. I'd never be able to get there, though.

I tried 80' deep once with a 'spare air' canister, and still chickened out.

OTOH, I've had shallow water blackout leading to a coma, and may be a little chicken now.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:32 pm

by icelikkilinc

My friend in Turkey shoots fish freediving at up to 50 meters..

Not only that, he actually films it and shares it..

https://vimeo.com/27687831

https://vimeo.com/32928676

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:44 pm

by icelikkilinc

BTW, when he shows his dive watch, left bottom is the depth that he has just dived, at meters.
right bottom is the dive duration for that dive.

and the scary thing is, he is diving slowly as he stalks on the way not going straight down..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Ilker, very cool videos

Thanks for posting them

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

BarraMan wrote:No great skill involved in putting a spear through one of those big fish.

Uh huh

Not only does it take a lot of skill, knowledge and equipment, all which requires a lot of time and money to accumulate, it also takes brass balls and a very physically fit individual.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:49 pm

by GradyGuy76

I tried free diving when i was about 4 yrs old. I hit my head on the bath tub bottom and realized that hurt and never done it since

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:24 am

by icelikkilinc

Richard, on the link, you can click on user name to see all his videos..
He has quite a few

He has been more into the business side as he became a freediving instructor and he has reached depths of 80m this year..
I love freediving and have done all my life but I cannot hold my breath long enough to watch his videos

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:42 am

by majorgator

WOW, those are some amazing videos. I can't even imagine the skill, preparation, and training it takes to hit those depths free diving. And I like how at the end it says: "never dive alone"...which means that there's at least 2 people in that group that are doing it

I don't know if the story is correct, but I'll split the difference with you
"When I rolled over the boat, I could hear the goliath grouper booming 160 feet below," Bennett proclaimed. "I knew they would be competing with black grouper for the same spot."

I can't debate that Wade

The 120' depth is what the guy told me who sent me the video. I don't know where he heard that...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 10:14 am

by tech_support

impressive freedive video. I can get to 20m, but I cant stay very long, and certainly cannot hunt at that depth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 1:45 pm

by tech_support

Had a great trip with my dad this weekend.... tuna, dolphin, and weehoo all on dead finger mullet

Didnt take any pictures, but we picked off 18 dolphin and a tiny wahoo off a tiny piece of bamboo in 1100' off Stuart. All we had for bait was some finger mullet i had netted off the beach (dead and frozen). 4/0 live bait hook through the nose and then skipping them across the surface

Then we spied some tuna busting, so we dragged same mullet skipping behind the boat. Bam, big skip jack, then BAM dad gets taken to the gunnel. Tuna spooled a big fin-nor spinner with 80 lb braid before breaking off

. Would have had to have been a monster blackfin or pretty decent yellowfin

this was on the way out to make swordfish drops. Didnt get tight on a sword, but we had several good bites

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:35 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Played hooky today with friends, the gag grouper are back in shallow water

Lost a monster gag, he rocked me. I'm rusty, gotta work on my technique

Caught a bunch of other species, didn't take any pics of those except this shark...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

Fine mess of gags

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 9:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

One of the finest trout I've ever seen. Daufuskie Island today..this man is at least 6'6 and 300 lbs. Fish wasn't weighed or measured. It went in the cooler

Dang big trout for here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 9:19 am

by tech_support

Nice trout for sure Larry!

Was in your neck of the woods this weekend for a wedding. The chef went fishing after rehearsal and pulled in two of these....

He said he had caught some bigger one earlier in the week. Golf shoes for fishing, only on HHI

I got my lowcountry fix without having to wet a line myself. Brought back some pluff mud in my stomach from the Oyster roast

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 9:29 am

by Cracker Larry

Should have called me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 2:16 pm

by Mad Dog

I've been fishing a few times since the Texas Builder's meet with nothing much to brag about. I finally got a couple of nice days this weekend and went back to Port O'Conner. I fished long and hard Friday with nothing much to show. There was a north east breeze and pressure rising. I picked up a variety of species but nothing to photo except a few of these guys. Two blacktip and one atlantic sharpnose. All were CPR. Lots of fun on a popping rod.

The next morning I managed to hit my wading spot before sun up. Using top waters in 1 to 3 feet of water I managed to pick up a Texas Slam. Two reds (26"and 25") , one nice trout at 19" an one southern flounder at 16". Here is pic but the flounder is hard see. These are for dinner this week.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 9:27 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That is a gonzo trout Captain

That is huge, any idea how long it was?

Nice catch Charles

Great you had a calm day to get out.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:13 pm

by AtTheBrink

Nice fish Charles!

We had a pretty good too water bite going Saturday morning, nice solid trout 20-24 inches. Hit some back lakes and caught a few reds too! Yesterday afternoom my wife and I went out. She caught her first keeper(20") trout!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:13 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish Charles! There is a lot of good fishing going on around here

That is a gonzo trout Captain That is huge, any idea how long it was?

It wasn't measured, didn't need to see if it was legal

I'd guess 27-28" and 7 pounds. Give or take 1 of each. If it was a redfish it would be well over slot size.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 10:09 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I was guessing that trout was 30", nice

Here is a pic from one of my friends I fished with last week.

Nice 28" gag caught in 12' of water from a 15' flats boat

Bayport is ground zero for gags in shallow water

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2014 4:12 pm

by peter-curacao

I know it isn't much but after weeks/months of bad fishing I was happy with this Cuda, just went out alone with some plastic on the lines not expecting to catch anything, so I wasn't really prepared had no kill bag and Ice with me, so after a couple more pulls after this catch I headed home before she went bad.

She's hanging in the smoker now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 6:38 am

by peter-curacao

Barracuda:
It's funny years ago we got bloody tired of catching Cuda's and mostly throw them all back because having the luxury of having Wahoo's,Tuna's and Dolphins bleeding on the deck, last trip I was happy with my Cuda.
I smoked the sucker and peeled away it's meat in shredded pieces, which I think is actually pretty good, add some mayo and stuff and it makes a nice spread to put on bread, or use it like it is on a green salad, or use it in other cooking recipes.
Yesterday I scrolled through my fish charts and I read that Barracudas could be poison and even deadly because of ciguatera, that I already knew but it also stated that the food quality of cuda is very poor,as you all could read above I personally have to disagree strongly with that.

What do you guys think?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 8:46 am

by Cracker Larry

Ugh, I know some people who eat them, but I can't get past the smell of the nasty things. I don't even want it in the fish box stinking up the good fish. They do have a reputation for ciguatera but I never heard of anyone getting poisoned from one. Too many better fish to eat than that. I'd turn it loose and eat hot dogs for supper, myself

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 9:19 am

by Doc_Dyer

Cracker Larry wrote: Too many better fish to eat than that. I'd turn it loose and eat hot dogs for supper, myself

you do remember the bait looking fish they were eating in the Keys don't you

nastiest looking "food" I've ever seen

I'm sure peter will chime in and describe it better

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 9:39 am

by Cracker Larry

you do remember the bait looking fish they were eating in the Keys don't you

nastiest looking "food" I've ever seen

I'll try anything once, and once was all I could stand of that

Only Jacques and Peter could stomach it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 10:10 am

by terrulian

Hey, CL, you OK down there? You southeasterners are getting hammered with some radical storms according to the news.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 10:31 am

by Cracker Larry

It's really cold and windy

Otherwise fine. Too cold for me to do any boat work for sure. Below freezing this morning, 20 F tonight. Breaking all kinds of records. Too cold to fish too!

A friend posted this video yesterday from Los Suenos, Costa Rica. They released 17 blues, 1 stripe and 3 sails in 2.5 days. That's where I need to be right now

http://vimeo.com/111960564

Peter, that's where you should go for your Christmas vacation, catch something besides cuda

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 10:54 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:
you do remember the bait looking fish they were eating in the Keys don't you

nastiest looking "food" I've ever seen
I'll try anything once, and once was all I could stand of that Only Jacques and Peter could stomach it

Doc it's called Hollandse nieuwe or maatjes haring, first herring in the season, first keg this year went for € 56.500 (+/- US$ 71.000,-) and is donated to charity

Larry I already told you, if you want you should give it a second chance when your visiting me, I make sure you will get the good stuff , soft and fatty melts like butter in your mouth, the stuff in the keys although sourced with the very best intentions by Jacques,to put it mildly wasn't the best, I think it was frozen for a long time what took away the taste and texture or better gave it a complete different taste and texture, again NOT Jacques fault

Dutch new herring (maatjesharing) is the first, young herring of the season fit for consumption.The herring is skinny in the winter, but in the spring it starts to grow because of the higher level of plankton in the water, and will keep getting fatter. In May, when the herring has a fat content of minimal 16 percent, the yearly period in which maatjesharing is fished starts, and will last till the beginning of July. After that, the fish contains too much milt or roe. It can still be eaten but is not as good as new herring, it is used for salted herring, pickled herring or rollmops.

Maatjesharing is prepared in a specific way. It is “gekaakt” (the process of gibbing), in which the gills and intestines are removed, but the pancreas is left. The pancreas excretes specific enzymes that will help the herring to ‘mature’, which is very important for the taste. Then the herring is salted, often for about 5 days. The herring has been frozen before salting for at least 24 hours at at least -45C to kill possible parasites. After salting it is filleted in a specific way: the head is removed, as are all the bones and the skin, but the tail is left on. The tail is often used as a handle to hold the fish when lowering it into your mouth. New herring can be eaten with or without onions, and sometimes it is eaten with pickles or on bread. It has a soft texture, tastes lightly salty and ripened, and smells fresh. It is usually bought at a market stand and eaten there as a snack, but can also be bought at fishmongers and supermarkets. Foreigners (and even some Netherlanders) often think that this is a weird habit, eating raw fish, but actually the fish is cooked by the salting.

In the past, fishermen did not have a freezer. To be able to keep the herring longer and to kill parasites, much more salt was used. The longer the herring was left, the saltier the taste of the herring became, until it was almost inedibly salty after a year. That was the reason that the coming of the new herring was a big party, it was barely salty and therefore much more tasty. But even nowadays the arrival of new herring is reason for a big party, vlaggetjesdag (flag day), in the port of Scheveningen. The date depends on when the herring is fat enough, this year it was the 9th of June, with the 3th of June as the first day on which herrings were catched. A few days before vlaggetjesdag, the first casket of herring is sold via auction, the profits are for a charitable organisation. The port and ships are decorated with small flags, hence the name vlaggetjesdag, and there are all sorts of other activities like music and a street fair.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 11:04 am

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:Peter, that's where you should go for your Christmas vacation, catch something besides cuda

You know I'm often in the Dominican Republic don't you? Hope your Spanish is good enough for the newspaper clipping underneath, ah understanding the headline is good enough

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 11:13 am

by Cracker Larry

Yes, I can read that just fine. I read it much better than I speak it, I can take my time

Seriously good fishing there

Beautiful place too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 4:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

Marlin taste a lot better than cuda

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 4:42 pm

by tech_support

from what i hear, small cuda are white and flaky, similar to grouper.

I dont know about marlin, but sailfish tastes nasty.

I have been meaning to bring home a small cuda to fry up, but I dont like the stink missiles in my cooler.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 5:19 pm

by smilinmatt

Little cuda are good (big ones might be too, but when they hit around 10#, the meat turns from white to grey). The "stink" is in the skin, so once they're filleted, they look and smell like anything else. I was always told to avoid them over 3' for ciguatera. Growing up in the Keys, we were also told not to keep grouper over 25#, hogs over 10# or any cuberas.

The only marlin I've had was in sushi restaurants. It tasted and looked a lot like wahoo. So either marlin tastes like wahoo, or the sushi restaurant substituted wahoo for marlin.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 5:21 pm

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:from what i hear, small cuda are white and flaky, similar to grouper.

That's exactly how it was, that's also what I meant with smoked meat in shredded pieces (see picture, sorry for the bad lightning)

shine wrote:I have been meaning to bring home a small cuda to fry up, but I dont like the stink missiles in my cooler.

Friend of mine is also always complaining about the smell, probably my smell isn't very good because I think it's not that bad, I smelled worse things

Maybe an idea buy a cheap cooler to transport those missiles separate and try smoking one, I think you'll be surprised.

Cracker Larry wrote:Marlin taste a lot better than cuda

Not a big favorite either,IMHO not much to it, yeah also smoked it's doable.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 8:29 pm

by MarkOrge

If I may throw an opinion in about smoking fish without hijacking the subject of "Anyone Fishing"....

I love fresh Salmon on the grill same day wild caught, but beyond that as a "strong" tasting fish my preference is for smoked Salmon, especially my own (knowing the source being wild not that I am a snob)

Thinking about what fish gets smoked and why, it seems the "stronger" tasting fish are the ones we see smoked as opposed to say Tilapia or Walleye, Sea Bass, etc. ?

Just a thought, IMHO some fish just is best warmed up in butter with maybe a little garlic (Walleye) some is nice with more butter (Brook Trout) some with a a mild sauce (Hailbut) and some is great for smoking?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 8:33 pm

by peter-curacao

MarkOrge wrote: IMHO some fish just is best warmed up in butter with maybe a little garlic (Walleye) some is nice with more butter (Brook Trout) some with a a mild sauce (Hailbut) and some is great for smoking?

Totally agree with that

some are even best raw

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 6:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

Raymond, Dave and I braved the small craft warnings and cold this morning, had to change launch locations due to 4' seas in Broad River

Switched plans, still got soaking wet, but we caught fish non-stop from the time we wet a hook until the time we called it quits. Left them still biting. We've got a strong front moving through tonight and the fish always turn on ahead of the low pressure fronts.

We didn't see another boat on the water except for one oyster man and one crabber, which is almost impossible near Hilton Head. Raymond said we were the only ones stupid enough to be fishing today

We caught a bunch of these...

And a dozen of these..

And a lot of these. This is a little one, throw back. It's in the legal slot but we can do a lot better...

Did a whole lot of this..

This one is a keeper, 1/4" under slot

We had these coming in the boat 2 at a time, grab the net, can't, got a fish on, net your own fish...

That's a trout, longer and fatter than my lower leg..

We ran out of live bait after 2 hours of fishing and 100 fish, switched to artificial, Gulp, and kept on catching fish until we got tired of it ..

Kept a 3 man limit of trout, 3 man limit of redfish and half a dozen black drum. Released twice that many. Any of these will eat better than a cuda

A great day on the water with 2 great friends

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 12:31 am

by willg

Nice mess of fish there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:29 pm

by Rogerdog

That looks like a lot of fun.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:39 pm

by peter-curacao

Anyone experience with this rod/reel ?

http://www.captharry.com/product/Reels- ... /1016.html

I wanna go for red snapper next year so I can make this without a visit to the fish market, but with my "own" snapper
Caribbean fried Red Snapper in spicy sweet and sour sauce with pineapple and bell peppers.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:50 pm

by Joe H

Great fishing Larry, nothing like a mess of fish with some good friends, nothing but hard water here already.

Peter, that just makes me hungry, looks good!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:57 pm

by wildbill

Good Friend's and a life time memory.

Well done

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 8:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

That looks like a lot of fun.

Oh yeah. But we have fun even when the fish don't bite

One thing you'll like to hear Rogerdog, yesterday is the first time I've fished with Raymond since he installed his Minn Kota iPilot trolling motor, just like yours. It is amazing

Makes anchors almost obsolete, makes Power poles and stake out sticks almost obsolete too. We were fishing in about 15 feet of water, too deep for the Power pole. The wind was blowing 25 kts in one direction and the current running about 4 kts directly opposite and there was a good chop on the water. Not good anchoring conditions. The iPilot held us exactly where we wanted to be all day, could easily reposition the boat at will with the touch of a button, then tell it to stay there and it stays in that spot like a rock. Beats the heck out of an anchor for fishing

Anyone experience with this rod/reel ?

Not me, I don't know squat about deep drop fishing in 1,200' of water. We catch red snapper in 100 feet, not 1,000

That sounds like more work than fun to me. Diawa makes good stuff though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 8:16 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:
Not me, I don't know squat about deep drop fishing in 1,200' of water. We catch red snapper in 100 feet, not 1,000 That sounds like more work than fun to me. Diawa makes good stuff though.

LOL

why do you think I wanna go electric?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 8:20 pm

by Cracker Larry

nothing but hard water here already.

Dang Joe

I told you hard water only belongs in drinks and covering fish in the cooler

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 8:28 pm

by Cracker Larry

LOL why do you think I wanna go electric?

I'd have to go electric at those depths too

I don't have any experience with it myself. Derrick (dborecky) has a good bit, and so does Joel I think.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 7:26 am

by Aripeka Angler

That looks like a great day on the water Captain

Great catch!
I'm on vacation for 2 weeks, as soon as this crappy wind blows out I'm going. It's supposed to lay down this weekend...
Hey Peter, how ya doing? Check out these reels. http://www.deepdroptackle.com/kristalelectricreels.htm. I'll get the model number you need from Derrick if any of them interest you.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:05 am

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote: Hey Peter, how ya doing? Check out these reels. http://www.deepdroptackle.com/kristalelectricreels.htm. I'll get the model number you need from Derrick if any of them interest you.

Hi Richard I'm doing fine and you? we are in the states again in Dec, here you find the dates and places if you like to meet again

Thanks for the link I'm familiar with Kristal reels, I found them very bulky and to be honest I don't see much changes and innovations in them over the past years, that's why I'm hanging to Daiwa
I know don't chance a winning team, but still

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 12:07 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Peter, great you are doing well

I'm not far from Orlando, maybe we can meet for dinner one night?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:03 am

by tech_support

Wow, that was a great day of catching Larry

Hey peter, I have a little experience in deep dropping for snappers over in Bahamas. We use my big electric swordfish rod and a smaller Diawa electric, one up one down. Its normally 500 to 750 feet. The little Diawa is very fast and perfect for that kind of fishing. We are after mostly yellow eye snapper, which look very similar to red snapper.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 12:12 pm

by peter-curacao

Thanks Joel, I think I will bring an extra suitcase in December to carry all the stuff back home

Btw are you guys in the office 10th of December? maybe I will make a small detour on my way to Orlando, not for picking up stuff just to say hi

Richard I will contact you by phone or Email once we are in Orlando, is that okay?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 1:57 pm

by tech_support

Yes, we will be here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 3:14 pm

by Aripeka Angler

peter-curacao wrote:
Richard I will contact you by phone or Email once we are in Orlando, is that okay?

Absolutely my friend, phone or email is fine

If I remember correctly you can call me directly with no issues.
Have you booked a room yet in Orlando?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 3:18 pm

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote:
peter-curacao wrote:
Richard I will contact you by phone or Email once we are in Orlando, is that okay?
Absolutely my friend, phone or email is fine If I remember correctly you can call me directly with no issues.
Have you booked a room yet in Orlando?

Yes we stay at the Cabana bay beach resort.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:59 pm

by Cracker Larry

There are no beaches or bays in Orlando

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:02 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:There are no beaches or bays in Orlando

I don't care we see them enough over here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:15 pm

by pee wee

Cracker Larry wrote:There are no beaches or bays in Orlando

They do have color TV at the resort, though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 7:20 pm

by Cracker Larry

I saw that

Peter, are you driving all the way from Miami to California?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 8:45 pm

by Aripeka Angler

pee wee wrote: They do have color TV at the resort, though.

It's a throwback motel

I think it is cool as heck

Might be a good place to crash after doing the I-drive crawl

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 11:29 am

by Walkers Run

Peter, if you make it to Vero on the 10th I'd like to meet you. Maybe lunch. Joel you eat lunch don't you?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2014 6:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Ahh, I love Fall grouper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico

It was chilly this morning when we headed offshore

The fish were chewing, caught a limit...released a limit...broke off some huge mystery fish.

My daughter and her boyfriend with nice gags...

My daughter hamming it up back at the dock...

Going out again in the morning, hopefully it will be warmer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2014 8:49 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sorry I couldn't make it down this weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 9:10 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote: Sorry I couldn't make it down this weekend.

Wish you could have made it Captain

We will get 'em next year

Today's trip, 10 gags up to 16 pounds...

Three days left in grouper season, hopefully I can get stretched out enough to go one more time

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 9:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sweet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 9:40 am

by tech_support

very very nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 2:38 pm

by smilinmatt

My last grouper of the season. Bookend 18#'ers.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:24 am

by smilinmatt

We took a trip down to Key West to see if the wahoo had shown up yet. The winds were blowing 15-20 knots the entire time, which made for an interesting trip in the OB-19. We took the Lakes Passage west, then had about 8 miles of open water travel getting past the reefline. We didn't find any wahoo, but this big mutton came off the bottom to check out our flashers. We also ended the trip with a 5' iguana. I've always wanted to try it, and it does taste pretty good - like turtle or alligator, but more tender.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:48 am

by tech_support

nice!

We also ended the trip with a 5' iguana.

did you pole spear him

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 5:37 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice gags Matt

Too bad the Feds can't get a handle on fish population

I just got this texted photo from my son Harrison aka " Handturkey" here on the forum.
He is spending several days of his college Christmas break fishing in the Bahamas.
Kinda sorta like mules, I don't know much about bonefish but I think this is a nice one.
He said he got it on his second cast...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 6:07 pm

by Cracker Larry

Looks like a nice one to me

I don't know much about bonefish either except what I've seen on TV, but Bahamas + fish = fun

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 7:53 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Larry, Harrison and his buddies from school are in the Bahamas shooting video and taking photos for a Guy Harvey project

I just got this pic

Who knows

It might end up on a tee shirt...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 11:14 pm

by Handturkey

Bimini is pretty nice this time of year. It stayed around 75 degrees all day today. We brought two Gheenoes from Fort Myers to Miami. Trailer broke down a mile from our house, so we had to throw them in the back of a truck. Once in Miami we loaded them on a giant catamaran sailboat and left around 4am.

Now we're in Bimini getting our bearings. We're going to be here for the next 10 days. Today was our "exploration" day because there's miles and miles of 6 inch deep water. Managed to get that one bone today on fly. We caught some cuda and blue bar jack on fly as well and gave them to the locals -- locals were hand-lining with nuts and fruit as bait. Definitely makes you realize how blessed we are...

Anyways, we're getting some cool footage down here. We've been diving as well, eating lobster, conch, and lionfish.

Guy Harvey, Aftco, Yeti coolers, and a few other companies sponsored our trip; we're mainly working with Guy Harvey/Aftco though. We're going to be making some promotional movies and they'll be posting our pictures and movies on their website and social media channels as well. So keep an eye out for that!

Absolutely obsessed with editing photos and footage - will keep you posted on the trip as long as i can maintain to steal wifi from this hotel in Bimini our catamaran is anchored next to!

If this works out for us, Guy Harvey said they'd be sponsoring more of these fishing trips and sending us all over Florida, the Caribbean and perhaps beyond.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 8:42 am

by Cracker Larry

Way to go Harrison, you make us proud. Follow your dreams

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 7:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Bimini is pretty nice this time of year.

Bimini is nice almost any time of the year, sure got to be better than Georgia has been this fall. It's a neat, beautiful and funky place, with endless flats. Only 45 miles from the USA but you sure aint in Kansas anymore

I took these a few years ago.

The flats seem to go forever..

Beyond the flats it drops off deep in a hurry. Islands in the stream

North highway

This was Hemingway's hangout. It burned down a month after we left

Too bad, it's been there a hundred years, but you would probably have got in trouble in there anyway

It was a heck of a night spot, sort of like Alice's Restaurant, you could get anything you want, and some you didn't

Burger Queen anyone?

Straw market..

Don't run over the goats

Are you staying on North or South Bimini? Eat some conch fritters and drink some Kalik for me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 9:44 pm

by Handturkey

Cracker I'm actually enjoying a nice Kalik right now. And I've seen some of the places you took pictures of. We're staying just off North Bimini near the casino out in the bay.

Heres some more bonefish pictures from today ---
Almost got bit by a big ass bull shark today midfight with my bonefish while wading.. not cool

John with a 9lb bone

my second bone of the trip 6lb

Chris's little 3lber

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:08 am

by majorgator

jealous.......................................

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 9:20 am

by tech_support

awesome trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:10 pm

by cape man

Nice bones Harrison!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:21 pm

by cape man

Finally had some time to take Clara out for some fun. Ran out at Chassahowitztka. My buddy from Gig Harbor caught his first sheepshead.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:54 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Craig

I hate to clean 'em but they sure taste great. They also can cause some nice bobos, ask PDog

Killer shots Harrison, I'm looking forward to tonight's pics and report

Y'all getting any eating type fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

That is a dang big sheep! Excellent eating, but almost takes a garden hoe to get the scales off.

Great pictures Harrison

Keep them coming.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:42 pm

by Handturkey

Thanks for the love everyone! We're doing pretty awesome down here for being 4 college kids from Fort Myers who have never fished for bonefish before. Especially since we're talking to guides after they go out all day and we're catching more bonefish than them.

Taking some crazy footage over here. The sharks were crazy today and yesterday.
Unfortunately we lost two bonefish to 6 or 7 foot lemon sharks today.

But we did get this cool shot of a bonefish we caught today.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:45 pm

by Handturkey

Aripeka Angler wrote:Killer shots Harrison, I'm looking forward to tonight's pics and report Y'all getting any eating type fish

We've collected some conch (legal over here) and lobster for dinner - as well has mutton snapper flounder etc.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:58 am

by Joe H

Harrison, I’d ask how ya been but I can see that, those are some phenomenal shot’s, that would be like a dream for this northerner, keep the pics coming!

Living the life man, living the life!

Joe & Janet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:02 am

by Cracker Larry

Beats fishing through a hole in the ice, Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:30 am

by Joe H

Beats fishing through a hole in the ice, Joe

Ya know, ah, I’m not even going to try to argue that one Larry, uhg.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:40 am

by ks8

cape man wrote:Finally had some time to take Clara out for some fun. Ran out at Chassahowitztka. My buddy from Gig Harbor caught his first sheepshead.

Nice.

There's a bunch of them under and around the pier of a local restaurant here, but only half to three quarters that size. What did he catch it on?

Btw, How did you refinish your gunnels?

Harrison... nice job you've got!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:54 am

by terrulian

The gunnels do look mighty fine.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:55 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Handturkey wrote:Thanks for the love everyone! We're doing pretty awesome down here for being 4 college kids from Fort Myers who have never fished for bonefish before. Especially since we're talking to guides after they go out all day and we're catching more bonefish than them.

Great job guys

It's not uncommon or a mystery as to why you guys can outfish guides. Good training and hard work, the perfect recipe for success.
Gotta pat myself on the back while bragging on you a little bit

Was out of town, heard y'all killed 'em today....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

Good training and hard work, the perfect recipe for success.

That is the recipe for success. That and doing what you love and learning how to do it better than anybody else.

Gotta pat myself on the back while bragging on you a little bit

I'll pat you on the back too Richard. Good men raise good men.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:46 pm

by MarkOrge

Those shots are amazing, nice job.

Good fishing to LOL

I am envious you are putting on sun block instead of a parka....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:54 pm

by Handturkey

I'm not even sure how to start my nightly report from Bimini... Today was nothing short of epic.
We left base camp at around 8am this morning and by 5pm we caught a total of 22 bonefish.
I've never even heard of this being possible. We absolutely killed it!

If you aren't familiar with bonefish, they're extremely spooky flats trophy fish that are considered some of the hardest fish to catch in the world. Literally people fly from all over the world trying to catch these fish - and catching them on fly is a whole 'nother feat in itself. 22 bonefish on fly. We WADED the flats all day, dodging the ever-circling sharks catching them all while trying to get footage of them and take pictures as well.

This movie we're making for Guy Harvey is going to be phenomenal. We had two double hookups and one triple hookup. RIDICULOUS.

Here is some of our shots from today, I hope y'all enjoy and thanks again for the love!

John with a fat "ghost of the flats"

Cody and his bone from bird's eye

My personal favorite - John and Cody with a double hookup / halfnhalf underwater shot

And last but not least, the triple header release - Looks like a Guy Harvey Painting

Cheers everyone!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 7:59 am

by Aripeka Angler

Wow

you should be able to sell those pics

Are you going to make it to the reef before you head back home?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 8:45 am

by Cracker Larry

Fantastic photos

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 8:58 am

by topwater

Those are awesome pic's

I envy you , you are living the dream .

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 9:43 am

by Dougster

Those are just amazing pics. Thanks for sharing.

Shaking his head Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 6:20 pm

by Cracker Larry

OK Harrison, need another update, with pictures of course

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 6:49 pm

by ks8

Might not hurt to give Guy Harvey a link to some of the pictures of you showing other fishianados you showing off the Guy Harvey goods. It may lead to more opportunities. (see my email).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 3:13 pm

by Handturkey

So as of right now we're taking it easy. We're still in Bimini but its been a little too windy for us to fish. So as of right now we're just going through footage and mapping out what the next steps are. Unfortunately i don't have pictures to share at the moment. We will be going back to the States sometime on monday. And after christmas im going to begin editing film and making teaser trailers and what not. I'll keep yall posted and you guys can watch the videos as i make them for guy harvey and yeti. and ill give yall the links so you could share it with your friends youd like to see as well. some of the guys went out today as well. so i might have more pictures tonight though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 5:54 pm

by Handturkey

Sorry its been so long and y'all probably have given up waiting on me.

But I finished the official "A Tale Of Tails" trailer today and launched it on Youtube.
Now we're going to start burning it onto some dvds. My roommate Chris is meeting up
with Guy Harvey on friday to show him the trailer in person. But anyway...
Heres the video...

http://youtu.be/OCk00e1LY9A

Feel free to tell me what you think!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:38 pm

by Larry B

That is one cool video, don't watch too many video's all the way, but that one kept my attention and I watched it all and was very impressed

Great Work

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:49 pm

by Joe H

Awesome Harrison, awesome!, I just got in from ice fishing, that video warmed me right up, yes great work!
Now Janet wants to go there next vacation.

Joe & Janet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:45 pm

by Rogerdog

I loved the photos, and you are right -- almost did give up waiting for more. Great video.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Well done Harrison. Excellent photography. Can't wait to see the whole thing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 9:35 am

by tech_support

nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 1:25 pm

by ks8

@ 2:14

"hris iga ig huff un"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 2:46 pm

by Fred in Wisc

Impressive camera work and shot composition.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 3:50 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Handturkey wrote:Sorry its been so long and y'all probably have given up waiting on me.
But I finished the official "A Tale Of Tails" trailer today and launched it on Youtube.
Now we're going to start burning it onto some dvds. My roommate Chris is meeting up
with Guy Harvey on friday to show him the trailer in person. But anyway...
Heres the video...

http://youtu.be/OCk00e1LY9A

Feel free to tell me what you think!

I may be a little biased, but I think the video is fantastic

Guy Harvey will think so too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 12:43 pm

by majorgator

Excellent work Harrison!
Was all that video taken with a GoPro or did you use other equipment?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 7:36 pm

by ks8

.... and if GoPro, was that with or without their filter for submerged work?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:30 am

by Handturkey

Thank you all for watching and for the love! Definitely keep sharing the video with your friends and family! And get ready for our next trip to Louisiana for reds!

majorgator wrote:Excellent work Harrison!
Was all that video taken with a GoPro or did you use other equipment?

I only used GoPros when i filmed all of the footage in this preview. However for the film i also used a Canon Rebel EOS T3 to shoot some footage.

ks8 wrote:.... and if GoPro, was that with or without their filter for submerged work?

I didn't use any filters for the video at all. Some of the pictures were edited that I posted previously however.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:17 pm

by ks8

If you do try any of the third party filters, please let us know. In the youtube reviews they seem to make a stunning difference, but I don't know how ideal they rigged those examples. Your video is already excellent.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 3:36 pm

by majorgator

The 3 fish release at the end is my favorite part

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 5:27 pm

by Handturkey

ks8 wrote:

If you do try any of the third party filters, please let us know. In the youtube reviews they seem to make a stunning difference, but I don't know how ideal they rigged those examples. Your video is already excellent.

I doubt I'll be trying to use any third party filters, just because Guy Harvey would rather not have filtered images or footage. But if I do in the future I will let you know!

majorgator wrote:The 3 fish release at the end is my favorite part

Its definitely my favorite piece from the preview footage. I was actually laying down in the water to get that shot

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 6:57 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a million dollar shot right there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 8:29 pm

by Joe H

I didn't feel like dealing with a 50 mile commute through 4" of snow to get to work today so instead I got out on the ice with my ATV and managed to spear this 36" Northern Pike, no releasing this one.

Much better then a day at work!
Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 8:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish. How do you spear a fish through the ice? Like gigging flounder through a hole? And dang, that looks cold

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:47 pm

by ks8

Nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:34 am

by Joe H

Hi Larry, sorry I didn’t see this until this morning.

I’m not sure about gigging a flounder but to spear a pike through the ice you first have to cut a good size hole in the ice using a chain saw, about 3 X 4’ will usually do, then we set up our shanty over the hole, that way it blocks the light from above and illuminates the water below so it’s like you’re looking into an aquarium, very cool, you then drop an artificial decoy down the hole and wiggle it around until a nice size Pike comes in then you throw a pretty good size spear at it and with any luck you hit him the first time because you don’t get a second chance! Plus you have to make sure it’s a Pike, it’s illegal to spear most anything else like Musky, Bass, Walleye, Salmon, ,,,, hard to tell sometime when they are 8’ down!
Loads of fun, I fish hard water because it’s ice! Ha.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 11:21 pm

by jaydillyo@yahoo.com

Every winter I visit my parents in Michigan. I do a fair amount of ice fishing with my buddies. We used to go to a small lake for crappie and other pan fish. Last year we caught 2 Splake on the lake where the cottage is. We thought it was a fluke, but this year we managed to catch 14 Splake and 1 Lake Trout over 4 days. Here's one day's catch. The Splake are really good eating. I still have 3 frozen splake left to eat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:31 am

by Joe H

Nice trout, I love trout!
We had a mess of pan fish for dinner last night, mostly Bluegill and Crappie, so good!
I'll be on the ice this afternoon.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 1:56 pm

by wadestep

Went out over last weekend, about 30 miles, 80 feet, looking for some red grouper before the feds cut out allowance in half. Had a great day, 4 people brought home a 16-fish limit. We also caught one of the larger gags I've seen - 36" on the tape:

Unfortunately, the gags are out of season for half the year for 2015. and the reds are about to be cut back to 2 per person. It's not really worth Robin and I spending 55 gals of diesel for 4 fish... May have to start bringing the frill offshore...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:29 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice looking catch Wade

Any word on when the socialists are going to lower the limit on RG?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:54 am

by wadestep

All I've heard is 'sometime this spring'.... Nothing certain yet. Difficult to plan a trip around that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:38 am

by tech_support

nice haul Wade, i wish we had shallow water bottom fishing like that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:56 am

by tech_support

deep drop trip on friend's boat. slim, but tasty pickings. mostly used electrics, but the better fish came on a manual (single hook rig). Its a long way up from 600'

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:17 am

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:deep drop trip on friend's boat. slim, but tasty pickings. mostly used electrics, but the better fish came on a manual (single hook rig). Its a long way up from 600'

Cool I think I'm gonna try mine this weekend, what did you use for bait, Bonito's pieces?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:31 am

by tech_support

Cool I think I'm gonna try mine this weekend, what did you use for bait, Bonito's pieces?

just good old squid

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:33 am

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:
Cool I think I'm gonna try mine this weekend, what did you use for bait, Bonito's pieces?
just good old squid

Hard to find here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:39 am

by tech_support

can you get barracuda ? sardines work well too, but they don't stay on the hook as well. I think about anything would work

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:45 am

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:can you get barracuda ? sardines work well too, but they don't stay on the hook as well. I think about anything would work

Okay thx I'm gonna try

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 1:41 pm

by Aripeka Angler

shine wrote:sardines work well too, but they don't stay on the hook as well.

Joel, have you ever tried salting sardines?
As in 4-5 days buried in pure salt over a bed of ice.
I'll explain the process if anyone is interested. Works great, snapper have a heck of a time stealing this bait

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:02 pm

by tech_support

I have brined a ballyhoo, but have never salted a sardine. Always keen to learn a new trick though

We rarely are able to plan trips more than a couple days out.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:16 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Once you get done dehydrating the 'dines, you can refreeze them in your bait freezer.
That way you got fishing ready sardine jerky when the mood strikes you to go.
They stink pretty bad but the snapper love 'em.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:27 pm

by Cracker Larry

Joel, have you ever tried salting sardines?
As in 4-5 days buried in pure salt over a bed of ice.
I'll explain the process if anyone is interested. Works great, snapper have a heck of a time stealing this bait

I've used some of this sardine fish jerky Richard is talking about and can vouch that it is a very tough bait. It will also pickle your fingers using it, and really nice when you get it in a cut on your hands

But most frozen sardines are mush when you get them, they need all the help they can get

Good bait, but good for one bite only. Richards sardine jerky holds up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 3:05 pm

by tech_support

I will give it a try when/if the red snapper season opens

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 3:52 pm

by cape man

Cape Man went to Cape Sable.

500 feet of poly rope, 4 bicycle inner tubes as shock absorbers, 8 feet of cable, 10/0 hook, and a piece of panty hose filled with sand as the weight (panty hose breaks when fish hits and sand falls out). Golf club was our spindle for the reel mounted in the sailing rig on the canoe:D

TOO MUCH FUN!! Note gloves! Had a run from a much BIGGER fish the night before that ran about two feet of line through my hands (NOT too much fun).

http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pid=55640

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 4:51 pm

by Cracker Larry

You ain't right

And you suck too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 5:00 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:You ain't right And you suck too

I was thinking I could loan him a fishing rod next time

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:00 pm

by cape man

I was thinking I could loan him a fishing rod next time

One of my employees let me take his Penn International on a major broom-handle rod with 1,000 yards of 150lb braid. Never put a bait out on it as I was dead set on catching something on the rope. It just sat there on the beach all week lookin' bad - but no where near as bad as the polyrope and golf club outfit. Recently read a book titled "Battles with Monsters of the Deep" - all about a guy catching HUGE fish with hand lines off the coast of Central America back in the Zane Grey era. Had to do it!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:11 pm

by cape man

http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pid=55644

By the way...here's my employee with his rod and the 9'3" Bull shark he caught last year off Anna Maria Island.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:12 pm

by cape man

Been a while since I've posted here. Have they changed the way to upload a pic? I keep getting an error message saying "unable to determine the dimensions..."

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:37 pm

by cape man

This may be better posted on another thread, but we once again spent time helping others out who didn't know how to properly anchor a boat on a beach, especially over night. Most common problem is trying to anchor with just one anchor on the beach, or anchoring with the stern out with a two anchor system. Here's a simple and inexpensive rig we use.

http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pid=55645

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:08 pm

by Cracker Larry

They just needed IMG tags around the url

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:19 pm

by peter-curacao

Cracker Larry wrote:They just needed IMG tags around the url

That's strange I also tried to do that for him but got the same message

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:21 pm

by Cracker Larry

Weird, works for me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 6:47 pm

by peter-curacao

peter-curacao wrote:
shine wrote:can you get barracuda ? sardines work well too, but they don't stay on the hook as well. I think about anything would work
Okay thx I'm gonna try

Surprisingly found those in the supermarket freezer between the tuna and salmon

do people really eat those things? tried it today! slippery sob's, didn't catch me anything. I'm new to this deep drop stuff so not sure I'm doing it right, any one care to help? I have 300+ meter braided line on the reel (the colored stuff from daiwa) at the end some mono, and a 5 circle hook snapper rig from Capt Harry's, put on small pieces of this stuff on the hooks and dropped it to a 100 to a 150 meters, what am I doing wrong or what should I do more?

Edit also had a multicolor flashing led light on the rig

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 7:48 pm

by pee wee

Gee, I don't know, Peter. I'd go for that stuff even without a blinking light.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

do people really eat those things?

I do. If you call them Calamari they taste better

Cut them into rings, batter and fry. Or use them for bait, good for a lot of things.

I don't know squat about deep dropping, but those look too small. That's what we would use for grouper and snapper in 120'.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 9:01 am

by tech_support

Hey peter, we are normally fishing deeper than 200 meters. Use pieces about the size of a sushi roll, it gets swallowed easier, the squid heads are the best they stay on hook better. There must be something out there!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 2:08 pm

by Jim_Davisson

FWIW we found freshly netted greenbacks fit in the squid perfectly. Hooking through the gill plates held the squid on much better than any other arrangement we tried, gets costly losing bait so easy. Trim them to the size once hooked to what size they are biting. What type of bottom structure are you targeting? Ledges, humps, holes? Florida is wonderful since you can buy books with GPS coordinates of various "proven honey holes or wrecks" to narrow down the search and help get a pattern going. The further offshore the better the holes

. Look around you may have similar books for your area. If all else fails sometimes buying a few rounds for the captains or first mates on local charter boats that will get you started on a pattern. B.A.S.S. guys RELY on this tactic at times. I personally love new water and the challenges it presents. Drawing on past experiences to conquer the new ones is fun for me, even if I zero.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 8:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

St. Bernard, LA. redfish...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 8:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:44 pm

by willg

Aripeka Angler wrote:St. Bernard, LA. redfish...

AA, what sort of float is on the line there?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:58 am

by topwater

Looks to me like a swim bait that got pushed up the line on the strike .

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:32 am

by tech_support

nice one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:26 pm

by peter-curacao

shine wrote:Hey peter, we are normally fishing deeper than 200 meters. Use pieces about the size of a sushi roll, it gets swallowed easier, the squid heads are the best they stay on hook better. There must be something out there!

Thx Joel, yeah over here it's not different mostly around 300 meters, but I saw a lot of fish on 150 so I thought I gave it a try, next time I go deeper, I suppose you mean cut the squid the width of a sushi piece ? how many times should I hook trough the squid?
And once down there should I do anything? or just wait and drink beer?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:46 pm

by majorgator

Aripeka Angler wrote:St. Bernard, LA. redfish...

Looks like the landscape and attire is quite a bit different than in Bimini

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 8:47 pm

by Jim_Davisson

Paddlefish Watts Bar Tn 2/21/15

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 5:27 pm

by Noles309

Anyone up on this Amendment 40?

http://www.sportfishingmag.com/species/ ... endment-40

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 5:44 pm

by Cracker Larry

Anyone up on this Amendment 40?

Sad, but they don't care what we think. Meetings and public input are a dog and pony show. When I charter fished for a living I went to every one within 100 miles. They decide what they are going to do, ask for and ignore public input, then do what they were going to do anyway. Fillet and release

And watch out for drones.

Dang Jim, there aint a fish that swims I'd dress like that to catch

They'll have to wait until summer time for me

I bet that thing will bend a rod though, looks like a tough fish. I've never caught a paddle fish. Are they good to eat?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 8:13 am

by Jim_Davisson

Larry, It was so cold when I checked the oil in the Mercury it resembled cold caramel, she was reluctant to start too. Paddlefish are a prehistoric filter feeder that are targeted for their roe more than anything. I'm a C&R guy inland, but I wouldn't eat any fish out of Watts Bar, but catch some big stripers there. They made some bombs in Oak Ridge in the 40's and some areas where I throw the net have signs that read "Danger radiation keep out". I saw what I thought were paddlefish on my Humminbird and we snagged one to confirm it, after a pic it was released. They are not easy to target or catch, so it was really neat we could get a picture.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 12:14 pm

by peter-curacao

LOL

This pic made me think about a story told here about a certain person

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 12:30 pm

by Cracker Larry

I know the story and the storyteller

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:04 pm

by Jim_Davisson

Melton Hill Tn
32 lbs on a 16" skipjack herring

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 12:43 pm

by Steven

This is a buddy of mine with a nice one pulled up at Lake Texoma using a small umbrella rig and some East Coast fishing tactics. We boated close to 30 fish of much smaller proportion. According to reports from Saturday, fishing was tough. We didn't see anyone else pulling in much. Did have a prick of a guide buzz me after going 1/2 mile out of his way to do so. Here's a tip: if you anchor you boat where the fish are, and everyone knows they favor a few spots, boats will have to troll around you. I stay at least 50 yds away, and my trolling by at 2.6 mph is not screwing with your fishing. /rant

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 3:26 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice stripers, both of yall

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:20 pm

by Jim_Davisson

Thanks Larry!
Nice haul Steven, that's a stellar day! I'm a certified striper junkie, I just love the challenge the big ones offer. We got buzzed and eyeballed hard by two guides when we anchored the mudline in the above pic. Muddy water=cloud cover to me (main channel was clean and clear water 30' away).

I'm having a hard time working on the boat or anything else with them in prespawn mode.
A.D.I.D.A.S. All day I dream about stripers

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:04 pm

by Steven

Thanks guys. I grew up fishing on the Chesapeake. Lake Texoma has a huge striper population that breeds. I'm just starting to figure out how to entice them. Most of the guides live bait fish after winter deadsticking is over. Some will take groups and cast flukes. I'm going to figure out how to pull up the big ones trolling spring and summer. They really don't know much about trolling around hear.

Watched numerous boats trolling small sassy shads, individual ones and on small umbrellas, not one of them getting down to the fish. I caught all mine in the last 5' of 30' water.

I have another lake 15 minutes from home with hybrids to 10 lbs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 7:28 pm

by Jim_Davisson

When I used to troll a lot I would pull u-rigs off my down riggers when the fish were hugging the cline. If you use Aftco flat line clips on the ball's its stout enough for big u-rigs and you can pay out or take in line on the fly. It really got you to fish w/o having 250'+ of line out. Have got many doubles in sight of the CBBT with the above set up too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:14 pm

by smilinmatt

First "big" cubera on the OB-19.

We were diving a tournament, and I just needed a couple lionfish and one hogfish to fill all my categories. We stopped at a wreck to look for some lionfish, and while I didn't find any lionfish, I did find a great big silhouette hiding inside the wreck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:32 pm

by jacquesmm

Nice big one, watch out for cigatuera.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 1:41 pm

by smilinmatt

Nice big one, watch out for cigatuera.

We don't really have to worry about that on our coast. The gulf doesn't support the coral growth that the Keys and East Coast has. It's extremely rare (last case I remember hearing about in the gulf was from grouper off Texas 4 or 5 years ago - not close but similar habitat). Despite not having to worry about cig, it still tastes like a cubera

I've got a friend smoking it and making fish dip with it. He said he's done them before and it comes out great. We'll see...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 4:26 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a heck of a big Cubera Matt. Dang, you don't mess around with that spear gun

Were you free diving?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:02 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice cubera Matt

My wife's marine biologist uncle says there has never been a documented case of ciguatera in our area of the eastern GOM. I know you know that, just sayin

Inshore redfish pic of my son and a friend

I'm ready for summertime fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

Handturkey sure has some nice looking friends

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 4:20 pm

by fukes

Some reds my brother caught in my GV13 this week.

His friend did look like that though.

Also caught a few mangrove snapper and blue fish.

Jacksonville Intercoastal Waterways.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 6:23 pm

by smilinmatt

I've survived eating a lot of cubera fish dip over the last week (it tastes infinitely better than then kingfish dip I also had made, although I wouldn't recommend if you lived on the East coast or Keys). But I wasn't so successful in this weekend's tournament. We shot enough fish to qualify for the National tournament (third in our Council), but didn't win any trophies. The only trophy I got was a little hotategai that I got on a "non-productive" drop.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:37 pm

by Cracker Larry

That is a fine scallop for sure

Raymond's Dad is a scallop fisherman, he has a 128' scallop boat in Maryland and drags off the Newfoundland banks for sea scallops. Spends 30 days at a time at sea dragging for scallops. The shells are as big as a dinner plate and the meat is bigger than your fist. One will feed 2 or 3 people. I didn't know FL had large scallops like that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 6:10 am

by Q

Cracker Larry wrote: I didn't know FL had large scallops like that.

Must have been very deep if off Florida. When I returned to central Florida after a stint in the Air Force, my first job was at a seafood processing plant at Port Canaveral.... a far cry from my last base land-locked in Oklahoma! At first in those days the shrimp boats would drag for rock shrimp, previously thought to be useless...inedible. Then a guy who later became a friend invented a machine that would split them open and eviscerate them of their large vein. They are tasty!

'Course..... that fishery later collapsed. The boats then geared up to drag for calico scallops.... then that fishery collapsed.... and the subsequent damage to the Occulina Bank far offshore closed it since.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 11:02 am

by TRC886

My neighbor's 9 year old son. He's never had a chance to set foot in a boat, or catch a rock (striper), until I took him last weekend. Yesterday was our second trip, and his first rock, a nice 20 incher:

My son with a nice one from a few weeks ago, almost 22 inches

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 12:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

Good on ya for taking the young man fishing. Look at that smile on his face

Edit: What's up with that tin boat though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 11:31 am

by Marshall Moser

Had a rare tolerable forecast for a weekend day Saturday. Forecast was 1-2' with no wind. Actual conditions were 3-4, but we had a good time. We were fishing off Cape Lookout near the Big Rock.

Caught a 16# Dolphin and two 30ish# Amberjack (released the AJ).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 01, 2015 3:32 pm

by cape man

Another beautiful trip to Grand Cayman two weeks ago. CRAZY high spring tides that made bonefishing from shore a waste of time, so a friend there took us out on a boat inside. Ran around looking for "muds", areas over the grass and bottom where a school of bonefish are working so much as to create a cloud of silt, some of them at least a quarter acre in size. Cut the engine and drift through running small gold spoons or jigs across the bottom. We caught 12 between the three of us in just a few hours. Boy is that a fast, strong, little fish, and lots of fun on 8lb line.

The road to my favorite flat on the west end. We parked here and walked the last 1/4 mile but the flats were 2-3 feet deep instead of the normal ankle deep.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 8:49 am

by Cracker Larry

Cape Man. You suck!

Rogerdog and I went fishing yesterday in Port Royal, unfortunately we didn't go catching, we just went fishing

Spring can be tough fishing, the fish are in transition between their winter and summer patterns, not much bait in yet, full moon, big tides and a lot of rain doesn't help.

Raymond and Dave went in their boat and our plan was for me to head upriver into the creeks and they were going downriver towards the ocean and we would call each other, if either found some fish.

We headed up into my never fail shrimp creek and couldn't even find a shrimp. Checked a half dozen spots, no shrimp. Headed to one of my never fail redfish holes and couldn't buy a bite. Found the fish, they were swimming all around the boat by the hundreds, wouldn't bite anything. Fished most of the falling tide and part of the incoming, caught 1 real nice flounder and 2 sting rays all day. Raymond and Dave caught a couple of whiting.

To salvage the day I parked the boat between 2 oyster mountains and let the tide leave us. Rogerdog got out and scratched up a 7 gallon bucket full of SC select single oysters

The best oysters in the USA! Now Rogerdog understands why we need a graphite bottom and a stainless prop. I don't think he's ever seen the kind of places I take my boat

One thing about oysters, you don't have to hunt for them, or wait for them to bite, and they don't run very fast.

But it was a beautiful day, the boat didn't break, nobody got hurt and Rogerdog took home enough fish, shrimp and oysters to make a real good seafood platter, and I'm smoking oysters on the grill for lunch

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 1:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

A grill full of maple smoked South Carolina rock fish...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 2:34 pm

by Rogerdog

We are steaming a pot of oysters tonight with a side of quick boiled shrimp and a couple of very nice pan fried flounder filets.

Larry's fishing hole was chocked full of redfish (and mullet, flounder, stingrays, a shark we saw a couple of times, a little river otter and more oysters than I could eat in a lifetime). Neat spot creates a choke point where the fish have to go with the falling tide or the rising tide, and we saw literally hundreds of fish.

A good T Top is truly a blessing. We watched three guys 200 yards away ground their open whaler clone boat, climb out and proceed to stand on a shell bank and toss bait in a pond that forms up at low tide for five hours.

They had to be baking in their skins. Once they were done fishing, they still had over an hour of sitting around waiting for their skiff to refloat.

Catching or not, any day out on the water is a fabulous day!

Wayne

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 2:54 pm

by jacquesmm

I have to stop visiting this thread, I am drooling over my keyboard looking at your oysters.

Your remark about then not running fast reminds me of bad spear fishing days in the Bahamas.
When everything else failed, I picked up some conchs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 4:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

Catching or not, any day out on the water is a fabulous day!

It was a fabulous day and we did bring home supper, so we weren't skunked, and I didn't tell anybody you kept a stingray

My OD18 just had her 8th birthday, is still performing flawlessly and does everything that I need it to do. 6" of water or 600 fathoms doesn't matter to her. She's sort of like dog, she'll go anywhere I take her and do what I ask her to do. Dang good boat, great design Jacques.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 6:07 pm

by majorgator

Spent Thursday night through Sunday night in Homosassa and fished hard for 2 1/2 days. Unfortunately, not much to show for it. I think a combination of weather conditions had them messed up, but hey, what's a good fisherman without an excuse. Got beat to death by the wind on Friday...I love my XF20, but it is not the boat to have in those conditions. Had tons of pinfish thanks to a good trap, but not much to do with them. Searched high and low and burnt a ton of gas, but never could get on the fish. Someone buzzed my trap with their prop and cut the rope, but the water was clear and the spot was marked, so after about 30-45 minutes of huntin' for it, I was very fortunate to spot it.

But as Larry says, boat didn't break and no one got hurt, and we got to spend more time on the water. The Homosassa area is an awesome place. I think I got some good underwater GoPro video of some manatees up in the springs, so I might have to post that.

A few things to note regarding some of the upgrades to my XF over the last year or so:
1. I LOVE my Yeti.
2. I LOVE my casting bow/casting platform (except when I'm driving while seated...makes it kind of tough to see).
3. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Minn Kota iPilot trolling motor. To anyone who's considering buying a new trolling motor or trying to justify to yourself the need for an upgrade, DO IT AND DO IT NOW! I haven't thrown an anchor since I installed it. The motor us super quiet, lightweight, easy to deploy/retrieve and simply AWESOME.

Only really got one picture worth sharing. My eldest child, Shepard, with a scrumptious (just kidding) jack cravelle.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 7:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nothing wrong with that Seth

Great picture of Shepard and the jack. Pound for pound on light tackle a jack crevalle puts up one hell of a fight. They ain't much good to eat though, sort of like stingrays

3. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Minn Kota iPilot trolling motor. To anyone who's considering buying a new trolling motor or trying to justify to yourself the need for an upgrade, DO IT AND DO IT NOW! I haven't thrown an anchor since I installed it. The motor us super quiet, lightweight, easy to deploy/retrieve and simply AWESOME.

Awesome machine for sure. I don't have one myself, but have fished on Raymond's Maverick with one several times. It is fantastic. We put one on the GF18 but haven't had a chance to test it yet. It's interfaced into the Humminbird GPS plotter. Should be really cool.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 1:38 pm

by cape man

Cape Man. You suck!

Now why would you say such a mean thing...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 1:40 pm

by cape man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-9JPfsll0A

A cool short video they put together from the tournament this year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 3:22 pm

by Cracker Larry

Now why would you say such a mean thing...

Only because I love ya, and because you suck

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 6:48 am

by lpwebb

Went out to f reef off of st simons Sunday. It was my second attempt at reef fishing. We Used cut up menhaden and some frozen squid and caught probable 50 bass that were all short. Did the same thing 3 weeks ago with shrimp with the same results.

Anyone have any tips for how to catch something keep able and edible? I am trying to figure out this bottom fishing thing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 7:46 am

by Cracker Larry

I've got a couple of suggestions. First off the F reef is a little close to shore for larger fish now, and being so close it gets a lot of fishing pressure. Because of gov regulations in the last few years, our reefs are very over populated with juvenile sea bass.

In the winter the larger fish will move in closer on the near shore reefs, but in the summer they move to deeper water. You need to move out deeper, like to the G reef. 90-100'. I would avoid artificial reefs altogether, they get too much pressure from both hook and line and spear fishermen. Instead, look for live bottom in 80-120'. That's where the large BSB and grouper will be now.

2nd. suggestion is to change bait. Little bait catches little fish, big bait= big fish. Use a bait large enough that the shorts can't eat them. Shrimp and small cut baits won't get it for big fish, the little fish will be all over it before the bigger fish even find it. Use large baits, as big as your hand, preferably live, and large bucktail jigs, I'm talking hand size jigs. A live short blackfish or beeliner is hard to beat (although illegal to use

), grunts, rock bass, rubys...anything about hand size will work and let you get through the shorts.

This should help put some meat in the box

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 12:32 pm

by Joe H

Speaking of meat in the box, my brother and I got our limit of Walleye this past weekend, best tasting fresh water fish there is!

This freighter went a little off center and spooked a few fishermen, they had to move in a hurry, freighters don’t stop or turn for a few fisherman, ha.

Joe h

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 12:42 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice fish Joe

I've never ate a walleye, we don't have those down here.

I do know about freighters though

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 1:33 pm

by Fred in Wisc

Nice waldo, Joe. I'm jealous if you are limiting them that size.

Larry, they are like a giant yellow perch. Delicious. They usually fight like a small slightly active log though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 3:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

We don't have yellow perch either

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 3:51 pm

by Fred in Wisc

I think I have to spend some time fishing down south, thought yellow perch lived everywhere like bluegills or largemouth bass.....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 3:59 pm

by TomW1

Nice walleye Joe. I agree best eating fish, used to catch them in Erie when we lived up there. We have them in Lake Fontana near us.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 6:52 pm

by ks8

What is it like for one man on a kayak to haul a 500 pound grouper aboard?

http://video.foxnews.com/v/425954073800 ... show-clips

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 5:58 pm

by smilinmatt

Unless that guy is 9' tall, I think the size might be overstated by a hair.

Still, I bet that would be fun to land on a kayak.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 10:19 pm

by ks8

As a matter of fact, he IS 9 feet tall. And the camera lense is messing with the sizes. Its a reverse invertoimplodo zoom. Items closer to the lense actually look smaller....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 11:35 am

by Noles309

Looks like no Red Snapper season for 2015 for those of us on the South Atlantic coast.
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_f ... dium=email

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 11:56 am

by Cracker Larry

I read that yesterday, it really angers me. They blessed us with 3 weekends all last year, all of which had small craft warnings, none this year

You can't drop a bait without catching red snapper offshore here. It's crazy politics and all about the money and big commercial interests. It's got nothing to do with the fish population.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 12:07 pm

by ks8

At the moment I have no opinion on it, but what I have been told is:

Although the count has rebounded, the average size is still a little too small for a sustainable breeding/harvesting season. The bigger the fish, the more eggs, exponentially (it might even be geometrically). So if the average size increases by several pounds, there are many many more eggs being produced. Not saying that is a justifiable reason or not, but that is what I was told. If I recall, FWC is fully admitting the population rebound, with the thing being average size and eggs produced. Don't shoot me.... just being an ignorant parrot.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 4:10 pm

by Cracker Larry

If I recall, FWC is fully admitting the population rebound,

First off, there has never been a decline of red snapper or black sea bass in the SE Atlantic, and there are more now than there have been in the last 50 years that I've been catching them. That being said, FL FWC does an excellent job of managing their state resources for the most part, especially considering the fishing pressure that FL gets. But they can only manage state waters, which extend only 3 miles offshore on the Atlantic side and 9 on the Gulf side of the state. Anything past that is managed by the Federal Government, NMFS, NOAA and Obama. They care nothing about the fish stock. They are establishing "world catch shares" and who is paying the most for fish in export.

The problem is, on the east coast for sure, is that you have to be in 80-120' of water to catch a red snapper, which puts you 30 miles out, in federal jurisdiction, not state. Some states are refusing to enforce the federal laws and some are bowing down because they loose any federal funding if they don't. Some are trying to extend their state water jurisdiction. It's a political mess. There is nothing wrong with the red snapper population.

I fish GA, FL and SC, and all 3 states do a very good job of resource management within state waters. But once you get 3 miles offshore, you have to play by Obama rules

Edit: Well, you don't exactly "HAVE" to

But beware of drones.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 4:50 pm

by Cracker Larry

Our new government seems to be a lot better at catching people with one too many fish than they are at keeping people from climbing their own fence at the White house, or even keeping drones out of the grounds, or protecting our Embassies and troops and allies. They can monitor our every phone call, and email, and social media, but the IRS and Obamacare and the White House can't even keep their own computer networks secure and working. Most of them can't seem to keep their d@ck in their pants either. China, Korea and Russia are all are making us look like junior varsity kids in IT. If I was allowed to cuss here, I'd call them a goat f@ck surrounded by a circle j@rk. Maybe they should hire a few people from Amazon.com who can flawlessly process a million transactions a minute, every day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 5:19 pm

by ks8

Sometimes I wonder how much busy-ness is resume writing. If you've ever had to read resumes, and then interview those prospects, you know what I mean....

Makes one appreciate the value of the genuine resume and prospective employee. Increasingly rare bird? Oh... this is about fishing....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 8:19 pm

by kcinnick

Plenty of red snapper days in Louisiana. It is stupidity, they just become fish food. A shark is usually first on scene.

Anyway, like speckled trout. You can catch a lot of them fast and don't have to fight. Bite is off at 10am like a clock. I love to hit a school of white trout, no limits.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 5:27 pm

by wadestep

well... we did our part to catch some red snapper this brief season. We were 70 miles out in 170' water to get them.

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 9:40 pm

by ks8

nice

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:09 am

by Jim_Davisson

Been on the high 30's flathead's lately

Spine hooked 12"+ live gizzard shad has been winning. Nothing like a green, pissed off Flattie in 6' of water! As always all fish are released so we can catch them again and again.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:11 am

by Cracker Larry

Dang! I've never caught a catfish that large

I bet it is a fight.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:15 am

by Jim_Davisson

They are just like a grouper, almost straight up and down tug of war. Most nights our top five fish go 150-180 lbs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:45 pm

by Benny Howard

Anyone fishing Steinhatchee to Appalach this week. My wife says I can't fish by myself and I am going fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 6:36 pm

by wegcagle

Went on vacation with the family last week to North Myrtle Beach, and even found a little time to take my oldest fishing

Not a lot of action (surface water temp was WAY too hot). But I did catch a few mullet (for bait) cast netting, and found this little bugger in the cast net at one point

I love the look on my daughter's face. She was not a big fan of that gar after he took a piece of my pinky with him while untangling him from the cast net

She also out-fished her old man with this nice sand trout and she even pulled in 2 yummy blue crabs as well

All in all the day was perfect, company couldn't get much better, and nobody got hurt (not too bad anyways).

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 2:27 pm

by wadestep

Just got done running my boat down to the keys and Dry Tortugas for roughly a week. Mixed fishing report - trolling for dolphin was bad, Gulf grouper fishing was great, and Tortugas snapper fishing was great.
Big dog snapper and mutton snapper in Tortugas:

some kind of weird trigger fish:

rock hind grouper:

and lots of red grouper in the gulf - this one was 29" - one of the larger ones we catch:

wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:41 pm

by ks8

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:41 pm

by Cracker Larry

Looks like a great trip Wade

I think the triggerfish is a Niger. Tortugas are an amazing place.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 5:48 pm

by wadestep

Yep - looks like you are right on track - Niger, or black triggerfish. I guess they're spread around the world, and in the Keys, but not in the Gulf. Interesting.
wade

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:09 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Awesome report on your trip Wade

Wish I could have made it, great catch.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:06 pm

by Cracker Larry

I had the pleasure of fishing again today with my buddies, Raymond and Capt. Herb. Herb's a professional Captain and fishing guide out of Palmetto Bluff Plantation, SC , and I think he might even be saltier than I am

He knows his stuff, and so does Raymond.

We left early, ran to a little creek and caught about 200 shrimp in 10 throws of the net, ran across to another little creek and caught 200 finger mullet in 2 throws. Bait tank overflow! Enough bait for 3 days

Went to the first spot, caught a LOT of small redfish, just under slot, and some dink trout. Moved to another spot, found some nice trout there. Some dinks, but some really good ones too. Like this

The heat and sun was brutal on that open flats boat today. Wish we were in mine with the T-top. 95 degrees and no shade.

We caught some big ladyfish that pretended to be tarpon, a large bonnet head shark, a small flounder, whiting, a couple of stingrays, and other assorted stuff. Probably 40 redfish and 60 trout. Kept 11 trout for dinner between us, no need to be greedy. Released everything else healthy and happy. Great day with 2 great friends and fishermen. Life was good today

The A/C in the truck was good too!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 11:00 pm

by kcinnick

That is a great looking trigger fish Wade! All we ever see are Gray's and now they put a limit on those...

Larry, if its legal, we keep em! Vacuum bags are great. Never know when you might get hungry.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 12:08 am

by TomW1

Larry nice catch. It's good to have friends to go fishing with.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 8:37 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Mighty fine trout Captain

I think he might even be saltier than I am

I doubt that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

I think he might even be saltier than I am

I doubt that

Don't, and that's not something that I'd say lightly. Yes, he is.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 11:16 am

by Cracker Larry

Ya ever had one of those days when you probably should have just stayed in bed? Sunday was one of those. Rogerdog and his wife wanted to come down for some saltwater shrimping and fishing in their GF18. Mrs. Cracker was tied up with family things so I tried to round up Raymond to go with us and he said heck no. Said it would be hot as crap, the fish weren't going to bite and then the afternoon thunderstorms will kick our butt. We went anyway:D

The plan was to meet at Bolen Hall landing at 0900. They wanted a lesson in shrimping and salt water fishing, and get some blood on the boat that wasn't mine. 0900 was a little late on the tide, but they had to drive down 3 hours from Augusta and I figured we could make that work. I knew we would get afternoon storms again and we would need to come in early. So we check in by phone about 0800 and we are both on the road and on schedule. It's usually about 45 minutes for me to get to the ramp. So I go merrily along, about 16 miles down the road, almost to Tillman, and there is a big sign, road closed, bridge washed out! Dang, would have been nice if they posted a sign at the start of the road.

Turn around, drive all the way back almost to home to take an alternate route that was about 30 miles longer. Called Rogerdog and told him I was going to be late. He says no problem, they would buy some mud minnows and get the boat in the water.

I arrive at the ramp almost an hour late, no fishing partners to be found. I call him again, where the heck are you? They took a wrong turn and went to Bluffton instead of Beaufort. So I wait there for about 45 more minutes and they show up. We load up and launch real quick and go in search of shrimp, real late on the tide and it's hot as Hades.

Neither of them had ever thrown a cast net before, but after a little practice and instruction they were both throwing perfect pancakes. Mrs. Rogerdog caught on really fast! She is sharp. Had to hunt around a little bit but found some nice shrimp and they caught about 5 pounds before the tide got too high. Plenty for bait and a good meal too. They liked this shrimp catching. I created 2 monsters If we had been 3 hours earlier on the tide we could have filled a cooler.

Then we left in search of fish. Tide was already up in the grass. Not my favorite time. Riding down the creek at almost full throttle, I pull back on the throttle and it's jammed. Won't move! This ain't good

I had Rogerdog steer while I investigated inside the console. Saw that the throttle cable had come loose from the throttle lever inside the control box and jammed up the works. Got it un-jammed where it would move, but still couldn't slow down the boat. Pulled out the tool kit and took the throttle box apart from the outside, still running down the river. Saw that the retaining pin that secures the cable to the lever was non-existent. I know they don't just fall out, it never was put in. This was a dealer install and I won't mention the name, but this could have had very serious consequences. I'm glad it happened with me driving and not a inexperienced person in tight quarters.

Reached in with a pair of needle nose pliers, got a grip on the cable and pulled it, boat slowed down, finally, and we were able to shift to neutral and stop the boat. Then we could figure out how to fix it. After some prying, poking and cussing we got the cable end back on the stud. Searched for the retaining clip but it was not to be found.
Hunted around the boat and came up with a small safety pin. Perfect, if we could get it on. 20 more minutes of cussing and fussing and we got it on and clipped. Tested all functions, all good. Put throttle box back together and resumed towards the fishing hole. Clouds were building now.

The fishing was as bad as I expected and we managed one ladyfish and one bonnethead shark before the sky turned black, sheets of rain to the west and I suggested we get off the river ASAP. Almost made it to the ramp before the rain started, the bottom fell out before we could get out the water. Pulled the boat, unloaded and secured it in pouring rain.

Drove home in the rain in soaked clothes, went around the 30 mile detour. Got dry. Made a very tall whiskey drink, then a second. Raymond pretty much pegged the day, except for the throttle cable incident.

But, the company was good, we caught some shrimp and 2 fish, got some blood and mud in the boat, everybody learned something, nobody got hurt and everybody came home. Beats watching TV

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 11:46 am

by cottontop

Larry, This was quite a story

. We have all had them, but you ought to become an official storyteller. You would really be great at it. Glad everything turned out pretty well. When is the best time to shrimp your area and what type of license would be required for someone(like me) from out of state? A friend of mine and I used to take off after work on a Friday and go up to Savannah to shrimp many many decades ago. We would put in somewhere close to a bridge over to Hilton Head and shrimp at night and sleep in his truck bed during the day. We would come home late on Sunday and back to work on Monday morning. Its a shame he is now in an advanced state of alzheimers. We had a bunch of fun. John

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 11:56 am

by Jaysen

CL, If you ever need ballast (trip where you'd like a rider in your boat) and are launching out of Beaufort/places-more-seaward-than-Beaufort/Bluffton let me know. I'm at Lands End (bottom of St Helena Is) and don't mind supplying fuel, beverages, mud minnows, etc. Lots of launches (private and public) if you want to fish the creeks and such.

Just looking for some on the water time with a pole and company.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

When is the best time to shrimp your area and what type of license would be required for someone(like me) from out of state? A friend of mine and I used to take off after work on a Friday and go up to Savannah to shrimp many many decades ago. We would put in somewhere close to a bridge over to Hilton Head and shrimp at night

John, it's just starting to get good and will get better for the next 3 months as the shrimp grow. We can usually catch them good from about now until December. I always liked night shrimping best too. Nothing like getting out there on a full moon and loading a cooler.

The only license required is a non-resident SC saltwater fishing license, $35. 48 quart limit. Baiting shrimp with fish meal is a popular thing in SC, but a baiting license for a non-resident is $500

That will buy a lot of shrimp, and I've never needed bait to catch them anyway. It's always been illegal in GA and still is. I wish they would make it illegal in SC too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:26 pm

by Cracker Larry

CL, If you ever need ballast

I never need ballast. Can you throw a cast net is the question

I'm a real good boat driver

I'm going to give fishing a break until these dog days are over and focus on putting some shrimp in the freezer. I usually launch at Bolen Hall on Euhaw Creek, or the Cheechessie at Lemon Island. Sometimes at Alljoy in Bluffton on May River. PM me your phone number and schedule. My schedule is usually my own and I try not to schedule very much.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 1:03 pm

by Jaysen

Cracker Larry wrote:Can you throw a cast net is the question I'm a real good boat driver

That's a trick question. I've only owned a cast net for a year... Yes but only the small ones. Last shrimp season was bad so I didn't get much practice. Bait is so plentiful that once decent toss and I've got all the bait I need for a few days. The old timers here stopped calling me "yankee" when we were getting bait last week so maybe I'm getting it down.

Cracker Larry wrote:PM me your phone number and schedule. My schedule is usually my own and I try not to schedule very much.

For some reason I can not PM or email anyone (assuming you didn't get an email from me last week). If you don't see something from me shortly assume I'm still clueless (which is sad given I've managed a few phpbb installs

)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:45 pm

by Jaysen

Attempts at contact completed.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 8:27 am

by Cracker Larry

Jaysen, I haven't got any message from you. You can email me direct LTeuton at aol dot com.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 11:51 pm

by Handturkey

I haven't had much free time to post any pictures, lately. I've been way too busy with work, school and... well, fishing.

But here are some pictures that I've taken or collected in the past two monthes:

I had the pleasure of teaching one of my good friends, now roommate Cannon, how to fly fish.

Still proudly sporting the Bateau decal on my boat

Even took him into the Everglades for his first poon

We mostly did a lot of summer snookin,
Did very well on the beaches in Matlacha

Alec and I caught almost 60 snook in 12 hours in Matlacha

Sanibel Shorefishing

With buddy Graham in Sanibel

My other roommate, Chucks, and I found some in the backwaters around Estero.

Releasing a beauty in Estero Bay

Had a little fun playing with some micropoon, jumped a few huge 60-80lb tarpon on the flats, didn't land any giants...

Chucks with a nice micropoon on fly

Played with some backwater redfish
My buddy and FGCU fishing club president Wyler and I found some big reds in deep waters near Pine Island

and some smaller ones in the tidal flats of Estero Bay

Made it offshore for one trip, didn't kill it but did catch some nice firetruck size red grouper with Alec

And last but not least, took a little trip down to the Islamorada with Chucks. We were traveling 40-70 miles a day in a gheenoe, back north towards flamingo. The fish we saw, were monsters, but it was so incredibly hot that nothing would really eat. Did manage to land a couple, including this beefy just-under-32 inch snook. He had a battle scar on him from what I assume was an osprey trying to pick him up back in the day.

I have more pictures from the everglades that i took on a nice Canon, but I haven't imported them all just yet. More to come..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:54 am

by Joe H

Nice Harrison, your living the life Dude keep it up!

Sitting in front of my computer building virtual cars, it's killing me man, I need to get out fishing, your pic's take me there.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:23 am

by Cracker Larry

Fantastic fishing and photos Harrison

You are your Daddy's son for sure

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 2:27 pm

by cape man

Harrison,

If your intent was to rub it in, consider me rubbed raw! Nice fish and great shots. Really like the waterline shot of the snook.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 11:00 pm

by ks8

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:43 am

by Jim_Davisson

Banner Labor day weekend in Oriental, NC! 8 citations and innumerable amout of cow nosed rays.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 7:45 pm

by Cracker Larry

Those are some stout redfish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 7:50 am

by Rickk

Wow - nice fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 5:24 pm

by ks8

yeehahhhhhh! That is one mighty big fish fella!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 8:35 am

by topwater

Dr Strange love......you gotta love it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 5:13 pm

by MarkOrge

My Daughter caught her first smallmouth fishing while we were with the inlaws on their Mainship 39 over the long weekend - Georgian Bay (east side of Lake Huron, 30,000 Island Archipelago) Then she caught three more, outfishing Dad in the first hour 4:1. Special times !

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 6:25 pm

by bigtalljv

I went fishing with my boys and caught nothing good, threw back lots of rock fish and lost $200 worth of anchor and chain

had it foul like I've never see. Spent a while working on it before the rope parted

That's how it goes sometime.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 10:53 pm

by Cracker Larry

Rig the anchor like this. When it gets stuck, pull on it straight up hard and break the tie wraps, then pull it out backwards. Saves $100s of $$

Works for any style of decent anchor.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 11:21 pm

by bigtalljv

Yep. Been arguing on another forum about that. Since I dive off the boat most of the time I am not terribly comfortable leaving the boat unattended with zip ties being the holding force. I know nobody has ever had one break but it's a tough one for me. I think I might jury rig it was that way for fishing. I don't think we need to get into it here, this is a fishing thread

Jason

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:02 pm

by peter-curacao

Solo trip today some Wahoo, last week lot's of Mahi sorry no pics of that, all (charter) guest phones drowned after pics

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:33 pm

by gtcoupe

I'm jealous Peter, Wahoo are the best eating fish in the sea IMHO.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:18 am

by Cracker Larry

Nice hoos Peter! That is some fine eating fish. I bet you've already got out the soy and wasabi

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 3:12 pm

by cape man

So after Richard has a good battle with a keeper red fish, it wraps the leader around a rock...

No worries! We are fishing with none other than Mark the Chopperman, who gallantly jumps over and hands Richard his fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:04 pm

by Walkers Run

Bucket of bugs

Spent the week end with my family in the keys. (That's why I couldn't make the builders meet) got our limit 2 days. Drank rum and kicked back.
Shameless boat pictures to follow

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:34 am

by Cracker Larry

That a beautiful bucket of bugs, beautiful boat too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:44 am

by Cracker Larry

Rogerdog had invited me to go fishing yesterday in his GF18. Due to family issues I couldn't make it, so he hooked up with my A-Team. Raymond and Capt. Herb and headed for Hilton Head. They did pretty good without me

The GF18 is a fish catching machine.

Had to first catch bait..Rogerdog has learned how to throw a net

Don't think I'd show these off

This one is a show off..

They had a great day, sorry I couldn't be there to share it. Glad to see the boat doing what it was meant to do.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 10:37 am

by Noles309

Cracker Larry wrote: Don't think I'd show these off

Haha, I would. I'm much better at building boats than fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:23 pm

by Handturkey

Howdy, just wanted to share a little video I made the other night. It's made with footage that I collected last Wednesday with my buddy, John, who is a part of the Guy Harvey/ Costa Del Mar project I've been working on.

A little trip on my GF12 in Estero Bay, down in Fort Myers, FL. Only Artificial used, both fly and spin. Try to watch it in HD if you can...

Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/Uj0NzatdfvY

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2015 8:13 pm

by Joe H

Crazy Cool Harrison!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 12:51 pm

by Handturkey

Joe H wrote:Crazy Cool Harrison!

Joe H

Thanks! I'll probably be putting another one up within the week.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 2:41 pm

by tcason

My 83 year old dad catching rockfish in Eastern Bay of Chesapeake Bay.

We caught about 20 small rocks under the birds about a 15 minute run from dock.

Pretty cool night to be able to take Dad fishing!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2015 10:58 pm

by Jim_Davisson

Tcason, that's effin awesome and I hope to do exactly the same into my twilight years. I've caught a bunch of big fish of various sweet and salt water species, but nothing in my world tops a big striper for some reason too.

30# Rocktober Tn striper caught on a 20" live skipjack

Bonus Tn musky on a live 12" gizzard shad (10' leash behind a planer board)

We fished 30 hrs of 2 days pulling only giant baits. We only had 6 bites and boated only the 2 fish pictured above, but we had a legitimate shot a 60+ #er the whole time... Totally worth it in 2.75" of rain we fished in

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 11:07 pm

by Steven

Caught this pretty 3 pounder at a local neighborhood pond. Took my son there with some small jig heads to catch some bluegill and give him some casting practice. Only second time fishing there. He's only fished from the boat, so this was a learning experience for him. I was tossing a small white mepps. I was catching some bluegills with it when I tossed it along the bank 2' out and after one crank on the reel she slammed it. We moved to this spot as this was was the only bank in the sun. Got to take some crickets next time so he'll catch more fish to keep it fun for him. Most of the bluegill action was out of his casting range with a light lure. With a bobber he'd be ok

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2015 8:57 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Hi guys, We haven't posted much on here lately...
We have been getting some nice fish though...
Pictures from our last two trips offshore...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 11:51 pm

by Fuzz

Took a few days to go visit a friend in Oregon. While I was there we went on a fishing trip for King Salmon. It sort of reminded me of fishing around here 30 years ago. We caught 6 fish in about six hours. Biggest was about 30 pounds and it was sure good eating.
Fuzz

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 7:52 pm

by peter-curacao

Very easy sea today

catch of today

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 8:01 pm

by Walkers Run

Very very nice! You had a great day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 8:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

That is some first class groceries right there

Lot of good sushi

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 12:47 pm

by terrulian

You guys are working too hard. Here's the way to go:
https://www.facebook.com/lunkerville/vi ... 749312653/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:17 am

by wegcagle

My dad came up on Friday for a couple of days of playing. Spent the day on the lake on Saturday. We did a whole lot more catching up than catching fish, but I sure had a great time

We did end up with decent 6lb lineside.

Boat performed wonderfully. With my 180lb butt, my dad's 200lb butt, and about 250lbs of livewell water/gas/ice/gear/etc, the 50hp definitely took longer to hop up on plane. Once it got over the wake we ended up hitting 32mph WOT. I thought that was pretty awesome given the load.

Happy holidays!

Will

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 5:08 pm

by Handturkey

Made another video from a trip to the Keys I took last summer. I hope you enjoy it. Try to watch it in 1080p HD.

https://youtu.be/iYoxSWJXLEc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 7:31 am

by topwater

Great video as always

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 5:31 pm

by blueflood

Hi Handturkey,

Wow what cool filming / editing / soundtrack

That is a TV commercial in waiting

Marc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 6:35 pm

by Cracker Larry

Harrison, that was great

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 6:49 pm

by blueflood

Harrison,

I checked out your You Tube entries. Did you ever consider commercial filming production ? What caliber you have

Faded; Corona would increase their sales tenfold

. Excellent super-creative camera work, editing and dubbing....make it 30 seconds long and you have a million dollar deal

Hats off, dude !

Marc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 7:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

I think he's filming for Guy Harvey

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 7:50 pm

by blueflood

Yeah...Is that the shot of boat side at waterline - on the tag ?

I'm kinda slow

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 8:42 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Handturkey wrote:Made another video from a trip to the Keys I took last summer. I hope you enjoy it. Try to watch it in 1080p HD.

https://youtu.be/iYoxSWJXLEc

Very proud of you son

Happy Birthday, keep up the good work...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 9:04 pm

by Handturkey

topwater wrote:Great video as always

Thank you very much!!

blueflood wrote:Hi Handturkey,
Wow what cool filming / editing / soundtrack That is a TV commercial in waiting
Marc

Thank you Marc, I appreciate the support! I've heard that I should send that to a company in the Keys for marketing, to make some money, so that is a huge compliment! I actually am hopefully pursuing a career in wildlife photography/filmography. I haven't heard that about my Faded video, but that made me laugh! I'm sure corona loves the free advertisement! I'm not quite sure what you mean about the shot of boat side at waterline though

Cracker Larry wrote:Harrison, that was great

Thanks Cracker! I am still working on some footage for Guy Harvey, I've just been bogged down a little by school. I'll keep you posted on when my next video will come out for them!

Aripeka Angler wrote: Very proud of you son
Happy Birthday, keep up the good work...

Thanks dad!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

Very proud of you son

I'd be proud of him too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 12:03 am

by TomW1

Couldn't be more proud of as a son if you were mine also. Keep up the good work and make us all proud. Your doing well and am impressed with what you have what you have shot so far. So far.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 6:37 am

by blueflood

Handturkey wrote:I'm sure corona loves the free advertisement! I'm not quite sure what you mean about the shot of boat side at waterline though

Wrong video

in "The Encounter" @ 1:47, there is a three second shot in your clip where the camera is at the waterline aiming up and back when cruising at speed but with the boat manufacturer tag (riveted on the boat) in the frame. Thought it was a short plug for the boat company. No idea who is Guy Harvey..

I think you are on the right career path Harisson

Don't waste your obvious artistic and creative talent.

Marc

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 4:04 pm

by Cracker Larry

Do square grouper count

No idea who is Guy Harvey..

Google is your friend

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 5:27 pm

by blueflood

Now it makes sense

One of these

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 5:32 pm

by Handturkey

TomW1 wrote:Couldn't be more proud of as a son if you were mine also. Keep up the good work and make us all proud. Your doing well and am impressed with what you have what you have shot so far. So far.

Tom

Thank you Tom! I really appreciate it, and I plan on moving forward and continuing to grow as a filmographer.

blueflood wrote:Wrong video in "The Encounter" @ 1:47, there is a three second shot in your clip where the camera is at the waterline aiming up and back when cruising at speed but with the boat manufacturer tag (riveted on the boat) in the frame. Thought it was a short plug for the boat company. No idea who is Guy Harvey..

I think you are on the right career path Harisson Don't waste your obvious artistic and creative talent.

Marc

Ohh, yes I am actually working with Gheenoe as well, so that was a little shot for the company. But, thankyou that really means a lot!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:57 pm

by cape man

Another successful trip to Cape Sable. The mullet were THICK in the cove and thus the predators were there as well. 11 released sharks in two and a half days!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:58 pm

by cape man

And of course this...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:01 pm

by cape man

This guy nailed a laughing gull right over the camp, fished him out of the water and proceeded to devour it within 30 feet of the tents. That's a Peregrine Falcon for those that don't recognize it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:16 pm

by Fuzz

Great pictures CapeMan! Love the picture of the falcon. Never see those in this part of the world.
Fuzz

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:41 pm

by Handturkey

cape man wrote:This guy nailed a laughing gull right over the camp, fished him out of the water and proceeded to devour it within 30 feet of the tents. That's a Peregrine Falcon for those that don't recognize it.

Amazing shot Captain AHAB, thats my absolute favorite bird of prey.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 6:18 pm

by BarraMan

Not much for that gull to laugh about!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 6:05 pm

by Handturkey

Caught this giant sheepshead the other day messing around, waiting for the tides to turn redfishing. I thought I'd share because this is definitely the biggest sheepshead that I've been on a boat with. Weighed almost 9 lbs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 6:54 pm

by Cracker Larry

That's a good one for sure

Dang strong fighters and good eating too. Did you catch it on an artificial?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 10:27 pm

by TomW1

Craig that is a pretty shot of a Peregrine, never new of them being that far south. Have seen them in New England when we lived there. And they have pictures of them living on the office buildings in NY city.

Handturkey nice sheepshead never seen one that big.

Regards all, Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 1:26 pm

by Handturkey

Cracker Larry wrote:That's a good one for sure Dang strong fighters and good eating too. Did you catch it on an artificial?

we actually collect those little mangrove crabs on our way into the little bay we fish, and sight cast reds and sheeps with those

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:11 pm

by Cracker Larry

We mostly use small crabs and fiddlers for them too. Oysters, clams and mussels also work well.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 8:28 am

by cape man

Sheepshead are awesome and a challenge to catch. My father always said the secret was to set the hook just before they bit.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2016 3:41 pm

by smilinmatt

Two tricks I've learned for sheepshead:

1. Hermit crabs make the absolute best live bait if you can find them. Just break the shell to get the crabs out and hook it through the fleshy tail.

2. They're much easier to hook with a moving bait. They'll grab it much more aggressively than a bait that's sitting. We'd use a small jighead tipped with shrimp and bounce it past structure or pilings (wherever they're at).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 5:44 pm

by Handturkey

Its been a pretty strange winter down in Fort Myers at least weather wise.. But the fishing has not disappointed.

The tarpon have been sticking around and are always fun on light tackle.

Overslot reds are abundant in the creeks and backwaters, this one drug me 1/4 mile

My two buddies caught 33 reds the other day, 15 on fly. They're everywhere

And these stupid things finally got taken off the endangered species list, thank god.. There are way too many of them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:40 pm

by Cracker Larry

Nice pics Harrison

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 8:21 pm

by Rickk

What he said ^^
Nice Red.
I may be opening a can of worms here but you don't like Seacows? I have traveled through canals next to power plants and they were thick (winter) - I was using my trolling motor and the locals were idling quite high through the "pack" and flipped me off when I pointed out the manatees, like they are a nuisance to them. Sure I had to go real slow to my destination but it was mesmerizing to have them almost climb into the back of my boat.

Checking out everything on the back of the boat

I used the trolling motor to get out of the area and checked out the rear of my boat to make sure all was clear and I started my motor - holy moly, just about had one jump into my boat, scared it so bad (and me).

My $.02

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 8:57 am

by Noles309

I think they're cool. They don't bother me any. I'm never in a hurry on the water unless I'm trying to beat the rain...A lot of people have the same mentality in their boats as they do in their cars...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 10:36 am

by MarkOrge

Had a great family vacation last week in Costa Rica - 3rd time there. We were just south of a small town called Quepos on the Pacific coast, next to Manuel Antonio Park. Tropical Rainforest - very cool. Got out fishing with a couple locals then did an offshore full day charter with the family.

Just out in front of the resort around the rocks:

Caught and released 5 sailfish, then came in early as my wife and daughter were starting to feel pretty green... Dreamed of doing this since I was a boy !

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 10:49 am

by Cracker Larry

Costa Rica has got to be one of the coolest places in this hemisphere. So many neat things to do, so much good fishing. Manuel Antonio park is one of the best nature hikes we've ever had. Unreal wildlife and scenery. A lot of good people down there too. It may end up being our permanent residence.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:57 pm

by MarkOrge

So you have been there CL? Very cool. It is definitely one of the neatest places on the planet, and the people are wonderful. We were staying at Arenas Del Mar, just at the north end of the beach that borders the park to the north. The first two pictures were from the rocks just south of the park. My first time in a Panga. Great little boat for inshore. The sailfish were 25 miles out.... that was on a 40' Luhrs. Great crew. I didn't realise how much gear you drag for billfish.... or how fast the crew get 10 rods and outriggers with umbrella rigged teaser in when you hook one.

Dang stinking Canadian dollar killed me tho.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:59 pm

by Handturkey

Rickk wrote:What he said ^^
Nice Red.
I may be opening a can of worms here but you don't like Seacows? I have traveled through canals next to power plants and they were thick (winter) - I was using my trolling motor and the locals were idling quite high through the "pack" and flipped me off when I pointed out the manatees, like they are a nuisance to them. Sure I had to go real slow to my destination but it was mesmerizing to have them almost climb into the back of my boat.

Checking out everything on the back of the boat

I used the trolling motor to get out of the area and checked out the rear of my boat to make sure all was clear and I started my motor - holy moly, just about had one jump into my boat, scared it so bad (and me).

My $.02

I honestly have no problem with manatees at all. I actively try to obey all zones as far as idling through areas where they are abundant and present goes. But FWC shuts down Estero Bay (my home-waters) down to motoring during a substantial portion of the year. Most of the area they're shutting down is <1ft of water during mid to low tides and is habitually <1-2.5ft during high tide. It's incredibly frustrating to attempt to fish these vast areas of tidal flats (where im looking for tarpon, snook and redfish) when we cant plane through most of the unfishable 1ft deep water near the front of the bay. I do understand the need to have these areas marked and patrolled due to the ignorance of many tourists and uninformed boaters, I just wish there was stipulations that involved local anglers being able to use faster speeds in these areas since there are NO manatees in less than 24 inches of water. Thats the only problem i have with the buggers. I'd never actively attempt to hurt one though, and I love videographing them when I do encounter them (which is all the time) when im looking for tarpon in the bay pictured above where I'm jumping that tarpon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:01 pm

by Dog Fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 11:13 am

by Aripeka Angler

MarkOrge wrote:Had a great family vacation last week in Costa Rica - 3rd time there. We were just south of a small town called Quepos on the Pacific coast, next to Manuel Antonio Park. Tropical Rainforest - very cool.

Your sailfish photo brings back great memories of our time in Costa Rica several years ago...
We stayed in the same general area as you did and fished out of the Quepos.
We caught a bunch of big sails, several dolphin and a wahoo. Good times.
I just looked at a recent internet photo of the Quepos harbor.
I don't remember the c-shaped marina in front of municipal dock. Is that new?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:35 am

by stickystuff

I went to a fantastic yard sale couple months ago. Great buys. The owner was a contractor and had enough. He wa selling out of every thing he had, and I mean every thing. What a tool collection and huge metal building shop.He was moving to Costa Rica. Umm Umm oooo. Lucky man.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 8:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

It was raining hard and a big puddle had formed in front of the Irish pub
An old man stood beside the puddle holding a stick with a string and hook on the end jiggling it up & down in the water.
A curious gentleman entering the pub asked him "What in the world are you doing" ?
"Fishing" replied the old man'
"Poor old fool" thought the gentleman , so he invited the old man into the pub for a drink.
Feeling he should start some conversation while they were sipping their whiskey the gent asked "And how many have you caught today"
" Your the eighth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 9:05 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Doc and I were thinking about you yesterday

We were fishing and talking about good old times.
There was barely a ripple on the water 40 miles from land.
We did pretty good on fire truck red grouper...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 10:04 pm

by TomW1

Cracker Larry wrote:It was raining hard and a big puddle had formed in front of the Irish pub
An old man stood beside the puddle holding a stick with a string and hook on the end jiggling it up & down in the water.
A curious gentleman entering the pub asked him "What in the world are you doing" ?
"Fishing" replied the old man'
"Poor old fool" thought the gentleman , so he invited the old man into the pub for a drink.
Feeling he should start some conversation while they were sipping their whiskey the gent asked "And how many have you caught today"
" Your the eighth

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2016 3:20 am

by Fuzz

So one of my buddies got "new to him" boat and wanted to give it a try. So today we went for a little boat ride seeing as it a such a nice spring day and the weather forecast was seas to 2 feet and 5-10 knot winds.

Bet you know where this is going? Temperature was 39, winds were 20-30 all day and we got mixed rain and sleet. Good thing the Dickerson heater worked like a champ. I thought how much Cracker Larry would have liked to have been with us.

But the boat run well, we saw seals, otters, and humpback whales plus we caught our limit of feeder king salmon so all in all it was a good day. The picture was taken in back of an island as that was the only flat water all day.
Fuzz

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2016 7:12 am

by Cracker Larry

I thought how much Cracker Larry would have liked to have been with us.

Oh yeah

85 degrees in Georgia now, just the way I like it

I do like king salmom though!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 6:40 am

by glossieblack

Statistics just released from a USA Top Medical Team, reveal that men between 60 and 80 years of age, will, on average, have sex once or twice a week, (and a small number a lot more), whereas English men, in exactly the same age group,
will have sex only once or twice per year if they are lucky.

This has come as very upsetting news to me and my Australian friends, as none of us had any idea we were English.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 1:42 am

by DAVE LUDICK

Glossieback, that is brilliant! do you know how much it hurts to be a Rhodesian/South African and then realize you are actually English.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:26 am

by Cracker Larry

I might be English too

What's this got to do with fishing anyway?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 11:34 am

by Fishwater

Finally got the skunk off of the FS18 over the weekend.
Fly caught red in skinny water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:31 pm

by Handturkey

Fishwater,

That looks a lot like some marshes I've explored in Hopedale, Louisiana.

Harrison

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 11:20 am

by Handturkey

I'm currently trying to impress a few companies who are interested in my video editing skills. I've already put this video up on the forum once, but in case anyone missed it: The video below is from a trip my roommate and I took this past summer. We were traveling ~75 miles roundtrip via gheenoe from Islamorada up into the Everglades. Share it with your friends and family if you wouldn't mind as well. These companies are big on "views"

Thanks all!

https://vimeo.com/150587224

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 5:33 pm

by jacquesmm

Very nice.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:30 pm

by BarraMan

Spent last week chasing Barramundi in the beautiful Hinchinbrook Channel.

Thought you fellas might enjoy this!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/mIGrVgqhng4[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:19 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Lee, you did a great job putting together your video

Thanks for sharing it with us

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 11:50 pm

by BarraMan

Ha! Not mine - one of the boys put it together.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:17 am

by glossieblack

Did you get round to the eastern side of Hinchinbrook Lee? Cheers, Michael.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:21 am

by BarraMan

glossieblack wrote:Did you get round to the eastern side of Hinchinbrook Lee? Cheers, Michael.

In my 4M tinnie? Not likely Michael - that's a job for the BIG boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:48 am

by cape man

Take the mountains out of the background and you could be catching snook in Florida. Nice!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 8:01 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Craig, barramundi remind me of snook.
Especially the strike...
Hand feeding a barramundi in a tank, priceless

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 8:22 pm

by Fuzz

Great video! Looks like a lot of fun, except for the bug bite part, and some good fishing. Thanks for posting that for us.
Fuzz

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 9:13 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote:Great video! Looks like a lot of fun, except for the bug bite part, and some good fishing. Thanks for posting that for us.
Fuzz

Yes, I don't know how Listy could stand that. I am pretty sensitive to sandfly bites and always take precautions. If I was bitten like that it would be hard for me not to cut my legs off to get some relief.

I made a run up the Channel next morning to get him some treatment.

Where you find Barramundi, you will also find crocodiles, sandflies and mosquitos!

A lot of people don't target Barra because of the last two (and maybe the first one too!) but I find if I cover up with the right clothes, including light socks and use a bit of bug repellent then its OK.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 3:04 pm

by cape man

I didn't catch these, but was one of the weigh masters and judges for the annual Cayman Islands International Fishing tournament (rough duty

). All these came off the last boat to hit the weigh station on the last day!

4 days of some nice fishing. If you want to see more they have a gallery posted at

https://stingrayimages.smugmug.com/Caym ... CIIFT-2016

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 7:01 pm

by Cracker Larry

Sushi/Sashimi for dinner! Nice! It must suck to have a job like yours

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 10:27 am

by Aripeka Angler

I didn't catch these either

https://www.youtube.com/embed/D65Pf0v9M50

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 9:29 pm

by peter-curacao

Some more Mahi on my friends boat, well yacht it is

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 9:36 am

by ks8

Aripeka Angler wrote:I didn't catch these either

https://www.youtube.com/embed/D65Pf0v9M50

Now there's some fine line fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 6:35 pm

by dborecky

Went out this past Saturday for Red Snapper and got our limit along with some red grouper....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 7:14 pm

by Cracker Larry

Derrick, you suck

Dang fine catch my friend

See ya soon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 9:46 am

by cape man

Derrick, you suck Dang fine catch my friend See ya soon.

ditto.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 1:31 pm

by smilinmatt

Derrick, I tried (I'm guessing) further south than you and all we got were peanuts. Literally, all we had in the fishbox was a peanut dolphin. We went to a pipeline mitigation site in 120' we've done well in the past, and all we saw on the bottom were beeliners . We did salvage the day inshore with some big gags though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 7:13 pm

by dborecky

Cracker,

You are always welcome on my boat.... When you coming?

Cape man,

See ya soon hopefully. Life is short....

Mat,

We were north of the pipeline... No gags. No live bait. We left the dock at 445am ran out and were limited out with the red grouper as well by 845am. The bite was hot. I broke off a line and instead of re rigging I grabbed a butterfly jig rig and out fished the frozen bait.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 7:26 pm

by stickystuff

you said you were going to call me when the snapper came back in. Snif snif. Going for grouper next wed. and redfish on thursday.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 6:24 am

by dborecky

Sorry about that... The same crew from last years one day season

Reminded me that I promised to take them this year...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 9:55 pm

by BarraMan

"Anyone fishing"? No - not me!

The weather here in North Queensland is killing me. Glorious winter days - a balmy 29oC (84oF), clear skies, calm seas, and hungry Barramundi (or so I would like to believe).

And I am boat building. Promised myself that I would not fish until my BIG boat is finished.

A mate dropped in to check out the boat - and told me is off to the Hinchinbrook Channel for 10 days. Ruined my day!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 2:47 pm

by cape man

All I've been doing is watching the weather... at 15 feet the water gets in the pool and starts running under the house.

Was a rather weak tropical storm but he had some water falling from above. Just before it hit the level was at 5 feet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 2:50 pm

by cape man

Severl inches more fell in the last 4 hours in the basin.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:38 am

by ks8

I got 11 inches of rain in a bucket out in the wide open, down the road from Robinson Preserve, Bradenton. We must have had some dumpers overhead. Lost a few screens, but the water didn't visit up our street.

Nice catch! Don't forget to hunt down the chips too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 8:20 pm

by stickystuff

No problem Derrick. Prob. would have made you mad if I outfished you guys . LOL Hey no big thing There will be another day. Y-Take care.

Ken

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 8:20 pm

by stickystuff

No problem Derrick. Prob. would have made you mad if I outfished you guys . LOL Hey no big thing There will be another day. Y-Take care.

Ken

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:14 am

by Fuzz

Took the wife out fishing this evening and I have one happy girl

She caught her first King Salmon. She had caught lots of other stuff but this was the first King.

While we were fishing we had seals right next to the boat. They like easy fishing too.
And on the drive home momma moose with two babies were right next to the road. And a mile on down the road we saw a wolf crossing the road. Do not get to see them very often. More rare than bears. Plus it was hot on the river, almost 70 so we were cooking. So all in all we had a pretty darn good afternoon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:55 am

by glossieblack

Fuzz, life sounds sweet as

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 1:30 pm

by Fuzz

glossieblack wrote:Fuzz, life sounds sweet as

Sure is Glossie

Summer in Alaska is sure hard to beat. The other nine months not so much

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 1:30 pm

by Fuzz

glossieblack wrote:Fuzz, life sounds sweet as

Sure is Glossie

Summer in Alaska is sure hard to beat. The other nine months not so much

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:06 pm

by cape man

That is a VERY nice King!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:31 am

by Fuzz

cape man wrote:That is a VERY nice King!

Thanks Cape Man.
SWMBO was really pleased. Plus it was a hen with really nice skeins of eggs. She likes to make caviare out of them. When the suggestion was make they would be better served as bait I thought the cold war was going to break out again

If I do not watch her she will be eating my bait herring. Darn Russians can't tell bait from food

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 7:58 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Fuzz

Is that the Kasilof or the Kenai river?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 8:18 pm

by Aripeka Angler

We've been fishing a few times since grouper season opened. Fished with Derrick once and twice on my boat.
The weather was good when I fished with Derrick but was terrible both times on our boat.
Water spouts, rain and wind. I kept thinking it was going to lay down

We got grouper limits or nearly so on both of the trips on our boat despite the weather. I think I'll try again Sunday.
Grouper pic of Sandi's cousin with a couple of gags. He's a big man, in normal scale these are nice fish...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 9:02 pm

by Cracker Larry

I kept thinking it was going to lay down

Now where did I hear that before...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 9:50 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Cracker Larry wrote:
I kept thinking it was going to lay down
Now where did I hear that before...

Yeah, we've had a bunch of fun getting our butts kicked

Speaking of butt kicking, saw Bo over the weekend.
He still looks seasick

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 9:58 pm

by Cracker Larry

Yeah, we've had a bunch of fun getting our butts kicked
Speaking of butt kicking, saw Bo over the weekend.
He still looks seasick

Yes we have had a few. I'll bet poor Bo ain't got on another boat since that trip last year

He was one sick pilgrim that day! I think we all threw up at least once

Heck, when we got back to land I laid out flat in the grass, in the rain, for an hour just to stabilize my mind. Bo hit the hill and ran for his truck. He didn't even want to see another boat. One of those trips you'd rather talk about later than repeat

But we still caught some fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:41 pm

by Newt

Aripeka Angler wrote:
Cracker Larry wrote:
I kept thinking it was going to lay down
Now where did I hear that before...
Yeah, we've had a bunch of fun getting our butts kicked
Speaking of butt kicking, saw Bo over the weekend.
He still looks seasick

Is that like "You should have been here yesterday".

Newt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:58 pm

by Cracker Larry

Is that like "You should have been here yesterday".

No, it was more like "be glad you weren't here yesterday"

Jeeeez, 10' seas, 26' boat, 60 miles offshore, thunderstorms, trying to catch fish. Caught a few nice ones too! Yep, that was fun . I even got to see Majorgator throw up

I'm getting too old for that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 4:36 am

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote:Nice fish Fuzz Is that the Kasilof or the Kenai river?

It was on the Kenai. Fair sized fish for the Kenai but it would have been a nice one on the Kasilof.
About 10 years ago my wife caught her first King while we were Silver fishing on the Kasilof. It was above the bridge in closed waters, after the season was closed and we were with a friend in his boat so I had to tell her to let it go. She has never forgotten or forgiven me for that

So taking her out on the Kenai and battling the crazies was worth it. They opened the river to bait for the first time in a few years and the place is a zoo. Plus dipnet season is in full swing and I swear every idiot that has a dipnet in Alaska in here trying their best to kill the last sockeye on the planet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 6:35 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Hi Fuzz,
I love the Kenai river, I caught my first ever silver salmon there on a Cracker built fly rod

The Kenai is the first place we fished during our first trip to Alaska, I loved it. We hired a guide, he was awesome.
The river was freezing cold compared to ours, fish in the box only needed a bucket of river water to stay cold all day

We stayed at the lodge at the confluence of the Moose and the Kenai rivers for several days.
My wife and I have some great memories of that trip as well as the next two.
We are planning to go back up in either the summer of 2017 or 2018.
I'll buy you a beer and talk Alaska with you at Homosassa...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:20 pm

by Fuzz

I will be looking forward to it Richard

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 10:44 pm

by Newt

Cracker Larry wrote:
Is that like "You should have been here yesterday".
No, it was more like "be glad you weren't here yesterday" Jeeeez, 10' seas, 26' boat, 60 miles offshore, thunderstorms, trying to catch fish. Caught a few nice ones too! Yep, that was fun . I even got to see Majorgator throw up I'm getting too old for that.

I have inner ear problems. I've had problems past the jetty's for quite a while now.

Newt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 4:52 am

by Fuzz

Went for a little fishing trip out of Seward Alaska today. Started the day out just cruising along at about 25 MPH when two humpbacks decided to blow right in front of us. I thought I was going to run up on their backs, got slimed from the blow as it was. They have really bad breath in case you did not know

But the day improved and the fishing was not too bad.

That is a black rock fish, some silver salmon and a halibut around 100 pounds. Did not weight it but 100 is close enough for the girls I go with.
I have a short clip of some Orcas if some is interested and can tell me how to up load it.
Fuzz

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 5:41 am

by Eric1

Nice Catch Fuzz!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 7:03 am

by Aripeka Angler

Nice halibut

That fish has a good sized exit wound

What type weapon did you use to calm it down?
Those big ones sure can cause a ruckus when they get loose on the deck...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 7:18 am

by Cracker Larry

That would be one heck of a flounder down here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 12:02 pm

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote:Nice halibut That fish has a good sized exit wound What type weapon did you use to calm it down?
Those big ones sure can cause a ruckus when they get loose on the deck...

On this one used a bang stick with a 38 special in it. Normally I use a 410 shotgun. They make one called a snake charmer that works just right for popping fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 12:05 pm

by Fuzz

Thanks Eric and Larry. Had a good day out on the water with good friends. That is what it is all about.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 12:17 pm

by Cracker Larry

I've never caught a flounder that I needed a shotgun for

Ours are mostly less than 5 pounds. Aripeka Angler shipped me some halibut that he caught in Alaska a couple of years ago, some salmon too. Dang that was some good fish! Do you need my address

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 12:36 pm

by Fuzz

We might be able to work something out. I have a few head scratchers to run by you at the meet if you have time? Fish for professional advice seems like a fair trade

I had a man stop by a couple of days ago in a heck of a bind. He had lost a pillar block bearing on his gillnet reel and nobody had one in the area. Turns out I had two. He was stuck, could not fish with no reel, so the value of the bearings was high to him. You should of seen him smile when I told him I wanted the normal price but in salmon at the going rate.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 2:10 pm

by bateau-webmaster

Cracker Larry wrote:I've never caught a flounder that I needed a shotgun for Ours are mostly less than 5 pounds. Aripeka Angler shipped me some halibut that he caught in Alaska a couple of years ago, some salmon too. Dang that was some good fish! Do you need my address

I think I might need to move to Alaska, and buy a shotgun, just for the halibut

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 4:15 pm

by Fuzz

[/quote]I think I might need to move to Alaska, and buy a shotgun, just for the halibut

[/quote]

This is a truly great place to live. Only problem is we do most of the fun stuff in a 4 month time frame. Not too sure you southern folks would like it the other 8 months out of the year

Heck after 53 long winters I am getting a little tired of it.
On a rod and reel the boating part of halibut fishing can get real sporting

The shotgun takes a lot of the thrill out of it. When I fished halibut commercially they had to be 36 inches or longer to keep. I had a 36 inch baseball bat on board to measure them with. If they were longer than the bat they got it between the eyes. Worked pretty well most of the time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 7:02 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I wish I could afford a second home in Alaska, maybe someday

Speaking of shipping halibut, I packed 20 pounds of fresh frozen Alaska halibut in my checked bag when the wife and I went to the first Texas boat builders meet. I just triple bagged it in lawn and leaf bags and packed it between a couple of layers of jeans

I don't think the TSA was too amused

When we landed in Houston, we found that they opened my carefully packed fish, checked it and repacked it in a clear bag with TSA logo tape all over it

I bought a cheap cooler at the first store we found and we were able to deliver the halibut to the cooking crew at the meet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 2:35 am

by Fuzz

So today some friends came by and wanted us to go dip netting with them. Since today was the last day for it off we went. Dip netting may be an Alaska only thing

so this how it works. Take one of these on each side of the boat

And idle down river with the net. If it is good fishing you will get your limit pretty quickly, limit is 25 per head of household and 10 for each other member. And if not so good you might get way less.

This is what we got for about 3 hours of messing around. 11 sockeye will make good winter eating

Pay no attention to the ugly guy next to the net

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:51 am

by Eric1

Nice catch Fuzz! I'll bet they taste better than the farm raised junk we get down south!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:21 am

by Jeff

Nice catch!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:10 am

by Noles309

We dip net for shrimp around here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:52 am

by Fuzz

Eric1 wrote:Nice catch Fuzz! I'll bet they taste better than the farm raised junk we get down south!

Those farm raised fish are a totally different species. And yes they taste totally different. When we have folks up from down south and try to feed then salmon they tend to turn their nose up at it until they taste ours. After that I end up cooking a lot more fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:58 am

by Cracker Larry

I won't buy farm raised fish. Yuk!

Fuzz, my address is 1448 Clyo Shawnee Rd. Clyo, GA 31303

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 3:24 pm

by cape man

I won't buy farm raised fish. Yuk!

Read this while on a conference call for the National Aquaculture Association, whose board I serve on...not going to give you a piece of the Arapaima we are growing here!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 3:38 pm

by Jaysen

anyone else think that "free range chicken" and "farm raised fish" seem just as backward as US politics?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 7:06 pm

by cape man

Fishing = free range chickens. Aquaculture will feed us.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 7:58 pm

by Cracker Larry

Fishing = free range chickens. Aquaculture will feed us.

Agree on the chickens, but I hope I never have to rely on farm raised fish. My grandchildren might have to though. I know you're probably one of the leading experts in aquaculture and do some very cool shat all over the world, but as long as I can cast a rod or throw a net I'm not eating it. Shrimp, fish and oysters raised in cesspools in Thailand don't excite me much. So far I can still do OK in the wild

Hope my grand kids can too, not that I have any yet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:08 pm

by Eric1

Cracker Larry wrote:
Fishing = free range chickens. Aquaculture will feed us.
Shrimp raised in cesspools in Thailand don't excite me much.

Shrimp has to be wild caught or it has no flavor at all!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

And preferably in GA or SC

Oysters too. I've caught shrimp from Brownsville TX to NC, but ours are the best. I could be prejudiced though

Just the right mix of sweet and salty, without the funky iodine smell that many have. Chunk the net a few times, catch some bait, save the big ones for supper. This time of year our creeks are loaded with shrimp.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:25 pm

by poleposition

Jaysen wrote:anyone else think that "free range chicken" and "farm raised fish" seem just as backward as US politics?

I didn't think it was possible, but you just insulted every free range chicken and farm raised fish, each of which has more IQ than our politicians. But that aint sayin a whole lot---guessing the politicians taste better than the aforementioned fish.

And C/L-----I may fold on the SC/Ga shrimp, but I'll wager a good bottle of rum on NC oysters and raise on our blue crabs

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:53 pm

by Fuzz

poleposition wrote:
Jaysen wrote:anyone else think that "free range chicken" and "farm raised fish" seem just as backward as US politics?
I didn't think it was possible, but you just insulted every free range chicken and farm raised fish, each of which has more IQ than our politicians. But that aint sayin a whole lot---guessing the politicians taste better than the aforementioned fish.

Might have to disagree on the fish tasting deal. We all know what politicians are full of

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:58 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Farm raised salmon is terrible. I never liked this fish until we caught our own wild salmon in Alaska...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:58 pm

by Fuzz

cape man wrote:
I won't buy farm raised fish. Yuk!
Read this while on a conference call for the National Aquaculture Association, whose board I serve on...not going to give you a piece of the Arapaima we are growing here!

Capeman I could be wrong, and I know better than to argue with a professional, but I do believe farm raised salmon are Atlantic Salmon. I do not think they are the same fish as a Pacific salmon.
Not sure what a Arapaima is but from the sounds of it they must be good.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

I didn't think it was possible, but you just insulted every free range chicken and farm raised fish, each of which has more IQ than our politicians. But that aint sayin a whole lot---guessing the politicians taste better than the aforementioned fish.

LMAO

That was funny and probably true. My chickens always free ranged...

And C/L-----I may fold on the SC/Ga shrimp, but I'll wager a good bottle of rum on NC oysters and raise on our blue crabs

I'd take you up on that bet

We've got some mighty fine blue crabs!

And our oyster beds are real nice too

Between free range oysters, clams, mussels, crabs, shrimp, fish and chickens, why would I eat a farm raised fish

Not much more likely than me eating canned vegetables.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:34 pm

by cape man

Fuzz your right. Almost all farm raised salmon are Atlantic salmon that lend themselves easily to captive reproduction, early smolts, and good feed conversion. The Sockeye you netted are not the same fish. But, if we tried to catch enough Sockeye to feed the global demand for salmon you wouldn't have had such a good day. Wild Atlantic salmon runs are mostly gone because of that demand. Fish farming is the only answer, but here in the US we don't support it with reasonable regulations. 85% of our seafood is imported and over half of that is farmed. I catch my own fish, kill my own meat, process it myself, take eggs and goat products from my neighbor, but I'm very privileged in my life. Hell, I build boats for fun. US aquaculture is clean, wholesome, sustainable, and good for you. Love all of you guys, but eating US farmed fish is a good thing and had to say so. Our trade deficit has very few other things as severe as seafood, so even if you have the luxury in your life to harvest your own, don't knock our farms who are struggling in a regulatory climate that favors imports.

Think I should stay off this forum for awhile and start fairing my boat...

Bottled 5 gallons of beer tonight and a case is being set aside for Homassassa.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:48 pm

by poleposition

cape man wrote:
I won't buy farm raised fish. Yuk!
Read this while on a conference call for the National Aquaculture Association, whose board I serve on...not going to give you a piece of the Arapaima we are growing here!

...had never heard of Arapaima, so I googled it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arapaima

Capeman: While I've been blessed to grow up on the coast where fresh saltwater seafood is a staple, I'd love to hear more about your project as I have a godson who is seriously looking in to aquaculture as a career. Thanks in advance.....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:18 pm

by Cracker Larry

Our trade deficit has very few other things as severe as seafood, so even if you have the luxury in your life to harvest your own, don't knock our farms who are struggling in a regulatory climate that favors imports.

I agree completely. The natural resources cannot sustain the world's growing population forever, especially a high demand fish like salmon. We are very blessed to live where we do, or we made wise choices. I hope I can do it for a few more years. Fish farming is the only way to meet the future needs of people. The stuff you do is really cool, and very necessary for the future. And I don't knock any farmers either, most of my neighbors are farmers and some of them farm catfish. But I have the option of free range fish, at least for now

I haven't commercial fished in quite a few years, but still know a lot of people who do. From what I understand from them, seafood distributors must export a certain percentage of local seafood and import a larger percentage of foreign seafood. Making local caught seafood less available in local markets. I don't understand that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:33 pm

by Fuzz

Cape Man I apologise if I said something to offend you. I am not the one who brought up farmed fish if you look back at it. All I said was our fish and the farmed ones are totally different. And you did agree with me on that. My statement about friends trying our fish was more about the lousy salmon folks get down south from Alaska. It is mostly pinks, we rarely even keep one, or chums and they are even worse. Chums other name is dogs for a reason, the natives dry them and feed them to the dogs in winter. If you can get a sockeye it will be caned and not very good. If that was the only salmon I had ever had I would not care for it myself. Like every thing else the best product when fresh tastes a whole lot better than a second rate one after being stuck in a can.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 7:44 am

by cape man

Absolutely no offense taken. Just having a conversation here. If I was strident in my words it's only because I'm frustrated with issues that inhibit the US from leading the world in aquaculture.

By the way...the dip netted Sockeye are awesome! That must be a blast!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 8:00 am

by Jaysen

how does one FIND farm raised fish/shell with US origin? Every single package I've checked, and the times I asked to verify origin from the "fresh fish counter" have been SA or Asian in origin. Places where $$ trumps health and environmental regulations (not that it doesn't in the US, but less likely to get away with it here).

And I agree with everything you've said about sustaining demand. But I also feel that the citizenry should be able to be self sustaining to a larger degree than allowed. Yes that means that I (and CL and others on the coasts) would have more access to fresh fish, but that's how things work. Maybe if we all got away from the desk jobs and had a traditional labor force that worked (i'm talking to me here) there would be less push for "health conscious" fad diets based on seafood.

But I'm ranting. I should be finalizing my product orders for Lil Bit.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 8:04 am

by Jaysen

poleposition wrote:
Jaysen wrote:anyone else think that "free range chicken" and "farm raised fish" seem just as backward as US politics?
I didn't think it was possible, but you just insulted every free range chicken and farm raised fish, each of which has more IQ than our politicians. But that aint sayin a whole lot---guessing the politicians taste better than the aforementioned fish.

My sincerest apologies to all chickens and fishes everywhere. Even the farm raised ones.

And C/L-----I may fold on the SC/Ga shrimp, but I'll wager a good bottle of rum on NC oysters and raise on our blue crabs

I'm with CL on this one. I've done lots of NC dinning while on vaca on the coast (before moving to SC). All "local" based on the adverts. It will be very very hard to beat SC for quality. I will give NC the hands down advantage for quantity and availability though. It's always a rush to get to the docks here. Seems most of the catches are sold before they get to shore. I'm a bit surprised by that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 8:34 am

by JoshuaAhab

how does one FIND farm raised fish/shell with US origin?

Try these guys:

http://www.tastyharvestshrimp.com/

I've never tasted their product but they seem legit. Might be a little far from you. I'm trying to develop a system a little less techno and a little more eco than what they're doing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:02 pm

by cape man

US law requires country of origin labeling, so if it's grown in the US it will say so. I have found you have to talk to the retailer to get them to carry US produced seafood. Here's a link to our web page giving retailers advice. http://thenaa.net/retailers

Couple of sure bets. If it's rainbow trout it's from the US. If it's channel catfish, it's from the US. If it's fresh clams, oysters, or mussels it is almost always from the US.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:30 pm

by poleposition

Capeman.
How do the Arapaima compare to other farm-raised fish, and what are the advantages of using them instead of something like Tilapia? Taste? Length of time to market? Thanks in advance....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:04 pm

by cape man

Size and flesh quality. They get 20+ pounds their first year and have beautiful thick filets. Some Brazilian restaurants are carrying it, but very little supply from S. America. No production in the US...yet.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:28 pm

by poleposition

^

pretty good article on Arapaima if anyone is interested...

http://southeastfarmpress.com/peanuts/f ... arms-state

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 2:03 pm

by Fuzz

cape man wrote:Absolutely no offense taken. Just having a conversation here.

By the way...the dip netted Sockeye are awesome! That must be a blast!

Glad to hear that

And I understand how tough it can be to live with rules that others do not have to.
It has always saddened me that the best of Alaska fish goes overseas and the rest of America get the left overs. I understand it is the old money thing but still bugs me.
The dip netting can be either a long boring ordeal if it is slow to a total hoot if it hot. A couple of years ago my brother in law and a friend were out and it was smoking. We went brain dead and before we knew it we had 120 in the boat. Sometimes you got 3 at the same time. Nobody needs that many fish, at least we have lots of family to share with.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 2:51 pm

by cape man

I posted this pic somewhere here before, but this is a three year old Arapaima.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:14 pm

by tcason

looks like what we call a snakehead up here in Maryland................

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakehead_%28fish%29

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:39 pm

by Cracker Larry

Looks like a big bowfin or mudfish to me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 4:59 pm

by Fuzz

Three years old! Dang they do grow fast

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 9:25 pm

by Cracker Larry

Stickystuff went fishing

I'm posting this picture for Ken. Dang nice tarpon

I'll let him tell the story.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:19 pm

by Fuzz

Nice fish!
Waiting for the good part

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 2:56 am

by Fonda@kauai

Got off work early so the wife and I ran outside the harbor so I could practice my drop-stone technique. First try got sharked after a few minutes fight, and the second drop yielded this tasty green jobfish. Depth was around 300'. Started getting dark so ran back in...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 11:19 pm

by Fuzz

Great picture Fonda

What is the story with the lighted ball in the bow?
Interesting fish. I know nothing about them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 11:26 pm

by Fuzz

Cracker Larry wrote:Stickystuff went fishing I'm posting this picture for Ken. Dang nice tarpon I'll let him tell the story.

What is the story with the tarpon? Looks like it is pretty good sized. All I know about them is they are supposed to be world class fighters. You warm water folks have a zillion different types of fish. Here we do not have as much of a variety but those we do have we have zillion of them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 8:27 pm

by Fonda@kauai

What is the story with the lighted ball in the bow?

It's just the bright orange float on my drift sock harness. The under gunnel LEDs make it look neon

The hawaiian name is Uku, they're in the same family as Opakapaka. One is grey with green iridescence, and the other is copper with pink iridescence. Other than that they taste the same, which is pretty dang good!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 9:50 am

by cvincent

We had a short break in the rain and I took the D15 out for a short fishing trip. I caught 6-7 speckled trout (many more undersized) and a couple small redfish, but the fish were not picture worthy. I caught this giant black drum in about a foot of water. The fish was released to swim many more days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnUSCpdPQyw

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 11:10 am

by Cracker Larry

That's a fine drum to catch on a grub

Those blacks are some good eating fish! Better to me than reds or trout.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:39 pm

by cvincent

Thanks Larry, I usually keep the smaller blacks. The big ones are usually infested with spaghetti worms, but they are fun to catch.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:55 pm

by Cracker Larry

Same here. The big ones always have worms, I don't keep any over about 22", but they really do eat good!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:11 pm

by Marshall Moser

Caught this spanish off Cape Lookout 3 weeks ago. 1/4# shy of a citation.

5.75#

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:24 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish. Spanish in the Atlantic look a lot like our kings.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:11 pm

by cape man

Hard to tell from that photo for sure, but that may be a King Mackerel and not a spanish. Here's a good pic to use to distinguish the three we get here in Florida.

Not saying it isn't a Spanish, but the dip in the lateral line seems too deep for a Spanish, and the second dorsal isn't as sharp as a Spanish. The first 1" of the dorsal is the sure way to distinguish, but can't see it here. Have no idea what the size and bag is in NC, but here we have to be careful on the ID of the macks. Nice fish either way!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:15 pm

by Cracker Larry

I'm with Cape Man, I think that's a small king.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:15 pm

by Marshall Moser

It was definitely a Spanish. I had him weighed at the marina I use. Creel in NC is 12" FL min. 15 per person per day for spanish and 24" FL min 3 per person per day for kings.

It may have been the way I was holding him, I was kinda squishing his belly up. He was FAT

His yellow spots aren't visible in the picture, either.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:20 pm

by Cracker Larry

I would never argue with Cape Man about a fish ID. He is the director of aquaculture for the university of FL. There isn't much about fish that he doesn't know

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:47 pm

by cape man

Easy there Cracker.

I said I'm not sure... I am not arguing with anyone either, especially if they weighed it and all agreed it was a Spanish. Spanish macks also have a dip in the lateral line, just not as deep as the kings. Without seeing that forward 1" of the dorsal it is hard to say. They both also have spots when small.

Again, either way, nice fish. Keeping a small king or a large Spanish are both the same to me. Plenty of both of them in the ocean. Now would that work with the man here in Florida? Probably not!

I'm a sucker for fresh grilled or smoked mackerel, and at that size they all are about the same!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 3:22 pm

by Cracker Larry

I sure ain't the fish police either, not even close

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 3:32 pm

by cape man

I just want to make sure my comments will have zero impact on the smile in this picture!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 4:09 pm

by Marshall Moser

Absolutely not! I certainly wasn't questioning anyone's integrity, either.

I'll hold the dorsal up for you next time cape man.

The funnier part of the story is this was the only fish I caught that day and I had remarked to my girlfriend on the way back in that I wished we'd have done better (I've had worse days though...it's hard to wash skunk off a boat). Then we weighed it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 4:29 pm

by Cracker Larry

If everybody comes home, nobody gets hurt, you put a fish in the boat, the boat didn't break, and you can use the boat again, it's a great day

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 6:19 pm

by Cracker Larry

Marshall, I got an email notification of a pm from you, but can't access it

I think it's a website issue. Email me direct, LTeuton at aol dot com.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 6:34 pm

by Marshall Moser

Email sent

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 8:27 pm

by Jeff

CR, I will get Jamie to check the system tomorrow. He is doing some upgrades so there could be a few bugs!! Sorry for that delay with the PM!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 9:22 pm

by Cracker Larry

No problem.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 1:58 am

by BarraMan

I had promised myself to NOT go fishing until the BIG boat was "splashed", but a couple of young blokes convinced me to break my pledge and take them fishing. We had a great couple of days!

Mangrove Jack

Blue Salmon

Fingermark

Barramundi

"Barra"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:09 am

by Fuzz

Great looking fish. What one is the best eating? Best fighting? I think the young ones did good getting you out fishing. It is good to take a break every now and again

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 4:28 am

by BarraMan

Mangrove Jack, Barramundi and Fingermark are all great eating - Fingermark generally regarded as the best of the three but there is not much in it.

Blue Salmon are rubbish IMO but a similar generally larger fish, King or Threadfin Salmon are excellent eating.

Barra are the best fighters - hard to catch, aggressive strikes, hard to keep on the hook and often turn on the aerials.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 2:04 pm

by Fuzz

The way you describe the Barra explains your handle

That kind of fish would be my favourite too

Silver Salmon are our version of Barra but I do not think they would be a match for yours. Yours just look like harder fighters.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 5:48 pm

by BarraMan

Yes, I have fished for Silver salmon in the Kichatna River in your part of the world. It was a real hoot, but Barra probably fight for longer than Silvers. You can never be sure you have caught a Barra until they are in the icebox.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 7:43 pm

by Fuzz

Yep you were less than 100 miles from me. What brought you to this part of the world?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:18 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote:Yep you were less than 100 miles from me. What brought you to this part of the world?

A conference in Anchorage.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:19 am

by BarraMan

Took the day off fairing to go chase Barramundi.

Here's #2 son with the best fish of the day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 12:05 pm

by Jeff

Now that is a beauty!!! Great catch!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 6:10 pm

by cvincent

I played hooky from work today and made a quick fishing trip. The specks have moved in close and are concentrated in deeper canals. I anchored up over a deep hole in a pipeline canal and caught a nice mess of fish, specks and white trout. The limit on specks is 25 in LA and no limit on white trout.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 9:18 pm

by cape man

Jealousy. ..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 1:19 pm

by Southern Gent

A late Fishing report Circa 12/12-15/2017 Leeville LA.
My planned Speckled Trout fishing trip with my son in law turned into a Solo trip when His career got into the way and 5 other last minute invited fellow's work ethic stopped them.

I arrived in Leeville on Bayou Lafourche Louisiana Mid-afternoon Monday Dec. 12th, picked up my Cacahoe ( Bull Minnows ) and was fishing by 2:30PM in shirt sleeve weather.
I limited out ( 25 Specks over 12" ) on 13" to 19" Speckled Trout by 5PM on a rising tide, catching and releasing plenty 12" and under size trout too.

Tuesday morning was magic with a heavy fog blanketing the area. I eased out into Bayou Lafourche crossing under the Leeville bridge into the surrounding east lake areas. Visibility was about 25 yards, a bit damp use a Gore-tex parka shell was comfortable with a falling tide until about noon. Fishing this muted waterscape was so great.
The Commercial crabbers were working their crab traps with Cajun French music playing on their radios. Best yet, the Specks were hitting everything I threw out. I catch and released 4 limits by 11AM keeping only the larger 18" to 20" Specks. The fog lifted about 11AM as a rain shower band passed through with a cooler breeze. No Lightening so fish on I did.
Fish on the popping cork rig with Cacahoe minnows and Speckled Trout striking the popping cork too.
I quit at 3PM to return to the dock limited out with 25 Specks 14" to 20" and clean my fish before dark.

Wednesday morning was cool but comfortable fishing weather. I found a bit of moving green water, Speckled trout type water and anchored for 4 hours without moving. The Specks were feeding in small schools passing though this 40 yard wide cut and the lakes on each side.
The flights of diving ducks flying by, White Pelicans and other shore birds wintering in the marshes offered a viewing break from fishing.

About noon with a slack tide you could still see a bit of water movement as the seagulls started chattering and dropping over my cut. Yep a school of Large Specks came through feeding. I picked up 2 specks 20" before they quit. It only lasted 3 to 5 minutes.

I caught and released fish until my arms hurt and decided that I had about as much fun as I could stand. I returned to the dock and trailered my rig about 3PM. Cleaned my fish, packed up my gear and got ready to drive by to Birmingham AL. on Thursday ending one of the best fishing trips of the year.

In 2 1/2 days I had caught and released over 400 Speckled Trout. The South Louisiana Fishery is in great shape and recovering from the BP oil Spill.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 1:20 pm

by Southern Gent

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 1:42 pm

by Eric1

WOW! What a trip!! Good to hear things are well in Cajun country!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 11:13 am

by cape man

So when the wife says she wants to go fishing for Valentine's Day, what's a guy to do? After getting back up from the ground, I said Hell yeah! She had never seen the Chassahowitzka river and National Wildlife Refuge, so off we went yesterday morning with Clara in tow. Got out of the river at the end of low tide, which in of itself was a feat. Around 11:00 am the clouds suddenly burned off and we had a gorgeous day. The fishing was really, really slow. Saw about 20 boats here and there and not a single boat land a fish. Pattie did catch this magnificent Fundulus grandis which would make an excellent brood fish if I was in the business of culturing bait fish.

Thinking we were going to be slamming the trout and reds all day I invested in 100 bait shrimp....which turned into an absolutely yummy pasta dish last night.

Happy Valentines Day!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 11:22 am

by Fuzz

Sure is nice to have a wife that likes to fish

You got a good one.
The rails on Clara look real nice. You did a good job on the refinish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 11:30 am

by cape man

Yeah...she's a keeper!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 5:32 am

by BarraMan

I've spent the last four days with a couple of mates chasing Barramundi around the Hinchinbrook Channel.

Taking on supplies.

Ready to go.

The boys at work!

Finally spilled some Barramundi blood on the decks!

And again!

Who said you can't take a big boat into skinny water?

Mangrove Jack

Grunter

Heading for home!

The Skipper relaxing while one of the deckies fillets the days catch!

The boat attracts attention wherever it goes. Most common responses are:

"That is a BIG boat"!
"What is it"?
"What size is that motor"?
"Does it GO"!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 8:02 am

by Jeff

BarraMan, Great to see that BIG boat in SKINNY water and even better to see you guys catching fish!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 1:40 pm

by Fuzz

BarraMan it is great to see your boat fulfilling the dream you had while building her. And to be able to do it with your sons has got to be the best.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 10:55 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2017 1:40 pm BarraMan it is great to see your boat fulfilling the dream you had while building her. And to be able to do it with your sons has got to be the best.

Ha!

Fuzz, you are right ............ but those two blokes are not my sons. They are two of a small group of "adopted" sons that I have accumulated over the last couple of years. I met them on an internet fishing forum where they were looking for advice on fishing the Hinchinbrook Channel, where they were headed for a houseboat-based "boys" fishing trip. We have since become good friends. They are from down south but just love chasing Barramundi. I really enjoy hanging out with them because of their love of fishing and enthusiasm for life. It great to fish with them because they know what they are doing and look after themselves. I just take them to where the fish are - or should be. We split the direct costs of the trip - accommodation, fuel etc - which makes for a cheap trip for them and good company for me. They are of similar age to my sons, and my younger son (the fisherman) often comes on these trips when he can.

The same two were up last September, when we had a ball. I managed to put them onto a couple of hot bites. This trip was harder going. Day 1 we got amongst some nice Barra, boated a couple, but dropped more - including two of the biggest Barra on lure that I have witnessed. I had a Barra in the 80 - 100 cm (30 - 40 inch) range "blow" the split rings on a vibe lure. Given that I had upgraded the hooks and rings, I was not impressed with that.

The bloke in the pic with the mangrove jack is an ex-professional crab fisherman who now runs a marine dealership. He had a Barra around the metre (40 inch) mark take his lure, then come out of the water and spit it back at him. Some bad language followed.

The rest of the trip was a bit quiet for Barra but a variety of other species were caught. Mangrove Jack, Fingermark, Grunter - all good eating fish but not as much fun to catch as Barra.

In April 2018 we are all going to King Ash Bay, near Borroloola on the McArthur River in the Northern Territory for 10 days fishing on a houseboat. Both of my boats are going to be towed up there - 4000 km (2500 mile) round trip!

Google: "Fishing the McArthur River".

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:45 am

by Southern Gent

Heading to Leeville S. LA> to Speckled Trout & chase Redfish too this week.

But nothing like those Barramundi , Wow.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:53 am

by Jaysen

Some jacka$$ told his wife he would not go fishing until he completed his boat. What a stupid moron. I'm watching folks pulling in reds off the end of Paris Island and feeling all left out.

Good luck to all you smarter folks that don't do stupid things like that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 1:25 pm

by Eric1

Jaysen wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:53 am Some jacka$$ told his wife he would not go fishing until he completed his boat. What a stupid moron. I'm watching folks pulling in reds off the end of Paris Island and feeling all left out.

Good luck to all you smarter folks that don't do stupid things like that.

Just remember, Even the most stubborn Jacka$$ will move to get a drink of water! Tell her you got thirsty!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:32 am

by cape man

No fish pictures as we didn't get a bite, but Easter morning my sister and I took my 89 year old father fishing on a walk way on the St. Lucie River. It was just great to see him fiddling with a spinning reel and rod, as he hadn't fished in many years (he grew up with a hand line or pole in his hands). Just a few weeks ago he was in the hospital wanting to die after a heart attack, so we broke him out before they could do any more invasive crap. He seems MUCH better out in the sun doing something he enjoys.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 11:14 am

by pee wee

That's great to see! Good on you for getting him out there, looks like he's enjoying it.
Fishing is good for what ails ya. Hospitals, not always.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 12:36 pm

by Fuzz

That was a great thing to do! Not enough of us take the time to do the things that are really important in life. Good on you and your sister

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 3:25 pm

by Eric1

I had a good morning on the river. Tracy and I caught a nice mess of trout. We fished from 7:30 until 1:30 and had had enough. They opened the gates above us and the water was moving to fast. Here are the pictures Fuzz.

Tracy with a small rainbow. It was released for next year.

The stink in the sink!

Destined for the smoker.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 10:10 pm

by TomW1

Eric looks like something I would catch up here in NC. Boy if that is a picture of you on the bank we could be twins.LOL
Take care and don't push to hard when the muscles say they have had enough.

Take care, Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 12:29 am

by Fuzz

Nice looking trout Eric. What kind are they? Looks like two different types to me

Thanks for posting them for me.
It is nice to get out and do something other than sand

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 4:09 am

by Eric1

TomW1 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 28, 2017 10:10 pm Eric looks like something I would catch up here in NC. Boy if that is a picture of you on the bank we could be twins.LOL
Take care and don't push to hard when the muscles say they have had enough.

Take care, Tom

Tom, This was in North Carolina, just past the South Carolina border. We are planning a trip to Cherokee soon. That is my fishing buddy Tracy. I think he's part mountain goat, You would not believe the way he can hug the side of a mountain.

Trust me my knees know it's true. He took me down one trail that had my toes trying to push out of my shoes. The up trip was worse!

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2017 12:29 am Nice looking trout Eric. What kind are they? Looks like two different types to me Thanks for posting them for me.
It is nice to get out and do something other than sand

Fuzz, Those are Brown and Rainbows. We didn't catch any Brook trout this time. We hope to get back up there next Friday. You can't fish on Saturdays for all the kayaks and float tube drunks.

I wish the DNR would only let them float the river every other weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 5:19 am

by Fuzz

The bottom three must be the Rainbows. They look different than the rainbows I am used to. I thought they were Dolly Vardens when I first looked at them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:01 am

by Eric1

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2017 5:19 am The bottom three must be the Rainbows. They look different than the rainbows I am used to. I thought they were Dolly Vardens when I first looked at them.

Hatchery supported waters, Yes they are odd looking. Especially the purple-ish one. I wasn't sure what it was either.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:03 pm

by TomW1

Eric when you get to Cherokee let me know and we can meet for lunch or a drink or something. Bryson City is only 10 miles away. Lots of trout waters in both areas. I can even take you across Fontana Lake in the OD to some very good trout streams if your going to be here a few days. I don't know if your a drinking man but you will need to bring your own or buy it at the ABC store in Bryson City that is off exit 67 from Hwy 74. Beer and wine can be bought south of Cherokee on Hwy 74 at the Exxon on the right past the 2nd light.

You can call me at 828 488 6840 That's my cell so I always have it on me.

Keep on fishing and take care so you do not extend your build anymore than you have to.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 8:02 am

by Eric1

TomW1 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:03 pm Eric when you get to Cherokee let me know and we can meet for lunch or a drink or something. Bryson City is only 10 miles away. Lots of trout waters in both areas. I can even take you across Fontana Lake in the OD to some very good trout streams if your going to be here a few days. I don't know if your a drinking man but you will need to bring your own or buy it at the ABC store in Bryson City that is off exit 67 from Hwy 74. Beer and wine can be bought south of Cherokee on Hwy 74 at the Exxon on the right past the 2nd light.

You can call me at 828 488 6840 That's my cell so I always have it on me.

Keep on fishing and take care so you do not extend your build anymore than you have to.

Tom

Wow! Thank you Tom! I would like to have a drink with you and go fishing too. I did not work on the boat all weekend. After running ridges down to the river my knees expressed their displeasure with my actions. I've pretty much sat on my big ol butt and done nothing but relax all weekend. It was so very much worth it though. Great day outdoors in the air and water, it's the way life should be.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 12:20 am

by Dustinwg

[youtube]https://youtu.be/jJhHNOgzzoo[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 2:34 am

by Fuzz

That looks like one heck of a fishing trip

One thing though I have never seen fishing in swim suits before

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 05, 2017 10:10 pm

by seaslug

Some proof that my FS18 actually does catch a few fish here and there. Unfortunately, most of the time it's me on the poling platform poling one of my buddies around, but I catch plenty when I'm fishing solo, which is 95% of the time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 05, 2017 10:18 pm

by seaslug

Just realized the first shot is a phony, that's my buddy's Hell's Bay.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 06, 2017 8:03 am

by Eric1

Nice pictures! It looks like fun to me!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 06, 2017 8:07 am

by Jeff

Great fishing SeaSlug!!!! And yes, a great FS18 for fishing!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 06, 2017 3:38 pm

by Fuzz

Great pictures SeaSlug

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 12, 2017 11:30 pm

by Fuzz

Managed to get out and do a little fishing.

About the time the fishing started to get good we got blown off the water. Had friends up from Texas who used to live here. All that warm weather has made them weak and they got cold so we called it a day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 5:46 am

by Eric1

Good for you Fuzz! I went back to the river yesterday and only caught a small red eyed bass. You could not find a trout with dynamite.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 5:51 am

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish David!
How much did the bigger one weigh?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 7:01 am

by Jeff

Fuzz, nice catch!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 7:41 am

by Jaysen

Dang it fuzz, now I need a fish fry. Or a broiled filet. Or a sandwich. I don't think there are any fish joints open at 8a though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 12:48 pm

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Sat May 13, 2017 5:51 am Nice fish David!
How much did the bigger one weigh?

Only about #30 Richard. Between them my friends got about 15 pounds of fillets to take home with them. Fishing is still real spotty. They took tons of pictures. They said they had never bothered with pictures while living here for 30 years and now had very few to show friends down south. A good day was had by all.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 9:53 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sat May 13, 2017 12:48 pm
Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Sat May 13, 2017 5:51 am Nice fish David!
How much did the bigger one weigh?
Only about #30 Richard. Between them my friends got about 15 pounds of fillets to take home with them. Fishing is still real spotty. They took tons of pictures. They said they had never bothered with pictures while living here for 30 years and now had very few to show friends down south. A good day was had by all.

30 lbs is a great fish

I think the smaller ones taste better IMHO.
Glad y'all had a great day!
What lb test of braid do you use? I want to bring a rig of my own this year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 10:52 pm

by Fuzz

50 is easier to fish and is fine if you do not horse them. 80-100 if you are meat hunting. Lighter line lets you use less weight when the tide is running but you might not like it if you hang a barn door

I think anything you would use while hunting big groupers would work just fine.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 2:55 am

by BarraMan

Nice fish! What are they Fuzz - halibut?

cheers

Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 12:37 pm

by Fuzz

Yes Lee those are halibut. One of the best eating fish we have. Very forgiving in the way they are cooked. Even I can make an edible dish with halibut

I envy all you folks who live in warmer climates. Seems like you have a ton of different kinds of fish to chase. Here we only have a few types but what we have we usually have a lot of.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 11:51 am

by Eric1

I made another run on the river this morning. Looks like all they stocked were Rainbows. I got these two and one more by 11:00 am. I lost one one the bank spit the hook and flopped back in. Plus I missed a few strikes, It was a fun trip.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 11:55 am

by Jaysen

Mmmmm... add some yams with onions and maple syrup and I'd be your newest adopted son. making me really regret "no fishing till boat is done".

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 11:57 am

by Eric1

Jaysen wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2017 11:55 am Mmmmm... add some yams with onions and maple syrup and I'd be your newest adopted son. making me really regret "no fishing till boat is done".

I'd like to go crabbing down your way but you can't keep the Gators off the chicken necks!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 12:04 pm

by Jaysen

We solved that by pointing the gators to the heron/egret rookery. I think there are 4 or 5 8'+ over there. Lots of little ones. They aren't eating enough of those birds though.

Crabs are starting to let up. Best time will be fall when the fish come back in. I know a few good "year round" spots though. And almost have a boat to get us there...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 12:24 pm

by pee wee

I was on Port Royal Sound a few years ago and saw the neatest bit of crab catching I've seen- a man walked out at low water with a rake and a bucket, held the rake over a crab, crab grabs rake, man taps crab into bucket. Half an hour and two five gallon buckets were full.

There must be a secret to it because I didn't have luck when I thought I was doing the same thing- no crabs to be found.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 1:16 pm

by Jaysen

they are very condition specific down here. A bit of run inland and the crabs move. To little rain... they move. The other thing to consider is that some folks ... feed ... the crabs. Toss a few weighted carcasses out from your regular catch over the course of a week and ... you have a pile of hungry, angry crabs ready to attack your rake.

I'm too lazy and use a trap. Catch dinner, put carcass in trap, go fishing (to catch more dinner), pick up trap, spend hours picking crabs (and cleaning fish). Once I figure out how to use crabs for bait I'll have a nice little feedback loop going. I'll never have to leave the water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 4:27 pm

by Fuzz

Eric1 wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2017 11:51 am I made another run on the river this morning. Looks like all they stocked were Rainbows. I got these two and one more by 11:00 am. I lost one one the bank spit the hook and flopped back in. Plus I missed a few strikes, It was a fun trip.

Good looking bows there Eric. glad you had a fun trip. It is good for the soul to get out and have some fun once in a while

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 4:39 pm

by Jeff

Eric, that is good eating my friend!! Glad you caught a few!! Have a nice weekend!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 28, 2017 1:21 am

by BarraMan

Been chasing Barramundi in the beautiful Hinchinbrook Channel again. Hard going but here's an example of the species.

Here is what they look like on the Humminbird Helix 12 side scan sonar.

..... and here is a shot of the resident wildlife. I called it for a croc on the screen and then saw it in the flesh the following day sitting on the surface in the same spot.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 28, 2017 4:47 am

by Eric1

Nice!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 28, 2017 6:29 am

by cape man

Do you keep the Barramundi or release them?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 28, 2017 7:38 am

by Aripeka Angler

Those barramundi sure are tasty

I had a fat filet last night, it was one of the best fish meals I have ever had!
It's on the menu at Cooper's Hawk in Tampa.
I didn't ask but I'm guessing farm raised?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 28, 2017 8:36 am

by BarraMan

Capeman, I practice 'catch and fillet' and Barra are good eating - not the best we have available but right up there. Fish between 58 and 120 cm can be kept but most people don't keep anything over about 80 cm cause they are breeding females and not as good to eat as smaller specimens.

AA, I am given to believe that Baramundi are farmed in the USA. They are a good aquaculture species because the live happily in fresh or salt water, have a high growth rate and are hardy. They reach plate size in about 12 mths. Barra from salt water are generally better eating than those from fresh water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun May 28, 2017 2:10 pm

by Fuzz

That Barra is a great looking fish, they just look strong and good tasting too. that is hard to beat. It is great to see folks getting out and using the boats they built.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 8:52 am

by Buz

Those SI (and DI) depthfinders are amazing. The picture definition is quite an advance over older sonar.

While playing with my DI, I've often wondered if the software wasn't just built to make random things look like very desirable things, maybe even adding desirable things totally, rather than showing actual images of what is there. Like the old "Fish ID" but with better pics.

But now I kind of doubt they thought to include crocs in their Australian models.

Also, as awesome as barramundi are, I hope there aren't barra farms here just waiting for a flood, or levee to break, etc. I'm inclined to think its imported, actually.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 12:12 pm

by cape man

They are growing them in Idaho. We had a farm here in Florida and they all died a few winters ago. Tropical species. Permits in Florida now require they are indoors and minimum 1 foot above the 100yr flood plain. There was a farm in Massachusetts but they folded. They are like our snook - will live in fresh but need salt for successful spawning. We messed with them at our lab about 6 years ago but got rid of them when the regs went to indoors only. Too costly to make food fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 12:58 pm

by TomW1

Buz, was curious after your comment so went on the web. There are Barra farms here. There is one farm in Iowa, where I am now, Vero Blue producing 500 tons. Australis in Mass still appears to be in business, I tried there phone number, it grows 800 tons a year if they are still growing fish and not just using the site as a sales office.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 1:12 pm

by Buz

Couldn't help smirking at FL's 100 yr flood plan idea. Sheesh, that oughta work. (need a sarcasm emoticon)

I didn't even notice how much snook the barras have in 'em. Even the SI image of one looks like a snook!

My grandfather used to talk of keeping his seven kids fed with snook during the Depression in Miami.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 9:34 pm

by Newt

Buz wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2017 1:12 pm Couldn't help smirking at FL's 100 yr flood plan idea. Sheesh, that oughta work. (need a sarcasm emoticon)

I didn't even notice how much snook the barras have in 'em. Even the SI image of one looks like a snook!

My grandfather used to talk of keeping his seven kids fed with snook during the Depression in Miami.

We used to have a house 16 miles from the Gulf in Texas. It was not in the 100 yr flood plain. However, the city saw fit to put a big pump at the end of the block.

Newt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 9:37 pm

by Aripeka Angler

BarraMan wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2017 8:36 am AA, I am given to believe that Baramundi are farmed in the USA. They are a good aquaculture species because the live happily in fresh or salt water, have a high growth rate and are hardy. They reach plate size in about 12 mths. Barra from salt water are generally better eating than those from fresh water.

Thank you Barraman, it's great to get insight about native fish from local sources!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 31, 2017 12:51 am

by BarraMan

Good to hear that you like my side-imaging pics. For those who don't really understand what you are looking at, this diagram may help.

The clear shadow that looks like a fish is not a software trick but is due to the CHIRP (Compressed High-intensity Radar Pulse) technology that is now standard in most upper range sounders (suggest you google it if you want to know more).

The "white" return in the pic above is the reflection of the 800 MHz sound waves off the fish, while the dark shadow to the left is the shadow left by the fish blocking the sound waves. The fact that the shadow is separated from the fish return indicates that the fish is off the bottom. If it was sitting on the bottom the shadow would be either not visible or right beside the primary return.

The screen shot that I posted earlier (below) is particularly cool because the shadow actually looks like the shape of a barramundi - which is quite distinctive.

The latest sounders use 1200 MHz frequency for side imaging and have even more clarity than my 800 MHz sounder. I don't have 1200 MHz - yet! Older sounders are 200-400 MHz.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 6:21 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Beautiful day to chase extinct red snapper

The red snapper season is a whopping 3 days long. This was day one. I fished 50 miles out with Capeman, my son and his buddy John. You could say I had a boatload of marine biologists

Part of what we caught...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:04 pm

by Eric1

Tasty! I know Y'all had fun!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:35 pm

by Jeff

Nice AA!! Wow, 3 days only, that is just too restricted based on what guys have told me about in the Gulf off of Florida!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 9:46 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Jeff wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:35 pm Nice AA!! Wow, 3 days only, that is just too restricted based on what guys have told me about in the Gulf off of Florida!!! Jeff

Yes, too restricted. We caught and released over 40 keeper red snapper before 11 am.
Capeman was about 4 or 10 fish ahead of the rest of us.
I don't care, I love to see my friends catch fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 1:09 am

by Fuzz

Dont know my southern fish, what is the long skinny one

Barracuda

Looks like you had a good day with good company.

As for Capeman you need to find a way to drag that sucker along with you to Alaska sometime

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 2:32 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2017 1:09 am Dont know my southern fish, what is the long skinny one Barracuda

Mackerel?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 1:38 pm

by Eric1

This is from this morning. Last of the local trout until next spring.
Spending time with them meant so much more than catching fish.

This is my oldest, Danielle with a decent Brown.

Danielle and Judy at one of my spots. Can you see their Cherokee heritage?
Pretty fair skin from their Mom's Irish blood.

Judy at a small waterfall.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:56 pm

by Jeff

Glad you were able to get some good time with your girls!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 6:29 pm

by Fuzz

It is great you are able to take your kids fishing. Both of mine would rather have a root canal. Not sure how that happened to the gene pool

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2017 1:34 pm

by cape man

the big one's a KIng Mackerel. It is on the smoker as I type...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2017 2:06 pm

by cape man

Was a great two days with Richard, his family, and John, a newly graduated marine biologist who pulled the anchor everytime Richard hit the button for his windlass on the console. Pattie came over yesterday after work and we all had a lovely red snapper dinner followed by some beverages. Talked a lot about boats, the friends from this forum, especially Larry.

This one's for him and asking Richard and John to STOP butchering it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNmULx6sMo4

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2017 4:35 pm

by cape man

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 12:03 am

by Fuzz

cape man wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2017 2:06 pm Was a great two days with Richard, his family, and John, a newly graduated marine biologist who pulled the anchor everytime Richard hit the button for his windlass on the console. Pattie came over yesterday after work and we all had a lovely red snapper dinner followed by some beverages. Talked a lot about boats, the friends from this forum, especially Larry.

This one's for him and asking Richard and John to STOP butchering it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNmULx6sMo4

Sounds like you guys had a great time.
So the only part of the windless that worked was the button

It is good to have young strong ones around when you need them

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 12:20 am

by Fuzz

So the day started out cool and foggy but it burnt off and became a great day weather wise.
Here is a boat some of you might recognize

Otters and whales were all over the place. Saw hundreds of otters and probably 20 grey whales.

The only downside was the fishing was not so good. Nothing picture worthy. Biggest was maybe 20 pounds. Youngest Nephews wife reeling in her first halibut.

Over looking the Homer spit

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 4:45 am

by Eric1

Fuzz, That is some Beautiful scenery!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 5:55 am

by Jaysen

I was wondering of you were close to any of that shows participants. I've also wondered how much of that "reality" was real.

And to the fishing picture, clearly not her first time out there. Must be nice having experienced people on board.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 9:53 am

by Fuzz

Jaysen wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2017 5:55 am I was wondering of you were close to any of that shows participants. I've also wondered how much of that "reality" was real.

And to the fishing picture, clearly not her first time out there. Must be nice having experienced people on board.

Like all of those shows there is a lot of stuff that gets made up for TV.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 9:55 am

by Jeff

Fuzz, beautiful photos!!! 20 Grey Whales in one day, just wow!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 10:07 am

by Fuzz

Jeff there were whales all over the place. But it is tough to get a good picture of them. You hear them blow, grab the camera and wait to the next one. And wait..........then they blow the next time where you are not looking. Either have to fish or take pictures, hard to do both. When the wife gets home she will get some good pictures

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:57 am

by Jeff

Fuzz, yes, I am sure it is at least as hard to photo the whales as it is Dolphins here in Florida. And I agree, you can watch/photo or fish, not both!!! Beautiful day on the water up there!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 12:07 pm

by topwater

Absolutely beautiful up there Fuzz

I have got to get up that way some day for the summer .
How close is the nearest major airport ?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 12:29 pm

by TomW1

Fuzz absolutely beautiful place you live in. My wife loves to take pictures of scenery so she would love it up there. I would love the fishing.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 1:19 pm

by Fuzz

As I have said before for three months out of the year this place is as good as it gets. The other 9...................................

TopWater you would fly into Anchorage. It is about 180 miles from there to my place. The drive is pretty darn scenic. If you ever plan a trip this way let me know I have nothing but free fishing time in the summer

It is starting to sound like we could have a summer northern builders meet

Save those credit card airline miles and put them to good use.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 7:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz, great photos

I've seen the Time Bandit there in Homer, it's a very cool harbor.
What blows me away is the height of the dock poles on the floaters and the downhill angle of the walkways at low tide.
Y'all have INSANE tides up there!! It's like mountain climbing walking uphill from the boats at low tide

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 7:48 pm

by Aripeka Angler

cape man wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2017 2:06 pm Was a great two days with Richard, his family, and John, a newly graduated marine biologist who pulled the anchor everytime Richard hit the button for his windlass on the console. Pattie came over yesterday after work and we all had a lovely red snapper dinner followed by some beverages. Talked a lot about boats, the friends from this forum, especially Larry.

This one's for him and asking Richard and John to STOP butchering it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNmULx6sMo4

Craig, it was sure nice to have you and Pattie over for a couple of days

I've got some trying to crank up massive jewfish photos to post when I get rested up.

Multiple days of offshore fishing tends to wear me out these days...
I'll tell Fuzz the windlass story in person in a couple of months

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 2:55 pm

by bateau-webmaster

(@Fuzz)
Thinking of stuffing myself in with the shipment going your way. If I could just squeeze in between the plywood. Too damn hot and muggy down here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 4:21 pm

by Fuzz

bateau-webmaster wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2017 2:55 pm (@Fuzz)
Thinking of stuffing myself in with the shipment going your way. If I could just squeeze in between the plywood. Too damn hot and muggy down here.

I think if we all smarten up we will be as smart as a goose

Could have the best of both that way

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 4:24 pm

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2017 7:36 pm What blows me away is the height of the dock poles on the floaters and the downhill angle of the walkways at low tide.
Y'all have INSANE tides up there!! It's like mountain climbing walking uphill from the boats at low tide

At low tide a smart skipper will send someone else to go get the trailer while they take care of the boat

I will be looking forward to hearing ALL the stories

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 10:16 am

by bateau-webmaster

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2017 4:21 pm I think if we all smarten up we will be as smart as a goose Could have the best of both that way

Or at least as smart as Doc_Dyer, so that we can be geese when we need to.

:p

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:31 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2017 1:19 pm It is starting to sound like we could have a summer northern builders meet Save those credit card airline miles and put them to good use.

If you hold a summer northern builders meet in Alaska, there will be at least one southern builder in attendance!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:42 pm

by Fuzz

Man I keep counting heads..................this sounds like something that might just have to happen

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:47 pm

by Jaysen

That would be a long drive for the MG... but heck, I'm just nuts enough to attempt that drive.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:59 pm

by Fuzz

Sounds like I need to seriously think about this. Maybe it can be one of the topics of discussion at this years meet

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:05 pm

by Aripeka Angler

BarraMan wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:31 pm
Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2017 1:19 pm It is starting to sound like we could have a summer northern builders meet Save those credit card airline miles and put them to good use.
If you hold a summer northern builders meet in Alaska, there will be at least one southern builder in attendance!

It wouldn't take much effort to talk me into it. I've left a lot of money up there over the last few years, why not a little more?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:31 pm

by Fuzz

BarraMan wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:31 pm
If you hold a summer northern builders meet in Alaska, there will be at least one southern builder in attendance!

Dang BarraMan if you did that then we would just have to have a down under meet next. And then I could check off one of the biggest things on my bucket list

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:34 pm

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:05 pm It wouldn't take much effort to talk me into it. I've left a lot of money up there over the last few years, why not a little more?

While you are here this summer we need to talk over how it could happen. And what folks who have never been here would want to do.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:40 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:31 pm
BarraMan wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:31 pm
If you hold a summer northern builders meet in Alaska, there will be at least one southern builder in attendance!
Dang BarraMan if you did that then we would just have to have a down under meet next. And then I could check off one of the biggest things on my bucket list

Australia is on my bucket list

I watch the Austrailian Open every January. If a meet was organized down under in January, I for sure would be interested...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:42 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:34 pm
Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:05 pm It wouldn't take much effort to talk me into it. I've left a lot of money up there over the last few years, why not a little more?
While you are here this summer we need to talk over how it could happen. And what folks who have never been here would want to do.

We will talk about it for sure. Capeman would be in, he is ready for a trip to Alaska.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 10:28 pm

by Newt

Jaysen wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:47 pm That would be a long drive for the MG... but heck, I'm just nuts enough to attempt that drive.

People that bought our last 5th wheel just went to Alaska. These photos was taken on the way.

Newt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:15 am

by BarraMan

Australia is on my bucket list
I watch the Austrailian Open every January. If a meet was organized down under in January, I for sure would be interested...

Just make sure your trip flows into February if you want to try your luck for Barramundi. They are "closed season" from 1st November to noon on 1st February.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2017 9:36 pm

by Aripeka Angler

BarraMan wrote: ↑Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:15 am
Australia is on my bucket list
I watch the Austrailian Open every January. If a meet was organized down under in January, I for sure would be interested...
Just make sure your trip flows into February if you want to try your luck for Barramundi. They are "closed season" from 1st November to noon on 1st February.

The Aussie open ends in 2018 on January 28th, so the scenario you suggest would work perfectly.
I'll have to start saving my money for a trip.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 4:56 am

by Fuzz

Got out and gave the Kenai river a try today. Fishing was really slow but at least this guy was eating fresh fish. He was as big as momma but she was still bringing him fish.

And on they way home these guys were standing by the side of the road. It is rare to see moose herded up and it was my first time seeing four of last years calves together.

Sorry the picture was a little dark but it was 2345 when I took this picture. This about as dark as it gets for the next month.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 5:27 am

by Aripeka Angler

That is a cool moose picture!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 10:14 am

by icelikkilinc

Have been off fishing since moving to UK.. Always was into sea fishing where I am from
learnt out that there is close by resorvoir where you can rent a boat with outboard and trow some lines..
Got a licence and decided to give a go after work as the days are long

Tried spinning with numerous lures, my buddy got his 3 with spinners ( he should have changed his clothes but when he sees the lake he forgot all

)
I wan unlucky with spinning, decided to change tactics and cast with live worm.
First cast and managed to hook this 4.2 lb baby.. my first trout ever ...
any day on water is good but when you catch, even better

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 12:49 pm

by Eric1

Very Nice!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 1:21 pm

by Fuzz

Nice looking fish and two happy fishermen to go with them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 1:49 pm

by Jeff

Nice catch!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2017 12:41 pm

by cape man

Saturday afternoon, with 50 family members, we committed George Melvin Watson's remains to the Alafia River in front of the house. He was the one who taught me to fish, hunt, live in the outdoors, and most importantly how to be a father and a man of honor. Here's to you George! Fishing on the edge of Turner River in the Everglades in 1964. There was no size or possession limit on snook!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2017 12:46 pm

by cape man

Oh yeah...that ugly kid is my brother. I was much cuter...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:50 pm

by Aripeka Angler

You look and stand like your father

Congratulations on spreading his ashes on the Alafia.
Peaceful place where you live, very appropriate spot to spread his ashes.
Thanks for sharing, love you brother

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:07 pm

by Jeff

Cape Man, very sorry for your loss!! Losing a father is difficult, especially a father as you described!!! Our best to you and your family!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:28 am

by Fuzz

Very sorry for your loss. I lost my dad this past January and not a day goes by I do not miss him. But at least you have the memories the two of you made together.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:52 am

by Fuzz

Got out for a little halibut fishing today. We ended up in a nursery and the little ones like whats in the cooler just about ran us out of bait. By the time we started catching some decent sized fish we were out of bait. The larger 2 are 20 and maybe 30 pounds. Not huge but good eating.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 5:20 am

by Eric1

I'll bet those are great on the table! I'm glad you were able to go after them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 6:02 am

by Jaysen

Those would be some huge flounder. If all goes well, maybe, just maybe, I can provide a demo of the local catch this weekend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 9:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:52 am Got out for a little halibut fishing today. We ended up in a nursery and the little ones like whats in the cooler just about ran us out of bait. By the time we started catching some decent sized fish we were out of bait. The larger 2 are 20 and maybe 30 pounds. Not huge but good eating.

Nice! Thanks for posting halibut catch photos

I'll be up there in about 48 days. But who's counting

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 1:53 am

by Fuzz

They are a little hard to find so far this year but I am out scouting when I get the chance.
Here are a couple of pictures a friend took yesterday out of Seward

Second one is momma and baby

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 4:55 am

by BB Sig

You know those are not keepers?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:46 am

by Jeff

Fuzz, Great photos!! How close was the person taking pictures of the whales? Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 11:13 pm

by Fuzz

BB Sig wrote: ↑Wed Jun 21, 2017 4:55 am You know those are not keepers?

I just thought you needed a little heavier test line

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 11:14 pm

by Fuzz

Jeff wrote: ↑Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:46 am Fuzz, Great photos!! How close was the person taking pictures of the whales? Jeff

He was standing on the beach and they were right next to it. Seward has lots of spots it is hundreds of feet deep 100 foot offshore.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 9:01 pm

by BB Sig

Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Jun 21, 2017 11:14 pm
He was standing on the beach and they were right next to it. Seward has lots of spots it is hundreds of feet deep 100 foot offshore.

Sounds like great diving if you have a dry suit.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 10:24 pm

by Fuzz

I am not a diver but I have been told it can be fantastic with the right equipment.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 10:52 pm

by Mikem59

Awesome photos. Makes me want to reconsider my next fishing adventure, Islamorada or your neck of the woods Fuzz. But, never been to Islamorada, so I'll keep it at the fore of my bucket list for now.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:25 pm

by Fuzz

This time of the year the sea life can be spectacular. But like everything it is all in the timing. On one trip a few years ago the Orca A-B pod was up in the bay. I was told they had confirmed over 400 different ones in that pod. Of course no good pictures with our crappy camera at the time. That trip made me buy a good one for the wife.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 3:31 pm

by Freaknreakn

Yesterday in Ozello. Her first ever reds and snook. 4 and 6 minutes of video to cherish her first fights. "Best day ever daddy" followed by "can you hurry up and finish build your boat".

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 6:42 pm

by Freaknreakn

Thanks Richard! You were right on with cure; 2 1/2 hrs and it was ready to go.
Here you can see the new tape line demarcation and tape. Didn't take a second coat shot b/c, well, I'm pretty sure it would look like the first coat and don't want to bore

. I'll take a final when all five coats are on.
On a side note, check out my daughter with her first catches on Anything Else.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 6:44 pm

by Freaknreakn

Oopppsss? Sorry guys I was suppose to post this in Power Boats

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 7:02 pm

by Jeff

Freaknreakn, great Reds and really nice Snook!! I am sure she loved it!! Congrats on a great day with her!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 7:20 pm

by Eric1

Freaknreakn wrote: ↑Sat Jun 24, 2017 3:31 pm Yesterday in Ozello. Her first ever reds and snook. 4 and 6 minutes of video to cherish her first fights. "Best day ever daddy" followed by "can you hurry up and finish build your boat".

That's a memory to cherish! Awesome!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2017 12:13 am

by Fuzz

Great job on the fishing, boats ok too

, those are some nice looking fish. I bet your daughter was walking on air.
Sounds like the pressure is on to get the new boat done. And that is a nice problem to have.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2017 10:35 am

by seaslug

Some great looking fish for sure. I wish I could get my son interested in fishing, but at 15 he's not there yet. Your boat is looking great and from the little time I've spent in your area, seems like the perfect boat. I'm looking for some advice on fishing your area. The last two summers I've rented the furthest house west on the St Martins River, just off Old Ozello Trail RD, about 2 miles from the Johns Brown Rd. boat ramp. We're going again July 23rd, and although the trip is primarily a family affair with Scalloping a few days, my brother in law and I usually get the early mornings for a few hours to fish while the wives and kiddies are sleeping and lounging around. I fish mostly artificial, and like to sight fish Red's, but will bait fish if it will help put a fish on the dinner table to go along with the Scallops. I Might be bringing my FS18, so shallow flats are an option also. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2017 5:13 pm

by TomW1

Freakn I bet your daughter was in 7th heaven. Good for her. Your boat is looking great. Keep on keeping on.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:59 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Recent fishing photos from our and Derrick's boats...

Paulina with a snapper...

Harrison with a grouper...

Me with a gag...

Inshore with a snook the day before we went offshore...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 2:47 am

by Fuzz

AA really nice looking fish. And nice size too. Looks like you and the kids had a great time.
Just a reminder, as you well know, you will be wanting to dress just a tad heavier for your August fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 2:56 am

by Fuzz

Richard is making me look bad.

Went fishing out of Seward today. We wanted to run out 30 miles or so but where we wanted to be it was small craft warning and 11 foot seas so we declined.

That was they way we wanted to go.
Stayed in the bay with my fishing partner and caught some kings and a few silvers. A little early for silvers so they were a pleasant surprise.Most looked like this one.

As it was the temperature was 51, drizzle with 15 knot winds. Not to bad of a day but I did put my new Dickerson heater to work.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 5:52 am

by Jaysen

We call that "winter" here. Don't know how you do it ...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 6:04 am

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz, that is some angry looking weather in your photo! Glad you were able to improvise and get some fish!
I'm looking forward to some cooler weather

We'll be up there in 42 days, but who's counting?

How do you target salmon in the ocean? I've only spin casted and fly fished for them in the rivers...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 6:17 am

by Eric1

Dang it, Richard and Fuzz!! Y'all are making me want to hit the saltwater!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 6:25 am

by Jeff

Fuzz, that seems like tough weather to me and 11 foot seas, no chance of my boat moving!! Stay safe, Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 1:18 pm

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Tue Jun 27, 2017 6:04 am Fuzz, that is some angry looking weather in your photo! Glad you were able to improvise and get some fish!
I'm looking forward to some cooler weather We'll be up there in 42 days, but who's counting?
How do you target salmon in the ocean? I've only spin casted and fly fished for them in the rivers...

Richard we troll for them at 1.6 to 2.2 mph. My little 9.9 kicker gets more hours on it than the main does

I have caught silvers, kings, rock fish and even halibut while trolling.
No worries Jeff. At this point in life I have no problem saying it is too rough for me. At least most of the time

An artic fit has been known to happen but not too often now. As for the weather all the old timers are whining like me. I am hoping the back half of summer will make up for this. We will see.
Eric it looks like you need to fish with Richard. I am hoping he can teach me how to catch fish this year

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 4:28 pm

by Eric1

I'd love to if I could get my butt back down to Florida!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 6:17 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz, I'm pretty sure I don't need to teach you how to catch fish

Eric, come on down sometime. We will try to put you on some fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 6:27 pm

by Eric1

Thank you Richard!! Maybe I can take you up on the offer one day!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 4:49 pm

by Jaysen

BLOOD ON THE DECK!!! BLOOD ON THE DECK!!!Too bad there are size limits.

Caught about 22 fish today. 6 reds and 16flounder. Reds all under 14" and flounder under 13". Not a one of them a keeper. Kept expecting the big one so show up so only got this one. 13" souther flounder... Or as I shall call them... mini halibut.

Still a good day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 5:13 pm

by Eric1

Excellent Day!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 6:56 pm

by Jeff

Good fishing day Jaysen!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 7:32 pm

by Fuzz

Looks like a fun day of fishing. and the weather is nice too, something I dream about.
Sorry I had to do this..............as our Aussie friends would say.........."that is not a flounder, this is a flounder

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 7:46 pm

by Jaysen

I said "mini". Jeesh

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:04 pm

by Fuzz

Jaysen wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2017 7:46 pm I said "mini". Jeesh

I did say the devil made me do it

At least you can get out, do some fishing and enjoy the weather. I am starting to sound like a broken record with all my weather whinning

Global warming my butt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:19 pm

by Jaysen

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:04 pm
Jaysen wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2017 7:46 pm I said "mini". Jeesh
I did say the devil made me do it
At least you can get out, do some fishing and enjoy the weather. I am starting to sound like a broken record with all my weather whinning Global warming my butt

We got your "warming" down here! It will be 83f at 5:30 when I head out for my run tomorrow morning. I'm not complaining though.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:23 pm

by Fuzz

51f, rain, wind.............normal day this summer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:46 am

by Joe H

Been knocking the Walleye down up here in Mich., limit catch's every outing, (6 per person) this is actually on the Canadian side of the Saint Clair River.

You guys were making me jealous with all the great fish and fish stories!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:50 am

by Fuzz

Joe that sounds like some really good fishing! Nice fish you are holding too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 3:49 pm

by Eric1

Joe, That walleye looks horrible. Let me get my ship to address for you. I'll see it gets a proper funeral.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 7:29 pm

by Jeff

Nice fishing Joe and that photo reflects a very happy fisherman!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 9:09 pm

by TomW1

Dang Joe I am either going to have to come up there or have you and your bride down for a couple of paid fully comped weeks in the mountains next spring to show me how to catch those guys.

We have a couple of lakes full of the buggers I just need to learn how to catch them. Unfortunately this year is being spent on refinishing and repainting the inside of No Excuse. It is a slower project to do it right than I thought.

Hope this finds you and the family well and put a bunch of those in the freezer for family fish frys this winter.

After all they taster better than anything you can catch in the ocean!

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 8:46 am

by topwater

Joe go eat a hamburger , dam you got skinny

Both you and the fish look great.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:03 pm

by Fuzz

Yesterday the weather gods smiled on us and I was able to get to one of my favourite spots about 25 miles out of Seward.

Fishing was good enough this guys was so fat and lazy all he would do is barely pick his head up to look at us.

We had to sort through these pinks to try and catch some silvers

They are normally 3-4 pounds but the past two years they have been huge. This guy must have been over 10 pounds. 27 inches long

We caught and released 20-30 of the buggers but in the end we had 10 silvers for the freezer

trying to get all tuned up for AA

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:10 pm

by cape man

Nice day David! I'm fishing a salmon tournament in Peugeot Sound next month and hoping to get into some steel head on the Olympic peninsula afterwards. Hope we get a day like you just had.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:38 pm

by Fuzz

This will be the second time I am aware of you have been fishing there. Your job seems to have some nice perks

Be nothing better than a Cracker winning the tournament

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:46 pm

by Eric1

Fuzz, Tell me you are gonna smoke some of those! Man they are nice!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:49 pm

by Jaysen

Eric1 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:46 pm Fuzz, Tell me you are gonna smoke some of those! Man they are nice!!

He smokes them? How does he light them?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:51 pm

by Eric1

Jaysen wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:49 pm
Eric1 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:46 pm Fuzz, Tell me you are gonna smoke some of those! Man they are nice!!
He smokes them? How does he light them?

You ain't right.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:59 pm

by Fuzz

Eric I need to go get all the ingredients for the brine mix. I have vacuumed sealed this bunch but I will have the smoker ready for the next batch. I need to catch a large king as they are the best of all the salmon smoked IMHO.

Yep that Jaysen guy sure beats to his own drummer but he does keep things interesting

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 4:06 pm

by Eric1

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:59 pm Eric I need to go get all the ingredients for the brine mix. I have vacuumed sealed this bunch but I will have the smoker ready for the next batch. I need to catch a large king as they are the best of all the salmon smoked IMHO.

Yep that Jaysen guy sure beats to his own drummer but he does keep things interesting

Yes He Does! :DK
I've never had King. I tried like crazy to catch one when I was stationed in Great Lakes, Il. but no luck.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 4:13 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:03 pm Yesterday the weather gods smiled on us and I was able to get to one of my favourite spots about 25 miles out of Seward.
Fishing was good enough this guys was so fat and lazy all he would do is barely pick his head up to look at us.
We had to sort through these pinks to try and catch some silvers
They are normally 3-4 pounds but the past two years they have been huge. This guy must have been over 10 pounds. 27 inches long We caught and released 20-30 of the buggers but in the end we had 10 silvers for the freezer
trying to get all tuned up for AA

Yeah, that was the report I was waiting for

Love those silvers, It's one of my favorite fish.
107'F in the shop today, too friggen hot.
31 days but who is counting?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 4:25 pm

by Jaysen

Eric1 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 4:06 pm
Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:59 pm Yep that Jaysen guy sure beats to his own drummer but he does keep things interesting
Yes He Does!

Hey! I resemble those remarks!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 8:31 pm

by Jeff

Fuzz, great photos and nice catch!!! Agree with AA, must be 110 at 2:00 PM in our warehouse!!! Too hot and no Alaska in my immediate future!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 9:09 pm

by Fuzz

You guys keep saying you do not know how we can live in our weather and then tell me it is over 100f where you are

That would kill me and I am not exaggerating one little bit. It was 70f, flat calm, no clouds two days ago when I spent the day on the lake. I got sun burns now

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 9:20 pm

by Jaysen

Sunburns? With a trailing s? Is that like having one spot burnt, then some pasty white then some more burn? Or is it what happens to me... burn on Saturday then in Monday then on Wednesday then on... basically multiple layer of burn?

Which is it?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 9:25 pm

by Fuzz

Sorry, I am not up on my sunburn terminology for some reason

So both arms and the top of my head are sunburned. The top of my head has never burned before.....................still trying to figure out what might have changed

Went to town and got some sun block. Feeling brave and think I will go do battle with some silvers again tomorrow

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 9:34 pm

by Jeff

Fuzz, sounds like you have what many of us southerners call a "farmers tan" but regardless of what you call it, it hurts!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 10:55 pm

by TomW1

Nah Jeff a real "Farmer's tan" is tanned arms up to his short sleeve shirt, a tanned neck and face up to his ball cap, and a white top of his head where his ball cap was. Now that's a real "Farmer's tan" from a Midwest farmer's family.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 11:00 pm

by Joe H

Joe that sounds like some really good fishing! Nice fish you are holding too

Hey Fuzz, it is! Can't wait to get to Alaska.....

Joe, That walleye looks horrible. Let me get my ship to address for you. I'll see it gets a proper funeral.

Eric, he was treated with the proper respect, in my belly, no catch and release when it comes to Walleye, unless it's a big fat female full of eggs.

Thanks Jeff, it never gets old and always makes me happy!

Hey Tom, can't wait to see the Great Smokies, the Grouper we had in Crystal River that Richard cooked up was pretty hard to beat!

John, Thanks man, I just been trying to avoid pop and sugary junk foods and the lb's are falling off, still a ways to go, hope you're enjoying the south.
Heading out in the am if the storms clear up.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:21 am

by Aripeka Angler

Always great to see you post up a catch photo Joe

I never tried walleye, I'm guessing it must be pretty good!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 2:22 am

by Fuzz

Well I got out and found more silvers. Had my head buried and forgot the camera

Fishing had picked up some,limit is 6 each, we lost count and only came home with 17

Best part of the day a momma humpback and calf swam by the boat less than 50 feet off. Of course we had 2 fish on at the time and no camera. Oh well maybe next time. Still a good day. AA there seems to be more silvers and they are getting bigger. Should be just right by the time you get here

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 4:41 am

by Aripeka Angler

Awesome fishing report

I can't wait to get up there to some cool temps and great fishing

Did you troll them up?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:10 pm

by Fuzz

Yes AA all were caught trolling.
My main fishing partner just picked up a new to him Californian 34. The previous owner left all his halibut hot spots in the GPS so I am hoping to get zeroed in on those also

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 4:55 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:10 pm Yes AA all were caught trolling.
My main fishing partner just picked up a new to him Californian 34. The previous owner left all his halibut hot spots in the GPS so I am hoping to get zeroed in on those also

Gps spots are a great bonus when you buy a boat loaded with numbers. It's an even better bonus when your buddy buys the boat and shares the numbers with you

I need to try trolling for salmon. I understand that salmon are even more tasty when they are taken before they get into freshwater.
I sent you an email and pics describing how to install starboard on trailer bunks. Let me know if this is the type of information
you need...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 5:37 pm

by Fuzz

Yep your email was a great help

Now I am wondering how thick the starboard should be?
Thanks, David

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 7:53 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2017 5:37 pm Yep your email was a great help Now I am wondering how thick the starboard should be?
Thanks, David

I used 3/4" thick material. Anything less and you would have a hard time counter boring the lags.
I can literally push my XF20 off of the trailer at a ramp without the boat floating. The bunks are as slick as butter. I can see where this would be the cat's poop in Alaska.
The only drawback I see is you have to tie the boat down very well so it doesn't fly off the trailer on the highway

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:08 pm

by Reid

Had an epic day off shore on Saturday!!! My wife and I went out of the St. Lucie Inlet on a friend's 36 Yellowfin to do some Sailfishing. We ended up having the day of a lifetime!!! Filled both live wells by 8:00am and had lines in the water by 8:30am. We ended up landing 10 of 11 Sailfish, with 6 of them being 65-80 lbs. We also had 4 double-ups. By 1:00pm we had already released 9 Sails. The best part was that my wife was able to make this trip. She is the one who is always shaking her head when we come home empty handed, I think she was starting to doubt my fishing abilities

Here is a little photo montage of our day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:39 pm

by Fuzz

Dang Reid now that is what I call a good day of fishing

Sounds like you got to check off all the boxes that make a great day. You have me envious for some warm weather fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:46 pm

by Reid

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:39 pm Dang Reid now that is what I call a good day of fishing Sounds like you got to check off all the boxes that make a great day. You have me envious for some warm weather fishing

It was definitely warm, probably in the upper 80's or low 90's out there. The Atlantic was a lake that day also. Weather permitting, maybe we can try and get you offshore in October!

Reid

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:54 pm

by Fuzz

That would be fun I am sure. I have a standing offer from AA, well as long as I do not freeze him this summer

My biggest worry about fishing in your part of the world would be the heat. I am pretty darn sure what you folks call a warm day would be life threatening for me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:59 pm

by cape man

Nice day Reid! Nothing prettier to me than a sailfish tail walking!

This will be the second time I am aware of you have been fishing there. Your job seems to have some nice perks
Be nothing better than a Cracker winning the tournament

David, this trip is all on us, but the job did introduce me to my friend in Gig Harbor I am fishing with. This will be the third derby I have fished with him, my 6th time in Peugeot Sound, and my first attempt at Steelhead. The other times were indeed when I had a meeting or conference in Seattle or nearby, but this time Pattie and I are just getting away for a week. Between my career and this forum I am lucky to know good people all over the planet, and most of them love to fish.

The last time was a derby in February where I thought we were going to die on the run home (30+kts, quartering into 6 foot breakers for 15 miles, and snow flurries). When I told the weigh master where I was from as we all stood in the wind and snow, the whole station went silent. I won the award for the angler who had traveled the furthest to fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 1:02 pm

by Reid

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:54 pm That would be fun I am sure. I have a standing offer from AA, well as long as I do not freeze him this summer
My biggest worry about fishing in your part of the world would be the heat. I am pretty darn sure what you folks call a warm day would be life threatening for me

Well what you call a warm day up there I am still getting frostbite!!! It's all relative.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 4:38 pm

by Fuzz

CapeMan the next time you come that far you need to include time to come on up. Heck it is just a puddle jump from there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 7:04 pm

by cape man

You're on.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 7:09 pm

by Eric1

Killer day offshore!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 9:41 pm

by TomW1

Nice Reid, I have caught 1 sailfish in my life and that was on our honeymoon in 1975 it's no fair for some one to catch 9 in one day.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 3:24 pm

by Fuzz

Got out for a little halibut trip. Nothing huge but I did end up with about 20lbs of prime fillet

This one is about 50lbs. Just right for eating

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 3:33 pm

by Fuzz

Just missed this one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 3:37 pm

by Jeff

Great photos Fuzz!!! Nice catch as well!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 6:06 pm

by Eric1

Great pictures Fuzz!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 6:23 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Nice fish Fuzz

Did you use a .410 shotgun to relax the fish before you brought it onboard?
The seas look pretty nice. I also love the little bit of fog hanging low over the water

What pound test do I need to bring for the big fish in the second photo?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 9:50 pm

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2017 6:23 pm Nice fish Fuzz Did you use a .410 shotgun to relax the fish before you brought it onboard?
The seas look pretty nice. I also love the little bit of fog hanging low over the water
What pound test do I need to bring for the big fish in the second photo?

This one was not big enough to need the .410. Once onboard a 20oz framing hammer right between the eyes encourages them to lay still

80 pound test will work for most anything we might get hold of. A braided line or something thin helps if there is much tide running. It sucks to have to use 2lbs of lead to get to bottom.
Are you going to be able to haul some fish home with you? I ask because we can place them in a freezer box first and then put the box in my chest freezer. Lets you get lots more in the box

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 10:36 pm

by seaslug

Richard had better haul some of that Halibut back to Florida. Last years get together was my first time eating Halibut, and that's some damn good fish, And I'm counting on someone cooking up some of that fine fish again in October. One of those 50 pound flatties should be enough I would guess. Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 5:42 am

by Eric1

My first time eating halibut was when I was in the Navy. Not even our Mess cooks could ruin halibut! It is great on the fork.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 1:12 pm

by Fuzz

I know there are a great many really good tasting fish that I have never had the privilege of tasting so I would never say one fish is the best eating. But one great thing about halibut is it is really tough to screw up. Good thing for those of us who are not great cooks

I have the worlds easiest recipe that I will share this October

I am hoping to bring some fish with me for the meet. Need to let SeaSlug have another taste. And I well remember the smile on our flying Docs face when he was eating it. His face made the whole effort well worth it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 3:36 pm

by Jeff

Yes Fuzz, it was fantastic tasting fish last year!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 3:46 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Halibut is great fish! It really is hard to screw up cooking it!
As good as halibut is, the real credit should go to Fuzz.
He knows how to catch it and preserve it by vacuum bagging and freezing.

I've seen a lot of fish wasted by poor handling...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:48 pm

by cape man

The topic does state "fishing" not catching... Ran about 4.5 gallons of gas through the outboard, running the southern half of Tampa Bay. No fish caught on any of the hundreds of boats we saw, including ours. However, we did have a blast including this stop to take a dip and cool down. The boat is running great, getting 24 mph with the two of us, a cooler and some gear. Once again got loads of comments at the gas station, ramp, and even out on the water.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:56 pm

by Eric1

That's a beautiful build! I'm sure people love it!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:01 pm

by Jeff

Nice Cape Man!!! Sorry no fish though!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:58 pm

by Fuzz

You get loads of commits because that is, and always has been, one fine looking boat. I hope you can bring it to this years meet. The boss is looking happy with the boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:30 pm

by cape man

She's definitely coming to the meet. With her little sister Hermine.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:32 am

by Marshall Moser

Has anyone seen these?

I've ordered some from glossieblack's neck of the woods. They are supposedly sheepshead slayers.

I hope to post results in two weeks.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/QOu2SAUp8MY[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:09 pm

by cape man

Caught me! Now let's see if a fish is fooled. Let us know!8)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:58 pm

by majorgator

Its still a gorgeous boat Craig.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 2:25 pm

by Jeff

I completely agree with MajorGator, very nice boat Cape Man!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 7:41 pm

by BB Sig

I've been on vacation the last week with the family at Cape San Blas. No real time for me to fish alone but great shots of the kids. Weather was a factor since every morning it was raining except two. Afternoon thunderstorms like clockwork.

J1 caught a small redfish, two trouts and ~ 25-30 pinfish in a 2.5 hour span on my canoe. It was a great time!

He caught a lot from the surf. He wanted to know when the big boat would be done (GT23).

The wife laughed....

J2 was the real surprise. He is NOT a fisherman. We had him rigged with a bobber and a small hook with cut bait. Most casts would not make it in the water no matter how much coaching I gave him. I'd cast for him occasionally but he would never leave it in the water. In the last 30 minutes he caught on and made a great cast about 30 feet into the small surfline. 30 seconds later he was hollering like it was a great white shark! He was mighty proud of his mini-catfish. He was done after that declaring "I'm going to quit while I'm ahead!"

J3 was using his Cars fishing rod. I can cast that rod better than the other two boys rods. It's accurate and easy to use.

J3 managed to catch ~ 20 of J2's catfish over two days. The last day I swapped him to a larger hook and he continued to catch small ones. He finally said "I'm stepping my game up. Give me a bigger hook and bobber." I didn't argue as I was tired of removing pint sized catfish. I threw a #2 circle hook on and he kept casting and letting is sit for 3 minutes and then checking his bait. I saw his bobber go under and then move towards him. I yelled for him to reel like crazy and he did one better. He ran up the shore and dragged the fish up the beach. I don't think he could have reeled any quicker with the small reel.

It was a great trip and the boys had a lot of fun!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:34 am

by Eric1

Wow Barry! Great trip! I know those boys had fun.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:31 am

by Jeff

Great stuff BB!!! Glad your boys enjoyed the fishing!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:22 pm

by Fuzz

So I have a tale of sorrow to tell. Last night my wife informed me I was failing to fill the freezer with sockeye salmon at a rate fast enough to suit her. She her and two girlfriends went fishing this morning without the benefit of my expert male supervision. This was what was left after one girl had taken her share.

52 sockeye salmon.

A 50 pound king next to a 8 pound sockeye

Happy wife with her fish. So just how in the crap am I going to live this down

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:43 pm

by Jaysen

Fuzz wrote: ↑Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:22 pm how in the crap am I going to live this down

for starters, erase all photographic evidence asap. You'd think you'd never been in this position before.

Then send everyone a bottle of rum. I'm sure we'd all recall the story as "Fuzz supplied the wife's friend with a pile o' salmon". But it has to be decent rum. At least if you want us to completely forget the wife was involved.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:52 pm

by Jeff

Wow Fuzz!!! Really cool for your spouse!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 11:32 pm

by TomW1

Fuzz my only question is did they clean those fish or have some one else don it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 11:36 pm

by Fuzz

I was told if they had to catch them then I had to fillet them. Been at it all afternoon but done now

Got 4 more fish to vacuum bag and then I am done. Got to let the vac bagger cool down some

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 11:47 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That's a heck of a catch! Was she fishing out of Seward?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:00 am

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Thu Jul 27, 2017 11:47 pm That's a heck of a catch! Was she fishing out of Seward?

Richard these came from the Kenai river. Seward does not have a sockeye run at all. I did find out what I was doing wrong in Seward last time. My fishing buddy was there yesterday and came home with over 100 pounds of silvers. The two of us have another trip planned for Saturday. We will see if I learned anything

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:28 am

by Fuzz

Last of the fillets bagged and ready for the freezer

One happy looking freezer

Done with fun for today.............she said something about going again in the morning

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 4:43 am

by Eric1

Wow! You have been busy!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 6:29 am

by Jeff

That is a great looking freezer!!! Nice Fuzz!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 5:24 pm

by TomW1

Nice looking batch of fish Fuzz. You have to love those vacuum sealers. I have one and put all my game, fish and meat up with it.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 10:40 pm

by Newt

That's a hell of a lot of fish!

One thing I learned a long time ago, is not to catch more fish than you want to clean.

Newt

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2017 12:38 am

by Fuzz

She could have taken up to 45 but called it good at 26. They said there were still lots of fish to be had but they used their brains

I on the other hand have been known to go nuts and take the full 45 all at once. Then the real fun begins

This is from a special use fishery, the normal limit is 3 fish per day. Do not want folks thinking this is an every day deal

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2017 5:58 pm

by Fuzz

My fishing buddy took the wife and I out of Seward on his new to him 34 Californian. I had sort of forgot what life is like at 10 knots. But it sure is nice having all the comforts of home

It turned into an all day trip but we did round up a few silvers.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2017 7:12 pm

by Jeff

Nice fishing Fuzz!!! It seems you guys in Alaska always have great fishing results!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2017 7:43 pm

by Fuzz

Jeff wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2017 7:12 pm Nice fishing Fuzz!!! It seems you guys in Alaska always have great fishing results!! Jeff

I only wish that were true Jeff

I had a buddy up from AZ a week ago. Went silver fishing and only got 2. Did the same thing at the same place but no fish

The next day we went halibut fishing out of Homer and got smooth skunked, it was down right embarrassing

But I figure no one is interested in fishing stories with no fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2017 7:43 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Holy cow, that's a pile of coho salmon!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2017 8:34 pm

by Jeff

Fuzz, I understand "skunked" but I must admit the last few off-shore trips have been good here as well!! Still, quite a load fish!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:31 am

by cape man

A much needed week vacation to Washington state last week. First three days in Gig Harbor with a friend, fishing a salmon derby. We worked hard and landed one Chinook on my turn on the rods.

3 nights in Forks on the western end of the Olympic peninsula. The first day, within 30 minutes of fishing in the Quilleute river, just downstream of the confluence with the Sol Duc, landed this nice Coho.

Fished the Hoh and the Queets as well with no luck, but it sure was pretty out there. We put almost 1000 miles on a rental car, most of it exploring Olympic Nat'l Park. The smoke from Canada was annoying, and the sea fog lasted all day and night along the coast, but the woods were gorgeous, the beer excellent, and the people friendly.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:36 am

by BarraMan

Nice fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:39 am

by Jeff

Cape Man, great trip for you guys and really nice fish!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 4:11 pm

by TomW1

Nice fish and sounds like you had a really great trip.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 5:24 pm

by Fuzz

CapeMan that is a nice Coho. Looks bigger than anything I have caught so far this year. What did it weigh? For some reason the picture of the King did not show up? Sounds like you had a good trip.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 10:22 pm

by cape man

Maybe 15 lbs.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 1:29 am

by Aripeka Angler

cape man wrote: ↑Sat Aug 12, 2017 10:22 pm Maybe 15 lbs.

Nice looking fish Craig!

Looks like you and Patty had a great trip...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 1:30 pm

by Fuzz

Yep 15 pounds is a really nice Coho

They get bigger than that but NOT very often, that is one fine fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:20 pm

by cape man

The other one. Right out of the mouth of Gig Harbor at 120'. The only keeper Chinook we caught. Was worth a tackle box at the weigh station!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:53 pm

by Jeff

Great catch Craig!! Sounds like you guys had a great trip!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:53 pm

by Jeff

Great catch Craig!! Sounds like you guys had a great trip!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:54 pm

by Jeff

Great catch Craig!! Sounds like you guys had a great trip!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2017 12:10 am

by BarraMan

A couple of old blokes going fishing.

Young Patrick with his first ever Barramundi (65 cm) on his 18th birthday.

One of the "locals"!

A picturesque place to fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2017 1:02 am

by Fuzz

Beautiful place!
How come almost every picture of the boat shows it hauling butt

Hard to keep the throttle pulled back on that beast

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2017 5:50 am

by Eric1

Freaking Sweet!! Looks like a fun trip!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 3:51 am

by BarraMan

I have spent the last week on a 4000 km round trip to fish for Barramundi in the McArthur River system in the Northern Territory (NT) with my younger son, my Brother and a mate. The NT lived up to its reputation as a top barra fishery. We caught lots of fish on a variety of lures. Top fish of the week was an 85 cm specimen boated by my Brother, although we had a 1+M fish that was taken by a bull shark beside the boat. The BIG Barra Boat met its destiny of taking us safely to remote rivers in safety and comfort, performing wonderfully well in all respects. It was a little disconcerting running down big rivers in 1M of water but once we sussed out the rock bars all was fine. On some days we traveled 100+nm to get to our target fishing spots and back again.

Lots of pics and videos to follow, but here's a couple of wet your appetite!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/zME3Igl0YYo[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 4:29 am

by glossieblack

Go Lee!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:58 am

by cape man

Awesome! Gorgeous place.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:33 am

by tcason

Caught about 100 of these small rockfish average 15 inches in Bay yesterday lots of fun

Garvey 13 is a great boat - went out Saturday evening and there were white caps and rollers - ventured a little into Bay but turned around not wanting to take a beating and get wet BUT no doubt the boat would have handled the waves

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 12:16 pm

by Fuzz

Lee your video looked like lots of fun was being had by all. Looking forward to more pictures.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 12:19 pm

by Fuzz

tcason wrote: ↑Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:33 am Caught about 100 of these small rockfish average 15 inches in Bay yesterday lots of fun

Garvey 13 is a great boat - went out Saturday evening and there were white caps and rollers - ventured a little into Bay but turned around not wanting to take a beating and get wet BUT no doubt the boat would have handled the waves

Sounds like fun. It is hard to beat just being able to catch fish, size does not always matter. Sure seems like everyone who builds a GV-13 is happy with them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 1:01 pm

by topwater

You know you are in the outback when you have to put a snorkel on your truck

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 5:14 pm

by Southern Gent

Well. If Tropical Storm AKA Hurricane Nate pushes through S. Louisiana Sunday. My buddy and I are booked in Leeville LA for speckled trout and redfish fishing for a few days. Port Fourchon has just issued mandatory evacuation Friday 4pm.

Best wishes to all along the Gulf Coast.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:21 pm

by BarraMan

A big milestone for these two - first time in the Territory.

A watering hole along the way.

Home base for the week.

The boat travelled well.

Home, sweet home!

One day's travel recorded by the GPS tracker on the boat.

.....and the Barra started coming over the side.

One!

After another!

Biggest fish of the trip - 85 cm Barra!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:35 am

by Eric1

That looked like a fun trip!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:49 am

by BarraMan

Eric1 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:35 am That looked like a fun trip!

Yes, we had a ball!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:55 am

by cape man

Wow Lee! What an adventure and that last picture makes me jealous. We worked with Barramundi at my lab for a few years, and they are VERY impressive. You could "feel" it in your feet when they struck. 85cm is a BIG one for sure. What did it weigh?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 7:13 am

by Aripeka Angler

Great photos Barraman! Thanks for putting them up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:31 am

by peter-curacao

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Sat Oct 07, 2017 7:13 am Great photos Barraman! Thanks for putting them up.

What he said, great pics thx

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 9:04 am

by BarraMan

cape man wrote: ↑Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:55 am Wow Lee! What an adventure and that last picture makes me jealous. We worked with Barramundi at my lab for a few years, and they are VERY impressive. You could "feel" it in your feet when they struck. 85cm is a BIG one for sure. What did it weigh?

Cape man, we don't generally bother weighing Barra, just measure them. In the NT, 55 cm is the minimum (58 cm in my home State of Qld) and 120cm is max. size for keeping. We generally only keep fish between 65 and 85 cm.

1+M fish are everyone dream to catch and release. I've only caught one in 20 years but I don't specifically target big fish like some. I like to eat them as well as catch them. My PB on lure is 96 cm and 104 cm on live bait. We only cast lures these days.

The boys have a knack for making fish look bigger than they are. That 85 is a very nice fish - but it looks way bigger than that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:04 pm

by AmbitiousRookie

We had a good day last week

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:45 pm

by Jeff

AmbitiousRookie, Good day!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 8:36 am

by BarraMan

Here's another video from our recent trip to the Northern Territory chasing barramundi.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/wYvhB-L6Cfs[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:40 pm

by Jeff

Nice catch!!! Beautiful place as well!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:24 pm

by BarraMan

Here's another view of the double hookup posted earlier.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/nBVeRguJt8k[/youtube]

Here's another video from our fishing trip to the NT. This is my younger son fishing with "Old Yella", a rod I built for him when he was 12 years old (he's now 31!). The barra is perfect eating size - 75 cm/5 kg (ie 11 lb).

[youtube]https://youtu.be/hsP5kBsSDgI[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 6:51 am

by Browndog

Yesterday I participated in the annual Fins and Skins event of our Men’s Golf Association. I was one of the 6 boat Captains that encompassed 18 anglers in teams of three. We were fishing for Redfish, Speckled Sea Trout and Flounder. Each legal sized fish within the legal daily catch limits per angler count as one point. The total fish points are added to the golfing points earned under a modified Stableford scoring format to come up with a team overall. The team with the highest number of points above their handicap quota wins.

It was a cool, but very sunny and increasingly windy day. The 6 teams caught a total of 101 keeper fish. Two teams caught 26 apiece. One team caught 24. Our team caught 16. Another team caught 9 and one team caught Zero keepers.

So despite good overall fishing, you can see it really depended on where you were to catch keepers and not just fish that were too short to keep. Despite catching lots of live shrimp in the morning, our team was nearly out of bait by lunch time because of the voracious number of short fish we were catching. Among all teams, the largest redfish caught was 19 inches. Largest trout was 19 1/2”. Only two keeper flounder were caught.

Today is the golf event. After golf we’ll have a fish fry for all of the participants and their spouses and family.

My brother is coming to visit on Friday for four days and we’ll be having a boat building/fishing marathon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 7:09 am

by Eric1

That sounds like a lot of fun!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 7:39 am

by Jeff

Have a great weekend Browndog!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2017 10:25 am

by tcason

Finally caught a nice rockfish.

I did not measure but between 30 and 36" - lots of fun on ultra light tackle. At one point I thought I was going to have to start boat and give chase before I got spooled.

Love my Garvey 13!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:27 am

by Eric1

Pretty Striper! Wish they looked that healthy coming out of our lakes.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 8:16 pm

by Jaysen

I may not catch fish, but I can catch bait.

Menhaden are in the shallows.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 10:39 pm

by Fuzz

First step to catching fish is having bait. Looks like you got that down pat.

Of course you could just send SWMBO with a net. That works well too

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 11:04 pm

by Jaysen

Put a medium on a 8/0... what ever it was the hit that hook I’m glad it didn’t make it to the dock.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 1:08 am

by BarraMan

Some barranastics from our recent trip to King Ash Bay in the Northern Territory.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/34dyyohdeS0[/youtube]

If you look carefully you can see that the barra threw the lure on the first jump then landed on top of it and got foul-hooked. After the second jump it was free - to be caught on our next trip!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 1:15 am

by Fuzz

Man those Barra look like they are great fighting fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 1:38 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Nov 05, 2017 1:15 am Man those Barra look like they are great fighting fish

Yes, they are a great fish!

To consistently catch them you need to know a bit about what you are trying to do.

If are fortunate enough to hook one they invariably come out of the water so you know what's on the end of your line.

They have an amazing ability to throw your lure or bait back at you!

They are not "caught" until they are in the boat - or better still, in the ice box.

If you manage to boat one, they are very good eating.

They are very fast growing (hence their popularity as a farmed species), and females produce millions of eggs - so they are an easily sustainable fishery.

Does that make them the perfect sport fish?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 2:42 am

by Fuzz

Sounds like they check all the boxes to be a great fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:40 am

by BarraMan

Can't let "Anyone fishing" slip too far down the page

Here's another video from our recent trip to the NT. Another slomo!

If you look carefully at the start of the video you can see the lure delivered up tight to the timber on the very left of the screen. A mate has a saying where barra are concerned, "Deliver the pizza right to the front door - don't leave it at the letterbox"!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/gKU-GVpxQkU[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 5:30 am

by cape man

Beautiful place. Beautiful video. Beautiful fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 6:34 am

by peter-curacao

This morning I got this as a memory from 2 years ago on my timeline, thought I shared.
Ahhh memories

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:39 am

by Jeff

Nice Peter!!!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 8:33 pm

by BarraMan

I can't let "Anyone fishing" stay off the front page any longer!

Here's another video clip from our September Barramindi fishing trip to the Northern Territory.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/U4wEsbE00Ho[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 4:08 am

by alanmccabe

Memories of 1989 when I lived and worked in Bermuda. Check out the size of the glasses

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 6:26 am

by peter-curacao

alanmccabe wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2018 4:08 am Memories of 1989 when I lived and worked in Bermuda. Check out the size of the glasses

Tiny glasses .....o wait ....................................big fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 4:55 pm

by alanmccabe

Here is one from yesterday, my mate and I out for the whole day caught noting, spent hours in the fog with not even a bite. then Phil caught this on the way back to the dock

literally 30 seconds before we quit.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 6:29 pm

by Eric1

alanmccabe wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2018 4:55 pm Here is one from yesterday, my mate and I out for the whole day caught noting, spent hours in the fog with not even a bite. then Phil caught this on the way back to the dock literally 30 seconds before we quit.

NICE!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 7:32 pm

by Jeff

Great catch!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:35 pm

by Fuzz

Ok what kind of fish is this, guessing a steelhead? Either way that is one fine looking catch. It is always nice when you catch at the least expected times. Turns a so-so day into a great one

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:57 pm

by Jaysen

Fuzz, i think it’s called “main”. Keep in mind it’s often found in the company of long grain rice and steamed veggies.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 3:16 am

by alanmccabe

It was a Rainbow Trout, maybe about 6lbs in weight we had no scale with us

It hit on a Abu killer optic lure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 3:52 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:35 pm Ok what kind of fish is this, guessing a steelhead? Either way that is one fine looking catch. It is always nice when you catch at the least expected times. Turns a so-so day into a great one

Fuzz, you are joking, right?

When I fished the Kichatna R for Silver Salmon a few years ago, rainbows like that kept taking my lure and interfering with my Salmon fishing!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 4:00 pm

by Fuzz

First thought was a big Bow but then thought about where his is. I have no idea of their range so I thought maybe steelhead? I think I have read about rainbows in New Zealand so I guess their range is huge.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:32 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2018 4:00 pm First thought was a big Bow but then thought about where his is. I have no idea of their range so I thought maybe steelhead? I think I have read about rainbows in New Zealand so I guess their range is huge.

Rainbows in NZ and Australia are introduced and bred in hatcheries, not native to our part of the world.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:59 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2018 4:00 pm First thought was a big Bow but then thought about where his is. I have no idea of their range so I thought maybe steelhead? I think I have read about rainbows in New Zealand so I guess their range is huge.

I pretty sure the trout was caught in Ireland.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:10 pm

by Fuzz

I saw the Ireland part but was not thinking Rainbows had such a huge range. Then I remembered they were in the southern hemisphere also. Barraman says they are transplanted but now I am wondering just how big their range is?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:15 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I'm thinking rainbows are on every continent.
The fog and warm hat looks like the U.K. this time of year...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 2:39 am

by alanmccabe

HI guys yep the rainbow was caught in Northern Ireland, I certainly don't see many that size. We where actually fishing for Pike and it hit the lure. It didn't really put up much of a fight due to the cold weather I expect. I think it is safe to say it has been in the lake for a long time. Its back in the lake now so hopefully getting bigger for someone else to catch.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 6:44 am

by BarraMan

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:15 pm I'm thinking rainbows are on every continent.
The fog and warm hat looks like the U.K. this time of year...

No, I don’t think there are any rainbows in Antartica - unless it’s as fish fingers!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 9:12 am

by cape man

Rainbow trout are native to the Pacific coast of North America and Russia. Everywhere else they were introduced, and have established self sustaining populations in many places. By far the biggest freshwater aquacultured species of the salmonids both for food production and stocking.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 2:13 pm

by Fuzz

The big brain has spoken

Nothing like having a true expert on a subject weight in. There is such a diverse knowledge base on this forum it is amazing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 3:45 pm

by TomW1

In the streams around my area you can go out and catch 2 introduced trout species. The rainbow that capeman described and the brown trout native to Europe introduced in 1883. I also have the native brook trout. The rainbow and brown trouth have reduced the range of the brook trout do there more aggressive feeding habits.

As cape man said they are an important part of our food chain. There are two trout farms within 20 miles, using our fresh mountain water. One endorsed by Martha Stewart and a couple of other chefs. The other endorsed by some well known NY chefs.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 5:24 pm

by Fuzz

Rainbows are defiantly aggressive feeders. And normally pretty good fighters but I never have cared much for eating them. The meat always seems too mushy to me but I know others who like them. Pike are the invasive species we have the most problem with. Many places there is no limit on them or restrictions on how you catch them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 1:37 pm

by Parkrat

Caught this striper a couple weeks ago while crappie fishing at my dock. Had no idea striper come this shallow. Can't believe that my hook didn't bend or my line didn't break.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 6:33 pm

by Eric1

I'll bet that was fun!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:42 am

by BarraMan

What! Nobody fishing?

I’ll change that shortly - I’m headed back to the Northern Territory on Sunday to chase Barramundi. I now have 5 x video cameras hard wired on the boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:05 pm

by Eric1

Morning trip to river found water was low and crystal clear. That made for some tough fishing, I managed to bring home three for the pan though. I also got a nice picture of Danielle.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:15 pm

by Jeff

Looks like a nice morning for the both of you!! Nice catch as well!! Have a good weekend, Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:22 pm

by Eric1

Jeff wrote: ↑Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:15 pm Looks like a nice morning for the both of you!! Nice catch as well!! Have a good weekend, Jeff

Thanks Jeff, You too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 2:27 pm

by Fuzz

Good for you Eric. And it is great your daughter will go with you. Spending time with the kids like that is priceless.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:27 pm

by TomW1

Good catch under those conditions. It is nice that Danielle wants to get out with you.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:51 pm

by alanmccabe

Caught tonight at Lough Money Downpatrick Northern Ireland( Pronounced money) 17lb Pike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:37 pm

by Eric1

Nice!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:13 am

by Fuzz

That be a good sized pike. I bet it was fun to catch.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 5:37 am

by OrangeQuest

Very nice fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:24 am

by alanmccabe

Great to catch, they have some power when they realise what is happening. And as usual with me caught when we where just packing up to go home

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:50 pm

by Eric1

I missed the seven fish limit by one today! I got Big Boy this morning too!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:10 pm

by alanmccabe

Thats fantastic Eric, what are the smaller fish, brown trout?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:25 pm

by TomW1

The big boy is a Brown the smaller ones are our native Brook trout, they could be Rainbows but I don't see the color that rainbows normally show.. Correct me if I'm wrong Eric. Nice catch

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:30 pm

by Jeff

Nice catch Eric!! You will have a nice dinner this evening!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:40 pm

by Eric1

alanmccabe wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:10 pm Thats fantastic Eric, what are the smaller fish, brown trout?

Tom had it correct native brook trout. The head sticking out under Big brown is a small rainbow. That was fun on my 6 lb. ultralite gear.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:14 pm

by Fuzz

Eric it does look like things are turning your way a little.
That must have been a good day of fishing. Pretty fair sized looking trout

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:30 pm

by OrangeQuest

Eric1 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:40 pm
alanmccabe wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:10 pm Thats fantastic Eric, what are the smaller fish, brown trout?
Tom had it correct native brook trout. The head sticking out under Big brown is a small rainbow. That was fun on my 6 lb. ultralite gear.

What a fight that must of been.

In the voice from the guy on Jaws" looks like we are going to need a bigger COOLER!!"

Nice fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:41 pm

by Eric1

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:14 pm Eric it does look like things are turning your way a little.
That must have been a good day of fishing. Pretty fair sized looking trout

It was a day of days dear friend.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 3:23 am

by BarraMan

I'm just back from 8 days on a houseboat on the McArthur R in the Northern Territory chasing barramundi.

Here's a pic to wet your appetite, the best fish of the trip - at 95 cm, just 50 mm under the elusive "Metre club"!

40+ barra landed by 7 blokes in 8 days, including the 95 cm fish and an 88 cm and a couple of 86 cm fish. Most were in the 60 - 70 cm range. A whole bunch more fish, including a couple of "horses" were either dropped, shark'd or croc'd !

I had 5 video cameras running on the boat and have about 800 hrs of fantastic video to sort through. Will post some clips as soon as I can.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 3:29 am

by alanmccabe

Thats some fish Barraman, can't wait to see the video. Do they put up much of a fight.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 3:35 am

by glossieblack

Stop it. My mouth is watering just thinking of fresh caught barra.

Sounds like you had a great time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:10 am

by BarraMan

This has to be the best sunrise pic I have seen in a while!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:11 am

by BarraMan

alanmccabe wrote: ↑Sat Apr 21, 2018 3:29 am Thats some fish Barraman, can't wait to see the video. Do they put up much of a fight.

Indeed they do! I will post some video in due course.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:58 am

by cape man

Lee,
The Northern Territories is a bucket list adventure for me. The fish look awesome, but that remote sunrise is the lure for me. What a great trip you had.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:20 am

by alanmccabe

What is that big orange thing in the sky never seen that before in Northern Ireland lol

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:31 am

by topwater

That's a good thing , don't you guys explode if you go out in direct sunshine

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 8:35 am

by alanmccabe

We go bright pink first though Lol

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 8:55 am

by Jeff

Good stuff guys!!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2018 8:54 am

by topwater

Kinda like a built in radiation badge

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 8:05 am

by glossieblack

Guess it's not surprising that on this thread that the odd one gets away.

Like Crabman's PB. What' going on Lee?'

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:07 pm

by BarraMan

Here's the first video from our recent trip to the McArthur R in the NT - my mate "Crabman" landing an 86 cm PB barra on lure!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/BK4iIrAZkIE[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:22 pm

by alanmccabe

Thats fantastic, wow they put up some fight

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:31 pm

by Jeff

Great BarraMan!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:47 pm

by BarraMan

glossieblack wrote: ↑Mon Apr 23, 2018 8:05 am Guess it's not surprising that on this thread that the odd one gets away.
Like Crabman's PB. What' going on Lee?'

Well Michael, its like this - the first time I posted the video, I forgot to turn the audio off! Its fair to say that the boys got a little excited!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:52 pm

by BarraMan

alanmccabe wrote: ↑Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:22 pm Thats fantastic, wow they put up some fight

Yes, we thought that fish would go over the magic "1M" mark because after it jumped a couple of times it peeled off at least 50M of line!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:52 pm

by Fuzz

Great video.
So what would a Barra that is 86cm weigh? And what was the day time temperature there?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:20 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:52 pm Great video.
So what would a Barra that is 86cm weigh? And what was the day time temperature there?

Fuzz, we don’t tend to weigh barra, just measure them. My first ever barra, which was 102 cm, weighed 14.1 kg (31 lbs).

Survey data indicates that an 86 cm barra will be around 18 lb.

Water temp was around 32oC with temps on the boat 37-39oC. You can see that we are all covered up against the northern sun, with light weight fishing clothes, fingerless gloves and wide brimmed hats.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 4:22 pm

by OrangeQuest

I have always thought you measure saltwater fish by length and freshwater by weight. But I have never been very good at thinking.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 5:41 pm

by Fuzz

I just had no idea of the weigh on Barra's. Pretty good size and great fighters, nice combo.
I figured you guys were all covered up to fight the sun. 100f

do not bother calling the paramedics for me, just go ahead and call the coroner

How do you keep the fish cool enough not to spoil? You must have one great cooler with a lot of ice.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 5:51 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Apr 23, 2018 5:41 pm I just had no idea of the weigh on Barra's. Pretty good size and great fighters, nice combo.
I figured you guys were all covered up to fight the sun. 100f do not bother calling the paramedics for me, just go ahead and call the coroner
How do you keep the fish cool enough not to spoil? You must have one great cooler with a lot of ice.

We tended to fish early morning and late afternoon, with a siesta in the middle of the day in air-conditioned comfort. The three things we look for in fishing accommodation are a comfy bed, a good air-conditioner and a clean bathroom.

Yes, there is a large cooler with block ice under the front deck. Filleted, cryovac’d and into the freezer each evening.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:08 pm

by Fuzz

Heres hoping you have more videos from your trip. The one you posted was great

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 4:46 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:08 pm Heres hoping you have more videos from your trip. The one you posted was great

I doo indeed, but that was an easy one to put together - the others will take of bit of sorting.

I have a busy month coming up. Younger son marries on May 11, and while I am down in that part of the world, Glossie and I intend to explore the Noosa R and associated lakes in the BIG BARRA BOAT. That will generate another video!

Cheers

Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:00 pm

by TomW1

BarraMan wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 4:46 am
Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:08 pm
while I am down in that part of the world, Glossie and I intend to explore the Noosa R and associated lakes in the BIG BARRA BOAT. That will generate another video!

Cheers

Lee

Oh cool have fun congrats to your son also

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 5:27 am

by BarraMan

Here's the best fish from our recent trip to the NT - a 95 cm specimen! The bloke who landed it is an expat Yank (from Chicago!) who followed a girl to the land down under - and stayed! He now drives a high speed ferry on Sydney Harbour.

and some fishing art for your enjoyment!

and one of the locals!

That's a "Jabiru" or black-necked stork! The Jabiru is a large bird, 51–59 in tall having a 91 in wingspan, and an average weight around 145 oz. It is found throughout Asia, with a distinct sub-species in the north of Australia. This one was chasing baitfish on a mud bank - flapping its wings and stomping its feet to herd the fish when we first saw it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 2:16 pm

by TomW1

Great pics Lee.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:03 pm

by Joe H

Been nailing the walleye in Lake Saint Clair Mi.
One limit shown below:

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:15 pm

by Jeff

Nice day!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 12:13 am

by Fuzz

Looks like a great day of fishing there Joe

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 11:04 am

by Eric1

Send me some!! Nice report Joe. Thank You!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 11:58 am

by cape man

Took a trip to northern New York, and spent Thursday through Sunday on the eastern shore of Lake Canandaigua. First evening there was watching the Yellow Perch from the dock and couldn't stand it. Ran to Walmart the next morning and bought a cheap spinning rig and some tackle. Ended up with 8 Yellow perch, 2 Rock Bass and a small, small mouth bass over the next few days. A small Panther Martin spinner in gold and brown was the ticket.

Got home Sunday evening and went out in the Gulf yesterday to try for Red Snapper. No joy! However, two of the guys on the boat went down and speared a mess of lionfish.

However, the wildest thing the past few days was this...

We flew to Rochester and drove to Lewiston, which is just north of Niagra Falls on the Niagra river. My wife's mother was born and raised there, and we went to spread her ashes on the grand parents, and great grand parents graves. Wednesday evening, walking off a great meal and a few beers in the river front park right across from the hotel, I walked up to a fish cleaning station and this sign, which stopped me in my tracks.

Not a deja vu, but a vivid memory... 25 years earlier, before I met my wife, 4 of us drove from Union Town Pennsylvania to fish salmon on the Canadian side of the Niagra river. I was in the back seat of a vehicle the whole time, getting in and out of the car for food, sleeping, dinner, fishing, and fish cleaning. My buddy from Pennsylvania made all the arrangements, and I was along for the ride. Apparently, we stayed in Lewiston, and cleaned our salmon there... This is one of my friend holding his salmon.

Was pretty wierd...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 2:04 pm

by Jeff

Cape Man, great memory and you really do keep good records to find that 25 year old photo!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:17 pm

by cape man

My friend had it hanging in his office! I called him right away because I thought I was losing my mind!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 12:49 am

by Fuzz

cape man wrote: ↑Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:17 pm My friend had it hanging in his office! I called him right away because I thought I was losing my mind!

this is just begging for a whole host of smart a$$ remarks. But I am too nice to do so

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:57 am

by Jeff

Good stuff guys!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:35 am

by Marshall Moser

Not fishing, but for anyone interested, the Big Rock blue marlin tournament is going on this week out of Morehead City, NC. They broadcast the radio traffic. It's really fun to listen in.

http://www.thebigrock.com/

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:23 pm

by fallguy1000

I have been fishing since Saturday.

Just terrible, worst in years and my uncle might be last trip. He is 91.

We are trying a new lake Friday and Saturday.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:32 am

by BarraMan

Here's another video from our recent trip to the McArthur River in the NT. Its the biggest fish boated on the trip and gave my mate Listy a new 95 cm PB barra.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/XK0l-60mFTE[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:24 pm

by Jeff

BarraMan, you always catch fish, always!! Wish I did!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 5:51 pm

by BarraMan

Jeff wrote: ↑Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:24 pm BarraMan, you always catch fish, always!! Wish I did!! Jeff

Yes Jeff, there’s no doubt about it - I’m good!

I only have to tow the boat 1200 miles to look that good!

Just don’t talk to my physiotherapist. I took him barra fishing in the beautiful Hinchinbrook Channel north of Townsville a couple of weeks ago, and ...................... DID NOT SEE A FISH !!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 6:22 pm

by Jeff

Ok BarraMan, that is serious fishing to drive 1200 Miles!! Take care, Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 6:15 pm

by BarraMan

I thought some here might like to see where I have been fishing lately. So here's a quick run down the McArthur River from the boat ramp near Boroloola in the Northern Territory to the mouth.

The river is shallow but generally navigable in most tides. In the video we were mostly running in little more than a meter of water and often less. There is a very nasty rock bar on the left about 2 minutes into the video, but the way past is well marked with buoys, and once you have that sorted the only real danger is getting stuck on a mud or sand bank. If you follow the rule of sticking to the middle of the river in the straight bits and taking a line closer to the outside of the turn on the bends it is OK.

It does take a bit to get used to running along at 25 - 30 kts in a 22 ft boat - in 3 ft of water.

The first time, we just sat in the wake of someone who looked like they knew what they were doing!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/BY3_pMusp88[/youtube]

You may get it in higher definition on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lee.fitzpatrick.779

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:47 pm

by TomW1

You better hope your depth finder is working right

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 6:48 am

by cape man

At 25 - 30 kts the depth finder will only confirm that yes, we are aground.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:24 am

by Jeff

Good one Cape Man!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:40 pm

by fallguy1000

Been trying.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 8:46 pm

by TomW1

Nice if I'm not mistaken black crappie.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:16 pm

by fallguy1000

TomW1 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 19, 2018 8:46 pm Nice if I'm not mistaken black crappie.

Tom

Nope. That there is a massive male bluegill amd my uncle said he hasn't caught one that big in at least 20 years maybe more.

11" is pretty big for bluegills in the north

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:32 pm

by Jaysen

Used to see them that size regularly as a kid. Never thought the name “panfish” was wrong till I got older and all that was left were the little ones. With so few of us fishing for them I never really wondered where they all went till I saw that pic.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 4:25 am

by BarraMan

cape man wrote: ↑Tue Jun 19, 2018 6:48 am At 25 - 30 kts the depth finder will only confirm that yes, we are aground.

When you find yourself stuck on a mud bank in croc country

, a jack plate, some buddies to rock the boat, and 250 horses become your best friends!

Been seriously stuck on three occasions on an out-going tide - managed to get off again every time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 6:54 am

by Jeff

Big Bluegill FallGuy, not sure I have ever saw one that big!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:58 am

by BarraMan

Another video from our fishing trip to the McArthur River in the Northern Territory in April.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/V1L8KsyGhKE[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 1:58 am

by Fuzz

BarraMan thank you for posting the videos. I sure enjoy seeing other parts of the world.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 3:04 pm

by csotelo

Hi Folks,

This weekend I went to PMLZ-1 oil rig, 100NM from Sao Paulo coast.

Long trip, high seas and short time to fish due to weather changes, but we got some Yellowtail amberjacks (Seriola Lalandi) in speed jigging and Red porgy in slow jig.

Regards,

Carlos

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 4:11 pm

by Jeff

Nice Carlos!! Be safe, Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 5:40 pm

by fallguy1000

What boat Carlos?

100nm is a long way out!

I love to eat the yellowtail. Yum.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 5:59 pm

by csotelo

Hi,

I went in 30 feet charter boat, old, but confortable to fish. I like Yellowtail too, good for sashimi or grill.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 7:22 pm

by Eric1

Very Nice Carlos!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 9:23 am

by fallguy1000

csotelo wrote: ↑Wed Jun 27, 2018 5:59 pm Hi,

I went in 30 feet charter boat, old, but confortable to fish. I like Yellowtail too, good for sashimi or grill.

Yellowtail Sashimi or Harmachi is so good...I only like fatty tuna better, but $$$.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 10:51 pm

by Jaysen

Well, I did kill one minnow. Hadn't even cast it. Just had it hanging over the side while I was putting bait bucket over the side. I guess they are "rare" in these parts.

At least it's a fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:44 am

by Fuzz

What the heck is it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:42 am

by cape man

A species of Pimelodidae (about 100 species) catfish. I'm sending the pic to friends... some of them get REALLY big, and many have beautiful markings and thus are aquarium fish. I suspect this one is a juvenile.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:34 pm

by Southern Gent

Fuzz, in S Louisiana they call these Gaff top cats or Sail cats. The Snot like body slime will sure stick to everything it touches.

The larger Gaff top catfish 3 to 5 lbs filet out nice and fry up fine. They are school fish, will strike a top water lures or jig head plastic bait.

Let the body slime dry into your boat carpet and it takes lots of soap and a good rain storm to wash it out.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:09 am

by cape man

Southern Gent is right. My expert said it is not a Pimelodidae but a relative of our Gaff Top. I didn't know they went all the way down to Brazil. The family is Ariid.
Have eaten them, but a lot of work for a little meat. Lots of head!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:59 am

by Jaysen

I’ve heard them called hard head cats. Not sure why folks think they are rare here but everyone I’ve talked to is surprised to see one. The common use appears to be as bait for shark or tarpon. I think they are nothing more than moving snot.

Best way to deal with the slime is “backward bailing”. Scrubbed the boat woth sea water. Deck was like greased ice with that slime on it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 10:13 am

by csotelo

cape man wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:09 am I didn't know they went all the way down to Brazil.

Here we call then Big Head catfish, big ones can be found in November at river estuaries, up to 10kg.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:49 pm

by Jaysen

We can officially consider Lil Bit a fish-getter!

Now if only the upper limit on the slot was higher I’d have a nice dinner....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 2:34 pm

by Jeff

Nice Jaysen!!! She is now a fishing boat as well!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:56 pm

by OrangeQuest

Jaysen wrote: ↑Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:49 pm We can officially consider Lil Bit a fish-getter!

Now if only the upper limit on the slot was higher I’d have a nice dinner....

E51F99D5-9C6D-4AC1-9A16-72A1B0C4EB45.jpeg

NICE!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 6:55 am

by BarraMan

Where I fish!

Here's a quick early morning run up the beautiful Hinchinbrook Channel in north Qld, from the boat ramp at Lucinda to the mouth of the marina at Port Hichinbrook, Cardwell.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Nrdin29KAKk[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 6:57 am

by BarraMan

Thought you might like to meet one of the locals!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/yoDH2RaN7ZI[/youtube]

This guy is about 15 ft long - well above the size for potential "man-eater" status!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:29 am

by Dustinwg

Had a pretty incredible trip on my brothers boat earlier this year out of Port Aransas. Were offshore about 80 miles and it was pretty slow, so we decided to run south to find better looking water. As we were running, my dad jumped off the seat in front of the console yelling about a big blue marlin free jumping. As I looked up all I saw was a hole in the water that looked like was made by dropping a car in the water. We immediately slowed down and quickly put out a couple lines. As we were trying to get the rest of the spread out, the left flat line went off, but nobody saw the bite. My brother fought the fish for 4 hours on stand up tackle, the entire time we were thinking we had a big blue marlin.

As the fight went on the fish sounded straight down, and died. From there out we planed the fish out down sea and backed up as we got more scope on the line. After about a dozen times, the fished popped up like a cork and we could not believe our eyes. It was a huge Bluefin tuna in Texas. The fish measure 101" to the fork of the tail and best we could figure was approximately 650 lbs.

We did everything we could to get the fish over the side, head first, tail first, roll it over but it was just too much for 4 of us to get. We ended up having to take the tuna door off the transom to get it to fit in, and even then it barely fit, getting wedged between the starboard motor and motorwell until we finally gave it one last pull to get it in.

Also, my brother and his wife made the lure we caught the fish on in their garage!

All in all a very memorable trip, especially because my dad, who taught my brother and I everything we know about fishing, did not decide to go until the night before. Really happy that all three of us were a part of the trip.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:41 am

by OrangeQuest

Great fishing trip!!! Nice fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:06 am

by topwater

Thats a trip of a life time

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 9:09 pm

by TomW1

Man that was a great fish. Were you able to sell it to a fish monger down there. Up in New England that would have brought 10 to 25 dollars a pound depending on the quality.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 3:22 am

by Fuzz

Man that is one heck of a fish

Makes anything I have ever caught look like a minnow

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 4:45 am

by cape man

Wow!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:21 am

by Jeff

Again, WOW!!! Great catch!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:21 am

by Dougster

I don't think that'd fit in my cooler

Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:26 pm

by Capt UB

This just may improve my fishing........

: ceca43349aecaeae8843c9d321576616.jpg (19.94 KiB) Viewed 9664 times

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 1:33 pm

by KENBOUCHER

my youngest son got a new kayak and caught this little fella first trip

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 2:02 pm

by Jeff

Nice catch!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:32 am

by OrangeQuest

If he keeps catching them that big he is going to need a bigger boat!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:00 pm

by Fuzz

Now that is a nice fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2018 7:35 am

by Capt UB

I had fish last night for dinner.... Store caught, used a 20 dollar rig!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2018 1:45 pm

by csotelo

Nice Fish, even better in a kayak!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:31 pm

by seaslug

One of my buddy's recently bought a 1971 Mako 19, and we had the maiden voyage offshore of Ponce inlet FL. on Monday. Beautiful calm morning, heading out the inlet just before sunrise. We are not at all familiar with this style of fishing, being inshore flats fishing guys, but had some fun bottom fishing over one of the artificial reefs a few miles out. Managed a few sharks, 1 whiting, and a school of bull Reds popped up briefly near enough for me to get 1 cast off with a 4000 size reel and light rod. First cast of the morning, and since we were primarily bottom fishing, I was glad I brought along a rod with a DOA Baitbuster that is supposedly a great Tarpon bait. Good little battle with a light rig. 42" and pretty stout. Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:40 pm

by cape man

Dang! Way to go!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2018 5:44 am

by OrangeQuest

Nice Bull! They are always fun to catch on light tackle.

During bull running season we use 2" chunks of cut bait free lined.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2018 6:35 am

by Capt UB

It's a time and half day for me.... Installing two new 30 ton RTU's with soft ducts.

Hope those that are fishing have an Excellent Day! keep an eye out on the weather (Central Florida)...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 9:54 am

by cape man

Added a new species on the Kenai River with David.

With all the silvers, kings, and sockeye they have, the pinks are seen as dog food...but fun to catch!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 10:05 am

by Jeff

Nice catch CapeMan!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 7:12 am

by topwater

Now you really suck

and you have pic's to prove it

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 6:23 am

by Eric1

I'm envious Capeman! That sure looks like you had a fun trip!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 4:34 pm

by cape man

The wife had a conference in Naples and we stayed on the beach. Brought a spinning rod and fly rod, but the red tide was horrible. Drove down to Everglades City on Tuesday and fished off the seawall at the Rod and Gun club. Caught two keeper mangrove snapper right away and then started nailing these guys! That's a 5" Goliath Grouper (aka Jewfish)! Caught 6 of them total, with the smallest one being 4". Hard to imagine that as a 500lb adult!

Before anyone asks...no. They do not put up a fight at that size!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 4:41 pm

by cape man

Have to also post my non-PC story about the PC of common names for fish...

The last time the American Fisheries Society changed a common name before the Jewfish was when they renamed the Northern Squawfish the Northern Pike Minnow. Squaw is a sometimes derogatory term for woman in native american languages referring to the vagina.

So then to not offend Jewish people, the Jewfish was renamed Goliath Grouper, which ironically refers to a giant of the Palestine army who was slain by a young jewish boy armed with a sling. Israelis happy, Palestinians perhaps not so much...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:46 am

by Capt UB

cape man wrote: ↑Thu Oct 04, 2018 4:41 pm Have to also post my non-PC story about the PC of common names for fish...

The last time the American Fisheries Society changed a common name before the Jewfish was when they renamed the Northern Squawfish the Northern Pike Minnow. Squaw is a sometimes derogatory term for woman in native american languages referring to the vagina.

So then to not offend Jewish people, the Jewfish was renamed Goliath Grouper, which ironically refers to a giant of the Palestine army who was slain by a young jewish boy armed with a sling. Israelis happy, Palestinians perhaps not so much...

I moved to GA in 1990, the Jewfish was just that, big grouper, I move back to Florida and it's called the Goliath! Also, back then we weighed our fish, now we measure them...

Funny story Cape Man.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_ ... h-List.htm

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 11:12 am

by Jeff

Good stuff Cape Man!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:17 pm

by BarraMan

“Get a nice quiet hobby”, they said!
“Go fishing”, they said!
Yeah right!!!

So my younger son and I are up in the beautiful Hinchinbrook Channel looking forward to a relaxing days barra fishing. We are "spot-locked" on the trolling motor in about 3M of water just off the mouths of two little creeks that come close together as they flow into a much larger creek - happily casting lures into the bait fish splashing about.

The old saying is, "If you want to catch barra - cast your lures where there is bait"!

We noticed these two gents come out of a creek further upstream. One of them has a cast net over his shoulder so its pretty obvious that they are cast netting for live bait - prawns and mud herring.

Imagine my surprise when they go around the BIG Barra Boat and throw their cast net about 30' in front of us - right where I had cast a lure 30 secs earlier.

I suggested to them that that was not a particularly nice. "Do really think that's a reasonable thing to do"?

Well, it was all down hill from there! The "discussion" got more and more hostile, with lots of bad language (from them, not me!) and concluded with the "fly by" shown in the video below. I've turned off the audio else I will get banned from this forum!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Ib0HOTbRXgU[/youtube]

I really thought he was going to hit us and had braced for the collision. They came to within maybe 1 ft of our boat and the "miss" was more good luck than good management. They would have bounced off as the Big Barra Boat is built like a tank, but it was a really stupid and dangerous thing to do.

I only chased them to get the registration number of the boat - not knowing that my son had video'd most of the interaction.
The matter is now in the hands of the water police!

PS: We got a couple of nice barra!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 8:09 pm

by BarraMan

My brother-in-law and I are off at 04:00 on Friday for another 2400 mile round trip pilgrimage to harass the barramundi in the Northern Territory!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:00 pm

by fallguy1000

Good thing my 91 year old uncle wasn't in your boat or the guy on the bow of the other boat wudda had a plug thrown across him. Trebles at speed until the line snaps or the lure tears out. Not kidding either.

Good luck fishing. Next time, no words; just lure foul the net and apologize.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 1:04 am

by Fuzz

I bet that guy thought he was in real trouble with how fast the big barra boat ran him down

It is amazing how fast folks on a boat can turn into total idiots. You video shows it is not just here it happens.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 6:43 am

by cape man

Glad you caught a few nice fish! Here that could escalate REAL bad!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 7:26 am

by OrangeQuest

BarraMan wrote: ↑Mon Oct 22, 2018 8:09 pm My brother-in-law and I are off at 04:00 on Friday for another 2400 mile round trip pilgrimage to harass the barramundi in the Northern Territory!

Good luck on the adventure and tight lines!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:38 pm

by BarraMan

I am back home after a 2400 mile round "Fishing Trip From Hell"!

My brother-in-law (BiL) left home at 04:00 last Friday morning heading for the McArthur R in the Northern Territory. The drive was uneventful until about halfway, when we stopped to take this pic crossing the Queensland/Northern Territory border (State line).

The trailer tire closest to (BiL) went !!!!BANG!!!! right beside us. I thought I had parked on a landmine. The outside temp was around 40oC so I figured that heat was the underlying cause of the sidewall failure. A quick wheel change and we were on our way again and we pulled into our destination for the night about 14 hrs after leaving home. A good feed and shower and we were in bed for an early night.

On the road again at 04:00, we arrived at our destination around midday.

I've fished the McArthur on two previous occasions and found heaps of Barramundi. This trip was much tougher going. I only caught 2 x barra. BiL had a much better time than I did. He had only caught 1 x barra previously, but boated 12 on this trip, 9 of which were of legal length. He also learnt lots about catching barra on lures.

Day 5 of fishing and I "did a Glossie" ie hit a rock pinnacle in the middle of nowhere! One minute I am running along in 20' of water, then "thump" as we hit something, then back in 20' of water. Absolutely destroyed the skeg guard on the big Yamaha and took a piece out of the skeg.

Same day on our way home at about 20 kts in fairly rough conditions, the ocean opened up and tried to swallow us! I don't know where the hole came from and I didn't see it coming - all I could see from the helm was a wall of water coming over the bow and landing on top of me. The BIG Barra Boat emerged from the depths having only lost about 5 knots and continued on as if nothing had happened. The water drained through the cockpit drains and into the bilge where the 2 x auto bilge pumps kicked in an pumped it overboard.

I love this boat!

On Day 6 my Minn Kota trolling motor ran out of "puff" inspite of being on the charger overnight. I suspect one of the three trolling motor batteries may have a bad cell, inspite of being less than 2 yrs old.

While washing down the boat that evening, I noticed this! Another tire delaminating!

Fortunately I was again able to replace both of the dud tires at the small service station at King Ash Bay, so we headed for home with 2 x spare wheels for the trailer and 2 x for the truck.

1200 miles and one overnight stop, we were safely back home.

I hope the fishing is better in April!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 4:37 am

by Eric1

Good Lord Barraman! What a trip indeed!! Thanks for sharing with us Bro. I hope you managed a few smiles along the way.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 6:49 am

by cape man

Tires going out, trolling motor taking a crap, burying the bow, and wrecking the skeg...all part of the game. But your brother out fishing you like that?! Trip from Hell indeed.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 7:48 am

by OrangeQuest

What a crazy adventure!

On the trailer tires, if you see no outside damage that may have caused it I would contact the tire dealer/manufacturer and ask for replacements. Tires are made to handle heat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 8:03 am

by Jeff

Wow BarraMan, that is quite a trip!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 7:01 pm

by Fuzz

40c and only the start of November. How much hotter does it get in that area?
It is one thing for a bother to out fish you but a brother in law? Man that has to stink

I have to say when you take a little fishing trip there does seem to be some driving involved. Is there any decent fishing in the area where you live?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:47 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Nov 07, 2018 7:01 pm 40c and only the start of November. How much hotter does it get in that area?

46oC/115oF in the shade today !

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 7:25 am

by piperdown

BarraMan wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:47 am
Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Nov 07, 2018 7:01 pm 40c and only the start of November. How much hotter does it get in that area?
46oC/115oF in the shade today !

Take your temp and add it to ours this morning and it'd be close to comfortable. -1C/30F here this morning in the midwest.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:28 pm

by Fuzz

BarraMan wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:47 am
Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Nov 07, 2018 7:01 pm 40c and only the start of November. How much hotter does it get in that area?
46oC/115oF in the shade today !

I have no clue how a human can survive in temps like that much less do anything.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:31 pm

by Fuzz

piperdown wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 7:25 am
BarraMan wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:47 am
Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Nov 07, 2018 7:01 pm 40c and only the start of November. How much hotter does it get in that area?
46oC/115oF in the shade today !
Take your temp and add it to ours this morning and it'd be close to comfortable. -1C/30F here this morning in the midwest.

Sorry Eric but it makes me smile when it is as cold or colder down south compared to here.
New slogan.............Come to Alaska to warm up

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 4:11 pm

by piperdown

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:31 pm
piperdown wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 7:25 am
BarraMan wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:47 am

46oC/115oF in the shade today !
Take your temp and add it to ours this morning and it'd be close to comfortable. -1C/30F here this morning in the midwest.
Sorry Eric but it makes me smile when it is as cold or colder down south compared to here.
New slogan.............Come to Alaska to warm up

Yeah, sometimes my sister in Anchorage teases me about how they are in a warm spell of the 50's and we are below zero during the day....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 4:26 pm

by Jeff

Nice one Fuzz!!! We are planning to break record high next Tuesday, expected to be 92 here on the Treasure Coast!! We have had a very hot summer!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 4:34 pm

by Fuzz

I feel sorry for her having to live in that cesspool. You would never think of it but on a per capita biases Anchorage is the rape and murder capitol of American.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 4:37 pm

by Jeff

Wow Fuzz, I did not know that about Anchorage!!!! I have not been there in more than 30 years. Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 5:11 pm

by piperdown

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 4:34 pm I feel sorry for her having to live in that cesspool. You would never think of it but on a per capita biases Anchorage is the rape and murder capitol of American.

They enjoy the subdivision they live in. That being said they bought land close to their preferred fishing place and are going to build a cabin there. Cleared the land last summer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 5:21 pm

by piperdown

piperdown wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 5:11 pm
Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 4:34 pm I feel sorry for her having to live in that cesspool. You would never think of it but on a per capita biases Anchorage is the rape and murder capitol of American.
They enjoy the subdivision they live in. That being said they bought land close to their preferred fishing place and are going to build a cabin there. Cleared the land last summer.

Oh, and right now, the temp is 30F but with the moisture in the air and the wind out of the north the weather station has is as "feels like 19F".

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 6:44 am

by CatfishHunter

Made it down to Lake Ida near West Palm in search of some exotics... I marked 2 off the bucket list!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 7:10 am

by BarraMan

For those on the other end of the earth - what are they?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 8:07 am

by Jaysen

BarraMan wrote: ↑Fri Nov 23, 2018 7:10 am For those on the other end of the earth - what are they?

Heck, I live here and I’ve no idea what those are!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 8:14 am

by Aripeka Angler

The first fish is a peacock bass.
The second fish is a clown knifefish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 9:16 am

by CatfishHunter

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Fri Nov 23, 2018 8:14 am The first fish is a peacock bass.
The second fish is a clown knifefish.

yes sir you're correct!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 11:52 am

by Jeff

Nice catch, I knew the first was a bass but had no idea of the fish in the second photo!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 2:58 pm

by Fuzz

You guys have so many different species of fish there you need your own AA or Capeman to know what you have. That must make things very interesting knowing if you can keep them or not. Here we do not have the variety but what we do have we normally have a lot of.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 5:09 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Nov 23, 2018 2:58 pm You guys have so many different species of fish there you need your own AA or Capeman to know what you have. That must make things very interesting knowing if you can keep them or not. Here we do not have the variety but what we do have we normally have a lot of.

The advantage of being a mono-species fisho like me is that you just chuck anything else back!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 6:20 pm

by Jeff

That is a real beauty!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 4:41 am

by BarraMan

One of favorite fishing spots has had 681 mm (ie 27 inches) of rain in the last 24 hrs courtesy of cyclone Owen. Should be good for the 2019 barra season!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 1:06 pm

by Fuzz

That should do wonders for greening things up

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:45 pm

by fallguy1000

I am jealous of the barramundi in that picture.

Very jealous.

It looks like a cross between a steelhead and a bluegill; tow of the best fighting freshwater fish we have here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:51 pm

by seaslug

Some shots from the Flagler Beach area, except the big Dolphin, that was many years ago a buddy in Jupiter on Easter day. 67 pounds and 61"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 6:22 am

by OrangeQuest

Nice looking fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 8:12 am

by Jeff

Great Fish SeaSlug!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2019 7:18 am

by seaslug

Some more shots of my home waters since the last post.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2019 7:23 am

by Capt UB

Too cold!

I only fish when the temp is a lot warmer then how I drink my beer!

Nice shots, this morning?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2019 7:41 am

by Jeff

Beautiful photos SeaSlug!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:58 pm

by seaslug

Camped back in the marsh in December with my son, and my buddy Don and his son. Had a beautiful full moon, and a great sunrise and sunset. With the water only a few inches deep, and air temp in the upper 30's we didn't find any fish, but cooked up a feast, and had a nice fire. We plan at least one more camp out before skeeter season kicks in. So I'll bore everyone with more photos of this great place I call home. Last week I watched 3 Deer cross and re-cross a creek in front of me, then a baby Otter popped up next to the boat a bunch of times to check us out. I can't believe the picture quality using a phone.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2019 10:26 pm

by OrangeQuest

Nice pictures! Looks like a place a lot of us would like to call home!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 5:14 am

by BarraMan

We get to some amazing places and do some fun things with and because of our boats. Luv the pics!

One from my last trip to the Northern Territory.

I’ll leave the camping to you Seaslug. Where we fish there are things that will come out of the water and carry you away for dinner !

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 6:35 am

by seaslug

Barra man, I always enjoy seeing your pictures as well. It's amazing the beauty that most people miss because they don't get out and do things, or just get their butts out of bed early enough to see the sunrise. I see the sunrise every morning, and quite a few of those from my boat. It looks like you have an amazing and beautiful fishery, but your drives are way too long for this guy. The 2 boat ramps I most often use are 1/2 mile, and 6 miles from my house. Thanks for always sharing your photos. Mike

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 2:03 pm

by Fuzz

Mike those are some great pictures. And the FS18 looks right at home in those waters.
I don't think of Florida and needing to dress that heavy but it just goes to show you never know.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:37 pm

by TomW1

Mike those are great pics. Haven{t seen anything like that since we visited my dad's former boss when I was in high school 40+ years ago, in the late 70's. If it just wasn't so dang hot down hot there I would love to live there. Spent a few days with him and caught trout, reds and pompano, had some great eating.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 4:54 pm

by cape man

Beautiful pictures Mike.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 9:14 pm

by fallguy1000

Ice walleye my buddy got.

27" - big for these parts

I got to eat it!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:21 pm

by Fuzz

Been wondering since I saw the picture, is this the inside of a home or a ice fishing building. I ask because I know some folks have really fancy fishing shacks

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 1:33 am

by BarraMan

I am just back from my biannual 2500 mile round-trip fishing pilgrimage to the McArthur R in Australia's Northern Territory ie The Top End!

We left home at 04:00 on Friday morning April 5. Had breakfast here about 06:30.

Picked up my younger son and a mate at the Mt Isa airport about 14:00.

http://www.fototime.com/BA3C1AD7EEC80BA/convx264.mp4

We stopped for the obligatory photo crossing the border from Queensland into the Northern Territory! Here's the crew - the bloke in the middle is a pro-fishing barramundi guide from Townsville on R & R (his first trip to the McArthur), the bloke on the left is an ex pro-fisherman who now runs a marine dealership (3rd trip with me to the McArthur), and the one on the right (in the fly veil!) is #2 son.(also on his 3rd trip to the McArthur).

It seems that no trip to the NT is complete without at least one blowout! I think the trailer tires are trying to tell me that they don't like 80 mph !

We arrived at the King Ash Bay Fishing Club (KAB) on the McArthur R a day and a half and 20 hrs driving after leaving home. Cyclone (hurricane) Trevor had crossed the coast just east of KAB as a Cat 4 storm, just two weeks earlier.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 2:27 am

by Fuzz

Sounds like you have a great crew to fish with. Nothing like having an expert if you need one. I am not surprised at all that you would have tire problems as far as you travel. And some of your roads look less than billiard table smooth.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 2:56 am

by BarraMan

The McArthur R itself was very muddy, so we decided to travel to some creeks with smaller catchments in the hope of finding cleaner water.

Things were a bit rough out in the Gulf of Carpentaria itself!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Odz0j1mpgdQ[/youtube]

But the Big Barra Boat was designed to travel - and travel it did. The two auto-bilge pumps only kicked in a couple of times!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:37 am

by OrangeQuest

The orange thing on the side of the trailer? A skid to put under your tires to get un-stuck?

"But the Big Barra Boat was designed to travel - and travel it did. The two auto-bilge pumps only kicked in a couple of times!

"

No pictures of how rough it was so can only guess it was as smooth as the roads you traveled!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 6:00 am

by BarraMan

OrangeQuest wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:37 am The orange thing on the side of the trailer? A skid to put under your tires to get un-stuck?

"But the Big Barra Boat was designed to travel - and travel it did. The two auto-bilge pumps only kicked in a couple of times! "

No pictures of how rough it was so can only guess it was as smooth as the roads you traveled!

Yes, the orange things are Max TRAx - for getting out of bogs. Not needed as it turned out.

Hmmmmm, can you not see the video in my post above?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:22 am

by OrangeQuest

I don't see anything at all. No links or pictures. I do see the pictures.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:35 am

by BarraMan

OrangeQuest wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:22 am I don't see anything at all. No links or pictures. I do see the pictures.

https://youtu.be/Odz0j1mpgdQ

http://www.fototime.com/84C4651A7A04CE9/convx264.mp4

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:57 am

by OrangeQuest

Ok, now I see it! Wow, that is some wave action and it looks like you are not going to fast. I see that on the deadliest catch all the time. That can not be good for fishing or the fishermen.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:27 pm

by BarraMan

I normally cruise on 25 kts - in that video I am down to about 15 kts. Not too hard on the fishos apart from getting a bit wet, but still a reasonably comfortable ride.

We only run into that sort of rubbish travelling to and from our fishing spots up in creeks.

This video was taken soon after the one above, once we were in the creek we wanted to fish.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/oSTlGwg9zYA[/youtube]

Not the targeted species!

A black spot cod!

That's more like it!

Interestingly, although the boys caught 60+ Barramundi over 6 days, most were under the legal size (55cm) with only about 20 being legal to keep. The biggest barra caught was only 69cm, compared with a 95cm fish on our last trip. This seemed to be the result of the high rainfall and flooding, but I don't know where all the bigger fish got to. We did hook up a couple of larger specimens but failed to stay connected. In past trips were rarely caught fish under 60cm.

This is my younger son, who has been catching barramundi since he was 10.

Here's the record from the GPS tracker on the boat. The rough water pic was taken in the open water to the bottom right of the pic.

This guy is pro guide who specialises in barramundi on lures. He's like a kid with a new toy driving my boat up the river at 40 kts!

This is his boat!

He now wants one like mine! I'm too old to build it for him, but I know where he might get one built!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 1:10 pm

by cape man

No where near as exciting as Lee's story but here's some pics from this morning at work. Bullseye Snakeheads from a canal system in South Florida.

They are actually quite tasty with an extremely firm flesh. We don't use traditional gear...

The long poles with the round ends and dangling cables are the cathode and the boat serves as the anode. Generator on board supplies a pretty strong current! Any fish swimming between the field gets shocked and dipped up for sampling. Any non-natives get pulled out. Others are released and recover quickly. We have a crew here that hates wasting good protein, especially the starving students!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 1:38 pm

by OrangeQuest

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 2:55 pm

by Capt UB

This is as far as I can go fishing...
.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:20 pm

by Fuzz

Great videos there Lee. At the end of the first one seems like the big barra was close to dipping her nose plumb under. That brown water with nasty waves feels way to familiar . I sure enjoy seeing a guy make use of the boat he built.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:23 pm

by Fuzz

Cape Man do the fish cops ever stop you to see what you are doing? That seems a slick way to do it if you are just out to fill the freezer

I sure would have been nice if my "job" had involved trips like that

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:25 pm

by Fuzz

Capt UB wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 2:55 pm This is as far as I can go fishing...
.
IMG_20190419_144615954.jpg

If you can choke that pink salmon down you would kill for some nice fresh sockeye

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:53 pm

by Jaysen

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:23 pm Cape Man do the fish cops ever stop you to see what you are doing? That seems a slick way to do it if you are just out to fill the freezer
I sure would have been nice if my "job" had involved trips like that

I thought he WAS the fish cop...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:09 pm

by Fuzz

Not a cop but he is a great fisherman. Just never let him land a fish for you

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 6:06 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:20 pm Great videos there Lee. At the end of the first one seems like the big barra was close to dipping her nose plumb under. That brown water with nasty waves feels way to familiar . I sure enjoy seeing a guy make use of the boat he built.

Fuzz, when we were up there late last year I speared it in - in much more benign conditions than those in that video. I was running along at about 20 kts when a hole opened up in front of us and in we went. We crashed-dived like a nuclear sub!

All I could see was a wall of water coming over the front of the boat. When we emerged from the depths, we had lost 5 kts and had 6 - 10” of water in the cockpit. The auto bilge pumps kicked in and pumped us out - and off we went!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 6:19 pm

by Capt UB

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:25 pm
Capt UB wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 2:55 pm This is as far as I can go fishing...
.
IMG_20190419_144615954.jpg
If you can choke that pink salmon down you would kill for some nice fresh sockeye

With Red tide and some other water problems, I have not had any fresh fish I landed in a long time... And yes some FRESH Sockeye would fix all...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 8:42 pm

by Fuzz

With that much water on deck did you notice the boat trying to become unstable or trying to roll over on you? That is the reason I like LARGE scuppers/freeing ports no matter how big of pumps I might have.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 10:45 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 8:42 pm With that much water on deck did you notice the boat trying to become unstable or trying to roll over on you? That is the reason I like LARGE scuppers/freeing ports no matter how big of pumps I might have.

The original plan was for scuppers and a self draining cockpit, but in the end there were too many unknowns with how low the boat would sit in the water etc. So I opted for cockpit drains and 2 x 2000 gal/hr auto bilge pumps. I never really anticipated taking the boat into those sort of conditions.

No, the boat never felt unstable. It has a very low C of G due to 92 US gal of gas in the centre line along the keel. Theoretically it also has level flotation, but I have never tested that.

That boat has a very stable secure feel about it - whether at rest or doing 40+ kts.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 11:17 pm

by Netpackrat

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:25 pm
Capt UB wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 2:55 pm This is as far as I can go fishing...
.
IMG_20190419_144615954.jpg
If you can choke that pink salmon down you would kill for some nice fresh sockeye

Eeew, humpy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2019 3:18 am

by BarraMan

Here's another video from our recent trip!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Gy6Ak-M0sfs[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2019 11:42 pm

by BarraMan

There is a bit of condensation under the lens cover on this one, but you can see the type of country we were fishing in. In past trips we have found big barra in areas like this - but not this time.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/TYMm3TEtjiE[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 12:15 am

by Fuzz

Great videos BarraMan. I always enjoy seeing other parts of the world. It must have been hot there as I see everyone was all covered up.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 1:17 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 12:15 am Great videos BarraMan. I always enjoy seeing other parts of the world. It must have been hot there as I see everyone was all covered up.

The clothing is more for sun and sand-fly protection - light cotton shirt and pants. Temps in the mid 30s Celcius.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 4:58 am

by BarraMan

I have known about the cloud formation known as a roll cloud or "Morning Glory" (no, not THAT "morning glory" !!) for about 45 years, but have never before seen one "in the flesh"!

The Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia is one of the few places in the world where they occur with a degree of regularity.

We had the pleasure of seeing two Morning Glories on our latest fishing trip. Pretty cool!

"A Morning Glory cloud is a roll cloud, or arcus cloud, that can be up to 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long,[2]1 to 2 kilometres (0.62 to 1.24 mi) high, often only 100 to 200 metres (330 to 660 ft) above the ground. The cloud often travels at the rate of 10 to 20 metres per second.[3] Sometimes there is only one cloud, sometimes there are up to ten consecutive roll clouds.[4]"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 6:51 am

by Aripeka Angler

4 of us took the newly repowered Pursuit out for a fishing trip on Saturday-mainly to test out the motors, new wiring, pumps, etc...

We were targeting mangrove snapper and red grouper because gags are out of season until June.
Guess what? It turned into catch and release gag grouper fishing.
I think we released a dozen and a half of what will be fix box stuffers in a few days.

This was the youngster in the photos first offshore trip, I’d say he did pretty good.

The G2’s performed well, the top speed of the boat has been increased to 56mph.
I haven’t downloaded the fuel and oil burn numbers, will do that soon...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 7:54 am

by Capt UB

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 6:51 am 4 of us took the newly repowered Pursuit out for a fishing trip on Saturday-mainly to test out the motors, new wiring, pumps, etc...

We were targeting mangrove snapper and red grouper because gags are out of season until June.
Guess what? It turned into catch and release gag grouper fishing.
I think we released a dozen and a half of what will be fix box stuffers in a few days.

0CAB3095-9271-4222-8519-4FFA672DD9F1.jpeg

CD38639E-46AC-4F27-8C22-E9C0D4F5454C.jpeg

DDFB1CA7-B7DA-4349-AC0E-BFBDE8CE6A10.jpeg

2373FC8D-8F22-4C8C-82C4-57DECB98CDDF.jpeg

F49A31A3-0811-4F3B-9201-C25EBC1B02E7.jpeg

This was the youngster in the photos first offshore trip, I’d say he did pretty good.

The G2’s performed well, the top speed of the boat has been increased to 56mph.
I haven’t downloaded the fuel and oil burn numbers, will do that soon...

Nice, I can smell them cooking....

So, the new setup worked?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 9:27 am

by Aripeka Angler

Worked great Captain!
Planes in about 1.5 seconds, has TONS of torque and runs like a scalded ass dog.
If I had one complaint, the controls have zero feel. Nada, zero. Feels like a nintendo game control, extremely weird.
I'm thinking it's just me, spent years using Yamaha only...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 12:34 pm

by Capt UB

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 9:27 am Worked great Captain!
Planes in about 1.5 seconds, has TONS of torque and runs like a scalded ass dog.
If I had one complaint, the controls have zero feel. Nada, zero. Feels like a nintendo game control, extremely weird.
I'm thinking it's just me, spent years using Yamaha only...

When I was racing sailboats, I won more times with a tiller then a wheel. I like the feedback, my Santa Fe is electric steering.... Not real feed back

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 1:23 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Everything is electric. Power steering, throttles and shift...
The boat goes from sitting still to flying in a couple of seconds.
Very weird, like I'm not really in control.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 1:32 pm

by Jaysen

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 1:23 pm Very weird, like I'm not really in control.

You aren't; A computer is. Welcome to the new world where we only "suggest" directional change but a computer decides what it will actually do.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 1:33 pm

by Capt UB

Are we ever really in control .....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 1:38 pm

by Jaysen

Capt UB wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 1:33 pm Are we ever really in control .....

My wife suggests you tread lightly. Apparently I don't need thing thing called "enlightened self awareness". She will tell me the control I can have.

(for the record that's all humor right there... Mrs is more like "please go entertain yourself with philosophical tirades elsewhere... I don't care where as long as you aren't bothering me with this nonsense".)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 1:39 pm

by Fuzz

Capt UB wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 1:33 pm Are we ever really in control .....

I am at times................well when my wife says I can

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 1:43 pm

by Fuzz

Nice looking fish Richard! Looks like you guys had a great trip. Still too cool here to get very interested in fishing

Not sure I would know how to fish with that little clothing on

Man 56

That girl is just short of take off speed. You will be bored to tears in a normal speed boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 1:46 pm

by Aripeka Angler

I'm at least used to feeling like I'm sorta in control.
For what it's worth, this rig would probably be a good antidote for someone who is plugged up...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 11:00 am

by cape man

Sorry I couldn't go with you but even if asked I would have not been able to. Spent 5 days on Grand Cayman for the fishing tournament. My son came down Friday after he finished his exams.

Saturday we hit the flats off of the Barkers at sunrise and did a great job of scaring the crap out of the bonefish.

They were in as thick as I've seen them there but were impossible to catch. Even light mono hitting the surface was spooking them. Sure was pretty though, and always fun to sight fish for bones.

After a quick stop at the hotel for a on-the-go breakfast, a friend took us out in the sound in his 25 foot panga at 9am.

The game here is to find plumes of white mud in the shallows and drift through them with lures on the bottom. I found a few years ago that a small Johnson Silver Minnow spoon in gold is the ticket. We caught 6 between the three of us, including my son's first (he dropped it over as he was getting it in, but we called it a catch). Two of my fish were absolute studs in the 5 lb class. Wasn't dropping this one!

After lunch and a quick nap it was time to go to "work" at the weigh station. This year saw some awesome catches including this Tuna trip these guys had!

They do work me hard...

After a few beers and dinner we left for an all-night photo session of the stars, getting back to the room at 5:30 am.

He's working on uploading and editing those and I'll post one here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 12:30 pm

by Jeff

Cape Man, that looked like a great trip!!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 4:29 pm

by Fuzz

CapeMan looks like a great trip. You seem to have a habit of finding neat fishing trips.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 8:20 pm

by Dr. Pete

Family wedding in Michigan 3 rd week of August. Want to do a fishing deal. Michigan is just a bit north and east of the state line here. Not much but still would appreciate advice and contacts. Wedding is in or near Grand Rapids. Float drift trip? Spark plug with stink bait? Guide recommendations and plan please. Thank you for your indulgence

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 08, 2019 11:34 am

by Joe H

Hello Richard, More Power! Would love to experience it first hand!
Jan and I will be in sunny Florida next week problem is we will only be in Zephyrhills for 1 day, Tuesday, I know how your Southern Hospitality goes so please don't ask, the family would kill me if I Disappeared for the day, and Lord knows I would!

the rest of the time in Saint Beach, sure would have liked to see you and Sandie!

Craig,
You’re living the life man! No I’m not jealous! Ha

Dr. Pete,
I don’t know about Grand Rapids but if you could make it out to Lake St. Clair I could take you out! August though, nothing but Muskie and Small mouth Bass.
Smacking the Walleye right now!

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 7:15 am

by Aripeka Angler

Joe H wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2019 11:34 am Hello Richard, More Power! Would love to experience it first hand!
Jan and I will be in sunny Florida next week problem is we will only be in Zephyrhills for 1 day, Tuesday, I know how your Southern Hospitality goes so please don't ask, the family would kill me if I Disappeared for the day, and Lord knows I would! the rest of the time in Saint Beach, sure would have liked to see you and Sandie!

Joe H

Hey Joe, we should get together for lunch while you are here.
I promise not to offer to buy.

Maybe somewhere in St. Petersburg?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 12:40 pm

by Joe H

St. Pete Beach, sorry.

Joe H.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:11 am

by Aripeka Angler

Opening day of gag grouper season was Saturday.
The boat ran well with the new 200 hp g2’s, we have picked up a full mpg.
We left the dock at 4am and ran 35 miles into the GOM.
While running 35 kts. in the dark is a blast, it does require a certain level of caution.
Sunup and a few fish pics...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:50 am

by Jeff

Really good day of fishing AA!!! Congrats on the catch and the boat running excellent!!!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:52 am

by BB Sig

Nice day!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:02 am

by OrangeQuest

Great pictures!!

Tasty looking fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:38 am

by Capt UB

I think I may have a short in my fish finder.....

: fishjumping.jpg (74.43 KiB) Viewed 9252 times

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:40 am

by fallguy1000

Capt UB wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:38 am I think I may have a short in my fish finder.....

fishjumping.jpg

Send me the schematic!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:24 am

by Aripeka Angler

So here is the untold story behind the fish pics from Saturday...
4 of the guys are bateau builders, we met through this forum and have become great friends!
The boats built or being built include the following-DE25, XF20, GF12, FS14, FS18, TX18, PY12...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 12:34 pm

by Capt UB

fallguy1000 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:40 am
Capt UB wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:38 am I think I may have a short in my fish finder.....

fishjumping.jpg
Send me the schematic!

You must check local laws.....

: ljumast.gif (2.99 KiB) Viewed 9237 times

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:35 pm

by fallguy1000

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:24 am So here is the untold story behind the fish pics from Saturday...
4 of the guys are bateau builders, we met through this forum and have become great friends!
The boats built or being built include the following-DE25, XF20, GF12, FS14, FS18, TX18, PY12...

How far out were you fishing?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:54 pm

by piperdown

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:24 am So here is the untold story behind the fish pics from Saturday...
4 of the guys are bateau builders, we met through this forum and have become great friends!
The boats built or being built include the following-DE25, XF20, GF12, FS14, FS18, TX18, PY12...

That's a lot of boat building experience right there!

Looks like a great, fun day and so very cool that the forum and Bateau brought everyone together!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 3:06 pm

by Fuzz

That looks like it must have been a great trip Richard. Good to see you getting out and putting a little time on the boat. You said you picked up a mpg so what were you getting for mileage with that load?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:26 pm

by TomW1

Dr. Pete wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2019 8:20 pm Family wedding in Michigan 3 rd week of August. Want to do a fishing deal. Michigan is just a bit north and east of the state line here. Not much but still would appreciate advice and contacts. Wedding is in or near Grand Rapids. Float drift trip? Spark plug with stink bait? Guide recommendations and plan please. Thank you for your indulgence

Dr. Pete, Grand Rapids is only about 45 minutes from Holland and Lake Michigan the best of the Great Lakes for salmon fishing. I did a search for "Lake Michigan salmon fishing from Holland, MI" and got a large amount of information on different charters. Types of fish being caught when you will be there. What to bring what to wear, etc. and of course prices.

I don't know what you want to spend but there are trout steams more north of Grand Rapids. Again just use your fingers. Michigan is a huge outdoor oriented state and you should be able to find what you are looking for.

Holland is an interesting town to spend some time in as it is built like a village in the Netherlands and has a huge spring tulip festival. It has been quite a while since I was up there.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:10 pm

by Aripeka Angler

fallguy1000 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:35 pm
Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:24 am So here is the untold story behind the fish pics from Saturday...
4 of the guys are bateau builders, we met through this forum and have become great friends!
The boats built or being built include the following-DE25, XF20, GF12, FS14, FS18, TX18, PY12...
How far out were you fishing?

Pretty close, 35ish miles from land.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:12 pm

by Aripeka Angler

piperdown wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:54 pm
Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:24 am So here is the untold story behind the fish pics from Saturday...
4 of the guys are bateau builders, we met through this forum and have become great friends!
The boats built or being built include the following-DE25, XF20, GF12, FS14, FS18, TX18, PY12...
That's a lot of boat building experience right there!

Looks like a great, fun day and so very cool that the forum and Bateau brought everyone together!

Lots of building experience for sure.

The conversations get pretty interesting to say the least...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:53 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 3:06 pm That looks like it must have been a great trip Richard. Good to see you getting out and putting a little time on the boat. You said you picked up a mpg so what were you getting for mileage with that load?

Obviously it depends on how hard we run the boat but I’d say we are getting nearly 3 mpg vs just under 2 for the Yamahas.
I’m about to get used to the Star Wars controls- took awhile but I think I got it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:42 pm

by Fuzz

That just goes to show what a good hull design will do. My little SeaSport will not get 3 mpg

But at least it will knock your fillings out

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:47 am

by Aripeka Angler

I like your boat, I’m surprised it gets less than 3 mpg.
I’ll never forget the salmon trolling we did on your Seasport, first time I ever saw a heater on a fishing boat.

Glad you had it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 12:26 am

by Fuzz

Got out to do a little halibut fishing today. We got some 15-20 fish, nothing picture worthy. Our fishing window was pretty short because of large tides. This is what it looked like when we launched. Notice the piling height.

And when we returned. Not from the same angle but look at the piling. we had about 25 foot of water moving. The tide was running over 4 knots.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 12:29 am

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:47 am I like your boat, I’m surprised it gets less than 3 mpg.
I’ll never forget the salmon trolling we did on your Seasport, first time I ever saw a heater on a fishing boat. Glad you had it.

Guys Richard is not only fun to fish with but he is the toughest dang cracker in the barrel. One day out of Seward it was butt ass cold and he never said a word. I am pretty sure I gave up first. We loved having Richards and Capemans bunch here. Wish they could come every summer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 12:35 am

by Fuzz

So here are a couple of boat pictures. First one is a latest and greatest Bristol Bay battle wagon. They can only be 32 feet long so they build them wide. And you work in really shallow water at times so they have jets. In this case two 800hp diesels.

Another rule beater boat. This is built to stay under the coast guard 50 foot rules. Same deal short, wide and tall. Lousy sea boats but built for a purpose.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 12:39 am

by Fuzz

And the sea otter population is doing quite well thank you very much. We came across two pods with over 100 in them and half a dozen more with 30 or so in them. When we stopped to take pictures of this bunch instead of running away they started splashing like crazy and came at us

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 12:54 am

by Netpackrat

They ought to put a bounty on the #$*%&^ sea otters.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:07 am

by Fuzz

Best, warmest fur there is. I am told they have over 1 million hairs per square inch. I don't ever see being able to harvest them again, they are just too dang cute

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:34 am

by Netpackrat

Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:07 am Best, warmest fur there is. I am told they have over 1 million hairs per square inch. I don't ever see being able to harvest them again, they are just too dang cute

Some of the natives are allowed to harvest them, but they can't do it in sufficient numbers to make enough of a dent to help the shellfish industries. When I was a kid, commercial crabbing in Prince William Sound was still a thing, but that ended over 3 decades ago due in large part to the otters.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 12:30 am

by Fuzz

So I did a little halibut fishing today. We got into a nursery and got about a dozen like this guy.

Could only keep two each but two will make a surprising number of meals.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:26 am

by Netpackrat

My brother went to Chitina yesterday and apparently limited out while dipnetting. So he is one busy (and tired) mofo at the moment.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:49 am

by Fuzz

Netpackrat wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:26 am My brother went to Chitina yesterday and apparently limited out while dipnetting. So he is one busy (and tired) mofo at the moment.

Nothing like a dip netting limit to make work commence

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:33 am

by OrangeQuest

Nice looking fish!
What is that red thing behind you, never seen a contraption like that before. Is it a fertilizer thrower?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:47 am

by fallguy1000

About 18 pounds, Lake of the Woods, Ontario

Was alone, and released. So best I could do. Hook was jammed bad in fishes jaw, so had to boat.

Our lodging for the trip.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 7:02 am

by Browndog

Fallguy, headed up your way this coming week. Will be attending my college reunion at Carleton College in Northfield, then headed to Northwest Ontario for a week of fishing, then to my lake place near Hayward, WI on Lac Courte Oreilles for three more weeks.

Caught this guy on Thursday. Only the second tagged fish I’ve ever caught. 21” Redfish. The tag was completely covered with marine growth. Cleaned it up for the picture and replaced it on the fish where it had been. Called it in and will be receiving a hat for my reward. Told my friend that I was fishing with that the reward was $1000.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 7:58 am

by cape man

Deleted

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 8:08 am

by fallguy1000

Browndog wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2019 7:02 am Fallguy, headed up your way this coming week. Will be attending my college reunion at Carleton College in Northfield, then headed to Northwest Ontario for a week of fishing, then to my lake place near Hayward, WI on Lac Courte Oreilles for three more weeks.

Caught this guy on Thursday. Only the second tagged fish I’ve ever caught. 21” Redfish. The tag was completely covered with marine growth. Cleaned it up for the picture and replaced it on the fish where it had been. Called it in and will be receiving a hat for my reward. Told my friend that I was fishing with that the reward was $1000.

My home is straight up highway 3 about 35 minutes from Northfield. I am off 3 about a mile and a half.

It sounds like you have a busy schedule. If you'd like to see the Skoota build; pm me and I'll send you my phone number. Kindest regards.

Where in Ontario? We got checked by COs this year. The one guy was a smirking sob all because I was too voluntary. Lotsa cops think volunteering means you are guilty, but I just try to talk them all to wear. Other guy was real nice.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:14 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz, good to see you are digging out some halibut.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:35 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Me and the gang took a ride yesterday morning on the newly repowered Pursuit in search of the highly endangered fish AKA “red snapper”.
Our first stop was at the 10 fathom break, just got a couple of fish at that depth.
After careful consultation with the crew, the captain made the decision to run another 30 miles offshore to 90’.
This would put us roughly 62 miles from shore.
The fish were chewing but the weather was not exactly perfect.
Should have taken a pic of Capeman, he was the only one smart enough to bring a rain jacket.

Endangered red snapper...

Derrick with more endangered red snapper and grouper...

Enjoyed the heck out of the trip, great to fish with Capeman again...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:30 pm

by OrangeQuest

Really nice looking fish! Is that a funnel forming in the first picture?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 11:26 pm

by Fuzz

AA the weather has been giving us a few breaks and the halibut fishing has been fair, or maybe a little better than that. I have my freezer space packed off so will have to make room before more fishing

Red Snapper will remain on the endangered list if you three do much more fishing. The weather picture reminded me of our first trip out of Seward. Did I ever tell you that you are a bit of a weather jinx

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 7:00 am

by topwater

Don't worry it will lay down

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 7:27 am

by Aripeka Angler

OrangeQuest wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:30 pm Is that a funnel forming in the first picture?

Yes sir, it is. We fished on but kept an eyeball on the thing. It ended up fully forming, quite an awesome spectacle of nature.

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2019 11:26 pm AA the weather has been giving us a few breaks and the halibut fishing has been fair, or maybe a little better than that. I have my freezer space packed off so will have to make room before more fishing
Red Snapper will remain on the endangered list if you three do much more fishing. The weather picture reminded me of our first trip out of Seward. Did I ever tell you that you are a bit of a weather jinx

The endangered thing is a bit of a joke now, red snapper have made a fantastic comeback from being heavily over harvested as bycatch in trawling.
Thirty years ago they were scarce, you can definitely credit proper management with the comeback.
As for being a weather jinx, no doubt. Wish I was in Seward right now screwing up the weather.

Not a day goes by this time of year that I don’t dream of trip #6 to AK.

topwater wrote: ↑Mon Jun 17, 2019 7:00 am Don't worry it will lay down

Cracker’s favorite joke line to rib AA.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 9:05 am

by fallguy1000

Northern pike 39", 20" girth about 18#, good fight, released

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 11:31 pm

by Fuzz

Just saw this, dang nice fish there Fallguy. Many moons ago I caught one about that size but I have never seen one bigger here.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 11:50 pm

by Netpackrat

Fuzz wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 11:31 pm Just saw this, dang nice fish there Fallguy. Many moons ago I caught one about that size but I have never seen one bigger here.

You also don't generally release any pike caught in AK.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:15 am

by Fuzz

As far as I know they are considered an invasive species here. There is no limit or closed season on them. you do not even need to harvest them. Just throw them on the shore and walk away.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 1:29 am

by Netpackrat

Yup. Once you have pike, all you have is pike. They poison entire bodies of water to get rid of them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 7:24 am

by Jeff

Nice catch FallGuy!! Never fished for a Pike!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 11:57 am

by Jaysen

they are kind of the freshwater version of barracuda. but you get to deal with sticks, lily pads, reeds and all kinds of things most saltwater folks don't think about too much (unless they are in the marshes).

I've watch folks nab pike with a bit of foil on a hook. Saw the same trick for cuda. Hence my comparison.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:48 pm

by Netpackrat

Never had much interest in fishing for northern pike, but for some reason I have always thought it would be cool to go to a place where it would be possible to fish for muskellunge.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 2:25 am

by Fuzz

Sad day today. The daylight is getting shorter. Lost 8 seconds. So to fell better went out and killed a few halibut. Nothing like fresh fish to make you feel better

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 5:46 am

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz, I think I told you this story about your 24 hour sun but here it is again...
We were staying at the Bay Avenue B&B in Homer in June, 2012. We had stayed there the year before but they had a fire over the winter and literally had just reopened a couple of weeks before we got there. The owners were still working hard on touch ups after we checked in. It was daylight 24 hours a day at this point, which is pretty weird just coming from Florida.
We fished for halibut this particular day and we were just arriving back at the room at 9 pm. The owner and a couple of laborers were leaned up on a 30ish foot long utility trailer loaded with plants, mulch etc. They were having a beer so I figured they were about to turn in even though it was still daylight. We said our good nights and pulled down the shades and went to sleep.
I get up at 6am, grab a cup of coffee and go outside as is my normal routine to see the sun come up. Of course the sun had never went down and the exhausted landscape crew is busy picking up the empty bags and pots in front of the house that is now completely landscaped.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 12:32 pm

by Fuzz

Folks tend to burn the candle at both ends this time of the year. Glad for first snowfall, need the rest

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:13 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Went out fishing with Derrick today, lots of thunderstorms to dodge.
Did manage to get a nice cobia...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2019 10:08 am

by cape man

Nice fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2019 10:10 am

by Dougster

Wow! We call 'em Ling here I think. I've only caught a couple of little ones and even they put up a tussle. You sure got that offshore nailed. Here's a recent trophy of mine:

Well, what can I say? That was out of my SK14 with the MinnKota trolling motor on the nose (with it's battery), the 5hp Tohatsu propane motor on the back and two guys (me at 185 and neighbor at 210). Full speed at that load was 10mph (OK 9.9). Not quite the same experience as your cobia

On a more serious note, so far I love the Tohatsu. Takes a dozen or so pulls (easy to do) to start the first time, then one pull the rest of the day.

Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2019 9:44 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Good to hear from you Doug!

Great that you are enjoying retirement and getting to do some fishing! Fish size doesn’t matter, all are fun to catch.
Hey, your fun meter from the TX Meet in 2011 brings back memories. Good times.
On the cobia, the big ones do put up an awesome fight. Had to rush this one while we were pulling the anchor to get away from the dang lightning. The thing literally slammed my bait as I was reeling it up. Pic was taken 4 hours later on the way to the dock in bright sunshine. Had a Border Patrol officer from Texas onboard, he did NOT like our lightning.

Some folks call them ling here as well. Funny fish, you never know when they are going to appear. They’re also kinda dangerous in the boat if they are green and you don’t kill them quickly. This fish had a mate that wanted to get caught but we didn’t hang around for fear of getting barbecued...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 12:52 am

by Fuzz

Really nice fish Richard! Are you sure you were not fishing some place to Glossie?
Dougster, love to see a man having a good time fishing

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 9:46 am

by Dougster

Hey Richard, good memories for me too on the 2011 meet. Mrs. Dougster still remembers you and the Mrs. quite well and I keep her informed of your shenanigans here on the forum. Who knows, we may bump into each other again one day. As for having fun fishing, well Fuzz, I figure why else am I out there? No one is paying me and I can buy fish if I want 'em. So fun it is.

Says wet lines Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 8:47 am

by Browndog

Last week up in Northern Ontario, Canada caught a personal best Northern Pike on Lake Nipigon.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 12:09 pm

by cape man

That's a beast!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2019 4:12 am

by Fuzz

Nice fish Browndog

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2019 4:15 am

by Fuzz

Went out for halibut today. Fishing was a little slow but I picked up the biggest Pacific Cod I have ever caught.

Dang thing was well over 20 lbs.

Here a sign you don't see at most boat ramps.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:02 pm

by seaslug

a few shots from surf fishing Flagler Beach lately. Not much to report other than a lot of beautiful sunrise's. Went out Matanzas inlet and fished offshore a few weeks ago. Mainly bottom fishing a sunken barge for Flounder and Trout, which was fairly productive, and a few of these guys showed up. Fun Crevalle Jack on light tackle. Catching some Reds back in the flats lately, but the most encouraging thing is we're getting a lot of Snook. Mostly small, but more than we've seen in a while. Probably due to a few winters in a row without a really hard freeze.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:50 am

by Jeff

Beautiful photos and nice catch!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:09 am

by Fuzz

Went silver fishing the past two days out of Seward. The first day we had to hunt some up and got 13

The next day was better but no one could count so we only got 17. They are running a little smaller so far this year but there is a lot of them.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:58 am

by Jaysen

Leave some in there for the rest of us!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:00 am

by cape man

You need my smoker.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:43 am

by Aripeka Angler

That’s some good catching right there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 6:50 pm

by piperdown

Wife and I 25th wedding anniversary was yesterday July 16. I let her pick where to go and she had a long list she narrowed down. Since she and the boys have traveled with me when I visit Melbourne (they played, I worked) more than a few times she's always wanted to visit the gulf side of Florida. Well, her best friend and college roommate, who grew up in Florida, suggested Amelia Island. Once she told me I looked at the map, called her back and said, "um...you know that's on the Atlantic side right?!". She laughed and said yes but her friend said is was a great place to go.

Leading up to this, about 2 weeks before we left she said she booked us an adventure for our anniversary....a wildlife tour!

I said what wildlife? gators, mosquitoes, and seagulls? She said "oh you'll love it". Now my wife and I don't necessarily enjoy the same activities, but she was excited so I kept a pleasant smile on my face and said "oh great, sounds fun". I kept on a positive note the entire time. Fast forward to being on Amelia Island. We booked a river tour to learn about the island and I saw there was a sailing school. Since we didn't have anything booked for Monday I figured I might as well do something fun. I talked a bit about it and told her on Sunday night that I was thinking of calling the sailing school and booking us for Monday. She was less than thrilled but not for the reason I thought (that she wasn't interested). Finally, during walking around she said that she didn't book us a "nature tour" but a charter boat as a surprise! Boy was I surprised!! She said she was getting nervous that I was strongly suggesting the sailing school and didn't want us wiped out for the charter boat and that if we had had more time we would have done both. Plus she said she could see the dread on my face but I had been a good trooper about it

Did I mention my wife is AWESOME!

Too bad the red snapper was out of season since we ended up catching and releasing at least 11 big ones. Wife caught the biggest at what the Captain thought was between 15-16lbs. I caught the King and a local restaurant cooked it up for our dinner in a couple of different styles. We had so much fish we ended up sharing the rest with 4 guys at the table next to us on a guys vaca. They were booked on a charter the following day.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:32 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Great story Eric.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 7:49 am

by Jeff

Nice Eric!!! Great story!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:27 am

by Dougster

Nothing beats a good partner!

Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 6:51 pm

by cape man

In Bozeman Montana this week for a meeting and today a dear friend took me down the Yellowstone River in his float boat. Caught three small rainbow trout, lost 300, and had a day of my life!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 6:59 pm

by Jaysen

Are those pants? I don’t think you broke those out for Alaska....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:23 pm

by Fuzz

Poor guy, life is so tough on him. I even see an opened beer can close at hand

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:39 pm

by Jaysen

And he’s one up on my trip...

Pretty. Very good looking. Just to be clear, I’m talking about the fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 3:41 pm

by Reid

Haven't got around to sharing these from a couple of weeks ago. My brother and I took my wife's uncle, Bob, off shore. Bob is from Arizona so needless to say his offshore fishing experience is limited. He was really excited to go home having caught his first sailfish though!!!! We are estimating the sail was around 100 lbs.
-Reid
Here are a couple of pics.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 3:42 pm

by Jaysen

NICE!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 4:40 pm

by cape man

Beautiful

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 4:41 pm

by cape man

Taking Clara to Big Pine Key for a week Sunday. Hope to post some pics....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 5:11 pm

by BB Sig

Nice Reed!

Cape man, we hope you can as well!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:03 pm

by Aripeka Angler

My daughter’s friend with a nice fish. Location could be guessed by a certain local...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:22 pm

by Jaysen

I've seen that water!

Why are they not wearing 2347234 layers of wool?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:52 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Jaysen wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:22 pm I've seen that water!

Why are they not wearing 2347234 layers of wool?

I guess the cold doesn’t bother her for a few reasons.

I’m told, (since I don’t know the young lady)...
She lives in Soldotna.
She is of Scandinavian decent.
She is also some kind of world class high altitude runner, so I’m thinking the cold is not a big deal.
And she holds a record for running up marathon mountain in Seward.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:11 pm

by piperdown

Reid wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2019 3:41 pm Haven't got around to sharing these from a couple of weeks ago. My brother and I took my wife's uncle, Bob, off shore. Bob is from Arizona so needless to say his offshore fishing experience is limited. He was really excited to go home having caught his first sailfish though!!!! We are estimating the sail was around 100 lbs.
-Reid
Here are a couple of pics.
IMG_4691.jpg
IMG_4693.jpg
IMG_4694.jpg

Glad you posted that Reid! Loved hearing the story in person! (Visited Jeff and Reid Thursday afternoon).

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:15 pm

by piperdown

Jaysen wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:22 pm I've seen that water!

Why are they not wearing 2347234 layers of wool?

Some people have 5w and others 40w. Lucky few have 5-40w but they are rare

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:26 pm

by Jaysen

She just placed 4 in a race for Olympic qualifying I believe. She also ran a race in... seldovia? ... last weekend. I didn’t see her but part of our playgroup did.

And yes... she’s more of a man than I am. No issues admitting that.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 11:30 pm

by Netpackrat

As they say, to fish the Kenai is to fish for the world record.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2019 9:27 am

by Capt UB

: getImage.jpg (215.35 KiB) Viewed 15446 times

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2019 3:41 pm

by cape man

The Yankee caught her first Dolphin! 15 miles off Big Pine Key

Added a few snapper

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2019 3:47 pm

by Jeff

Good catch Cape Man!!! Glad you guys are having fun!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2019 5:52 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Sweet! Congratulations to Pattie.

The seas look awesome.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 1:52 pm

by Fuzz

Aripeka Angler wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2019 5:52 pm Sweet! Congratulations to Pattie. The seas look awesome.

My congratulations to Pattie also. The smile on her face says it all.
And that water is sure pretty to look at, flat too

I got to do some t-shirt fishing this summer. Sort of a novel experience

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 6:42 pm

by cape man

We only went out for a few hours this morning and couldn't find the lobster...our neighbors with two pontoon boats full of snorkelers did alright...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 7:08 pm

by Aripeka Angler

That’s a haul, somewhere there’s a hungry moray tonight.

Did they invite y’all to dinner?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:35 am

by cape man

Selfish rednecks cleaned them, bagged them, and walked in their house with them. Guess they didn't see all the drool coming off my chin. They were out for almost 12 hours, so I dont blame them. There were at least 16 of them on the two boats so they deserved them all.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:39 am

by Jeff

Sorry for you Cape Man!!! But you guys did good fishing!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 2:20 pm

by cape man

Played around some submerged mangroves from the storm.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 2:28 pm

by Jeff

Nice Cape Man!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 3:57 am

by BarraMan

I haven't fished much this year. Been busy with work, but I thought you might enjoy this. An old bloke fishing for his favorite species (barramundi) by himself!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/ekVAsne9e0I[/youtube]

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 7:23 am

by cape man

Says the video is private.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 8:03 am

by BarraMan

cape man wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 7:23 am Says the video is private.

Not now!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 12:28 pm

by cape man

That is probably the most methodical catch I've ever seen

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:56 pm

by Marshall Moser

Took Dad fishing for his 65th birthday. We both got an inshore slam, but couldn't keep the flounder, as NC has closed all three species indefinitely. The red was 1-3/4" over slot. The rest were under.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:11 pm

by Jeff

Nice catch!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2019 4:18 pm

by Rtorres2411

Enjoying a nice fishing trip northeast of Puerto Rico. The seas are nice and calm and hot

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2019 5:02 pm

by Fuzz

Nice! I was amazed by how hard a #25 tuna fights. And you can do it in shorts and T-shirts

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2019 4:43 am

by fallguy1000

It snowed here.

Nice fish and nicer weather!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2019 1:13 pm

by Rtorres2411

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sat Oct 12, 2019 5:02 pm Nice! I was amazed by how hard a #25 tuna fights. And you can do it in shorts and T-shirts

Tunas are amazing fighters, it took almost 20 minutes to land it. Five feet of line reeled and 10 would would go back out. It was fun and a good way to build up some arm muscles

. What really surprised me was the Dorado (Mahi), it was caught in shallow waters close to shore.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:07 am

by fallguy1000

14 hours of trolling in 32F and some wind chill, but never got the massive musky.

Shivering stopped about a day later!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:09 am

by fallguy1000

The clouds ahead are a snow squall.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:51 am

by Jeff

Wow, that is some cold fishing!!!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 11:13 am

by Capt UB

fallguy1000 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:07 am 14 hours of trolling in 32F and some wind chill, but never got the massive musky.

Shivering stopped about a day later!

5DEBC04F-F5D2-45D5-9343-27DF13C4A52A.jpeg

Trolling from the bow? Or just fishing from the bow?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 1:43 pm

by Fuzz

That is a tough way to go! Enclosed cabin with a good heater makes it a lot more fun

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:38 pm

by fallguy1000

We were trying for state record.

Planer mast is on the bow.

We run at 95 feet p&s. 3 lines

We use crankbaits that are like 14" long. Run at 3.5mph.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:40 pm

by fallguy1000

Here was the 2016 fish. We did not weigh, but the captain thinks it was state record material and one of the two biggest fish he ever had in the boat.

2019 is new boat

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:41 pm

by Jeff

That was a great catch Fallguy!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 10:07 pm

by Fuzz

That was huge! Too bad it did not get officially weighed.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 10:31 pm

by BarraMan

I love this photo!
Not me, but a couple of my mates fishing one of my favorite spots in the Northern Territory!

Two blokes fishing out of that little boat, "The Mini Tinny", boated 63 x barramundi on lures in 7 days. This was the best fish - at 93 cm, just under the magic metre!

A bull shark got the best of this one!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 10:47 pm

by Fuzz

That is a great picture Barraman!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:27 am

by Jeff

Great photos!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:56 pm

by Netpackrat

Do they count that last one against your limit?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:37 pm

by BarraMan

Netpackrat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:56 pm Do they count that last one against your limit?

No, heads without a body don't count in the possession limit!

Apparently it was used for crab bait - and was very productive!

The main commercial species of crab in northern Australia is the Giant Mud Crab (Scylla serrata).

Scylla serrata is an ecologically important species of crab found in the estuaries and mangroves of Africa, Australasia and Asia.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2019 6:23 pm

by Browndog

Today’s haul. Sheepshead. Good eating. Hard fighting. Tricky to catch.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2019 9:57 pm

by Fuzz

Nice catch! You must be just a tad more tricky than a Sheepshead

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 5:23 am

by Eric1

Man Browndog! I'd like to have a couple of those. Nice mess you caught!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 8:31 am

by Jeff

Nice catch Browndog!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 10:03 pm

by Browndog

Went fishing again today. Tried a few different spots than we fished on Wednesday. Found a new place and caught some nice ones.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 5:45 am

by Eric1

Those convicts didn't stand a chance!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 2:18 pm

by Fuzz

How big are those? I notice one looks twice as big as all the others.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 10:25 pm

by fallguy1000

Tips on sheepshead? Where to catch em n hows a bit?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 8:53 am

by Browndog

The Speckled trout in the top left of the picture is 15” long. So that gives you an idea how big the rest of the fish are. The largest fish was the first one I caught that day. It is missing half of its tail. I’m guessing it is 6-8 lbs. Sheepshead are heavy for their size. Very bony heads and large, strong and sharp fin spines. Their teeth are made for crushing. They feed on barnacles, oysters, crabs and will eat shrimp too. Due to their diet they are mostly found around structure like dock pilings, fallen submerged trees, oyster reefs, rock rip rap, bridge pilings, ship wrecks and artificial reefs.

The best setup to use to catch a Sheepshead is a reel with very sensitive low stretch line on a rod with some backbone but a sensitive tip and use an egg sinker on the line with a swivel and flourocarbon leader of slightly lower breaking strength than the main line as hang ups are common and break offs occur frequently. I prefer a 3/0 octopus circle hook. For bait we use mainly fiddler crabs. Some people use shrimp, clams or oysters. But the softer bait is frequently stolen by other non target fish.

Around here the tide makes a difference too. You want to use a vertical slow jigging presentation and if the current is flowing too much then it is hard to fish that way. The fish are notoriously light biters. Sometimes you won’t feel a bite at all, the line will just move to the side or you’ll just feel a slight weight on the line and you must set the hook immediately. By the time you feel the bite your bait is usually gone.

It is one of my favorite fish to catch as it requires some finesse and concentration. Even then you will probably get one fish for every 5-10 baits stolen. Those new to it can get frustrated by the lack of hook ups. I enjoy the challenge.

The meat is a firm white flesh that stands up well to grilling, frying, broiling or baking and is popular for fish stews. The bones are very large and it is common around here to cook the rib bones and the backbones of medium to large fish even after they’ve been filleted due to the amount of meat on them and the ease in which the bones can be picked out.

As Eric pointed out, due to their black and white stripes they are often referred by the slang term “convicts” as their markings are reminiscent of the old prison uniform designs.

Even though they are around all year long, they are more likely to be sought in the late fall, winter and early spring when the fishing for other species tends to slow down.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 9:42 am

by Jeff

Great catch Browndog!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 10:24 am

by cape man

It is one of my favorite fish to catch as it requires some finesse and concentration. Even then you will probably get one fish for every 5-10 baits stolen. Those new to it can get frustrated by the lack of hook ups. I enjoy the challenge.

My father always said the trick was to set the hook just before they bite.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 1:22 pm

by cape man

The weather Gods nixed a trip to Cape Sable (again) so my son and a friend of his are spending the day on the Alafia River in front of the house. Nice bass on the way upstream.

3 red breast sunfish in the cooler and lunch along the banks to come.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 1:33 pm

by cape man

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 1:40 pm

by Jeff

Nice Bass!!! Beautiful locations Cape Man!!! Sorry about Cape Sable!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:21 pm

by cape man

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:28 pm

by cape man

Oh yeah...we picked up some 10 million year old teeth also...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 5:44 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 7:42 pm

by Fuzz

Cool! Any more info about the teeth?

Looks like a fun trip. Some nice looking fish too.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 10:01 pm

by cape man

They are fossilized shark teeth of various species, most of which have been around for 4 to 5 million years. In my hand are sand, mako, tiger, and one (the odd shaped one below my index finger) from an extinct snaggle tooth shark that disappeared 10 million years ago. We stopped and ate lunch at a place with a large deposit of gravel on the inside of a bend that is almost all pieces of fossilized bones and rich in shark teeth. It's a 30 minute paddle from the house. The Alafia river runs straight through what's locally known as Bone Valley because of all the fossils.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2020 7:47 am

by Jeff

Very cool Cape Man!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:11 am

by Browndog

Yesterday fishing with my wife’s friend’s son Zeke.

Last weekend in the Bahamas.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2020 2:06 pm

by Eric1

Nice catches!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2020 5:02 pm

by cape man

That is a beautiful bone! Especially on fly! Congrats!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 10:05 am

by Jeff

Nice catch BrownDog!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:20 pm

by cape man

Two of my son's friends came out yesterday and borrowed a canoe to paddle up the Alafia river. We are a good 20 miles from the bay. Using a landing net they caught these.

Today I borrowed a trap from a friend and hauled it on the back of the Beemer.

It is now baited with channel catfish filets from 2018 off the dock in front of the house.

Report tomorrow...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:28 pm

by Jeff

Nice Cape Man!!! Looking forward to your report on the catch!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:09 pm

by cape man

When did you ever see a BMW with a crab trap strapped to it?s

Now that's some redneck shit right there!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:16 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Hell yeah! You should have let the boys use the new Subaru.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 11:20 pm

by Fuzz

Hey Maw look.............a UF professor right there

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:49 am

by Capt UB

We are just getting the boat ready to launch, when a cop.... Well I still can not believe we were told to go home.... That it was unsafe to go out on the boat fishing... Just the two of us.... Cathy came up over a month ago to stay with me, she's fine and so am I.... 8 hours in bed... 2-6 hours together in the house (850 sq. ft. House)… Me at work 8-12.... No virus..

4 and half weeks earlier...

She broke her leg at home (her home).... She waited in the ER for 4 plus hours till they saw her.... As they wheeled her into the ER area, the wheel broke on the wheel chair.... She hit her head and got 6 stiches (don't know what they call them now days)… Had to stay over night because she may have gotten a concussion.... She gets home and finds her garage door laying on top of her car.... Kids next door ran into it with their 4 wheeler.... Her daughter and her tried pulling the door off the car.... Her hand got caught in the long hinge and broke two fingers.... Back to the ER.... Doctor just taped the fingers together and sent her home... Cathy got home, got into her car, drove off..... And yes the garage door was still on the car halfway down the block.... 3 hours later she is safe and crying in my arms.....

So it's Unsafe to go out on the boat fishing.....

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:01 am

by Jeff

Wow Capt UB, I hope Cathy gets better!! Crazy about the fishing!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 11:04 am

by cape man

That is crazy about closing the boat ramps. Same as closing state parks to campers. Is there any better way to socially distance than in the great outdoors?

I did talk to a colleague in Vero Beach and he took the family out over the weekend and the sand bar was absolutely packed with boats and people gathering.

Sounds like Cathy needs to isolate herself from EVERYONE, and not because of some little virus!!! Have you discussed wrapping her in bubble wrap?

Hang in there.

P.S. the crab trap was empty this morning

Maybe they don't want 2 year old frozen channel catfish fillets?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 11:07 am

by Jaysen

best crab bait... carcass of the fish you just cleaned for diner. If you eat it they love it. Fresh is better!

I hate crab, but the wife loves it. I have to be good at bring it home... otherwise the door may not open.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 12:18 pm

by Capt UB

Not sure if it the crab meat or just the butter and garlic..... I like best!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 12:21 pm

by Capt UB

Jaysen wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 11:07 am best crab bait... carcass of the fish you just cleaned for diner. If you eat it they love it. Fresh is better!

I hate crab, but the wife loves it. I have to be good at bring it home... otherwise the door may not open.

I agree, fish carcass is the best! Back in the day as kids we would go by the commercial boats and ask for junk fish or carcass for our crab traps!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 12:39 pm

by Capt UB

cape man wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:09 pm When did you ever see a BMW with a crab trap strapped to it?s

Now that's some redneck shit right there!

I googled BMW with crabs, got some poor girl with crabs photo!

This is the only other photo... Surf and Turf

: main-qimg-9cd7e3e89b9bb8af9f3b497a6dde35d8.jpg (86.42 KiB) Viewed 9820 times

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 11:25 am

by cvincent

I have spent the last few weekends socially distancing with the perch. My daughter and wife love fried perch and so do I.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 11:52 am

by cape man

Yummy!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 12:41 pm

by Jeff

Looks great!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 3:42 pm

by Dan_Smullen

Stoked to have something to share. It's been tough making the time to hit the salt recently, but a buddy and did sneak out sunday morning to wade fish a local river here in Central VA. Good times finding hungry small and largemouth bass.

Back in March, my oldest daughter smashed the neighborhood record with this tank of a bass! Notice the boat building pants in the pic.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 6:01 pm

by cape man

Nice!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 6:30 pm

by Fuzz

Great pictures, Your daughter looks happy and sure caught a nice fish.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 7:38 pm

by Jaysen

Adam finally put one in the boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 9:09 pm

by OrangeQuest

That bass is a nice big sow!!

Great job Adam!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 10:28 pm

by Dan_Smullen

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 6:30 pm Great pictures, Your daughter looks happy and sure caught a nice fish.

Thanks, Fuzz. She was happy. Finally outfished her little sister.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 7:44 am

by Jeff

Good stuff guys!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 4:46 am

by BarraMan

https://www.facebook.com/10764626397772 ... 881283994/

These are Barramundi "going off"!

Warning !!!! Bad language !!!!

But you have to have the sound on to get the full effect!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 11:47 am

by Fuzz

That is great! Makes you crazy to see them like that and they will not take a hook

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 1:04 pm

by cape man

Man! That is frustrating!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 10:26 pm

by BarraMan

I have been in the middle of a number of these 'hot' barramundi bites!

They tend to get so focused on whatever it is that they are chasing that will ignore anything else that you present to them.

If you are lucky enough to present something that closely resembles their target - then it is a whole lot of fun!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 10:34 pm

by BarraMan

and this is what I live for, fishing wise!

https://www.facebook.com/tidefishing/vi ... 7143406881

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 11:36 pm

by Fuzz

That is a hell of a fish! I would love to do that some time.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 11:43 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 11:36 pm That is a hell of a fish! I would love to do that some time.

My first ever barramundi was of that scale!

It was like snagging a Mac truck!

It now lives in my stairwell!

That fish is 104 cm (41") and 14 kg (31 lbs). I have spent the last 20 yrs and a bunch of $$$, even building a BIG boat, trying to repeat the experience - but so far my largest other barra was 96 cm (38"). We tend to measure barra on length rather than weight.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue May 26, 2020 4:21 am

by OrangeQuest

Nice catch! Those are some monsters!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 7:48 pm

by BarraMan

Meet on of the local where we fish!

Estimated at 16+ ft - anything over 8' is regarded as a man eater!

This is why my boat is 22' !

[youtube]https://youtu.be/1wZSaHi1DEc[/youtube]

and its never a good idea to run the boat too close to high banks!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:26 pm

by fallguy1000

Okay. I don't scare easy, but that woukd scare me.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:38 pm

by Fuzz

As long as you are doing some work on the boat you might as well go ahead and mount a 50 cal on the bow

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:26 pm

by fallguy1000

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:38 pm As long as you are doing some work on the boat you might as well go ahead and mount a 50 cal on the bow

I showed my kid the video and asked him if he'd like to be fishing with me there first. He was a little cheezed about the croc flying down the hill.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:35 pm

by wadestep

We braved the craziness that is the Florida Keys during lobster Mini-Season. I grew up doing this every year but haven't been there for mini-season for lobster for 5 or 6 years. It was crazy, for sure.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 7:30 pm

by Fuzz

Man that looks like a pile of prime eating

What is the limit on those? And how are their numbers holding up?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:22 pm

by BarraMan

Luv the pic of the lobsters!

Here in tropical Nth Queensland, the only way you can legally catch lobsters is to dive for them.

In the home of man-eating crocs, white pointers, tiger sharks etc - I don't think so, thank you very much!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:51 pm

by Joe H

Great fishing day with my Grand Daughter in the P19.

Allie, pictured here, was 2 when we went to our first Bateau boat builders meet in Florida, she'll be 13 tomorrow.

Joe H

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 7:33 pm

by cape man

That is an awesome pic!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:35 pm

by BarraMan

Now this is more like it! A happy pic of a kid fishing with Grandad!.

I am so over all of the depressing virus stuff.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:41 pm

by Fuzz

BarraMan wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:35 pm Now this is more like it! A happy pic of a kid fishing with Grandad!.
I am so over all of the depressing virus stuff.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:02 am

by OrangeQuest

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:41 pm
BarraMan wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:35 pm Now this is more like it! A happy pic of a kid fishing with Grandad!.
I am so over all of the depressing virus stuff.
X2

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 7:33 pm

by Reklus

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 7:36 am

by cape man

Looks like fun!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 7:50 am

by Jeff

Nice!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:39 pm

by Dan_Smullen

Only got out a few times this summer. Spent more time obsessing about the boat rather than obsessing about fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:45 pm

by Jeff

Nice fish Dan!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:47 pm

by Dan_Smullen

Jeff wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:45 pm Nice fish Dan!!! Jeff

Jeff!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:11 pm

by Jaysen

Mrs tossed me out with the following statement: “I’m tired of shrimp! Don’t come back until you have something different!”

So I obliged. On trout for her dinner. Too bad Lil Bit wasn’t involved.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:22 pm

by Jeff

Nice trout!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:26 pm

by Jaysen

Jeff wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:22 pm Nice trout!!!! Jeff

Thanks! Mrs agreed at the first bite.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:30 pm

by BarraMan

I fished last weekend and thought I would have something to show for it - but alas, it just didn’t happen!

Now focused on 10 days barra fishing in the Northern Terriitory in mid-November, including travel to a very remote area and a couple of ‘live aboard’ days and nights.

This is what the boat was built for!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:33 pm

by Jaysen

Your trips give me hope that I’ll get there someday. Granted “getting there” in a sail boat may take days, but I hope to get there.

What’s the size target this year?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 9:58 pm

by BarraMan

Jaysen wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:33 pm Your trips give me hope that I’ll get there someday. Granted “getting there” in a sail boat may take days, but I hope to get there.
What’s the size target this year?

My fishing mate has convinced himself that we will crack the meter Barra on lure this trip!

We have come close on most of our other trips to the NT, so maybe will we do it this time.

Another 2500 mile round trip from home to the McArthur River in the NT and back! The plan is to then run 20 nm down the McArthur - out into the Gulf of Carpentaria then another 40 nm east to the Robinson River, where we plan to fish for a couple of days before working our way back to the McArthur R.

Lots of planning to keep us safe and secure in BIG croc country!

I think there may be a drone in my near future - so there could be some interesting video!

I live where the yellow pin is, on the right - and we are fishing where the red pins are on the upper left.

Our base camp at KAB is where the red pin is on the left. 20 nm to the mouth of the McArthur R and a further 40 nm to our fishing destination in the Robinson R, where the red pin is on the right.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 10:06 pm

by Jaysen

Nice! Drone footage is highly encouraged!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 4:52 am

by BarraMan

World Barramundi Day today!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:13 am

by cape man

How much fuel is in the boat? 120 nm plus two days of fishing is respectable!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:43 am

by BarraMan

cape man wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:13 am How much fuel is in the boat? 120 nm plus two days of fishing is respectable!

400 L (105 US gal) - gives me a safe 200 nm range - 60 out, 60 back, 80 up my sleeve!

We use very little fuel while at our destination, spending most of our time on the Minn Kota.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 3:11 pm

by cape man

One day I want to return on fumes.

Based on my last adventure it's about 130 miles. Might have to carry an extra can to test it...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 3:52 pm

by BarraMan

A quick update! Spent the last week fishing - 102 barramundi boated in 5 days! Epic trip. More once I get home.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 5:47 pm

by fallguy1000

BarraMan wrote: ↑Sun Nov 22, 2020 3:52 pm A quick update! Spent the last week fishing - 102 barramundi boated in 5 days! Epic trip. More once I get home.

Sounds like great fun. Bit jealous.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 8:53 pm

by BarraMan

OK, so I am back from a great fishing trip to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. A bit of a mixed bag - on the one hand it was the best barramundi fishing I have ever experienced, while on the other hand we had some dramas that threatened the whole trip from early on and still have not been completely resolved.

I thought those of you with a passion for fishing and building boats may like to hear what a 2,500 mile trip to a very remote area to fish, with a 22' modified Mangusta hull from this forum looks like.

THE PLAN!
1) I would drive my Land Rover Discovery 4 from my home in Townsville in Nth Queensland (blue dot on the right) with my 22' boat (f@#%ing Big Barra Boat) in tow and drive 560 miles to Mt Isa in the north-west of the State (yellow dot in the middle), pick up my son and a mate off a flight from Brisbane in the SE of Qld and continue the drive to what is known as the King Ash Fishing Club, a further 680 miles into the NT (green dot on the left) - for a week of barramundi fishing.

You can see the output from the GPS tracker on the boat, for the final part of the trip - too many data points to display it all!

We had a cabin booked at King Ash Bay (KAB) for the week but part of the plan was to run down river, out into the Gulf and then east to the Robinson River, which heard had good barra fishing. As that is a 66 nm run from the KAB boat ramp, the plan was to overnight on the boat in the Robbo R and then fish our way back to KAB the next day.

In order to provide some shelter on the boat, as November can be the start of the 'wet' season in northern Australia, and something to attach our croc protection mesh barrier to, I added some easily removable infrastructure to the boat to support a tarpaulin shelter (see pic below). I suspect that Jacques may be horrified with what I have done to his beautiful design, but its OK - it is sitting in rod holders and lifts right off!

The 560 mile drive to Mt Isa was an easy and uneventful 10 hrs - 2015 Land Rover Discovery (Disco) tows the boat effortlessly.

I over-nighted in a motel and was due to pick my fishing buddy up at the airport next morning. We were down to just two of us as my son had to cancel due to work issues. Imagine my surprise when next morning when the Disco would not come out of park!

What a horror! It seemed like the fishing trip was to be cancelled. Mt Isa is a small, remote mining town and it soon became apparent that the road-side assistance contractor knew nothing about Discos, so it was soon on a truck back to Townsville and we were stuck in Mt Isa with a 22' boat and no vehicle. Fortunately we managed to rent a mine spec'd Landcruiser pickup that was equipped to tow the boat - so the trip was back on. It was lucky that my son had pulled out as the pickup only had two seats!

We had planned to drive straight through from Isa to KAB, but as we were now about 6 hrs behind schedule, we camped on the side of the road about half-way along and continued to KAB early the next morning.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:47 pm

by Fuzz

Lee when you go on a road trip you go on a road TRIP

If things hold up to your travels that is saying a lot.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 2:35 am

by BarraMan

To continue my story from above..............

We used the cabin at King Ash Bay (KAB) as a base and fished throughout the McArthur River and its tributaries, as well as other systems further afield. This screen shot of the GPS tracker's website gives an idea of where we fish.

Its 66 nm from the boat ramp at KAB on the far left to the Robinson R on the far right. From left to right our destinations are KAB, Sharker 1 Creek, Fat Fellow's Creek and the Robinson River. The run down the McArthur to its mouth takes about 40 min at 28 kts. From the mouth its about 20 min to Sharker 1, a further 30 min to Fat Fellows and a further 1 hr to the Robinson. We averaged 2.5 hrs each way from the boat ramp to the Robbo R - we usually travel at 25 - 30 kts and even when it gets a bit rough, rarely get below 20 kts. At an average speed of 26 kts, the boat (250 hp Yamaha vmax SHO) was using 0.5 US gal/nm (2 nm/US gal). The boat rides extremely well and is quite dry. The only time we cop a bit of spray is with a quartering sea in a strong wind.

This is what the boat was built to do!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 4:50 pm

by Dan_Smullen

What an epic adventure!

Did you catch any fish?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 4:52 pm

by Dan_Smullen

Typical Thanksgiving weekend striper and speckled trout shenanigans in SE VA. With a mild winter last year, the trout have have been plentiful and healthy. We're all hoping for another mild winter so they all survive.

A good cold snap will wipe out the majority of the stock, and it takes a few years for them to rebuild.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 5:24 pm

by BarraMan

Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Sun Nov 29, 2020 4:50 pm What an epic adventure!
Did you catch any fish?

I’m working up to that, Dan!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 5:55 pm

by Jeff

Great catch Dan!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 5:56 pm

by Dan_Smullen

BarraMan wrote: ↑Sun Nov 29, 2020 5:24 pm
Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Sun Nov 29, 2020 4:50 pm What an epic adventure!
Did you catch any fish?
I’m working up to that, Dan!

Can’t wait to see what you got!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2020 2:47 am

by BarraMan

And so the saga continues!

Barra fishermen talk about the length of the fish rather than the weight. So to give you an idea:

A 60 cm (23.5") barra weighs about 6 ib.
A 70 cm (27.5") barra weighs about 9 lb
An 80 cm (31.5") barra weighs about 13 lb, and
A 90 cm (35.5") barra weighs about 18 lb

The magic number is 1 metre (100 cm = 33.4") - such a fish will weigh about 24 lb. Joining the "metre" club is every barra fisherman's dream.
My first ever barra was 104 cm (41 ") and weighed 14 kg (30.8 lb)! I have spent the past 20 years and a bunch of $$$ trying to repeat the exercise!

On this trip, the biggest fish was 85 cm (33.5") - caught by yours truely, and the smallest was 60 cm (23.5"). We caught a handful of fish over 80 cm with most in the 60 to 70+ cm range. Minimum legal length is 55 cm.

The McArthur River has a delta, with numerous outlets to the Gulf in addition to the main channel.

Day 1: we fished for a couple of hours only, in one of the delta creeks for a couple of barra.

Day 2: we fished another delta creek for a 5 or 6 fish. I dropped a good 90+ cm fish - it ducked under the boat and cut my leader with its gill rake.

Day3: we travelled 2.5 hrs (70 nm) to the Robinson R and caught 20+ barra - 7 in the first 15 minutes. We were planning to sleep overnight on the boat but it was 45 C (113 F) in the shade at 14:00, so having boated 20+ fish, we ran 2.5 hrs (70 nm) back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!

Day 4: early start back to the Robinson R, 10-12 barra boated by midday so we moved to Fat Fellow's Ck an hour back towards the boat ramp and caught another 10 or 12 before calling it a day and running back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!

Day 5: back to the Fat Fellow. 20 or so barra boated by early afternoon so back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!

Day 6: we fished another creek about 30 min from the mouth of the McArthur - and boated a bunch more barra, before heading back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!

Day 7: back to the Fat Fellow for more barra boated by early afternoon and back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!

We caught 102 barra in the last 5 days of our trip! Easily the best fishing trip we have ever had!

Day 8: pack up and head for home!

Our only problem was, "What to do with the 22' boat once we drop the vehicle back to the rental company in Mt Isa"?

Fortunately, I have worked out in that country and knew a cattle station (ranch) manager on a place a couple of hours west on Mt Isa, so I arranged to leave the boat there - to be retrieved once I get my LR Discovery back.

I won't bore you with pics of 102 barra, but I will post a selection shortly!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2020 3:59 am

by Fuzz

That sounds like one good fishing trip! Well except for the 113f part

Does it ever get to a nice human temperature, you know, something like 60f? And if so are there still fish to be caught?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:28 am

by cape man

Great trip! Hope the repair on the Land Rover is something minor.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:30 pm

by BarraMan

Lure chucking barra fishermen like two things - snags and drains!

We pulled multiple fish of this snag, ie 7 in 15 minutes!

and we pulled at least 15 barra out of this drain! We talked to another couple of fishos who did the same thing the previous day.

A couple of by-catch species.
Black Jew (don't ask me why!)

and Mangrove Jack.

Fish of the trip!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 2:00 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 3:59 am That sounds like one good fishing trip! Well except for the 113f part Does it ever get to a nice human temperature, you know, something like 60f? And if so are there still fish to be caught?

60F = 15C ?

No worries - there will likely be a 2 hr window early in a mid-June morning when its 60F, but the barra will all have lockjaw!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 5:56 am

by Jeff

Great fishing BarraMan!! Also, beautiful area!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 6:22 pm

by BarraMan

The saga is almost finished! I got my Land Rover Discovery back today and my wallet is only $2k lighter. $1,300 for a new gear selector unit, and $700 to repair the damage done by the roadside assist in recovering the vehicle!

Tomorrow I am off on a 1500 mile round trip to recover the boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:03 pm

by Jeff

Terrible BarraMan!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:57 pm

by Dan_Smullen

Epic adventures!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:12 pm

by Fuzz

Dan_Smullen wrote: ↑Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:57 pm Epic adventures!

X2 That sounds like one great trip.
The cost to repair what broke would not bother me but paying for the damage the tow company did would piss me off.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 4:09 pm

by Rover1

Great Road Trip.
I will never complain about my 2.5 hour drive to Cape Cod from North of Boston Mass. again.
Really great fish!
Rover1

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:54 am

by BarraMan

Thanks for all the words of support!
I've booked a cabin at King Ash Bay in November 2021, in the hope of repeating the great fishing trip - hopefully without the drama.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 6:32 pm

by BarraMan

Some more video from my last fishing trip.

https://youtu.be/R5y1dw-4gOo

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 7:34 pm

by Jeff

Nice catch!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 11:22 pm

by Fuzz

Nice to be able to catch fish and not have tons of people swarming around you.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2021 3:10 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jan 24, 2021 11:22 pm Nice to be able to catch fish and not have tons of people swarming around you.

Indeed - at 60+nm from the nearest boat ramp, we were the only boat in that river on two consecutive days and one of only a handful of boats within a 30 nm radius. A guy we met at our base camp fished that river (or tried to) 3 years earlier and was one of 17 boats.

A cyclone (hurricane) went through there in 2018 and destroyed a bush camp that gave riverbank launching directly into that river, so that option is no longer available - not that it was ever an option for a boat the size of mine. A 60+ nm, 2.5 - 3.0 hr run each way as the only access for us.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2021 5:34 am

by Fuzz

When running that far and no other boats around do you have any sort of back up power?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2021 7:54 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 5:34 am When running that far and no other boats around do you have any sort of back up power?

Fuzz, your question is a good one! I have contemplated mounting a Yamaha 9.9 High Thrust kicker on the back but my fishing mate who is a highly experienced O/B mechanic, ex-profisher, skipper and now manages a Yamaha dealership says its not necessary given the reliability of modern, well maintained 4-stroke outboards.

My reasons for thinking about a kicker is not only to provide back up power for the boat, but to also recharge the batteries for the 112lb Minn Kota trolling motor when we spend several days away from mains power. To that end, I currently carry a small petrol (gas) generator. The combination of the generator/batteries/trolling motor would allow for recovery of the boat provided there were no strong currents to overcome as the trolling motor pushes the boat along at 4 kts - a slow trip back to the ramp but probably doable. Certainly enough to get us too some sheltered spot to wait for help!

However, the above does not meet my risk assessment requirements for such a trip to a very remote place. The fallback is that we are friends with the guy who runs gas station/car/boat workshop back at the little fishing village that we use as a base on these trips. He knows the area very well and would come and tow us back if necessary. I can contact him either by VHF radio or satellite phone (which I always carry).

Worst-case last resort senario - fire the EPIRB and wait for someone to turn up!

We always have several days of food and water on board so there is no urgency and maybe we can catch a few more barra while we wait!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:30 pm

by BarraMan

Looks like a fisherman has been taken by a crocodile at one of my favourite Barramundi fishing spots - Gayundah Ck on Hinchinbrook Is. Appears to be a yachtie as its a popular anchorage and he was fishing in an 8 ft tinnie which was found with croc teeth marks in it.

An 8 ft boat is too small for fishing in an area inhabited by 10+ ft crocs!

Don't go paddling in the pram if you are up that way later in the year Glossie!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 11:28 pm

by Fuzz

I hate this for the person and the family. That had to have been a tough way to go. Having said that it is sort of like when a bear takes someone, they got to eat too. When man enters into apex predator territory sometimes he comes out second best. Just a couple days ago we had a brown bear come out of her den and get a skier. I am sure the skier do not know she was there but she had cubs and did what mommas do.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 12:48 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Feb 12, 2021 11:28 pm I hate this for the person and the family. That had to have been a tough way to go. Having said that it is sort of like when a bear takes someone, they got to eat too. When man enters into apex predator territory sometimes he comes out second best. Just a couple days ago we had a brown bear come out of her den and get a skier. I am sure the skier do not know she was there but she had cubs and did what mommas do.

Indeed! The victim was from Nth Queensland and should have known better.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 7:27 am

by glossieblack

BarraMan wrote: ↑Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:30 pm Looks like a fisherman has been taken by a crocodile at one of my favourite Barramundi fishing spots - Gayundah Ck on Hinchinbrook Is. Appears to be a yachtie as its a popular anchorage and he was fishing in an 8 ft tinnie which was found with croc teeth marks in it.

An 8 ft boat is too small for fishing in an area inhabited by 10+ ft crocs!

Don't go paddling in the pram if you are up that way later in the year Glossie!

No way! When we're cruising Hinchinbrook waters in Great Sandy, and Zoe Bay or the stunning blue water wilderness anchorage just to its north are untenable due to strong south easterly trades, we retreat into the channel and sit it out in Paluma or Gayunda Ceeks. Over the years, we've probably spent ten plus weeks in them, and we've never got into Great Sandy's tender once while there! It disappoints me that the croc has been shot because a local who should have known better made himself available as croc food.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:30 am

by BarraMan

For those, like me, who have built their 'forever' boat and are now putting it to good use, I think this site needs more fishing pics and adventures - so I thought I would continue my contributions by giving some details of my next planned trip.

I trust that at least some on here enjoy hearing about fishing in other parts of the world.

Here are some pics off Google Earth to set the scene of my upcoming adventure.

In addition, I recently hit one of those life milestones, and my family gave me a drone to play with in my dotage, so I should be able to illustrate the interesting remote part of the world in which I chase the iconic Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) - arguably the best all round sport fish species in the world!

I plan to spend the last week of April fishing on the west side of Cape York, north of the remote fishing village of Karumba. This is about 500 miles, and a good days' drive, from my home in north Queensland (Townsville). Karumba is the capital of the Gulf shrimp (prawns to us!

) fishing industry.

My favourite barra fishing haunts are shown in the first pic - the Hinchinbrook Channel (shown as Gayundah Ck - site of a recent fatal crocodile attack), the Robinson R (where we boated 25 barra in a morning last November) and the McArthur R (where we have fished twice a year for the past 4 years).

What started me on my boat building journey was that I wanted a boat to fish van Diemen's Inlet, which is about 30 nm north of Karumba. Its a known BIG barra haunt!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:26 pm

by BarraMan

Not sure what happened there - double post!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:53 pm

by fallguy1000

Very good stuff. I like fishin more than just about anything.

Those barramundi are sure interesting.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:15 pm

by Fuzz

Lee speaking for myself, and a lot of others I am sure, please keep posting your fishing adventures! I always enjoy what you post and it is great to learn about fishing in other parts of the world. I wish folks in other parts of the world would do likewise. I would do my part to keep this thread going but I have to wait for mother nature to give me a break.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:24 pm

by fallguy1000

There is almost zero fishing here in April. Crappies spawn, but you gotta hit it perfect.

Gamefish are all closed until May 15.

I got a boat to build and have been floundering a bit.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:07 pm

by TomW1

Lee, if there is one thing I like as much as me fishing is hearing, is others telling about there fishing trips. So keep them coming. i won't be fishing for a while yet do to my hip and shoulder replacements. Got to get stronger.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:41 am

by DAVE LUDICK

Barraman, thank you for your informative posts on fishing in Aus. Just to add a bit of spice to the conversation, I would venture that the Zambezi Tiger is by far the best sport fishing to be had. If you are brave enough to try fishing the Congo River for Goliath Tiger, you would be moving up a standard or two. When you get a strike from a Tiger it is violent, I call it a 'mugging'. I can't imagine what it is like if caught on a fly, compared to lure fishing. I have also targeted them with spear gun, a different challenge and just as much fun.
Most fisherman have their favourite target species. Personally I prefer the various Tilapia species on the waters of Zambia and surrounding countries. My preferred species is the 'Nembwe', Serranochromus Robusta, also known locally as the 'Robbie', a challenge and very rewarding to see that golden flash in the water when hooked. The 3 spot Tilapia is also a challenge to catch, stealth and guile is required, it is also one of the best tasting fish. I have fished for Nile Perch on Lake Albert in Uganda which was also spectacular, they however give up quickly. The Tiger I caught there, whilst small by Zambezi standards, provided more entertainment.
There you are gentleman, enter the fray if you dare, and 'Barraman' keep the entertainment coming.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 5:25 am

by BarraMan

Dave, my call of, ‘best all round sport fish in the world’, was based on:
1. grows to 1M+
2. aggressively takes cast lures - we NEVER bait fish or troll

3. once hooked, generally comes out of the water so you know what’s on the end of your line
4. has a great ability to throw your lure back at you
5. easy to ‘fluke’ one but hard to catch consistently
6. hooking a big one (1M+) is like having a Mac truck on the end of your line

7. if you manage to land one they are very good eating - with firm chunky white flesh
8. easy to fillet - producing large boneless fillets

While Tigers are a beast, fresh water fish just don’t rate with me!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:39 am

by DAVE LUDICK

That description of the barramundi sums up a Tiger perfectly. Tiger are not really edible, they are OK if you can handle the bones, and the flesh has a sweetish taste, so most are released.
I am not sure whether you know much about them as you are a salt water man, but the the big ones are all female, and they are caught mostly towards the end of Winter just before spawning. I enjoy salt water fishing but mostly in the estuaries where it is quieter and more interesting.
Let's see if anyone else is prepared to make comparisons of there preferences.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 3:28 am

by BarraMan

I just know that you are all sweating on me coming back from my latest remote fishing adventure with some great stories, lots of pics and some fantastic drone footage. Well, I am sorry to disappoint but the trip was an unmitigated disaster!

Day 1: I left home last Thursday morning and drove the 550 miles to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria (search for Karumba, Qld on Google Earth) - an easy 10 hr drive. Bad news #1 - the area had some very heavy rain over the previous 4 days.

Day 2: Fished the Norman River. Very muddy from the recent rain. Not a fish was seen by us or anyone else!

Day 3: Ran 35 nm north to van Diemen's Inlet (search for van Diemen's Inlet, Qld on Google Earth). 1.5 hr run at 18 - 25 kts, a bit rough and wet but OK. The local said that we wouldn't get in - but we did!

However, within 30 min of arriving I had destroyed my Minn Kota Ulterra trolling motor. Got the motor/prop unit stuck in a hidden mud bank and broke the deploy/stow mechanism getting it unstuck. My Brother caught a couple of what we call Threadfin Salmon (no relation to your salmon) while I worked on getting the trolling motor out of the water.

By then I really had the s@#ts, so we headed back to Karumba. Bad move! The roughest water I have ever had the boat in. For the first 10 nm I was down to 6 kts and taking wave after wave over the bow. Gradually got better as the wind died off in the late afternoon. 3 hr trip back to Karumba.

Day 4: Bro was up at 02:00 with a severe dose of food poisoning. We decided the Barra Gods were against us so we packed up and headed for home.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 7:55 am

by Jeff

BarraMan, sorry to hear about your trip!! Looks like a beautiful sunset one evening in the photo!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:09 am

by cape man

I've had similar adventures on our annual Cape Sable adventure. Not quite as far a trip as yours, but a LOT of logistics involved to get out there and set up camp. When the weather and illness interferes it sucks.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:15 am

by piperdown

Heading to Beaver Lake Arkansas with a bunch of other guys tomorrow for 3 days of fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:09 pm

by Jeff

Nice!! Enjoy!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 2:35 pm

by cape man

Heading to Beaver Lake Arkansas with a bunch of other guys tomorrow for 3 days of fishing.

You do know that area has flash flood warnings just north and south of there...

Hope it doesn't affect you and a great time!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 3:01 pm

by piperdown

cape man wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 2:35 pm
Heading to Beaver Lake Arkansas with a bunch of other guys tomorrow for 3 days of fishing.
You do know that area has flash flood warnings just north and south of there...

Hope it doesn't affect you and a great time!

The flash floods didn't hinder us from getting to the lake or house but sure did mess with fishing. 2 boats 8 guys and one catch that had to be thrown back. I did find Yuengling beer and won $125 from poker, so it's not all bad.
We spent hours slowly casting and using the fish finder......nothing, but it was fun to spend 4 days with the guys and we ate like Kings

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:05 pm

by cape man

Have a trip to Montana and Wyoming next month including a float boat outing with one of our grads. Bought a 5 weight outfit. May have to use it here for bream.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:14 pm

by Jeff

Nice Cape Man, enjoy the trip!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 10:40 pm

by TomW1

Very nice cape man, enjoy the trip and cool temps and waters. When you get back that should be big enough for sea trout.

Using that on poor little bream would be overkill.

Unless your bream weigh more than the 3/4lb ones I catch.

Tomin

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 7:38 am

by lelandtampa

First vacation since 2014. Fishing with family on Lake Gogebic in the upper peninsula of michigan.

Caught some dinky pike and blue gill, redears, and a few perch.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:29 pm

by pee wee

lelandtampa wrote: ↑Tue Jun 15, 2021 7:38 am First vacation since 2014. Fishing with family on Lake Gogebic in the upper peninsula of michigan.

I think you need more vacations than that!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:10 pm

by TomW1

I love the N. Peninsula went there often as a kid with my family. Have a great time.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 5:55 pm

by Netpackrat

Visiting my wife's family in Ketchikan, currently out on my father in law's boat. I have some YouTube gold once I put the clips together and edit out the swear words. F.I.L. won a tug-of-war with a sea lion over a coho.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 7:08 pm

by Jaysen

I’m guessing the sea lions and seals are the tax man of your waters.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 8:57 pm

by BarraMan

Netpackrat wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 5:55 pm Visiting my wife's family in Ketchikan, currently out on my father in law's boat. I have some YouTube gold once I put the clips together and edit out the swear words. F.I.L. won a tug-of-war with a sea lion over a coho.

Bring it on!

I fished the Kichatna R a few years ago for Coho - a great adventure!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 11:28 pm

by Netpackrat

I have to figure out how to use the editing software again. The salmon was surprisingly intact once it was landed.... Usually when a sea lion gets ahold of one it is shredded but only the rearmost parts of the filets had to be trimmed off. Sea lion was pissed off and continued to circle the boat. Finally we brought in the rest of the gear and moved elsewhere.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2021 10:03 pm

by Netpackrat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6b-INlL3cQ

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2021 10:27 pm

by Jaysen

I always have a hard time not seeing seals/sea lions like dogs. That didn’t do much to change my view.

the good humor was nice to see. Folks are rarely that verbally generous to the dolphins and sharks when they decide to play with your catch.

Thanks for the laugh.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2021 1:56 pm

by Fuzz

Good video! Seals and sealions are bad about stealing your catch. They can really do a number on fish in a net

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2021 5:19 pm

by Netpackrat

Fuzz wrote: ↑Mon Jul 12, 2021 1:56 pm Good video! Seals and sealions are bad about stealing your catch. They can really do a number on fish in a net

To the last man, pretty much every commercial fisherman I know hates them. A couple friends and I had a run in with several of them while deer hunting 25+ years ago that scared the shit out of me, which is why I started to retreat to the cabin when it got close.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2021 1:21 pm

by Fuzz

Took the wife and a buddy from Arizona to Seward for a little silver fishing. First time there this year so did not know what to expect. Decent but not great fishing but the weather was great.

I have said before my wife loves to fish. After catching one she reached into the net to get her hook loose and with the fish kicking she got a hook all the way through her thumb! Glad I had a good set of dikes to cut the hook off and good pliers to grap the hook and pull it through with. In case you do not know it is harder to pull a hook through skin than you might think. Learned my first aid kit could use a few more supplies. While pulling the hook the wife never whimpered a bit, I would have been laying on the deck crying

As soon as we got the bleeding stopped she was right back to fishing. That gal does like to fish

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2021 1:33 pm

by Jeff

Nice Fuzz, sorry to hear about the accident with your wife!! That sounds really painful!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2021 3:19 pm

by VT_Jeff

Fuzz wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 1:21 pm Took the wife and a buddy from Arizona to Seward for a little silver fishing. First time there this year so did not know what to expect. Decent but not great fishing but the weather was great.

I have said before my wife loves to fish. After catching one she reached into the net to get her hook loose and with the fish kicking she got a hook all the way through her thumb! Glad I had a good set of dikes to cut the hook off and good pliers to grap the hook and pull it through with. In case you do not know it is harder to pull a hook through skin than you might think. Learned my first aid kit could use a few more supplies. While pulling the hook the wife never whimpered a bit, I would have been laying on the deck crying As soon as we got the bleeding stopped she was right back to fishing. That gal does like to fish

Awesome Fuzz, that girl is one tough bird!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2021 4:21 pm

by TomW1

I would take a catch like that any day any day Fuzz. Your wife is definitely a fisher woman, a hook like that hurts like hell.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2021 4:59 pm

by cape man

I would bet she was just angry she wasn't fishing while you were taking the hook out!

"David! I do not need this hook out! I need to fish!"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2021 2:13 am

by Fuzz

cape man wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 4:59 pm I would bet she was just angry she wasn't fishing while you were taking the hook out!

"David! I do not need this hook out! I need to fish!"

I told her what you said and she just laughed. Has not slowed her down at all. She is all excited for a halibut trip in the morning.
Went and got a tetanus shot today so all good for more fishing.
Tom she is a trooper when it comes to fishing. Only one trip did say uncle and it was dad blame lumpy that day.
VT Jeff I am thinking her and your wife would bond quite well if given the chance.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:16 am

by pee wee

When I was a kid on a family vacation, my dad had his fishing pole with lure on it between the seats and the door of the station wagon, so it would be ready to go when he got there. My older brother (about 10 yrs. old) got the hook in his hand, so we stopped and my dad used the pliers to work the barb on through so he could cut it off and get the hook out. Watching that made my stomach queasy, so they bought me a Coke . . nothing for my brother! Sometimes life ain't fair.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:27 am

by Fuzz

pee wee wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:16 am When I was a kid on a family vacation, my dad had his fishing pole with lure on it between the seats and the door of the station wagon, so it would be ready to go when he got there. My older brother (about 10 yrs. old) got the hook in his hand, so we stopped and my dad used the pliers to work the barb on through so he could cut it off and get the hook out. Watching that made my stomach queasy, so they bought me a Coke . . nothing for my brother! Sometimes life ain't fair.

Does he still hold it against you?

Went halibut fishing today. Of course the wife got her limit and was happy. Nothing big but we have 50-60 pounds of fresh fillets so that part is good. You southern boys will laugh at this but it was 72, sunny and no wind today. Pretty sure the top of my head is sunburned

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2021 5:41 am

by Jaysen

Getting sunburned on a winter day happens.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 3:22 am

by Fuzz

Went and did a little sockeye fishing today. Catch was about like out last silver trip but it all adds up

good news was no worry about sunburn today. 55f and raining

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 6:45 am

by Jaysen

Adam in his new-to-him boat finally got some blood in it. Mostly bait blood and me stabbing myself. He did nab his first shark of eh-size (would take a bit of finger if you let it).

: Adam and a bonnet head shark

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 9:06 am

by fallguy1000

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:03 am

by Dougster

Beautiful fish!

Dougster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:49 am

by Jeff

Nice FallGuy!!!! Great catch!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 1:16 pm

by Fuzz

Very nice! Any details?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:44 pm

by fallguy1000

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jul 25, 2021 1:16 pm Very nice! Any details?

Lake Superior Lake Trout

Sailed out of Taconite Harbor, never was more than a mile from the bay.

We got limits of trout and salmon and watched all the other boats go by us out in deeper water except one. Biting fish were tight to bottom 55-95 fow. Day and a half of work. It was a bit rough up until about this picture.

My oldest got pretty sick Friday, but did not puke.

Saturday, the winds were unexpectedly blowing back off a storm front from the south and some decent gusts and rollers, but less than Friday's nor'easter. About 11am, I told him I wanted to try for a reaction bite off the least windy spot on the island. The wind was changing from the west and blowin hard and the rollers were still coming from the south. Seas were 'confused' a bit.

I dropped a modified slab jig 68' to bottom which is a herring escape lure. The fish on the big lake are not too cooperative between 11-2 midday. Sometimes trigger bites work. The kid doubted me until I pulled up a 3# coho which is big enough to win a tournament there. The fish alarms were going crazy with lotsa fish in the area. I would have stayed, but Cal needed a potty break and I was a little weather beaten and wanted an hour at the dock.

This fish was probably 12-13# only. They get about twice that size, but I was only fishing 8# test and the fish dove several times; prolly not have landed one 6# more.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:46 pm

by fallguy1000

Okay..it was probably more like 16#...I always underguess..

Modified slab jig. I use prism tapes on trigger baits. The prism tapes throw every color of the rainbow, and if a fish might be trigger by a certain color; there is a good chance of getting them to react to a blue or pink or green or yellow...not to mention; many baits are colored, but fish scales are often prismatic..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:58 pm

by Fuzz

No matter that is a nice lake trout. Pretty rare for us to get any trout of that size. Are those stocked or wild Coho? Around here Coho will get to be the second largest of the salmon species. Most will run 7-10 pound. My largest ever was 17 1/2 and have not been close since that fish. My buddy was commercial fishing last fall and got into huge Coho. Some were running 24-25 pounds. I did not even know they got that big.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:29 pm

by TomW1

Nice fish Fallguy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 6:11 pm

by fallguy1000

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:58 pm No matter that is a nice lake trout. Pretty rare for us to get any trout of that size. Are those stocked or wild Coho? Around here Coho will get to be the second largest of the salmon species. Most will run 7-10 pound. My largest ever was 17 1/2 and have not been close since that fish. My buddy was commercial fishing last fall and got into huge Coho. Some were running 24-25 pounds. I did not even know they got that big.

Think all the salmon are stocked with limited reproduction happening.

3# is it on Superior less a freak
They get lots bigger on Michigan

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 6:24 pm

by BarraMan

Nice fish all round. Always good to see people getting amongst a few!

Me? I've had a few issues that have kept me off the water this year, so far - apart from my disastrous Gulf trip in April.

Like Glossie, 5 yrs post splash I have some maintenance tasks with the boat/trailer which have been complicated by covid, and I'm still waiting on a new Minn Kota to replace the one that I destroyed in April.

All is not lost - in 111 days I will be back in the Gulf for a week's barra fishing with my younger son and my Brother, covid willing!

I've posted this before but I know you like fishing porn - so here you go!

(Bad language warning!

)

https://youtu.be/34dyyohdeS0

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:13 am

by Fuzz

I have said it before but it sure is easy to see why you love fishing for those

Fallguy if those Coho are stocked it is not surprising they do not get very big. We have stocked Coho is some local lakes and they get to around one pound and not much more.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:37 am

by cape man

Caught two fish in 13 miles but 4 hours on the Yellowstone River just north of Gardiner Montana with your wife and a good friend is a beautiful thing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 8:53 am

by Jeff

Nice Cape Man, you guys enjoy yourself!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2021 1:56 am

by Fuzz

Very nice! Did he make you pull the oars any?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2021 2:02 am

by Fuzz

Went to Seward today to give the silvers another try. The silver fishing was pretty slow and we had to wade through a pile of pinks to catch a silver. After releasing a pink and while it was still recovering we got to watch an eagle swoop down and snap the four pound fish right out the water. He landed close by to dine and it did not take him long to eat the whole thing.
When we got back to Seward the whole town was in a party mode as one of the local girls won a swimming gold metal. First swimming gold for anyone from Alaska.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2021 7:46 am

by Jeff

Fuzz, great win for the young (17 year old) Alaska swimmer!!! Great win for us!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:42 pm

by TomW1

Fuzz watched the race. Great win for Alaska and the US. She is so young and should be around for the next Olympics.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:39 am

by Fuzz

Pretty big deal for us. We have had a few world class athletes but darn few so when one happens it is a pleasant surprise.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:42 pm

by cape man

6 small cutthroat on the Soda Butte just above the confluence with the Lamar river. Paradise!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:46 pm

by Jeff

Beautiful place Cape Man!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 11:41 am

by narfi

Lake was nice so we went trolling. We each got a lake trout, wife got first one, I got smallest and Landon got largest. Brutus gave them all a loving lick on the nose before sending them back.

Got the hook out of mine and then tangled in the net, Alison and I were working at untangling it and Landon was bored dangling and dipping the other hook in the water on other side of the boat, basically just watching it splash, playing around as kids do when bored when his big one came up and took a bite of it... We both thought he was joking when he calmly said, "I caught a fish".... He wasn't bored after that :p

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:48 pm

by Jeff

Nice Narfi, great family day!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 2:20 pm

by TomW1

Very nice Narfi, nice day to be on the water with the family. Big smile from the son says it all.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 3:53 pm

by Jaysen

It’s august. We have folks down here pushing the indecency laws and still sweating through clothes. You’re wearing “winter” hats and mittens. I’m not sure which is worse weather.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:49 pm

by Fuzz

Nice fish Narfi! Do you keep those for eating? And if so how are they?

Don't know about Narfi but over on this side of the mountain it has been a cold, wet and windy summer. Sort of strange how much of the lower 48 has been so hot and dry and we have been wet and cold.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 5:08 pm

by narfi

hehe thats not winter gear, thats just sweaters for out on the lake, no need when walking on land

the gloves are just grippy gloves for holding the fish, not wearing the rest of the time.

It has been a cooler summer here, though we have had a couple 2-3 day spells of heat, I have utilized them all for epoxy and painting and timing has worked out well for my projects for the most part. Working too much to enjoy summer anyways......

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:02 pm

by BarraMan

While looking for a pic to post in another thread, I stumbled across this one off my sounder of a crocodile sitting under my boat. Thought you might find it interesting!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 10:00 pm

by fallguy1000

BarraMan wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:02 pm While looking for a pic to post in another thread, I stumbled across this one off my sounder of a crocodile sitting under my boat. Thought you might find it interesting!

So, trying to understand the croc's position under the boat...he is suspended off the bottom and casting a shadow and his length is parallel to the boat?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 12:33 am

by BarraMan

Its a sidescan image - which takes a bit of thought to get your head around the image is presented if your not into it!

This diagram may help to explain.

So in the image of the croc, the bow of the boat is at the top of the image. The croc is below the boat, slightly to the port side and off the bottom a little - so the beam is throwing a shadow further off to the left. The croc is sitting with its head in the direction of the back of the boat, ie towards the bottom of the image.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:08 am

by fallguy1000

Thanks Lee...I want to find that croc sliding down the bank video that scared the crap outta my kid. Try him again! I told him it was a fishing video.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 10:17 pm

by BarraMan

fallguy1000 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:08 am Thanks Lee...I want to find that croc sliding down the bank video that scared the crap outta my kid. Try him again! I told him it was a fishing video.

Huh? You mean THIS one?

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=612499922744126

Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:32 pm

by BarraMan

Wow, things are quiet in this thread - well that's about to change!

I'm less than two weeks out from departure on my 6th 2,500 mile/40 hour round trip to fish the McArthur R delta region in the Northern Territory (NT) of Oz, chasing Lates calcarifer - the mighty Barramundi.

For the first time I seem to be well ahead of the game. The Disco (SUV) is serviced and ready to go and the boat is also serviced, checked and ready for action. For a variety of reasons, this will be only my second fishing trip in 2021, after a disastrous trip to the Gulf region of Queensland in April.

These trips are a bit like a Space Shuttle launch! Lots of preparation and checking before wheeling the boat out ready for launch. We go to some very remote places where, if something goes wrong, help is hours or even days away.

My crew for this trip is my younger son who I will collect from an airport about halfway to our destination and my Brother who is a bit 'flash' and will fly himself into our base camp!

Its a bit sad that my other fishing mate is unable to get into either Queensland or the NT because of stupid State-centric covid restrictions, even though he is fully vaccinated. As a result, he may well have a nervous breakdown if we have a successful fishing trip. He and I boated 102 barra in 5 days this time last year!

I have 5 video cameras mounted on the boat and a hand-held, and for the first time, Darcy the Drone will join us! Hopefully I will get some good footage to share.

This is the reason I built my boat and I am 'living the dream'!

Meet Darcy!

Not my footage - but hopefully a taste of things to come!

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=657038484871716
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=566052580542589

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2021 1:06 am

by Fuzz

I for one am looking forward to all the latest barra adventures. And the drone will only make for better pictures.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2021 8:58 pm

by TomW1

Can't wait for pictures from this trip. Have a safe trip Lee.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2021 8:30 am

by Jeff

Safe trip Lee!!! Good luck!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2021 8:31 am

by Jeff

Safe trip Lee!!! Good luck!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:02 am

by BarraMan

The first 500 miles of my 2500 mile fishing odyessy completed today. Sorry, no pics or video as was running late!

I'm in Cloncurry, a mining and cattle town to the west of where I live in Townsville - locally known as 'The Curry'.

A girl I went to school with became a high school teacher and her first posting was to Mount Isa, also a mining town some 80 miles further west.
While there she was living in a unit with other teachers, nurses etc.
One night she was asked if she would like to go to 'The Curry' with them.
She thought, "That sounds nice"!
They got in a car and drove and drove and drove.
She thought, "This Indian restaurant is a long way out of town"!

A further 560 miles tomorrow - picking up #2 son off a plane in the "Isa"on the way past!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:36 am

by BarraMan

OK, so my fishing trip was an unmitigated disaster! I don't want to talk about it - and you can't make me!

1) Hit a kangaroo on the way up there - a wallaroo actually!

They are solid muscle - like hitting a wild hog. Took out the left headlight, my two large spot lights and the right hand fog and park lights. So it managed to spread itself right across the front of the Discovery - then disappeared into the bush! Some other cosmetic damage. We have things called bullbars - it took most of the hit. With voluntary excess of $400 and 'collision with animal' excess of $600, I was down $1k before I even got there. Fortunately the vehicle remained drivable!

2) It blew 25 kts the whole time we were there, making it difficult to travel anywhere out into the gulf.

3) It was too windy for Darcy the Drone to do its thing!

4) There was a cold turn, for the gulf - high 90oF instead of 100+ and water temps of around 80oC instead of 86+ = barra very reluctant to bite.

5) My brand new Minn Kota Ulterra trolling motor played up the whole time - refusing to deploy or stow and occasionally throwing a tantrum and putting itself to bed uncommanded!

6) We travelled 300+nm, threw 100,000 lure casts and boated 2 barra in 4 days!

7) Then there was a covid scare in an indigenous community 60 miles away from us and the NT brought a mask mandate into play. I got the wind up that we would get locked down and I would be stuck in the Northern Territory so I packed up and bolted for the State border to get back into Queensland (Qld) - some 500 miles away. Just after I crossed the border, Qld slammed the door by declaring the part of the NT where I was a covid hotspot, and making it near impossible to cross the border without doing 14 days mandatory quarantine - even though I am fully vaxed, haven't been anywhere near a covid case, have no symptoms, and would gladly get a test.

4 days driving and 4 days fishing for two barra - both of which were eaten for dinners!

I am now 1000 miles into the 1250 mile drive home!

PS: We are already planning next year's trip!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:24 am

by cape man

Great post! I have had similar experiences with my annual Cape Sable trip. Not as far as yours, but weeks of planning and preparation only to have equipment and weather throw everything they have at you. I too still keep going back.
Crazy about the way they are dealing with Covid.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 11:36 am

by VT_Jeff

We like to say that there are "climbing" days and there are "sledding" days. Sounds like you just put a few climbing days behind you, which means you have some sledding days due!

On the trolling motor, mine was acting up for a while and it actually turned out to be the breaker. Once I took that out of line it returned to perfect operation.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:07 pm

by Jeff

Wow Barraman, what a trip!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 3:52 pm

by Fuzz

It is great to see how well you are handling the travails of this trip. All I can say is you sure must love fishing for barra. All of your trips have been quite the adventures.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:54 pm

by TomW1

Wow Barraman, what a trip. I guess that is is why it's called fishing and not catching.

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:58 pm

by BarraMan

Thanks all for the comments and the sympathy!

I'm home now and the 'crew' are all home safe and well - that's the most important thing. The rest is just stuff that can be fixed with some $$. Another adventure to add to the great tapestry of life!

I think I need to admit myself to some sort of rehabilitation/detox, as I spent most of my driving time planning my next two fishing adventures!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 11:50 pm

by Jaysen

BarraMan wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:58 pm I think I need to admit myself to some sort of rehabilitation/detox, as I spent most of my driving time planning my next two fishing adventures!

I don’t see the problem here.

Build crazy boat that you enjoy.
Build crazy boat to case a fish in difficult places.
Build crazy boat and take family and friends on adventures.

If you weren’t planning a few more trips you’d just be crazy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2021 12:20 pm

by jonnymac

Sounds like a blast! Ever since I saw barra fishing in a destination fishing magazine its been on my bucket list.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2021 2:55 pm

by Fuzz

Jaysen wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 11:50 pm
BarraMan wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:58 pm I think I need to admit myself to some sort of rehabilitation/detox, as I spent most of my driving time planning my next two fishing adventures!
I don’t see the problem here.

Build crazy boat that you enjoy.
Build crazy boat to case a fish in difficult places.
Build crazy boat and take family and friends on adventures.

If you weren’t planning a few more trips you’d just be crazy.

The kid does have a point

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2022 6:15 pm

by BarraMan

Yesterday (26th) was Australia Day and a public holiday. It was also very wet here as we got a taste of the annual monsoon. So I found myself in the office killing time - looking at some old videos of my past fishing adventures.
I stumbled across this one and thought I would post it here. It shows my son bringing a barramundi on board but I was particularly amused by the old bloke walking around on the gunnels (gunwales?). It illustrates just how stable my boat is!

https://youtu.be/MSXdxHPWCmE

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2022 6:27 pm

by Jeff

She is stable!!!! Nice, Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:12 am

by Fuzz

Love your videos! In every one I think at some point "dang that is a big boat"

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 5:45 am

by BarraMan

The thing I find most interesting about that video is ................
............... I’ve lost 30 lbs since then!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:12 am

by Fuzz

The only reason you lost the weight was so the boat would run faster

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 8:51 pm

by BarraMan

Given that this is boat building forum and a major reason for building a boat is to go fishing, I am surprised that this thread is as quiet as it is!

I enjoy reading about people's fishing adventures in different parts of the world and seeing what they are catching.

If you follow this thread then you will know that 2021 was a disaster for my fishing adventures, with one trip abandoned after a misadventure destroyed a trolling motor and the second trip abandoned due to a Covid outbreak and the risk of being locked out of my home State.

So how is my 2022 shaping up? Well I am planning a repeat of last April's trip to van Dieman's inlet on the western side of Cape York. See below:

Since "retiring", I have been consulting to the beef industry in northern Australia and one of my consultancies will take me to Delta Downs in April. "Delta" is a 1M acre (1,500 sq mile) cattle station (ranch) running 45,000 head of cattle - just to the north of Karumba on the map above.

Its about 600 miles (10 hrs) from my home in Townsville to Karumba and I figure that if I am going anyway I might as well take the boat. van Diemen's Inlet (VDI) is about 40 nm north of Karumba and is a know BIG barramundi
hangout!

February 1 is the start of the barra open season and I might just have to pay my local barra haunt, the Hinchinbrook Channel, a visit next week. I fished there for 20+ yrs but it hasn't fished well in recent years for some reason.

I've posted this before - but here's a quick run up the channel!
https://youtu.be/Nrdin29KAKk

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2022 12:04 am

by Fuzz

Great video. How long was that run up the channel? BBB looked like it was moving right along.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2022 12:15 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 12:04 am Great video. How long was that run up the channel? BBB looked like it was moving right along.

I suspect that I was sitting on 30 kts, so about 40 min as its about a 20 nm run!

Here's what 40 kts up the channel in calm conditions looks like in real time!

https://youtu.be/iE-SHNpyNKA

the thing I love about this video is that at one point the boat almost looks like its not moving - but I can guarantee it was sitting on 40 kts!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:50 am

by BarraMan

Well, after my last two fishing trip disasters I am going to dip my toe in the water again tomorrow. Back to see if any barra are biting in the Hinchinbrook Channel.

Darcy the Drone is coming along too, so I should get some good video - if nothing else!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2022 9:25 am

by pee wee

Good luck!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2022 2:54 pm

by TomW1

Red skies at night sailor's delight in other words good luck

Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2022 3:02 pm

by Fuzz

Your pictures/video and stories are good for us even if the fishing is not as good as you hope for.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2022 3:16 pm

by Jeff

Good luck!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:46 pm

by VT_Jeff

Elaine and I are in Homosassa getting our butts handed to us. We're trying to sight-fish for reds with fly rods, but the water in the channels is too dark to see fish unless they are tailing and we have seen exactly 1 tailing fish in 2.5 days. We've been out to the gulf a few times and there is better clarity out there and we have spotted a few reds, and then quickly spooked them. Elaine did land a snook so we're not totally skunked.

If anyone has knowledge of the area and wants to pm me a recommended spot I'm all ears.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:03 pm

by Jaysen

This is normal for marshes. I find the water clears up about 1hr before/after slack high. I’ve given up sight casting unless someone is on a poling platform.

I find that reds tend to tail on crab flats. Look for a hard mud flat that is dry at low and crawling with fiddlers. Once there is 4” of water on that flat start looking for fish backs. Around here those reds seem to only care that their eyes are under water.

Not sure you have speckled “trout” down there. But throw a minnow or shrimp about 2-6’ from grass that is in the water (meaning grass you see… you may throw into submerged grass). Keep the lure 6-12” below surface. They school but travel fast so be quick to get right back out there.

Reds and trout are picking up here. I’ll scout some more spots for you but the method is consistent.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:32 pm

by VT_Jeff

Jaysen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:03 pm This is normal for marshes. I find the water clears up about 1hr before/after slack high. I’ve given up sight casting unless someone is on a poling platform.

I find that reds tend to tail on crab flats. Look for a hard mud flat that is dry at low and crawling with fiddlers. Once there is 4” of water on that flat start looking for fish backs. Around here those reds seem to only care that their eyes are under water.

Not sure you have speckled “trout” down there. But throw a minnow or shrimp about 2-6’ from grass that is in the water (meaning grass you see… you may throw into submerged grass). Keep the lure 6-12” below surface. They school but travel fast so be quick to get right back out there.

Reds and trout are picking up here. I’ll scout some more spots for you but the method is consistent.

Appreciate that input, I'll see if we can put that into practice. At least one of the areas we worked was crawling with crabs.

There are def. seattout here and I may take your advice and start targeting them with some spinning gear if only to get the boat smelling like fish a little bit. I had decent luck with those in the Chesapeake last year.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:57 pm

by Jaysen

Mrs Jeff should be able to hit them with the fly. Just need a mullet/minnow/shrimp pattern. Have her retrieve in long but fast jerks. They will hit it right as it stops so she will need to keep the line under her finger (I forget the technique name).

If you’re using spinning hardware use a white paddle tail on a jig head less than 1/4. Same retrieve pattern. I’ve also use drone spoons in silver and gold with success.

If you want to “be like Jaysen” a wad of aluminum foil shaped like. Cigar with a single layer tail will work too. Super light weight at hook. Let it drift. Just twitch it on the surface about 12” from the grass. This is super effective with a cane pole.

Not sure the trout limits there. I recommend skimmed fillets with a light garlic oil fry. Put enough oil into the pan to get about 1/2 up the thick part of the fillet. Heat oil. Put fillets in pan UNSEASONED. Cover pan. When fillet looks cooked halfway salt and pepper. Cover for another 2-3 minutes. Once fillet is just cooked flip fillet. Count to 25 then put on plate with paper towels to drain for about a minute. Serve over lettuce with a lemon vinaigrette dressing.

Probably more info about my level of crazy than you needed.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:06 pm

by VT_Jeff

Jaysen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:57 pm Mrs Jeff should be able to hit them with the fly. Just need a mullet/minnow/shrimp pattern. Have her retrieve in long but fast jerks. They will hit it right as it stops so she will need to keep the line under her finger (I forget the technique name).

If you’re using spinning hardware use a white paddle tail on a jig head less than 1/4. Same retrieve pattern. I’ve also use drone spoons in silver and gold with success.

If you want to “be like Jaysen” a wad of aluminum foil shaped like. Cigar with a single layer tail will work too. Super light weight at hook. Let it drift. Just twitch it on the surface about 12” from the grass. This is super effective with a cane pole.

Not sure the trout limits there. I recommend skimmed fillets with a light garlic oil fry. Put enough oil into the pan to get about 1/2 up the thick part of the fillet. Heat oil. Put fillets in pan UNSEASONED. Cover pan. When fillet looks cooked halfway salt and pepper. Cover for another 2-3 minutes. Once fillet is just cooked flip fillet. Count to 25 then put on plate with paper towels to drain for about a minute. Serve over lettuce with a lemon vinaigrette dressing.

Probably more info about my level of crazy than you needed.

I like it! I'm going to go ahead and get the pan/oil/seasoning ready before I head out tonight after work so I'll be ready when I get back with the fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:07 pm

by cape man

I have only fished there twice, but actually did pretty good on the reds around the small islands just outside of the mouth. Wasn't sight fishing, just throwing lures (plastic jerk baits) up against the edges with a slow retrieve bumping the bottom. A small gold spoon or clouser fly should work as well if you insist on beating the water with the fly rod!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:12 pm

by Jaysen

I hate when the fish is hidden due to over seasoning. I want to taste the fish first then have a hint of seasoning. If I’m using a bit of frozen and it hints at fishiness I’ll season a bit more.

God has blessed us with amazing marine resources here that it almost seems like an insult to change how it tastes.

I have a couple great redfish things. Not sure if we need to add a “who’s cooking the catch how” thread.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:46 pm

by VT_Jeff

cape man wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:07 pm I have only fished there twice, but actually did pretty good on the reds around the small islands just outside of the mouth. Wasn't sight fishing, just throwing lures (plastic jerk baits) up against the edges with a slow retrieve bumping the bottom. A small gold spoon or clouser fly should work as well if you insist on beating the water with the fly rod!

Great info Craig, appreciate it. We've been doing a lot of the same (throwing flies up against the edges ) and we had decent luck with this "blind" technique in the Chesapeake, though it took a few days before it started paying off. Plan tonight is to go out the mouth and then just to the north and work an area we scouted the other day. One of the islands just outside the mouth was where I took a spill off the poling platform sat, luckily it was a silty bottom and not oyster clusters or I'd have more than just a banged up shin.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:56 pm

by cape man

If the tide is running, try the edges on the downstream side of those islands. They love to sit in the eddy on the corners and ambush prey as it comes by.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 3:46 pm

by VT_Jeff

cape man wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:56 pm If the tide is running, try the edges on the downstream side of those islands. They love to sit in the eddy on the corners and ambush prey as it comes by.

Awesome, thank you!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 3:50 pm

by VT_Jeff

Jaysen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:12 pm I hate when the fish is hidden due to over seasoning. I want to taste the fish first then have a hint of seasoning. If I’m using a bit of frozen and it hints at fishiness I’ll season a bit more.

God has blessed us with amazing marine resources here that it almost seems like an insult to change how it tastes.

I have a couple great redfish things. Not sure if we need to add a “who’s cooking the catch how” thread.

I'd LOVE to do a catch-n-cook on this trip, but for the moment, more than happy to settle for catch!

Headed back out at 4, wish us luck!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:29 am

by VT_Jeff

Ok, the white jig head/paddle tail def made a big difference. Last night after work I got a snook and a red, this morning before work I got a few trout and a couple juvi tarpon. elaine got a few trout on her fly rod. So things are def improving and the spinning gear is working well as a probing device. Got to work the day and then we'll get back out tonight, rinse, repeat.

Really appreciate all the input!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 10:31 am

by Jaysen

Excellent! We are seeing big reds on the sea wall as of this morning. They should be in down there as well. They tend to leave the smaller bait/lures. Go up a size or two to get a free ride from a big boy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 11:21 am

by VT_Jeff

Jaysen wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 10:31 am Excellent! We are seeing big reds on the sea wall as of this morning. They should be in down there as well. They tend to leave the smaller bait/lures. Go up a size or two to get a free ride from a big boy.

Consider it done!.

Plans may be changing for Aprill btw, I'll keep you posted but we will be running a week behind at that point.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 11:57 am

by Jaysen

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 11:21 am Plans may be changing for Aprill btw, I'll keep you posted but we will be running a week behind at that point.

Later is good for us. Just let me know when so we can move boats around. I may have some big water options for you if Mrs wants to try bottom fishing a wreck or two. Need to make sure the boat and hardware are good (still installing stuff) but by the time you are here I should have it together with some fish in the freezer.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 1:14 pm

by VT_Jeff

Jaysen wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 11:57 am
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 11:21 am Plans may be changing for Aprill btw, I'll keep you posted but we will be running a week behind at that point.
Later is good for us. Just let me know when so we can move boats around. I may have some big water options for you if Mrs wants to try bottom fishing a wreck or two. Need to make sure the boat and hardware are good (still installing stuff) but by the time you are here I should have it together with some fish in the freezer.

Will do, sounds great!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2022 12:05 am

by fallguy1000

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:09 am

by cape man

Yummy

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2022 8:56 am

by Jeff

Nice fish!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 4:53 am

by fallguy1000

Limits of sea trout.

For dinner a couple.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 6:04 am

by cape man

Again....yummy!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 2:14 pm

by TomW1

Looks like a great meal! Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 9:53 am

by Jeff

Nice FallGuy!!!! Congrats and great dinner!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:56 pm

by VT_Jeff

Elaine finally ran into some snook, patience paid off. She got these on a Kwan fly she tied this winter. We nearly got trapped in the small area we were fishing, had to walk/drag the boat over some brutal oyster clusters to get out. Interested to see what the bottom looks like.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 10:07 pm

by Jaysen

Don’t look. You will cry. Then you’ll think of all the production boats that hit them and be thankful you can fix yours super easy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:21 am

by VT_Jeff

Jaysen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 10:07 pm Don’t look. You will cry.

That's my retirement investment strategy summed up!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 8:39 am

by fallguy1000

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:21 am
Jaysen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 10:07 pm Don’t look. You will cry.
That's my retirement investment strategy summed up!

I am a fan of your wife. She is like a fishing/boat rockstar.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:19 am

by VT_Jeff

fallguy1000 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 8:39 am
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:21 am
Jaysen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 10:07 pm Don’t look. You will cry.
That's my retirement investment strategy summed up!
I am a fan of your wife. She is like a fishing/boat rockstar.

I'll pass that on Dan, thanks! WW Kayaking and fly-fishing are both excellent outlets for a 41 year old "girl" with some adhd and a love of the water! Got to keep her busy!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2022 2:12 am

by BarraMan

I just know you guys are going to enjoy this!
After two cancellations due to covid and travel restrictions, these mates (ex!

) went fishing without me!

https://youtu.be/ivJXt3Pc1Zk

The bloke in the Yamaha shirt was fishing with me in 2020 when we boated 102 barra in 5 days!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2022 2:40 am

by Fuzz

Some epic fishing right there! But them going without you..........man that just ain't right.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2022 1:55 pm

by fallguy1000

So, I always sneak the net in early to avoid the plunge and run. Any reason the net ain't in and waitin?

Such great fishing vid!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 5:15 am

by BarraMan

fallguy1000 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 09, 2022 1:55 pm So, I always sneak the net in early to avoid the plunge and run. Any reason the net ain't in and waitin?
Such great fishing vid!

I think the view might be that over active netting loses fish! Barra have an amazing knack of getting away!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 8:16 am

by cape man

Yeah. I'd disown them as friends.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2022 4:49 pm

by Jaysen

Well… this happened

Weak fish and cobia moving in.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2022 6:20 pm

by Fuzz

Nice! Glad to see you were able to catch a few.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2022 6:54 pm

by TomW1

Nice Jaysen, I love cobia steaks.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2022 9:03 pm

by Jaysen

I was looking at the pictures and it dawned on me, “Fuzz would just use these for halibut bait”.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2022 11:20 pm

by Fuzz

Maybe the smaller one but the other one looks like a pretty darn good fish. I have no idea how either fish tastes but they look good.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2022 9:30 am

by Jaysen

Well, I force fed some of each to some grumpy land creatures that hate fish (in laws) and they asked me to ship some to them in NY. I promised to ship it when they fill the tank on my buddies boat. They got excited until I commented it needed about 100gal at its current level of emptiness. They haven’t spoken to me since 8p last night.

Cobia: very firm. If cooked wrong you need a knife. I don’t abuse fish after I kill them, so we were able to eat it with a spoon. You get a definite “fishmonger” smell through the butchering and if you are my level idiot and forget to clean your cookery quickly enough. The flavor is super mild. Just a bit more “this is fish” than your halibut but as I mentioned above… much much firmer. My prep was butter braised then finished in the broiler, topped with caramelized garlic and lemon vinegar. Served with a simple green salad with a home make herb and raspberry vinaigrette.

Weakfish: those suckers are so soft they are hard to fillet. Mostly because there is a tendency to be over aggressive with the knife resulting it getting into the belly. These have a distinct “this IS fish” flavor even skinned. But it is so soft you have to be super careful with the prep or you get a pan full of fish mush. Short of pre-coating a fillet with epoxy, there is no way to make these things tough. That said super easy to disrespect the fish and ruin the meat. My prep was the most expensive olive oil I own raised to 140F, fresh basil mulled and added in a row a bit narrower than the fillet, fillet placed on top of basil and then the pan covered until the fish just turned white. Let rest while preparing more chopped basil mixed with stupidly expensive olive oil for a topping. (As you can tell, I am not happy at how much my best oil cost me this week … yet I’m sending the boss lady to the store to buy more)

VT_Jeff my be forced to eat some fish if he swings by these parts.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2022 5:32 am

by cape man

My son's friend got a trip out to the Elbow (90 miles west of St. Pete). They didn't invite me

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2022 1:14 pm

by Jeff

Now that is some fishing!!!! Congrats, Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2022 1:31 pm

by fallguy1000

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2022 11:25 pm

by Fuzz

Looks like a very happy young man there.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 8:53 am

by Jeff

Nice catch FG!!! Have fun!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 10:04 am

by VT_Jeff

Jaysen wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 4:49 pm Well… this happened

261BE23E-A798-4DB1-AE56-09D28EADF8F7.jpeg

Weak fish and cobia moving in.

Looks delicious!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 7:47 pm

by lelandtampa

Got invited out on a "head boat" charter in Sarasota and my daughter caught a Rabbitfish puffer. Probably 20 inches long with weird beaky teeth.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 3:23 am

by Fuzz

Went silver salmon fishing out of Seward the past few days. Fishing was a little hit and miss but the wife and my buddy from AZ wanted to give it one more shot today. Where we fish is pretty protected but to get there involves crossing 10 miles of open ocean. Fishing was good and we stayed too long. Pulled out from behind the island and the seas had built up pretty good with maybe a 10 foot swell to go with it. While crossing back at 5-8 knots I had a charter boat hail me and offer to knock down the seas a little for me. He did not have to do it but it was a kind offer. Somebody is getting a GOOD bottle of rum delivered to them. Any suggestions for a good rum?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 4:35 am

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Jul 24, 2022 3:23 am Went silver salmon fishing out of Seward the past few days. Fishing was a little hit and miss but the wife and my buddy from AZ wanted to give it one more shot today. Where we fish is pretty protected but to get there involves crossing 10 miles of open ocean. Fishing was good and we stayed too long. Pulled out from behind the island and the seas had built up pretty good with maybe a 10 foot swell to go with it. While crossing back at 5-8 knots I had a charter boat hail me and offer to knock down the seas a little for me. He did not have to do it but it was a kind offer. Somebody is getting a GOOD bottle of rum delivered to them. Any suggestions for a good rum?

Best rum in the world!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 5:48 am

by cape man

: ron-zacapa-centenario-23-yr-750ml_1200x~2.jpg (93.59 KiB) Viewed 7523 times

Better than best

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 6:43 am

by Jaysen

What they said. My tastes run cheaper and slightly less fancy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 9:27 am

by pee wee

Here's a very good rum, pretty widely available in the U.S. It's an agricole- that means it's made from sugar cane juice, not the molasses sludge left over from sugar production, which is the common way to make rum. It's got a light, complex flavor, not overly sweet. They make a 3 year old and a 15 year old. In blind taste tests among family and friends, we preferred the 8 year old as it had a flavor complexity that the 3 year old lacked, but kept the sugar cane flavors forward, rather than the oak barrel they use for aging.

I agree, that was a very nice thing that captain did for you.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 11:27 am

by Jaysen

My preferences in order of how little I let myself drink for fear of running out:

Kirk & Sweeney 12
El Dorado 15
Botany Bay Estate (I have to import this one)
Abuelo 25

I think the most expensive there is a abuelo at about $75 (non-Alaska dollars). The botany it problematic as it goes down like candy (vt_jeff has witnessed this in real time).

The K&S is God’s gift to mankind. It’s definitely a sipper. It’s light (flavor and color) but has huge cask flavor. If you really like a bottle you’ll want to track the batch number (same with botany) as it is small batch at the 12+yr.

I tried to keep the lowbrow views out but … RUM!!!!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 11:42 am

by cape man

We hired a financial advisory early this year and low and behold he loves to fish! Even better he has a 36 foot Yellowfin with 900 hp on the back! And he knows how to throw a cast net and where to get bait!
Ran 55 miles out and fished in 145 feet of water. The bite was solid for about 45 minutes, so we were releasing small but legal red snapper. Put 4 nice ones in the box. The bite slowed and then stopped but a large thunderstorm with LOTS of lightning decided to blow up and head straight at us, so we pulled out (just in time).
Nothing happened at a grouper spot coming in...
Great day, red snapper for dinner tonight, think I have made a new friend, and running 60 mph in a 36 foot boat is FUN!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 11:47 am

by cape man

Duplicate

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 2:15 pm

by TomW1

Sounds like a great deal Creig a financial advisor who loves to fish and a great boat in one sweep. Great pics. Tom

The big kids fishing

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2022 3:10 am

by Fuzz

Momma got to take some pretty good pictures of the big kids fishing.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2022 3:17 am

by Fuzz

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2022 9:30 am

by Jeff

Beautiful Fuzz!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2022 6:48 pm

by TomW1

Great pics Fuzz, I see one of the fisher bears caught one in the second pic.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2022 11:33 pm

by Fuzz

Mila had never been any place with a lot of bears so having her go to Brooks Falls was great for her. Brooks Falls is well known for having lots of bears there every year when the salmon are running. They have many different ways of catching fish but they all catch enough fish to really put on some winter fat. Not sure how many bears were there but 50-100 would be a fair guess.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 1:19 am

by cape man

Awesome!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 8:36 am

by cape man

Great trip to Bozeman Montana. Beat the Madison River to a froth with the fly rod on Wed afternoon with not even a rise. Only thing that made me feel good was there was only one fish with about a dozen fishermen...and the scenery was awesome!

Thursday we hit the yellowstone and the Gallatin with Rapalas and spinning gear and I caught several respectable rainbows and my first brown trout.

Yesterday morning we trolled spinners on Hyalite reservoir and caught about a dozen small Yellowstone Cutthroats.

Weather was awesome!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 8:41 am

by cape man

Forgot the Gallatin pic

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:38 pm

by fallguy1000

cape man wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 8:36 am Great trip to Bozeman Montana. Beat the Madison River to a froth with the fly rod on Wed afternoon with not even a rise. Only thing that made me feel good was there was only one fish with about a dozen fishermen...and the scenery was awesome!

Thursday we hit the yellowstone and the Gallatin with Rapalas and spinning gear and I caught several respectable rainbows and my first brown trout.20220728_111200.jpg28907.jpeg
Yesterday morning we trolled spinners on Hyalite reservoir and caught about a dozen small Yellowstone Cutthroats.20220729_102641.jpg

Weather was awesome!

I fished some of those dead days. I always carry a hook and dig up a worm under a rock and drift it far away from me and the other fishermen. I think the worms get reaction bites, just like a bait rising off the bottom.

But I fished in Canada one year and caught like 2 fish in a week. This year, Luke and I went to Upper Red Lake and spent 7 days there. We were only able to fish about 20 hours to high winds and caught 10 walleyes. My 2nd worst trip ever. The water was mud stained from all the wind. We'd catch fish where we cpuld find clear water. One clear water area had zilch.

Fishin can be damn hard. Nice pics.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2022 1:46 am

by Fuzz

That looks like it was a great trip even if the fishing was not the best. Some beautiful country you got to see and enjoy.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2022 9:55 am

by Jeff

Great trip Cape Man!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 1:00 am

by BarraMan

I have had a request for a barramundi video!

Nothing new until November, hopefully, but here is an oldie but a goodie! One of my favorites from our first trip to the McArthur R in the Northern Territory in 2017!

https://youtu.be/gKU-GVpxQkU

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:55 am

by fallguy1000

I wondered why there has been a barramundi video drought.

I saw barramundi in the store here for the first time. Well, sort of... I saw the sign. They were sold out. The butcher said they are really tasty and sell out fast.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 8:50 pm

by seaslug

Some random pics fishing mostly my home waters. 2 shots from Chokoloskee.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 10:30 pm

by BarraMan

I enjoyed the pics Seaslug!
Can you give some details of the location, the fish and how you target them.

We are 54 days off harassing Barramundi in northern Australia!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 11:20 pm

by seaslug

I'm in northeast Florida and mostly sight fish Redfish shown, also known as Red Drum, and Snook, similar to your Barramundi. All of my fishing is done in less than 16" depth, and usually, and preferably 4-10". We like to find them with their backs out of the water crawling along the banks. Very challenging, all artificial and fly, no bait but very rewarding. We rarely keep a Redfish, but if I catch a slot Snook, 28-32", it's coming home. I've only caught 2 legal fish locally and have lost a few that were over size.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2022 1:46 am

by TomW1

Nice Snook seaslug they are great tasting fish, know why you keep them.

Tom

I may need a bigger boat...

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 5:06 pm

by OlivierP

The GF14 has been a faithful river fishing platform for the last 2 years, but is getting cramped with the latest captures... here a wels catfish measuring 2.15m

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 5:52 pm

by Fuzz

That is an amazing looking fish! Always good when you catch a fish that makes you need a bigger boat.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 5:23 am

by BarraMan

I am on my way home from a barramundi fishing trip in northern Australia.

More to follow!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 6:12 am

by cape man

Can't wait when the

emoji is used.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 8:22 pm

by BarraMan

cape man wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 6:12 am Can't wait when the emoji is used.

Brutal!
Exhausting!
Frustrating!
Exciting!
Scary!
Epic!

Heaven and Hell - in a fishing trip! All home safe and sound though!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 10:11 pm

by Fuzz

I am thinking this is going to be good

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 10:59 pm

by fallguy1000

I hope you got more than a sunburn, cuz a sunburn can be all of those things! Okay, not so exciting..

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2022 1:25 am

by BarraMan

OK, its going to take a bit for me to get this together. I am currently sorting through photos and video when not cleaning the boat.

Here's a sample!

DAY 1 [Home in Townsville to Cloncurry (The Curry!) - 500 miles]
Set off on a 1250 mile journey from home to the McArthur R in the Northern Territory.
About 90 miles from home I broke a spring on the boat trailer. Took 4 hrs on the side of the road in 100F heat to replace it.
Then near my destination for the night I got a warning on the dash of the Discovery, "Worn brake pads"! A bit of a surprise because it had just been serviced. I went easy on the brakes for the remainder of the trip - using the trailer brakes to slow the rig when possible.
On arrival at my motel for the night, the trailer brakes locked up as I turned into the driveway. Seems that I somehow pulled out the 'breakaway pin' on the trailer brakes as I turned in - and they did what they are designed to do - lock up the trailer brakes. Put the pin back in - good to go!

DAY 2 to follow!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2022 5:51 am

by cape man

TRAILERS!!!

But now that I think, we'll call this the trailer for the full story!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:11 pm

by BarraMan

DAY 2 [The Curry to the Heartbreak Hotel Roadhouse - 620 miles]
An easy one!
Got an early start. Breakfast in the Cloncurry Roadhouse. 80 miles for a stop in Mt Isa at 09:00, a copper silver lead and zinc mining town, to pick up my younger son Stuart and a fishing mate Craig and continue the journey west.
Fuel stop at Camooweal on the Queensland-Northern Territory border.
Lunch and another fuel stop at the Barkly Homestead Roadhouse (BHR), before heading 250 miles north up the Tableland Hwy to the Heartbreak Hotel Roadhouse (HBH) for fuel and an overnight stop. This has to be one of the loneliest, rotten roads in the NT. Narrow breaking-up bitumen seal. Black soil shoulders. Occasional road-trains (prime mover and 3 x 40' trailers) that you have to get right off the road for to let them get past. You guys talk about "18 wheelers"! We have 70 wheelers!
An uneventful arrival at the HBH in the late afternoon. Diner and bed - early start next day!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:38 am

by fallguy1000

If you travel in Ontario, they come down 1.5 wide lanes with 18 wheeler with logs going 40 mph and you basically pull over and squeeze your butt cheeks and duck hoping a log won't be too wide and clip the truck windshield.

It is no fun, but sometimes a hidden lake is worth it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 7:06 pm

by BarraMan

DAY 3 - An interesting one!

Early start. 95 mile drive from the Heartbreak Hotel Roadhouse to the King Ash Bay Fishing Club. Move into our cabin for the week. Unpack the car and boat.

Early afternoon we ran the 20 nm down the McArthur R, out into the gulf and headed east to Lousy Ck. The plan was for the 3 of us to o/night in the boat and get an early start on the morning low tide. Its about 10 nm from the mouth of the McArthur to the mouth of Lousy.
Out in the Gulf it was blowing from the E at 15 kts gusting to 20. The gulf is very shallow and at low tide you are often running along in 4-5 ft of water, and it really stands up in a bit of wind.
We were handling it OK until close to where we turn into the creek (the asterisk on the map below). I was just thinking about turning around when we took two waves over the bow - and suddenly we had 6" of water in the cockpit!

I made the mistake of stopping! Two more waves over the bow and we had a foot of water in the cockpit and a wallowing boat!

Three electric bilge pumps kicked in at 4750 gal/hr!
My fishing mate Craig, a former pro-fisher, took the helm and powered the boat through 180 degrees to get the bow up and out of the waves and kept it clear of the then following sea. I jumped on the manual bilge pump and pumped like crazing! ]
It only took a few minutes to clear the water from the cockpit and get the boat safe and secure again, but we all got a bit of a fright! The boat is theoretically unsinkable and should remain upright if swamped - but I never want to test that theory!

https://youtu.be/sBAYyYwxzrM

https://youtu.be/VrFbqHJ1ZHE

We all agreed that the best course of action was to head back to the cabin, the air-conditioning ........... and cold beer!

Tomorrow is another day!

PS: I don't know why all of our tracks aren't showing on the GPS tracker.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 8:57 pm

by OrangeQuest

Sounds like that could have been poopy pants time!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:56 pm

by BarraMan

DAY 4 - Things can only get better!

Early start (04:00), run down the McArthur (20 nm) out into the Gulf and east to Lousy Ck (10 nm).

We were casting hard body minnow style lures and vibes (little fish-like plastic lures) and a range of soft plastic lures into snags, drains and creek mouths.

The top lure is a Gold Bomber - there have been more barra caught on Gold Bombers than all other lures put together! If in doubt, put on a Gold Bomber!

This is only a small fish, but you can see what we are doing - casting into the mouths of feeder creeks, particularly if there is a mudline!

https://youtu.be/n3qEEsCLUc8

We set ourselves a target of 20 legal barra (>=22") in the boat for the day among the three of us. We had our possession limit (5 per person) and 23 barra boated by 1:00 pm - so we headed back to the cabin at KAB - for aircon and cold beer!

My Brother flew in that afternoon - 7.5 hrs flying sure beats a 32 hr drive!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:22 pm

by Fuzz

Hell of a trip to this point! Seems the fishing was pretty darn good if you could catch 20 fish between three of you before noon. About the swamping all I can say is at least the water was above 40F.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 5:41 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:22 pm Hell of a trip to this point! Seems the fishing was pretty darn good if you could catch 20 fish between three of you before noon. About the swamping all I can say is at least the water was above 40F.

Indeed! The swamping was interesting. The boat was handling the sea quite well until suddenly - it wasn't. Can't say that I was particularly concerned as I believed the pumps would clear the water quickly. I was glad that I had installed the manual pump. Thought it was a bit of "overkill" at the time, but its now going to be replaced by a double action higher capacity pump.

It was a good lesson in how quickly things can deteriorate and how it pays to be prepared.

DAY 5 - coming up! Will it be worse or better? How bad can it get? Watch this space!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 10:31 pm

by BarraMan

DAY 5: Setting the scene!

Ran down the McArthur and into Dugong CK (a dugong is like your manatee!) - caught 4 x barra.

Headed over to East Head - the track between the two islands on the map above. Hit a rock in the middle of nowhere doing about 20 kts (!), on a track that we have followed many many times, in more water than we generally have. The skeg guard bore the brunt of the hit but it also bent the prop, although it remained functional.

We were stunned!

We abandoned any thought of fishing there, motored carefully to deeper water and headed up and around the easterly island to the mouth of the Carrington Channel. Now I have the channel into the Carrington marked on my chart plotter, but my crew got a bit anxious when they thought that because we were headed for dirty water that it was shallow water and urged me onto a different track .............. where we promptly ran aground on a very large mudbank on the western side of the channel. We were well and truely stuck - fortunately on an incoming tide! Moral = don't listen to your crew when you know you are on the correct course!

We sat there for a hour or so. Son Stuart soon got bored and started casting a Gold Bomber around the boat .............. and caught 3 x nice barra!

Once we got off the mudbank we decided it was beer o'clock so we headed for the boat ramp, stopping to fish a drain along the way for 4 more barra = 11 for the day.

Just to finish a horror day, we hit a sand bank - again on a track that we have travelled many times, so another hour or so wait for enough water to get home!

Fortunately I carry a spare prop - so we were soon back in business, eager for Day 6!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 11:16 pm

by VT_Jeff

Is the cockpit self-bailing?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 11:39 pm

by BarraMan

VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 11:16 pm Is the cockpit self-bailing?

No! I thought long and hard about making it so but put that in the too hard basket and opted for large drains eiither side of the rear cockpit floor that drain into the bilge where 2 x 2000 gal/hr and one 750 gal/hr manual/auto electric bilge pumps dispose of it - backed up by a manual bilge pump that empties the cockpit.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 8:53 am

by OrangeQuest

BarraMan wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 11:39 pm
VT_Jeff wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 11:16 pm Is the cockpit self-bailing?
No! I thought long and hard about making it so but put that in the too hard basket and opted for large drains eiither side of the rear cockpit floor that drain into the bilge where 2 x 2000 gal/hr and one 750 gal/hr manual/auto electric bilge pumps dispose of it - backed up by a manual bilge pump that empties the cockpit.

You would have had to have the sides lined up with scuppers like sea going vessels to clear that much water in a shorter period of time. You were pumping out more than 80 gallons a minute. Seems it was a good test of what your boat's limits are, and now you know. Not a test I would want to be involved in.

One of the things I considered before putting my floor down was a big strainer and as big and deep of a bilge area as possible with an overflow area so the pumps can have a chance to clear a wave over the bow.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 9:07 am

by pee wee

What an epic trip! Lots of good stories for telling around the campfire.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:43 am

by BarraMan

Ya gotta luv trollers!

Thousands of miles of waterway and they have to fish over the top of you!

https://youtu.be/oknOJPJo4_w

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:57 am

by Jeff

Crazy people!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2022 4:15 pm

by Fuzz

Lee I just had to go over your epic trip again. You did not close it out, how did things go on the trip home? With the trip you have seems like lots of opportunity for more thrills.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2022 6:17 pm

by BarraMan

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 4:15 pm Lee I just had to go over your epic trip again. You did not close it out, how did things go on the trip home? With the trip you have seems like lots of opportunity for more thrills.

Ha! Yes, my apologies! I have been busy getting the boat back in top working order for our annual Xmas down south with the extended family. I'll do some more today - it only gets worse, and I am still dealing with some PTSD issues as a result!

Have yet to make up my mind as to whether that was our last trip to the McArthur R. The fishing was great but the trip was brutal! :help

DAY 6 - Fat Fellows Creek

Early start (up at 04:00 - on the water at 05:00). Run down the McArthur, out into the Gulf and head east to Fat Fellows Ck (sorry, I don't know the origins of the name!

), about a 45 nm run.
We fished snags and drains. After the start of the rising tide we moved to the mouth where a couple of drains were full of fish. We left them still on the chew to head home. 26 legal barra boated and released for the day. My Brother had bragging rights with a 750 cm (2') fish!

A following sea made for an easy trip back to the river mouth.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2022 10:56 pm

by BarraMan

DAY 7 - The Carrington Channel

A late start to fishing today! We have been threatened by storms for the last few days so decided to relocate my Brothers aeroplane from the dirt strip at King Ash Bay to the closest sealed airstrip at nearby Boroloola township some 25 miles away. Having done that we headed down the Carrington Channel to some spots where we have previously caught barra on most of our fishing trips. This is a quick summary ....... we caught NOTHING = didely squat!

The wildlife were having a nice day out though!

DAY 8 - The Twins

Not marked on the map above but is the spot west of Fat Fellows Ck.

We boated 17 barra for the day, within 100 yds of the marker. Fish of the trip went to fishing mate Craig with a 2.8' barra.

DAY 9 - Last day of fishing is a no-brainer = back to The Twins!

The river and the Gulf were like glass this morning, giving us an easy 1hr 5 min run for the 35 nm to The Twins sitting on about 30 kts all the way!

22 barra boated!

126 for the trip!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 12:21 am

by BarraMan

DAY 10 - Pack up and head for home (only 1,250 miles away!)

Departed King Ash Bay about 12:00 and headed for overnight at the Barkly Homestead Roadhouse some 340 miles away. Shredded 2 x trailer tires along the way, caused by the sh*tty road and the crappy Chinese tires (note the rounded tread)! Changed them for the 2 x spares I carry, but leaving me with no spare trailer tires for the rest of the journey. The following day is Sunday - so no hope of buying some new tires in the small outback towns along the way!

A few beers, a nice dinner and a good sleep was had by all!

DAY 11 - Barkly Homestead Roadhouse to Mt Isa and on to Hughenden

I dropped the boys off at the Mt Isa airport (280 miles) about midday for their 19:00 flight to Brisbane and continued on my journey east with no spare trailer tires. Overnight at a little town about 250 miles from my home in Townsville. Unfortunately Qantas cancelled the flight from Mt Isa to Brisbane (cancelling flights has become commonplace for Qantas!) and the boys had to o/night in Isa and take the 09:00 flight next morning.

DAY 12 - Hughenden to Townsville

I woke up early and decided to push my luck by continuing without any spare wheels for the boat trailer. I figure I was close enough to home so that if I blew another tire or had a flat I would just whistle up a tow truck under my breakdown assist policy. I got home about midday with no further issues!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 1:17 am

by BarraMan

In summary - a great fishing trip, if you ignore the repair bill!

Boat trailer: 3 x wrecked tires; 2 x broken springs (on inspecting the springs on arrival home I discovered another one had a broken leaf). When I replaced that spring I discovered that I had also dropped one brake pad on that wheel, chewed up the other pad and had a bent brake caliper which required replacement. I still can't get my head around how that could have happened.

Boat: Broken trim-tab switch; bent propeller; broken o/board skeg and mangled skeg guard!

I have spent the last couple of weeks repairing everything in preparation for Xmas holiday with family down south!

That may be my last fishing trip to King Ash Bay - not sure that I can afford to travel on the Tableland Hwy again

, although I do have a cabin booked for November 2023!

I am, however, considering a new fishing destination in April

to fish the Albert and Leichhardt Rivers out of Burketown on the Gulf of Carpentaria in far north Queensland - only 700 miles from home!

PS: I towed the boat about 6,000 miles in 2022!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 6:35 am

by cape man

I know you had issues with the first torsion axle, but I'll never go back to springs. I put a new one on my trailer after 6 years of saltwater launching. Actually easier to install than new springs in my opinion. The cheap Chinese tires are an issue for me as well so I carry 2 spares as well as extra hubs with prepacked bearings. I am not even close to your distance for the annual adventure ( 300 miles each way) and running on improved roads, but trailer issues are the worst in my mind.

We are going down in January to the Cape again. For me the question is the effort and trouble getting all our gear and my aging crew set up for a week of camping on a remote beach versus finding a place with a roof and walls. Keep telling myself it will keep me young but the body is starting to argue with that.

Your annual trip to the McArthur is indeed a big task but the images and stories you have documented here are inspirational. I for one hope you go again next November.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 7:15 pm

by BarraMan

cape man wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 6:35 am I know you had issues with the first torsion axle, but I'll never go back to springs. I put a new one on my trailer after 6 years of saltwater launching. Actually easier to install than new springs in my opinion. The cheap Chinese tires are an issue for me as well so I carry 2 spares as well as extra hubs with prepacked bearings. I am not even close to your distance for the annual adventure ( 300 miles each way) and running on improved roads, but trailer issues are the worst in my mind. We are going down in January to the Cape again. For me the question is the effort and trouble getting all our gear and my aging crew set up for a week of camping on a remote beach versus finding a place with a roof and walls. Keep telling myself it will keep me young but the body is starting to argue with that. Your annual trip to the McArthur is indeed a big task but the images and stories you have documented here are inspirational. I for one hope you go again next November.

Thanks for the encouragement, its greatly appreciated!

I know that some on here like to hear of our adventures and a look at a different part of the world.

I was feeling pretty beat up by the time I got home from this trip, but I am pretty resilient and mentally robust, so I bounced back quickly!

I expect to be back on the McArthur again next year. We have been talking about it and plan to target BIG fish for at least a couple of days next trip. I don't think we have anything to prove when it comes to catching numbers of barra!

Yes, one trip to the NT destroyed the rubber torsion bar suspension trailer that I originally had the boat on. I don't regret changing to a roller-rocker spring suspension. It has now done 6 trips to the NT, and the broken springs, while a pain in the butt at the time, are really only a minor inconvenience - if you are carrying a spare.

I try to be prepared for most issues on these trips because getting help can be a problem or an impossibility. I carry two spare wheels for the trailer, two spare hubs with bearing fitted, and a spare spring. I am going to carry two spare springs in future - and will most likely never need them!

Seems to be the way!

They tell me that technically I am a senior citizen but I am still quite agile - so I am aging disgracefully! My Brother is 2 yrs older and is considerably less mobile than I am. However, he loves his barra fishing so I feel its something that we should enjoy together while we can. The bars you can see on the boat in some of the pics are mostly there to insure that he stays onboard!

The other two in the usual crew are half our age and do most of the work and driving once I pick them up from the airport about half way from my home to King Ash Bay. My son has been chasing barra with me since he was about 10 yrs old (now 36) and mate Craig is a former pro-fisher from down south who just loves barra fishing. His enthusiasm is quite infectious!

We are very fortunate to be able to do what we do. I could fill the boat 10 times over with friends I know who would love to come fishing with us - makes me feel guilty at times!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 7:23 pm

by BarraMan

POSTSCRIPT: - It could have been worse!

On the way back home from King Ash Bay, we stayed o/night at the Barkly Homestead Roadhouse (BHR). This is an essential fuel stop for us having driven 250 miles since the last available fuel and with 160 miles ahead to the next available fuel.

We were there on Saturday night! In the wee small hours of the following Monday morning, they had a fire in the kitchen which resulted in the whole place being closed, ie no fuel available. We were carrying extra fuel and could have made it to the next roadhouse some 160 miles further east - JUST! Without the extra fuel we would have been STUCK!

Not a huge problem for me but the boys would have missed their flight home - even the delayed one!

People complain about the cost of fuel at the BHR, but if it wasn't there you would need to carry fuel for about 450 miles, towing a 2.5T boat and pray that the next fuel stop was fully functional!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 6:59 pm

by Jaysen

The Full Hookups crew went on a meat run. 120lbs for the freezers. I’m the guy taking the pictures.

Two big boys pulled 50+. The three “little” ones were 28-37.

Tonight Mrs and I split half a steak. This is the top loin (sashimi), side loin (rare), and belly (lightly fried. Served over rice wine seasoned rice. I think I’m hooked.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 7:14 pm

by cape man

Oh Hell Yes!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 7:26 pm

by Fuzz

I will only believe if you admit they did all the catching

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 7:39 pm

by Jaysen

Fuzz wrote: ↑Thu Dec 29, 2022 7:26 pm I will only believe if you admit they did all the catching

One better… I wasn’t on the boat. This is the crew that I get to provide shore support. I could have gone on the trip but wife was in chemo. I get to clean fish, clean boat, drink beer and listen to the stories. This time repairs and other fixes look like I’m repairing the steering starboard motor (fish bit the electric control in half), building more wind-ons, adjusting/redesigning some drag plates, milling a different angle on some high speed skirt heads, and figuring out why the head won’t stay shut.

I may have figured out how to be “in the fun” even though I’m not allowed to be in the fun.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 2:55 am

by BarraMan

What are they - mackerel?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:52 am

by cape man

Wahoo. A kind of mackerel but the flesh is awesome compared to others.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 7:00 am

by Jaysen

I believe ono is a name you might be more familiar with in your longitude. They are excellent raw, they cook to firm swordfish texture (in my opinion) and are very very lightly flavored even after freezing. The stomachs are very fatty and make excellent taco, soup, or salad ingredients with a light cook. All other parts need a plate and a knife to be suitable for God’s table.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 5:09 pm

by BarraMan

cape man wrote: ↑Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:52 am Wahoo. A kind of mackerel but the flesh is awesome compared to others.

OK, Wahoo I know - was a toss-up! Can’t say I have ever heard of “ono”!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:01 pm

by cape man

It's the Hawaiian name.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:30 pm

by Jaysen

As rose by any other name is still a rose is it not? (Or however Billy Shakespeare said it)

“Giant, angry, boat-steering-eating mackerel” wasn’t sexy any any language.

Today we had wahoo poke. The captain showed up with a “whaaat?” Looks like I will be feeding three post meat run…

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2022 9:50 am

by pee wee

Last time we were in Hawaii there was a place near where we stayed that sold ono ceviche, and man that was good! We had some every day we were there and still talk about it.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:35 am

by cape man

The guys didn't have to go far.. off the dock in front of the house. Spring on the Alafia River!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:37 am

by cape man

Double post

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:38 am

by cape man

Double (triple?) Post...

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:44 am

by Jeff

Nice!!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 2:48 pm

by Fuzz

Nice fish!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 5:00 am

by BarraMan

My Brother and I were planning to fish the Albert and Leichhardt rivers from the little Gulf settlement of Burketown in 2 weeks time. Only an 800 mile drive instead of my usual 1200 mile drive from home.

The pics below illustrate the location.

Unfortunately, things are currently a bit wet at Burketown!

Oh well - maybe next year!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:27 pm

by Fuzz

Lee your little fishing trips are full grown journeys for most people!
I hate seeing that area all flooded over. I knew you guys had been having some lousy weather but not how bad it was. We sometimes do not pay enough attention to other parts of the world.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:44 pm

by Fuzz

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:35 am

by TomW1

Lee with luck all that water will be gone in two weeks. Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2023 6:25 am

by BarraMan

TomW1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:35 am Lee with luck all that water will be gone in two weeks. Tom

They say 4-6 wks for the road to open Tom, and longer for the town to get back to some sort of normality! We had planned to stay in a cabin at the caravan park.

They have a pretty good handle on floods in that part of the world. The last BIG one was 1974, and this one is BIGGER!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2023 3:54 pm

by TomW1

Ouch!!! Tom

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2023 12:58 am

by BarraMan

Threadfin or 'King' salmon (Australia). Note catfish-like whiskers!
Can grow to a BIG fish (100lb). Well regarded here as a sport fishing species and considered by some to be good eating. Personally I think they are pretty ordinary to eat. Often bi-catch for barra fishermen.

Blue salmon (Australia)
S@#t fish IMHO!

Australian salmon
Ditto! (see Blue salmon)

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2023 2:12 pm

by Fuzz

That is good info, thanks Lee

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 1:59 am

by BarraMan

Deleted!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 2:03 am

by BarraMan

Here's a pic of a good 'Thready' caught recently - not by me!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 8:54 am

by Jeff

Nice catch!!! Big fish!!! Jeff

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 8:25 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Not today but popped up in my Apple feed today…

Big friggen cobia…

: IMG_0137.jpeg (203.11 KiB) Viewed 6405 times

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2023 11:52 pm

by Fuzz

Lo0kslike you had your hands full there buddy

Dang nice fish, how do they eat?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2023 11:55 pm

by Fuzz

Lo0kslike you had your hands full there buddy

Dang nice fish, how do they eat?

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2023 5:24 pm

by Aripeka Angler

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sat Aug 19, 2023 11:55 pm Lo0kslike you had your hands full there buddy Dang nice fish, how do they eat?

I think they taste wonderful! It’s kind of hard to describe the flavor. There’s literally no other closely related fish that I know of besides a remora and I’m not eating one of those to compare. The meat is mostly white and super firm. To me the meat tastes a little like buttered crab if it’s not overcooked.

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2023 8:44 pm

by BarraMan

In this part of the world, Cobia are very well regarded as a fish for the table!

I've never caught one though as they are "not the targeted species"!

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2023 7:55 am

by cape man

Kinda fishing....
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/flor ... e-34981103

Re: Anyone Fishing?

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2023 1:43 am

by BarraMan

2023 has NOT been a good fishing year for me, in fact, I haven't had the boat in the water since last year's fishing trip in November 2022.

Lots of things have gotten in the way! Floods, urban terrorists,

prospective grand children, life etc!

Just the way it is!

So I am now in the preparation phase of this years fishing pilgrimage to the Northern Territory of Australia (NT) in search of barramundi! Hopefully lots of them.

For those who may not recall my annual fishing trips, I drive some 2000 km (1250 miles) from my home to a spot called the King Ash Bay Fishing Club (KAB) on the McArthur River in the NT.

This plot from the Spot Trace on the boat will give you a good idea of where I start out from my home in Townsville and my destination. An obvious question is, "Why don't you take a more direct route"? Answer: "Because the roads are absolute s@#t - hundreds of mile of corrugated unsealed boat trailer destroying roads. The way we go still puts us on 400 km (250 miles) of narrow, pot-holed, broken up seal but the remainder is good going.

I have a cabin booked at KAB and we will spend 7 full days fishing in glorious 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) weather!

This plot shows how we run down the river to our chosen fishing spot(s) for the day and back to the air conditioned cabin for the night.

There are normally 4 of us: my younger Son, my Brother, a mate and myself. This year its just my Brother and I!

That's OK, we get along fine - when we aren't having a argument!

Son and his wife are expecting our first grandchild next month. I don't see what the issue is

but his wife likely has other ideas! The mate will be on his biennial houseboat fishing trip with some (other) mates on the same river, a couple of weeks before us.

We normally do the drive with 3 of us driving, with the boat in tow, over 2 days but because I will be the sole boat towing driver on this trip we will do it over a more leisurely 2.5 days.

I have finished annual maintenance on the boat trailer and will finish the repairs on the keel rub on the boat this week. I will work through the boat from one end to the other over the next few weeks, including replacing the 2 x house batteries.

Plan is to be ready to go by the end of October for a November 8 departure.