BigBendFishing.Net

New to the area. 40 years fishing off the coast of Charleston Sc. Recent move has put me closer to the gulf. Will be fishing out of Carrabelle. Boat will be here this weekend in southern Ga. Hopefully the fish bite the same in the gulf as the atlantic.

Welcome to the forum. I think you'll find the only difference is you'll need right handed hooks for gulf fish.

Welcome aboard. You're just in time for the red snapper madness.

Do a search of posts by EddieJoe, Tidedancer and others. They fish that area a lot and you'll be able to glean some good tips/intel.

silverking wrote:Welcome aboard. You're just in time for the red snapper madness.

Do a search of posts by EddieJoe, Tidedancer and others. They fish that area a lot and you'll be able to glean some good tips/intel.

Sk
Thanks for the endorsement, but lately I feel like I’m starting over. Old age, sez me.

Tournament on this weekend through Saturday, so fishing out of Carrabelle will be extra busy and kind of nutty. By Sunday will be calmer.

SK is actually the master angler, IMO. Listen to him.
He knows what’s up.

In any case, with red snapper open for a month (wow) if you have a boat that can safely go 10 miles + offshore things will be fun. Weather is the only limiting issue, and it has been like crazy awful thunderstorms a lot, with some calmer times. The fish, meanwhile, are there if you can get out safely.

My 20’ Boat and crew got beat to a pulp last Monday but those who got a line in caught nice snapper and a few grouper. My nerve is less when faced with the purple line on the horizon and lightning hitting all around.

I managed a nice lunch in Apalach, anyway. Each day is different right now. Dog island reef looks good inshore and snapper offshore. Or so it seems. Depends.

Luck

EJ


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Thanks for the warm welcome guys. Unfortunately I'm probably gonna miss the snapper bite this year. Just bought a boat this past weekend (24' Grady White w/ twin 150 Yammies) and I want have it equipped till sept. I'm having to start over from scratch. Don't even have the first rod and reel.
Where do y'all buy your bait from, squid ballyhoo etc......

Thanks EJ.

Nice choice. Grady makes a fine boat. I'm going to test the new 45 with Yamaha 425s in August. Should be fun.

For bait, the Moorings and C-Quarters in Carrabelle or Lanark Market in Lanark.

Enjoy rigging and outfitting the new ride. September and October are nice months to fish. Football, school and hunting season really relieve a lot of the pressure.

Crazytazman wrote:Thanks for the warm welcome guys. Unfortunately I'm probably gonna miss the snapper bite this year. Just bought a boat this past weekend (24' Grady White w/ twin 150 Yammies) and I want have it equipped till sept. I'm having to start over from scratch. Don't even have the first rod and reel.
Where do y'all buy your bait from, squid ballyhoo etc......

Depends on your location. Where will you live, and how will you keep the boat? On trailer, or dry storage at the coast? In Carrabelle itself, I buy bait, ice, and gas from C-Quarters. BTW, we don’t use ballyhoo here for bait, normally. Dead bait would be squid, gulf menhaden (commonly called LY), Spanish sardines, northern mackerel, or cigar minnows. Usually bought in 5 lb frozen blocks.
Live bait becomes key as the water warms. Pinfish from the grass flats (trap or hook), or various baitfish offshore from bait pods using sabiki rigs. Catching live bait is a PITA but pays dividends.

EJ


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silverking wrote:Nice choice. Grady makes a fine boat. I'm going to test the new 45 with Yamaha 425s in August. Should be fun.

For bait, the Moorings and C-Quarters in Carrabelle or Lanark Market in Lanark.

Have fun rigging and outfitting the new ride.

Lord. A 45’? That’s something. And 425s?
Lucky you.
EJ


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EddieJoe wrote:Lord. A 45’? That’s something. And 425s?
Lucky you.
EJ

Yep, part of the growing trend. Jupiter just came out with a 43, Regulator/Scout/Yellowfin have 42s and others in production. All with a price tag of $1MM give or take for a center console.

The 425 Yammies are the answer to the 400 Verado. And of course, all will slice through the water like a hot knife through butter.

I live in Valdosta ga. Will be trailering the boat to carrabelle for awhile.
We always trolled ballyhoo for kings and dolphin. Will have to learn how to catch them here. Thanks for all the info guys. I'm learning a lot..

Econfina River would be closer to Valdosta, but you'd have to pick your days with the GW. Once you get offshore, good numbers of kings and cobia.

BigBendGyrene is the cobia freak, while CarlaBear and Thomas County Curve do well on kings and grouper from there, per their reports.

Mexico Beach is a hike, but the closest to really deep water along the Forgotten Coast. Extensive artificial reef system and a few wrecks produce kings, dolphin and with a really long run, shots at small blues and white marlin. C-Quarters Marina holds an annual charity king tournament. This year they had a smoker in the 50-pound class.

Thanks silverking, I mostly do bottom fishing but like to troll some. I've been looking at the charts of tge gulf and it looks like if I put in at carrabelle the fastest way to deep water is south west. I'm gonna try all over as soon as I get some rod and reels and tackle. Thanks again.

silverking wrote:

EddieJoe wrote:Lord. A 45’? That’s something. And 425s?
Lucky you.
EJ

Yep, part of the growing trend. Jupiter just came out with a 43, Regulator/Scout/Yellowfin have 42s and others in production. All with a price tag of $1MM give or take for a center console.

The 425 Yammies are the answer to the 400 Verado. And of course, all will slice through the water like a hot knife through butter.

All I can write is: that’s a serious boat and some serious money. To put it mildly.

When I ran with the FKNMS officers from Key West to Rebecca Shoals on a 35’ Fountain with twin 300s at 40knots that seemed speedy. But now that’s the old days. And they were filling up every day with tax free federal fuel, day after day. Running 150 miles in a day was normal patrol, and the gallons burned about equaled the miles traveled.

I’m blabbing. What a boat and what an opportunity!
Enjoy, and report back, please!

EJ


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I lived in chucktown as well for a while same deal work moved me down here I think you'll love fishing out of the Carrabelle its an awesome little town

Wife and I have already driven to carrabelle. Definitely i small fishing town. It's 130mi drive but we will just make a weekend out of it.