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Headed down for a day trip. Ended up with four keeper trout and threw back several shorts. 3 trout between 15 and 16 inches and one 19 inches. Fished both east and west flats from about 9:15 to 2:45. Boat and fish cleaning still left. Always a good day when you are on the water.


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Thanks, good report!

Thanks, good report!

We went the same day out of St Marks. Wind was way brisker than I expected from Windy when we started out, so we fished near the lighthouse (2 flounder on white spinnerbait with gulp minnow dragged on the bottom near the long bar) and then drifted the flats (2 keeper trout, and a bunch of shorts). But none of those goofy rabbitfish smooth puffers!
Wind died down, but still a bit bumpy headed out so we just went to the closest reef - St Marks. Coupla 22-23" inch grouper, but the cobia were in a playful mood. Caught six, just one was keeper size but all were fun. My fishing buddy learned to use a gaff (needs a little more practice)
One other fish grabbed a pinfish on the bottom rig and screamed off 100 yards of line before he broke off. I'm thinking kingfish, but part of me wants to believe (and grieve) that it was a big cobia.
All in all a fun day on the water, despite the crowds.

We also fished 5/23 and hit up the inshore first, with short trout and a puffer to show for it. We picked up a few pinfish ( not enough! ) and headed offshore.

We arrived at some public numbers to see some VERY sketchy people out there, most notably @fishin chris who hooked up to something large 5 minutes after we arrived.

Shortly thereafter we ended up with something slamming our bottom bait and a battle ensued. Nearly 25 minutes later we dragged up a HUGE ray from the deep.

We kept more baits out and then Mrs. Srbenda brought in a short 29" cobia on a white jerkbait with a 3000 spinning reel.
Then another bait rod went off, and we boated a 28" gag grouper.



Then we caught ANOTHER ray.



Exhausting.

Got sharked and ran out of live bait. We had some cut bait on the bottom and were bringing up a small grunt when WHAM, a freight train of a Goliath Grouper came up from the deep within 3' of the surface but missed the grunt. Absolutely startled both of us so much that we jumped and uttered several choice words. We dropped the grunt back down for a minute, but no show from the Goliath.

After that it was a remora-fest, and we called it a day.

Good day offshore!

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Sounds like a good day. All the gags we've found in state waters have been 20-23". Hope to get out deeper when the seasons change in June

geofish wrote:Sounds like a good day. All the gags we've found in state waters have been 20-23". Hope to get out deeper when the seasons change in June

Ugh, sounds like offshore was nice. We loaded the boat with pinfish and started heading out but my gps kept shutting off (I think it's a pinched wire). It was also a lot windier than expected, so we went trout fishing and only caught 3 sand trout and a bunch of short seatrout.

Had the same problem with my gps/fishfinder. Luckily just a loose screw holding the ground wire. I've still got a few screws loose though

I had a good trip on Sunday east of the lighthouse. Only brought one keeper trout home, but we had fun catching lady fish. Do the lady fish and trout frequent the same spots at the same times?

I often catch both in the same place at the same time. Sometimes so many ladyfish that I worry that the ladyfish are out-competing the trout in the food chain

St. Marks reef? Wakulla reef? Other? Just curious. (I'm not sure what other "public" spots there are out of St. Marks.)

(If you said "secret numbers" or "my private spot" I wouldn't have asked!)

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Ted in Tallahassee wrote:St. Marks reef? Wakulla reef? Other? Just curious. (I'm not sure what other "public" spots there are out of St. Marks.)

(If you said "secret numbers" or "my private spot" I wouldn't have asked!)

He may tell you, Bit it isn’t polite to ask, if he wanted it in there he would have put it in. Lots of people fish that same public number and would rather it be kept quiet.

Understood! Sorry if I ruffled any feathers.

Ted in Tallahassee wrote:Understood! Sorry if I ruffled any feathers.

No problem Ted. But the clues are out there in other thread. The truth is, ALL of the public reefs will hold fish. It’s just a matter of how crowded they get. Go get em