CCA Star Tourney: Finally passed 100 catches for the summer

[GaryDroze]

Got catches 100 and 101 this morning, both at St Marks Refuge. What beautiful weather today! The tagged redfish continues to elude, but I'm keeping the neighborhood happy with fresh fish fillets.

Also: Won the Tallahassee Builders' Association Redfish division Saturday with a 6.34 red. Prize was $275. Entry fee was $300. Tried to eat $25 worth of free hot dogs at the weigh-in to make up the difference. Could not.

[FTReelty]

If only they had free beer??? Good Catchin!

[silverking]

Congrats Gary. That's quite the accomplishment. Hope it translates into some cool prizes from the STAR tourney.

What's next, the Coney Island hot dog eating contest?

[rockyg]

Congrats Gary. That's a lot of trips and a level of dedication that few of us have.

Certainly not me. When I caught that tagged Red in 2017 it was catch number 2 for me. So it can certainly happen to anyone.

[BillytheKid]

Haven't reached the 100 catches mark yet. I have 104 entries, but 44 of them are the trash division.

[silverking]

Commendable results on both, Billy.

[BillytheKid]

There is a huge amount of trash out there after hurricane Michael. Especially around the Shell Point area that had a lot of tidal surge.

[Williamsdad]

I'm at 25, a new high for us, hoping to get to mid 30s but going away over the next 2 weekends.

Mitzi and an extended trip to New York have slowed Luc and Savannah, but we still love it. As I've said before, STAR entries define a "good" day June-Sept.

[Williamsdad]

Forgot to compliment you Coach, 100+ is absolutely amazing, you must double up every trip! By my count, there's only been 68 days.

[GaryDroze]

Well, one advantage of being a teacher/coach is that we have flexible summers. Lotsa work still, but we make our own hours June-Aug. I have been scheduling meetings, practices, and lesson plans around the best tides! Most fishing days, I've been fortunate to get 2-4 CCA tourney catches, entering in multiple divisions. My free time ends next Monday, when all teachers go back to the grind.

In the spirit of spreading fishing knowledge, I'm happy to report that St Marks Refuge waters - creeks and coves - are consistently giving up reds & trout wherever you see a lot of mullet. An hour either side of both low & high tides, especially in creeks with big intersections of multiple side flows, has produced all summer. Targeting where bait get flushed in or out of waterways will get you on the fish. This is nothing you veteran catchers don't already know!

As of today, I'm at 106 CCA catches. Hint: Stoney Bayou seems to be hosting a redfish convention this week.

[GaryDroze]

111 CCA catches as of today. Stoney Bayou is still a seafood market. Also got two yellowtail jacks on two consecutive casts. Any hints on how to cook these guys? I will never pass up the chance to fry an offbeat fish, but have not caught one of these little brutes in 2 years and can't remember how I cooked it. BTW, they fight like seatrout on steroids!

[tailwaters]

Congrats of the many catch's Gary. I'm jealous about the amount of time you get to spend on the water (shore)! BTW are you sure they were "yellowtail" jacks? Could they have been small Jack Crevalle? Yellow Jacks, more commonly called Bar Jacks are a S. FL fish. They are supposed to be good to eat but never seen any this far north. Not saying they aren't, just very surprised to hear they came this far north.

[GaryDroze]

Excellent point. I'm not expert on either species, so I'll hit the internet and compare pictures. Have an eerie feeling that you are right & they are small jack crevalle, which I suspect are not so high up on the good eating fish list. Will cook them anyhow & report taste results.

[GaryDroze]

Good call. They were baby jack crevalle...

...and they fried up as good as any reds or trout I've ever cooked. Just hafta not be freaked out that the meat is reddish. Tasty is tasty, nevermind the color.

[BillytheKid]

I have run into a few schools of Jack's this year. Fun to catch with light gear from a yak for sure. Never eaten one before so I didn't keep any of them.