Had been planning a work/fishing week at BlueH2OFisherman’s trailer in Lanark for quite some time so I took time off the week after Christmas to help Todd out and get a little R&R. After spending some time Wednesday with my bride who had worked Christmas Eve and Christmas nights I hit the road for Lanark Thursday morning. Todd and his friend Jamie who arrived late the night before were already hard into repairs when I got there at noon.
Yes It was hard to believe hence the shaky photo (Todd working on trailer)
We fixed various things at the ole fishing trailer until early Friday afternoon when the sun broke through a couple times and we just couldn’t stand it any longer, we were soon cleaning up our saws and wood and putting rods and tackle into the bay boat for an afternoon inshore excursion. We launched out of Lanark basin by 1:15 to a rising tide and hit the flats toward the marine lab thinking if the fish weren’t up on the flats we could maybe catch them at the lab so that direction was our best bet. We found them out on the flats in small groups and after 4 hours managed 5 nice keepers to keep and cook for dinner out of the 30+ we caught. We worked various depths from 4-10 feet and caught lots in the 7 ft. range, but managed most of the keepers in 5-6ft on a hard bottom that was just a tad warmer then the surrounding areas, popping corks with gulp new penny seemed to be the ticket though I caught my share with just a jig head and gulp. Water temp 61-62.8 degrees.
Friday night Celeste arrived just as fish were being prepped for dinner and the lights went on. We ate a wonderful fresh trout dinner and began rigging for offshore and messing with the new reel’s drag system. After many changes of channel to check the weather and turning the radio’s on for the NOAA broadcasts. We decided were going offshore.
Saturday morning we expected heavy fog, slept in a little and were not the quickest to get moving or reloaded on the big boat. We finally left the C-belle River around lunch and headed to our first trolling spot straight into a nice 2-3 foot chop with some 2+3 rollers mixed in.
Going out...
The Crew...
Mrs Ranaman riding shotgun...
After skunking at our normal starting spot; which always seems to produce a few trolled up grouper this time of year, we scratched our heads battened down the hatches and headed for some deeper haunts at a gentle (not) 15-18 mph. We get set up for some vertical drops at our number and finally mark a fish or two, down go the baits with Todd trying out the Christmas present to himself an albacore gorilla 12 / Trevala combo with the butterfly jig on it. Well, if there was any doubt about how the new rig would perform in the general sections posts when Todd was discussing the purchase, they were quickly quieted aboard ship on the FIRST drop! Todd made quick work out of a stubborn 25 in copper belly and had swiftly removed all stink from the boat. I think he also removed any of his own doubt about the rod and reel purchase!
After Celeste got the man fish fired up (grunts, you’ll have to ask her why she calls them that
) Jamie was next to hook up with a nice fish and after some grunting of his own he put a beautiful 10lb gag in the box! I was trying the butterfly and managed some odd fish like a sea robin and a beautiful electric blue porgy maybe a grunt or two, but no Grupa. (Oops bait fishing with gulp caught the robin)
No one else had anything else to speak of grouper wise for some time so we went back to the head scratching and tried several other spots. Traveling in the rough conditions made searching for fish time consuming and with such a late start the time soon faded and the fog soon started rolling in over the islands. On the way to shallower water we had one last ditch trolling effort in which I managed an 11 lb gag and then Celeste landed a nice 25 in gag on the next pass. Todd called lines in and off into the fog we ran with a following/quartering sea that seemed just right for the big Campion we managed a quick ride to the river at one time cruising above 30 mph. Although Jamie was a little green in the gills we all had a blast and 4 nice grouper to clean at the house.
Jamie with a nice one...
Mine on the green/purple Stretch 30
Sunday’s ticket was a hot sand trout bite; some neighbors of Todd’s stumbled into Saturday, so we headed off early to catch a box full and were soon back at the tiki bar enjoying a hamburger for lunch with 100 sand trout in the cooler and smiles on our faces.
We cleaned up and Celeste and I headed to Old Salt Works cabins on St. Joe Bay for a night alone away from the boys and then we finished New Years Eve wandering around Apalach with our lab pup.
Celeste and I had a great time and have to thank Capt’n Todd for another wonderful trip to the never forgotten coast!!
Happy New Year to all :toast:
