Econfina Grouper 9-16-11

[dolphinatic]

Been too busy working lately to even think about fishing, but put 9/16 on my schedule last month to attempt to get my first grouper of the year Decided that Carabelle was just too far too run for the day, so it was off to Econfina to hit a few "close in" spots that usually hold some nice fish. We stopped off at JR's around 6:30am for fuel and snacks, and came out to find a flat trailer tire Nice way to start the morning.... 20 minutes later we were off.

Got to the ramp to find a few folks already there and on their way. A few minutes later, we were right behind them.

We headed out of the mouth and stopped off in 8 ft. to catch some live bait.

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Then, off for a 12 mile run into 2-3 ft. seas...a bit more than what was forecasted. About 1/2 mile from spot #1, we dropped a stretch and trolled over the area. Nothing. Trolled back the other way. Nothing. One more pass...nothing. So, we decided to anchor up and send down some bait. Immediately, all 3 lines got hammered by cobia. When the first came up, it had 5-6 with it After 15-20 minutes of just cobes, we finally ran them off and could get down to the real fish.

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The bite was slow, even though we were marking fish everywhere. Did manage to put a few in the box though...

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Seeing all those fish on the bottom and slow biting, made us opt for strapping on the tanks. If they won't come to us, we'll go to them A quick dive down to 30 ft. almost put us right on top of the fish we were trying to catch. There were gags everywhere!!! The first 2 shots were "through & throughs" on 2 big gags, and they swam off The next few weren't so lucky. After 20 minutes, we had 5 gags, 2 hogs and 10 flounder on the ring The flounder were picked up by me just stabbing them off the bottom with the free spear. They were EVERYWHERE. We surfaced and emptied the ring...as well as took a break. Even 20-25 minutes of that can take its toll, especially with a nice under current. Here's Avery posing with the victims...

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And Ray with a few....

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We ate lunch, chilled for bit snagging grunts, and then went back down to play clean up. We ended up with our limit of gags, and even bagged a few more nice flounder...

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Here's Avery with his "favorite" fish of the day...what he called the "nutsack" fish..

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It was a great day to be back out on the water and hope it doesn't take that long again! Finished the day with 6 gags (24" - 36"), a bunch of flounder, ton of grunts (Avery), a few rock bass, and a few nice cobes released (just for BBG) .

[tallykenj]

Great report. You provided some very encouraging news. It's making this weekend look even better.

[Tom Keels]

Stupid phone. Damn thing never rang.

[SHOWBOAT]

great report Tom. Fine shooting and some fantistic dinners to come

[Scoop Sea]

Stupid phone. Damn thing never rang.

That was a great report and thanks for adding the photos to bring the report "alive".

Scoop

[Salty Gator]

Wow, great day Tom. Way to get after em

[dolphinatic]

Stupid phone. Damn thing never rang.

It was the trip that almost didn't happen. Had 2 others going and they backed out last minute. I'll give a shout out for the next one. Can you shoot a spear? Found out that it can get addictive.....too bad we had to stop at 6.

[PinFishKing]

Great post. Looks like someone is a sharpshooter. Nice headshots.

[Chalk]

[Ron Wilson]

Great trip, report, and pics.

[big bend gyrene]

Heluv'a post Tom!

[Ranaman]

Nice work Tom!

[Rudderman]

It's nice to see that Avery made is back without a hook in his arm this time.