Cedar Key offshore (Friday grouper). Jun 15 07
Posted: June 16th, 2007, 9:22 am
We left the CK dock at 6:30 a.m. aboard the Bare Necessities and headed offshore with three friends; Sanford (Sanman), James, & Marty. We first stopped in 20 feet to catch bait and had to anchor as the drift was too fast. With about 50 unwilling participants aboard we headed offshore to see what we could dig up. Fishing from 35 to 45 feet the bite was slow and we had to stop at numerous numbers to box fish. We fished a couple of new spots along the way out with one holding grouper. Along the way we released a number of legal red grouper while holding out for larger reds.
Marty with a nice red
Frozen bait was harassed by grunts, triggers, and other fishies while the live bait was more inclined to get hit by grouper. Overall, our bottom bite was slow and we had to work to put fish in the box. IMO we’re approaching that time of the year regarding grouper fishing when bait is abundant and the water temperature is getting pretty warm making shallow water grouper fishing challenging. Pretty soon this will make grouper fishing tough in water less than 40 feet for the next few months unless things come together just right.
With about an hour remaining we switched gears to play with some larger fish and headed to a spot that usually holds amberjack. Once there we saw a large object floating which turned out to be a good sized jewfish (Goliath ~ 100 lbs) still very much alive that had a fresh hole in it’s head about 3.5 inches deep. It wasn’t a powerhead hit and was most likely a strong speargun (at least 3 bands) that had punched through the head bones but didn’t penetrate much deeper. Just prior to getting to this spot in the distance we saw a larger boat leaving the area that had a cabin (> 26 ft). There was nothing we could do for this fish so we anchored and played with the AJs for a bit.
James with a nice gag
Offshore the water temperature was 80.2 degrees F. Low & high tide was 0819 (2.0 ft) and 1358 hrs (4.6 ft), respectively. It was new moon and the tide was honking! Water clarity was not good. You could make out patches of hard bottom in 40 feet but couldn’t see bottom. Barometric pressure was steady ranging from 30.00 – 29.98 inch HG. Baitfish pods were everywhere as were the bonita in the deeper water tearing up the numerous bait pods. Trolling would not have been problematic as there wasn’t too much grass on the surface. The “gumboâ€
Marty with a nice red
Frozen bait was harassed by grunts, triggers, and other fishies while the live bait was more inclined to get hit by grouper. Overall, our bottom bite was slow and we had to work to put fish in the box. IMO we’re approaching that time of the year regarding grouper fishing when bait is abundant and the water temperature is getting pretty warm making shallow water grouper fishing challenging. Pretty soon this will make grouper fishing tough in water less than 40 feet for the next few months unless things come together just right.
With about an hour remaining we switched gears to play with some larger fish and headed to a spot that usually holds amberjack. Once there we saw a large object floating which turned out to be a good sized jewfish (Goliath ~ 100 lbs) still very much alive that had a fresh hole in it’s head about 3.5 inches deep. It wasn’t a powerhead hit and was most likely a strong speargun (at least 3 bands) that had punched through the head bones but didn’t penetrate much deeper. Just prior to getting to this spot in the distance we saw a larger boat leaving the area that had a cabin (> 26 ft). There was nothing we could do for this fish so we anchored and played with the AJs for a bit.
James with a nice gag
Offshore the water temperature was 80.2 degrees F. Low & high tide was 0819 (2.0 ft) and 1358 hrs (4.6 ft), respectively. It was new moon and the tide was honking! Water clarity was not good. You could make out patches of hard bottom in 40 feet but couldn’t see bottom. Barometric pressure was steady ranging from 30.00 – 29.98 inch HG. Baitfish pods were everywhere as were the bonita in the deeper water tearing up the numerous bait pods. Trolling would not have been problematic as there wasn’t too much grass on the surface. The “gumboâ€
