Took a much needed break with the family for a few days hoping to get some time on and in the water and hopefully off shore thanks to a buddy Andy's invite to fish with him on the Miss Joyce during our vacation. After reading a FS NW forum report from Wartiger57’s catch of Wahoo fishing with Andy, I was REALLY looking forward to getting to know and fish with Andy.
The family actually got it together an hour earlier then I had planned and we were on the road by 11:15 AM Wednesday morning. We headed south and after a few tackle store stops in Medart and Panacea and a quick dinner fixing’s stop from the purple palace (MyWay) we descended on the Lanark hacienda fully loaded with gear for a few days of on the water!! After a fairly quick unload for the amount of gear we brought (I think little people wanted to get in the water), I prepped the boat and hooked us up for a late afternoon scallop recon and we headed to the ramp making sure there were plenty of snacks on board for the dive crew!! We headed toward the armada of boats we had seen out in front of the condos on the way to the house and realized that those boats had thinned and the late hour had left the scalloping pretty much to ourselves! Only trouble was where to start and after a few quick looks we found a couple and got the kids out for the search!!
Well the first evenings haul was not in any way spectacular and we headed home with a handful of scallops and hungry tummies! Proud to Pinfish…
The Scallop King, Josh!
Got off the scallop water and quickly called Andy to see when the offshore fishing trip would likely occur, I had not looked at seas or weather and he replied that tomorrow looked good and that it would be 1-2 and rain chance might not be as high, I asked him if he was ready for my crew and he replied no problems!! So, I asked the crew if they had any problem with getting up early for some offshore fishing and after a resounding NO and it was all set for 7AM!! Well not quite SET!!....
It seems that a friend Jeremy has spoiled my wife on our offshore trips with him by allowing her to borrow a rod huki
that fits on the butt of the fishing rod and is used like a fighting belt, but without the cumbersomeness of the belt and allows the angler to fish the rod on HER hip or upper thigh which Celeste like to do when battling the big fish she catches. SO I ordered her one for our anniversary and realized that BPS version was slightly different then Jeremy's and it didn’t fit the rods I had so I promised her that I’d pick one up at Crumbs or Advantage Marine on the way down WELL with the dog, the kids, and other distractions of the tackle shops I forgot to get her one!! SO after telling Andy we’d meet him at the Indian Pass ramp I called him back and told him we meet him at Blue Water outfitters in St Joe (and extra 20 miles or so) in the morning where he was stopping to get some bait. Well, the kids did great and everyone was up early, eat a good breakfast quickly, and loaded up into the truck by 6:15 AM. We high tailed it as fast as speed traps would allow and past the sign welcoming us to St Joe just as Andy called to see where we were. We bait up and I take a huki out to the truck to see if it will fit a few of the rods I have and it’s does so off we go following Miss Joyce to Indian Pass!!...
We load up Miss Joyce with plenty of drinks taking wartiger’s suggestion; and knowing my kids well enough, put the new tackle including my birthday present in the boat; the Tallus rod for the Saltist showed up Tuesday evening, we drop Joyce in the water and threw the pass we go! Having only launched a canoe from that ramp previously and having never gone out of it Indian Pass itself I paid close attention to the route Andy took, I always like to know how to get home in case of any problems! In this case there were no problems other than a fairly empty LARGE fish box on the back of Andy’s boat!! Little did I know what it would be holding later that day!
At this time I would like to acknowledge; and probably will again later, the appreciation I have for a seasoned mate and our friend Andy has that in his son, Blake. Blake is a great kid, polite, respectful and tremendously helpful toward my family, in which my children have never been offshore fishing before. I want to personally thank Blake for a wonderful and memorable experience with him and Andy! Thank you!!
SO off we go at blistering speed, 23 knots, into the great blue, blue skies blue water and a green crew! Our kids really enjoy being on the water, but unfortunately we just don’t get to take thenm enough for them to ever have the opportunities Celeste and I do to get offshore with our friends . Andy made this possible and they will NEVER forget this Thanks Andy, they loved fishing with you and Blake!!
Ok, we got the thankyou’s out of the way how about a fish story!! First stop was a snapper rock as Andy put it so down out go the baits and out goes a flat line for kings and we’re fishing!! Wohoo!! Rods start to bend and old Andy is no slouch on the rod and quickly starts putting fish to the boat problem was it was SHARKS hitting the flat line!! He did manage to land two very ncie kings amoung the sharks and put a red snapper or two in the box but th sharks were so bad we decide to troll for kings and see what else we could get into… so you guessed it were so here are some driving pics.
Captian and mate.
My Crew
We start trolling for kings and hopefully a Wahoo, and we manage add a couple more nice kings to the box, so it’s looking better, but there is still lots of room in this dang thing so we continue on. Josh picks up a screaming rod and with a little from Mom help he lands his first ever TUNA well Bonita or little tunny but he’s a happy camper! And we have some good snapper bait
Next at bat is Emily and we are now on a nice weed line looking for some color and she picks up a great little jumping dolphin that makes it to the side of the boat only to have dear ole Dad do some unhooking for her!! It’s my entire fault of course and I get razzed for the next hour or two!! Poor Emily will never let me live it down, but she’s a great sport and we continue on looking for a hoo!! After some empty trolling time we decide we need some more fish to put all that ice to work on, so we head for a nice spot in a @ 100 ft of water, screen looks good, anchor holds, and were fishing again!!
This time it’s Sterling’s time for a first!!
His first ever Red snapper comes over the side of Miss Joyce and the bite is on! Andy and I got into the mix with a couple nice 23” ARS ad the kids and Celeste manage their share!
Josh with a good one on
The bite begins to change and we start getting rocked up after having a small fish on the hook or so we thought!!
[/video]So where was I... Oh yea the bite changed after another of our hooked fish began to feel as if they were becoming rocked up. I had one coming north and it seemed fairly small so I handed the rod to Josh and you can see by the video that something changed; that :scratch: of Josh is priceless. this also happened to me, Sterling and Celeste at least once!!! I honestly think there was a Jew fish (goliath) down there or one of the really big cuda's hanging around started to get hungry but there was never any sreaming runs just heavy pull! http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/ ... 008026.flv[/video]Here is one that Josh did manage to land!! This is the kids First Snapper
http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/ ... 008027.flv[/video]
Well soon after that the snapper bite shut down, we did manage a few mangos at the end, but then it changed completely!! and here is the scene...I hope you get this
http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/ ... 008028.flv[/video]
But, if not here is the scene... the snapper quit biting or were being bitten on the way up, so that changed the type of fish we were catching. All of a sudden we have :nilly: at the back of the boat and 4 of our crew decided it was time to get hooked up!!! :eek3: Andy, Blake, Sterling and Celeste were all fighting GOOD fish and no one seemed to have a real handle on what just happened :why:
Andy boated his fish a nice AJ, but an inch short! Then Sterling gets his up and its a nice keeper AJ that gets the gaff and hits the floor! Blake says his was a Cuda and is cut off so he's clear! While all this is going on Celeste has been fighting something that has my heavy spinning outfit maxed out and Foo and Line Dancer have seen this before so they know what I mean!! I'm trying to get two AJ measured one goes back over, and one gets boxed! Celeste says is anyone going to gaff my AJ so I don't have to fight off the Cuda's!!!!???? I get the gaff look over the transom and see this monster :eek3:
Funny how she always gets the big fish :babe: :worthy:
She had been getting razzed by Andy for not putting KEEPer Snapper in the boat having had to vent and release 2 or 3 while he and I caught 23 inchers. That all changed after the big AJ, and she did end the day with a respectable 21 inch snapper to ice the cake that turned out to be our 7 person limit! :toast:
As you can see from the photos we ended up with quite a haul, sea conditions were horrible
at least 4-5 (inches) It never rained or even looked like there was a chance all day which made it nice not having to worry about dodging storms! Totals
14 keeper Red snapper.
3 Vermillion Snapper
2 Mangrove Snapper
5 Grunts
4 Kingfish
2 AJ (Celeste's was over 38 inches and we estimated @ 30 lbs)
4 very happy kids who rocked out all the way home and 3 tired, but happy parents!
LOTS and LOTS of Fun!! Thanks ANDY, Blake and MISS Joyce!!!
I know this is long and there are three days still left of our vacation which included some more scalloping, some St. Joe and Appalach shopping and a little rain here and there, but I think for everyone envolved on my end we will always remember the fishing trip with Andy and Blake as the biggest highlight of our little break from the world!
I also have to thank my great friend BlueH20Fisherman for whom none of this would of been possible!! Sorry you couldn't make it Todd we missed you and your Family!! Also Thank God for getting us home safely and for my family!
Enjoy
- Joe
Andy Still razzing Celeste
Emily claiming all the fish..
The snaps
Kings and Jacks
Josh Helping Mom
And one of the bigger scallops from Sunday!
I did manage to get the swim suit shot of my bride you guys never see her in when we fish.
My Beauty
Her Beast…
I was told by a friend not to put the picture of Celeste first or ya'll might not scroll down to see the fish (he was running for a local office) Celeste told him thanks, but the elections over
See ya on the water!!
-Joe
