August 1 Sunrise Service & Some Fishing Too!

[big bend gyrene]

One of my old college pals from Atlanta, Jon Hutson, and his son Jonathon called a week ago and asked if I could take them out for a second trip this year (took them out of Econfina in April and put them on reds). With only a week before Jonathon goes back to school, they said it would be their last chance. Jon is very actively involved in his church so I figured for him to be willing to miss church, he had a bad case of the Econfina fever that needed immediate treatment. Told him that not only would I take him, but would take him out early enough for us to see God's handiwork with an Econfina sunrise. The Master Painter's work was amazing.

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After having paused to enjoy the beautiful sunrise, we enjoyed WOT conditions and raced to fill the boat with bait. Yet again this year, the weathermen were batting zero having called for a rough day that was turning out to be polar opposite. Though the waves were mild, the current was ripping and making pinfish a bit tougher to catch with sabikis. Stopped when I thought we had the bare minimum we needed and we ran offshore.

Found some good structure and anchored up to see if we could find anything at home. Had something happen that I had never had happened before. Darn macks and blues wouldn't let us get a pin to the bottom. Made for great entertainment for Jon and Jonathon and even I was stunned to see 20 to 30 macks and blues rise from the depths the VERY second our pins hit the water inches off our stern. Have seen tons of feeding frenzies yards from the boat, and had tons of macks follow a lure to the boat but never had them just sit under and take big pins, but they did so for about an hour. It put a frightening dent in our bait well population and I worried that it might be the first trip offshore this year without a man in a brown suit making it into the boat. As the tide started to wane, the macks and blues backed off, but not before a big ladyfish took it upon herself to jump in the boat -- yet another first. Promptly crapped all over the place too, but had that happen too many times to count...

And then the brown suits showed up! Landed my largest to date (a 35 pounder) earlier this year but our first hit came from a SIGNIFICANTLY bigger one. Lost it near the boat only to discover that it had bent a relatively heavy gamakatsu hook! Was sad to have lost a massive cobe, but having brought it close enough for the company to see had us all QUITE eager for a second chance. We weren't disappointed. Jon quickly landed a keeper and we put it on ice.

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Fought two more cobes, as well as a five foot bull shark, but lost them all near the boat. With meat in the ice chest, I was only a bit saddened that we didn't get the chance to tag the bonus cobes.

By this time we were left with a single pin. We all agreed we would sink it to the bottom and call it a day for the offshore fishing after the pin was gone. Quickly got a hit and due to the extreme bend in the rod, I knew it was one of two usual suspects... a goliath or a BIG nurse shark. It was the latter and we managed to not only haul it up but save the hook.

At PA's command (his retirement rank FAR exceeds the E4 I acquired), I put together a recap video. Not as good as the one my lil bro did a few weeks back, but hope you all enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXO0emewzDY[/video]

And with the sunrise beginning, have to share that we ended by waited out storms over Tallahassee by anchoring outside Hickory Mound and watching the sun begin to set. Stayed dry and talked about what a blessed day we shared.

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[jadams92002]

[Flint River Pirate]

Great report! Thanks for sharing.

[Jumptrout51]

Nice.

[bman]

Great trip and video- at first I thought the sharks were cobia

[big bend gyrene]

Couple of things forgot to mention.

We were treated to having a manatee visit us outide the Hickory Mound area. Tide was VERY low and we were waiting to go back in. We were right at a mile off the grassline and kept seeing something dark coming up out of the water. At first we thought it was a shark fin, and the wake being pushed made us even more suspicious it was a shark but then heard it breathing and knew what it was. It came close enough to the boat we could clearly see it was a manatee. Sure would have been easy to hit being out in the middle of the bay a mile or so out. Made me watch the water a great deal more carefully on the way back in.

As for the offshore macks/bluefish/jacks, found a very fun way to catch them as evidenced in the video. A Heddon Tiny Torpedo! Drives those suckers nuts. Figured with it's small size it would be a fair glass minnow replica and wasn't disappointed! Only thing is the blue coating was off in about two bites, but didn't matter a bit to the fish. Hit the plain bone white plastic all day long. Having them bust it up top was sure a lot of fun.

[Tidedancer]

Great report and video. Never thought of using a a small crank-bait on macks. What # leader?

[big bend gyrene]

Tidedancer, either # 10 or 15... honestly don't remember. Almost sure it was Cortland Toothy Critter tie-able wire which wally world use to carrry. Love the specific package I bought as it has a super thin plati-coating of green over the very thin wire, making it much less shiny/visible than the standard stainless uncoated wire. Been looking for some more recently, but haven't found it. Definitely has made a difference in my hook-up ratio.

As for the tiny torpedo, promise you find them biting it's a blast to watch them go after it, though again any coating on the lure will be gone in seconds.

[KyTrkyHntr]

Great report! How do you like the Joby Gorillapod?

[big bend gyrene]

How do you like the Joby Gorillapod?

KyTrkyHntr, I have mixed feelings about the Gorillapod. Not that it doesn't function as advertised. It holds on to my railing well and holds my camera with no resulting flex. It's come in handy for timer photos and I've used it several times to film us hauling cobes over the stern. In cases where you can predict where you will be positioned it's a good tool to have and worth the money.

Above said it does have limitations... 1) big fish don't fight in a fixed spot so filming someone fighing a mogan requires following them around the boat and 2) to get the best viewpoint of a fight I often need to get as far back from what I'm filming as I can. At the 2:50 mark in the video I jumped up to the bow so I could film Jon fighting the shark from as high of point as possible while having the ability to get Jon and the nurse shark in the same frame. The t-tower makes for a great place to attach the gorillapod but if someone's fighting the fish by the t-top the camera is way too close to them.

[Ron Wilson]

You are a Cobe machine, BBG. You really need to share some of the location/tactics info with a Brother Marine.

[big bend gyrene]

Ron, this board is so full of fellow gyrenes if I share my scoop there will be a fleet week attack on my honey holes!

Dang that didn't sound right... ... sounded like something JT would say!

By the way, check your inbox. Shared a clue or two.

[Ron Wilson]

Ron, this board is so full of fellow gyrenes if I share my scoop there will be a fleet week attack on my honey holes!

Dang that didn't sound right... ... sounded like something JT would say!

By the way, check your inbox. Shared a clue or two.

Yep. Do recall last Nov's B'Day post that there are more Marines on this forum than I originally thought.

Can't wait to hear JT's response.

Yes Sir. Got it, sent you one back.

[tallykenj]

Great report. Thanks. It's nice to hear about the fun.