Speckled Trout USA @ St. Joe

[Jumptrout51]

Michael(Preacher) Aman and I pulled into the Bluewater Outriggers at 1:15 on Friday.
He came from the East,I pulled in from the North.
A hundred dollars later we head to the City Ramp.

Wind was from the West at 20.
Three footers in the bay and breaking on top.

It was nasty,but we had to get a feel for it because the same weather prediction was forecast for the Saturday tournament presented by Cabelas.

About 20 minutes of fishing produced 2 nice reds in the boat. The Preachers red weighed in at 6 and 1/2 pounds. Not bad for a 25 inch fish.
The tournament included a $500 prize for Big Red.

We fish until 6:30 looking for trout on a quickly vanishing tide.
We found numerous 14 3/4 inch fish.

Back at the St.Joe Marina before 7pm to register.

Stopped at The Sunset Grill for dinner.
6 margaritas,Crab dip,Surf and Turf.
The Preacher had a Shirley Temple and the Bourbon Penne Pasta with crab.

Off to The Mainstay Suites for a late check-in at 9pm.

While unloading the trucks we see The President. nfgfc that is. Steve Stinson and family pull in with the WetJet.
They were after scallops on Saturday.

The 4 am wake up call came 3 hours after falling asleep. I think they were doing demolition in the room above us that night.Really noisy.
Walked outside and the palm trees were bending over,very cloudy and thunder in the distance.

Back at St.Joe Marina by 5:30 for the mandatory Captains meeting.
We were released from there at 6:30am to go to our launch sites.
Several boats pulled out and went west to Crooked Island area. Some to City Ramp,some to San Blas.
We chose Presnells.

Three footers were still in the bay. They got knocked down some in the shallow water.The drift speed was very rapid.That combined with lots of floating grass made fishing a real challenge.
We kept one eye on the topwater lure and the other on the numerous storms around us.
Short trout were the main action with a few ladyfish thrown in. The catfish got plenty of action too.

We had to relocate a few times to evade the storms. One of those times we were bucking 3 footers for a couple miles.
After settling down on the drift,the Preacher hooks up with a nice over-slot trout and summons the net.
Seems we no longer have a net.
Although the Zara Spook hooks look firmly set,power landing did not work.
We both proceed to loose several upper slot fish from thrashing loose at boat side.

When the clock struck 3 we had to wind up the poles and proceed to the weigh in. On the ride back the Preacher says he feels embarrassed to show up with only 2 fish. I said "who knows,we might be the winners".

Back at the scales most boats had already checked in,several fishermen we found out,called in and were not coming back.

The fishing conditions turned out to be tough for everyone. Only 2 boats weighed a 5 fish limit. Eleven and 1/2 pounds took the $2500 top prize,9 pounds and some ounces got $1200 for 2nd and the 7 pound stringer picked up $800 for third.
Fourth got the 80 pound MinnKota trolling motor that I could have used.
Fifth place(that is us) got the Bobs Machine Shop hydraulic jackplate(currently for sale).
Sixth went to a St.Joe guide for 1 fish. He won a Humminbird bottom machine.
Seventh and Eighth place got what we needed earlier............dip nets filled with lures.

Big Trout won a $500 gift certificate for a 3.25 pounder.
Big Red at 5 pounds won $500 cash. Only 2 reds were weighed.

Next Cabelas Speckled Trout USA tournament is a 2 day event November 6&7 at Perry and Steinhatchee.
I will be there with 2 dip nets.
One will be tied to the boat.

Enjoyed it Preacher. You fish really hard.

[DixieReb]

At least yall gave it a go, it sounds like it was mighty tuff this weekend. And congrats to the winners.

[bman]

Nice post JT- Next step is adding a few photos

[FishWithChris]

Best post I've seen from JT in a while... let alone one that involves "catching" fish!

Good job guys, glad to see bbf/nfgfc represented well!

[Jumptrout51]

Nice post JT- Next step is adding a few photos

No time on tournament day.
Gotta keep bait in the water(and cut hooks out of the net).

[Tidedancer]

Great report JT!!

[Atticus]

Nice work!

[SHOWBOAT]

Nice work guys.

JT, why don't you put that JP on the SeaArch?

[Harmsway]

Hat's off to you, JT and Preacher.

[Chalk]

Good job JT and crew

[Jumptrout51]

Good job JT and crew

Tried calling you for HotSpots.
If you had answered,your HotSpots would have been 18 inches one second and 48 the next.

[Jumptrout51]

http://www.wfn.tv/news/index.php?blog=408831

[Steve Stinson]

Sounds like a tough time. We got chased off the water twice on Saturday by the lightning and high wind. I was escaping the high waves by running back to Eagle Harbor in a foot or less between the sandbars and the shore when we passed two guys walking and pulling a boat behind them with 3 small girls in it. We gave them a tow back to the ramp.

By Sunday am, the weather was better, but Andrew and Melissa had given up on the scalloping. They went to the beach across from Eagle Harbor, and I launched the boat and fished the bay. Caught shorts and ladyfish around Black's Island, then moved to the West side and caught some nice fish up in the shallow water. One trout so big that he removed the rear hook from my Chug Bug and made a boat-side escape. (Even with a net you don't get em all!)

Sunday morning the ramp was covered up with law enforcement, search personnel and a helicopter. One of the members of a scalloping group on board a pontoon boat went under and did not re-surface. His party called 911 and the search began Saturday evening. By Sunday afternoon around 1:00 pm when we left, they still had not found any sign of him. For me, fishing alone, it was a stark reminder of how quickly things can go terribly wrong. I drove a little slower than normal and wore my life jacket and kill switch every time I started the outboard. Prayers were sent for the family and friends.

Please be sure to be safe out there.

- Steve Stinson

[Jumptrout51]

Sorry to hear that about the scalloper.
That is one reason I get MY scallops from Publix.

[fishinfool]

When you get out of the boat you lose you place on the food chain.
FF