Sat & Sun

[konrad]

Headed out of Mashes Sands on Sat with my wife and 4 dozen live shrimp with the hopes of catching sheephead and sea’s permitting a few AJ’s. Well the seas were great although it was a little chilly out. Our first spot was a rock pile in about 10 feet of water. We anchored about 15 yards up current and tossed the first shrimp out the back. Within 15 seconds a nice sheep ate the bait, “Fish On”. We were using 10lb class spinning tackle with 3 feet for 17lb floro leader tied to a 1/0 hook. No weights or swivels were used. Over the next 45 min we caught around 15 to 20 sheephead from 2 to 7 lbs. Those little bait stealers we all know about, well these weren’t them. They acted more like a school of blue fish. Within seconds of every cast we would have 10 fish all competing against each other to eat our bait. It was incredible! Never have I seen sheephead so aggressive. After a few I wanted to move on to the next species. The weather man said the seas would start to kick up in the afternoon and we could always come back and catch these if need be. We headed out to 60 feet and broke out the jigging rods. First cast I hook up with a small AJ, then another and another. I wasn’t keeping count but we landed 12 to 15. Lesly, my wife brought 6 in a row to the boat. After that she was done but the smile lasted all day. I always get a kick out of watching a 100lb girl bring in these fish on spinning gear. With both of our arms being worn out I wanted to take a break and see what I could catch with the shrimp. First drop resulted in a 22 grouper. The next few drops I ended up getting broke off. After rerigging with 40lb leader material, (was using 20lb) I was able to bring some of the fish to the boat. Picked up a nice 15 lb red snapper another AJ and a 24 inch flounder and a few small gags. Before we left Lesly wanted one more AJ which she caught no problem. Headed back to the sheephead spot and they were still there. Pick up another 10 or so and headed in. We only kept two small sheep for dinner and let everything else go.

Sunday my dad wanted to go out. We decided to go out of the Fort at St. Marks this time. Like the day before we picked up 4 dozen shrimp. First stop was an artificial reef in 25 feet. Landed 6 or 7 SH and several Black Sea Bass and one short gag. Then headed out to a rock pile in 30feet. We got another 4 or 5 SH their along with a bunch of 2 and 3lb grunts and porgy’s. These were some of the biggest grunts I have seen. My dad landed two nice gags on his jigging rod with both measuring 25 inches. I think the highlight of the day was the MACKREL. Although they were small I caught my first mackerel of the year, actually 4 of them. Around 2 the wind started to pick up so we called it a day. My dad kept one SH for dinner that was gut hooked and let everything else go.

[bman]

two good days!
Sounds like I should have listened to the weather man and headed out earlier...

[Salty Gator]

Good work bro

[leonreno]

Fun Days indeed. Sounds like you had a lot of fun, I have never went out for Sheepies but now you have me interested. Good to hear the mackerel are starting up.

Side note on small mackerel, last year I fished the pier off Panama City Beach and caught several spanish mackerel that were only about 2 - 3 inches long, with a sabiki rig. Never caught them that small before, anyone else ever caught them that small?

[Tidedancer]

Great report. Glad to hear about the Macks. That means some bait is beginning two show up.
Releasing your catch and only keeping meat for dinner is a class act Bro!!