Tom and I left the fort at first light this morning for the first fishing trip in the Tin Can III, It was foggy. We idled all the way to the light house. Once we cleared the mouth of the river the fog wasn't quite as bad. Visibility was probably 1/2 mile. So, we pointed the boat south and headed for marker 24 to catch bait. After catching enough bait, we headed to the first spot. They were biting. Four keeper grouper, and several shorts in the first hour. When the bite slowed at that spot we moved to spot no. 2. The bite was on again. Mostly shorts. We managed 1 more keeper on spot 2. Soon after, the weather alert on the radio went off, informing us of thunder storms to the east. We could see the clouds building, and decided not to push our luck. So, we headed in to the flats. After about 45 minutes of cork slinging we had landed 3 keeper trout, and a few shorts, all released to fight another day. We decided to end our day when the thunder and lightning started east of us. Back on the trailer before 3:00.
The grouper came out of 36 to 40 feet of water. The water had a greenish brown stained color, but visibility was still fair. The water temperature at 9:00 was 81 degrees. It got up to 83 degrees by mid day
Total keeper catch for the day, 3 red grouper, 2 gag grouper, and 1 large flounder. The flounder came from 40 feet of water.
Tom and I both broke off large fish during the day. Although we boated several shorts, there are keepers out there.
All in all, a good time with good company.
it don't get no better 