Goal attained!! BlueH20Fisherman & Ranaman Co-captain the CC

[Ranaman]

have a long report to type so hang in there got too much crime statistic mapping to do first... so here isa taste!

[SS-342]

Can't wait for the full load - story! Got my mouth watering and here I sit wanting to go fishing! If the picture is a sample what else is to come, O boy! Looking forward to a real good story.

[Ranaman]

Well here it is Sorry I'm long winded!

Well it only took a year, but we finally got Sensei Todd back to Lanark and what a great return to the forgotten coast for our favorite friend. Only sad news was the Celestial part of the crab was stuck in Valdosta having to do some work at the hospital over the weekend  We certainly missed having the beautiful Celeste aboard as we have tried very hard to accomplish the deed I’m about to share.

Some may or may not know but “our” fishing trailer in Lanark actually belongs to our best friend Todd BlueH20Fisherman, this warm soul has allowed us to use his place for the last 7 years and we can certainly thank god for his presence in our lives as he and the lord make all this possible, that is why you will often find me thanking God and Todd at the end of our reports.

Over the years Todd and I have fished our (3) two boats together; Rhett now owns the bay boat we also used, and I have learned how to fish these waters thanks mostly to him and some others, Jeremy; Line Dancer, Andy on Miss Joyce, Plumb Bob, Illinoisfisherman and a slew of others have taken us off to the blue water and turned this Inshore crew into the offshore mob we are today.

I also have to thank one other person who is no longer with us for instigating all of this, Cody Diorio. Cody has been and will always be remembered as a friend despite the infighting often related to his forum time he never had anything but kind words toward us, a inquisitive question, a hand to lend when fish needed cleaning or work needed to be done, he also is responsible for introducing us to our boat, I’m not sure his mother Sheila or sister Cheyenne even know that it was Cody that emailed me the Craig’s listing for the great vessel we all know and love as the Celestial Crab. RIP Cody WE will miss you!

Well on to the fish story, Todd & I have a friendship that has certain something about it, mainly because we share the same passion and think an awful lot alike when it comes to chasing fish. We have similar memories about numbers and waypoint arrays, weather & seasonal patterns and both like to captain and watch others catch fish; the reward of a great trip is shared even when we’re not fishing together. This weekend we WERE!

Due to life little idiosyncrasies Todd hasn’t been to Lanark in over a year and although we have had some great times that we’ve shared with him during that time, we certainly have missed him on the water in Lanark/Carrabelle!

The plan was for him to go down Friday and finally get his boat prepped and CLEAN as the darn thing is turning green from lack of use, however Friday was a rest day after he arrived and he threw all work out the window after I arrived that evening and sea reports looked like taking the Celestial Crab would be a better choice anyway.

I guess I was also a little wore out from the week as I didn’t make the 6 am wake up and rolled slowly out of bed at 7 “ish” to a trailer of ready anglers. I managed a pot of coffee and bagel and got them moving toward loading the boat for a drop in at Lanark, the evening before we set a pinfish trap and were fortunate to have a dozen or so to start the day.

Goal for the day was to start by chasing cobia on markers and other structure which lead us toward Alligator point and then south from there so we decided to go toward K tower to fish some numbers we haven’t hit in years that Todd remembered as good Red grouper grounds. Our morning Cobia chase resulted in a crab being slammed and fish missed, a pinfish theft or two and Zero fish to show for our efforts. So we headed south! The ride out was a little snotty so I tabbed the Crab down and we made good time in some not so great seas. Todd immediately took the controls when we got near the numbers forcing me to play mate and angler. Reluctantly I proceeded to assisting our rookie angler Zack after getting him set up I proceeded to start catching grunts, and grunts and more grunts! I really wish Brad was with us because he would have fit right in! Well where there’s grunt there’s grouper so I kept at it changing things up every once in a while with a Vertical Jig or Alien jig but still no Grouper even started using different bait combos, still the box was filling with El grunto!

Zack sends down the smallest of bait pieces and of course the first and fastest a smaller grunt nailed it and as it approaches the boat we hear him yelling SHARK!! A second goes by and Rhett on the other side of the boat says you mean this Cobia with the grunt hanging from its mouth!! Some quick moves to get Zach repositioned to the fish side of the boat and the fight ensues! Now ole Zach is a big boy, but that Cobia sure was getting the best of him so we find a belt and get him locked in except he wasn’t following the fish so after some gentle instructions he settled down and began finally making some headway on the obvious beast, although he was a little red in the face by now LOL. The fish finally surface after 15-20 minutes of tug of war and Todd’s yelling to gaff it well I was looking at a rather large fish with a shaky shake going on so I waited until he cooled down a little and popped him right under the chin! Certainly glad I did because I’m not sure I wanted to pull that monster into the boat with a mid body shot, fortunately after one good heft the fish slid over the gunwale and on to the floor with a thud! Although we only saw two boats all day I think they probably could have heard us at the dock as the crew was screaming & high fives rounded the boat!



Of course some pictures ensued and worries of fish not fitting anywhere determined that the day wouldn’t last much longer so we headed back onto the numbers and kept at it until I finally bowed up on something other than a grunt and with a few grunts of my own I finally landed this 27 inch Red grouper to help bring some color to the grunt box!



Zack giving it his best



Me with a good Lift



We pulled up from our spot shortly after that to go troll for kings and Gags on the way in as the guys wanted to throw a king on the smoker that evening. Well we got to our spot and made short work out of that secondary goal and hit a nice little keeper king for the ride in, then Rhett who was skipping a LY on the surface gets hooked up to what we thought initially to be a Spanish quickly debunked as we see green flipping through the air still having a hard time believing it is a Mahi Rhett leaves him boat side to see if there is another in the area, then brings him in as we have no sightings. This is a strange catch for sure because we were in less than 60 ft of water at this time. Few more passes and some good red snapper bait later (Bonita) we hit another little Mahi who spit the hooks after about the 6th flip! Big ole cobie still sitting on the deck with wet towels reminded us we better ride in and we did to a nice quartering sea and 28 mph.
Well that’s the story and I’m sticking to it! Thanks to Rhett for driving down and towing the Celestial Crab for us, Todd & Zack for finally getting him back to Lanark! The Celestial one for all her love and for God for bringing us and this all together! Tight lines and calm seas to you all! _ Capt Crab.

[robbankston]

Awesome report!

[bayrunner22]

Nice report and when you have God first in your life all things are possible

[MarkM]

Fantastic!!! It's nice to be considered... Thank you...

[ddb]

great report, glad you got out

[SS-342]

Don't know what I liked best. The fishing story or the sermon!

Do it again,BROTHER, and tell us about it.

Thanks!!!

[tallykenj]

Wow! That sounded like a great adventure. Congrats.

[Hit-n-Miss]

Nice trip and fish. You know how to get them.

[fishinfool]

[CastTheFlats]

Fantastic report!!!

[big bend gyrene]

SOLID report as always, Joe! Thankful to be able to live vicariously though the great report as haven't been able to make many trips out this summer... beginning to feel like I'm an overworked employee of Bevis Realty Co.!
GREAT to see a report with the Crab back on the water! Already looking forward to the next report, whenever it may be!

[Rhettley]

I had a few more pictures on my phone. What a great weekend!

Joe and Todd looking over numbers to figure out which one's would be best with the rough, dark, choppy seas. You couldn't see the fish coming up until they were about 3 feet from the surface.


The ride out. Joe got the tabs set and it wasn't too bad of a ride.


WooHoo!!!!


Zack with his cobe and king back on the hill.


We had a box full of grunts, some nice crabs from a trap we left out, and the mahi. I managed to snap this one before they all hit the cleaning table.

[Ranaman]

Thanks for adding those shots Rhett!!! It was another rough one but GREAT time had by all!!! Thank for joining the fray!!