Running through East Pass, we aimed the boat at the spot where we caught Atlantic bumper on prior trips. I like these baitfish because grouper and snapper like them. More importantly, Atlantic bumper stay on a hook much better than other baits that we catch on sabiki rigs. When we reached the bait spot, the bumper were nowhere around. We headed further south and found a school of cigar minnows. This picture shows a tangled mess, one of the reasons I hate sabiki rigs.
I also hate sabiki rigs because someone always gets a hook in his clothing or in a hand, both of which happened to me on Sunday.
By the time we had our live bait, it was obvious that the winds and seas were much greater than advertised in the GMZ755 marine forecast. These conditions forced us to slow the boat down and limit our fishing to areas north of S Tower. At the first spot, we caught a decent red snapper, caught and released a few small red grouper, and wrestled with a few sharks, both big and small.
At one point, we watched a large shark chase a small red snapper that was being reeled up. The shark was just feet below the surface when my buddy yanked the snapper out of the shark’s mouth and into the boat. The snapper had been scaled by the shark's teeth. With one last lunge for the snapper, the anvil-shaped head and dorsal fin of the enormous hammerhead shark broke the water’s surface. For a moment, I was certain that I was witnessing the end of my trolling motor. (Somehow, the shark missed the trolling motor.) The shark was an easy 8’ in length with at least 2’ between its eyes.
Underwater video later revealed that the first spot was a live bottom area with a few red snapper, but it was covered with red grouper. Here are a few still photos from the first spot:
Here's a link to video of the first spot: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMs4LRw ... 53a3dsZTV5
Here’s a link to more still photos from the first spot: https://www.instagram.com/p/DMs1lyHOPj ... N2aDNnbA==
After too few keeper fish and too many sharks, we moved further to the north and dropped baits down again. Another red snapper came aboard along with more red grouper. Live cigar minnows and frozen LYs and bonita strips worked for us. I was too focused on catching fish to drop the camera at the second spot.
The heat drove us back to the boat ramp early. At the end of the day, we had two red snapper, seven red grouper, and a lane snapper. Here’s the fish pile minus two red grouper that one of the guys had already taken home:
I shared a grouper with a colleague at work, and she turned it into a tasty work of art. People who do this tend to get more of my fish.
