St Marks nearshore 12-29 -- 2 wrongs made a right!
Posted: December 30th, 2006, 7:25 pm
NOAA said 3 - 5's, then 2 - 3's. I was dead set on at least checking my crab traps about 6 miles offshore if at all possible and still be safe. Not much wind at my house so we decided to give it a shot. We could always stay in sheltered water if it was too bad.
NOAA was wrong. Turned out to be slick water and very comfortable.
Got out and checked the traps which yielded a good mess of claws. Me and my wife start throwing gulp jigs around nearby structure in 17' and started pulling in black sea bass one after the other. Some of them pretty nice fish. As we're pulling in fish, my wife asks if I ever caught grouper in this area. I told her yes, indeed, but that the odds of a hookup this time of year were slim. They've all gone out to deeper water. Ever the fish professor, I went on to explain that even if we hooked up, there's simply no way you're gonna horse a legal size grouper out of the rocks using our light spinning gear.
You can probably guess what I'm gonna tell you next: Not long after that discussion, Susan hooks into a fish that starts taking drag -- definitely not a black sea bass. Following my expert instruction
a 24" gag grouper goes into the boat after a fairly lengthy fight.
So, me and NOAA were both wrong, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Had a really nice time with my wife and got to take our new puppy out on the boat for the first time.
Flat seas, warm weather, nice mess of fish, beautiful woman, good dog. Life don't get much better than that.
Here's Susan's grouper.
NOAA was wrong. Turned out to be slick water and very comfortable.
Got out and checked the traps which yielded a good mess of claws. Me and my wife start throwing gulp jigs around nearby structure in 17' and started pulling in black sea bass one after the other. Some of them pretty nice fish. As we're pulling in fish, my wife asks if I ever caught grouper in this area. I told her yes, indeed, but that the odds of a hookup this time of year were slim. They've all gone out to deeper water. Ever the fish professor, I went on to explain that even if we hooked up, there's simply no way you're gonna horse a legal size grouper out of the rocks using our light spinning gear.
You can probably guess what I'm gonna tell you next: Not long after that discussion, Susan hooks into a fish that starts taking drag -- definitely not a black sea bass. Following my expert instruction
a 24" gag grouper goes into the boat after a fairly lengthy fight. So, me and NOAA were both wrong, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Had a really nice time with my wife and got to take our new puppy out on the boat for the first time.
Flat seas, warm weather, nice mess of fish, beautiful woman, good dog. Life don't get much better than that.
Here's Susan's grouper.
Wave forcasting is an inexact science at best. Ya never know for sure til ya take a look.