Wintertime AJ's- Carrabelle 1-30-07
Posted: February 2nd, 2007, 1:07 pm
It was a nice morning, Tuesday, with temp at 48degs or so and no wind, when we departed the Carrabelle River on our way to the Bryson area.
I received a call from Offshorerodeo the evening before, inviting me to fish with him, but was already committed to this trip with my neighbor and another friend, Jack. I thanked him and advised, that we'd give him a call on the water sometime during the day, to compare notes.
Little did we know a call would not be necessary.
With a Bryson number targeted in the GPS, we set out on, as flat a water, as I've seen, lately.
As we got to within a few miles of the Bryson area, we saw a lone boat, dead-on in our path. In short order we realized this guy was sitting on 'OUR NUMBER'.('Tongue in cheek' here. I am not particular about my spots, but then, some folks are.. Freddy reminded me Bryson was public numbers- But still..)
Now, 'had been me, running the boat, I would have picked an alternate number in the general area, but not Freddy, who continued to bear down on the other boat til we were within a couple hundred feet of it. At this point, I was feeling a little unnecessary and wondering, if we were going to get shouted down for our intrusion.
It didn't take long to realize the 25' May-Craft was occupied by Offshorerodeo and his fishing partner Ron. This could be good or bad, knowing Leon does not mince words , as a general rule.
But, we were welcomed by the both of them, and told that they were picking up a few fish, mostly RS and throw-backs of other species- All caught on dead bait.
The wind and water was so calm, we realized quick, that drifting was the best option. So we dropped live pinfish and drifted.
Nothing doing with that, so after about an hour or a little longer, we decided to head out for the V Tower. Our pinfish supply amounted to several dozen, so we offered the other guys a few, since they didn't have any, as a peace offering for interupting their solitude. Needless to say, they took us up on it, then off we went.
Upon our arrival at the V, we elected to continue our drift strategy. The bite was on.. Everytime a live pinfish was dropped, the rods would start jiggling. I put a nice gag in the box and in short order, Jack did the same thing.
A number of shorts were caught in the quick onslaught, including a couple of amberjacks. Then, after about 30 minutes, they just quit biting. We drifted the tower area for a couple of hours, with little interest from the fish, in anything we offered them.
Finally after a lot of BSing and cracker and sandwich eating, Freddy's pole bent over and delivered a nice keeper AJ. This enouraged us to stay a little longer, but after another 30 minute dry spell, we decided to head back to Bryson. (Ain't the grass always greener?
)
Upon our return, we found the other guys hadn't done that good, but did have 2 AJ's- One of them, a biggon. We drowned a few more pinfish to no avail, and about 4PM and decided to call it a day.
We gave the rest of pins to the other guys, since they intended on staying a while longer. They offered us one of their two AJ's, which we took them up on the offer, as I was chomping at the bit, to put a batch on the smoker. (Which I did. Umm, umm good.
)
Total haul for the day, was 1 AJ, 2 gags, and the gift AJ. What a deal.
I was told by a friend yesterday, Leon and Ron finished the day with one gag and the one remaining AJ.
Another good day on the water for us all.
Thanks for that nice AJ, guys.
Is that slick or what??
DB's.. What are 'they' doing here?
Th 'Vee', standing tall. Check that water out.. Nice, huh..
Freddy with his bloody AJ. Is 'bloody' a bad word? Cran?
Me and the gift fish. I'm the one on the left..
The Offshorerodeo- A great fishin' machine for our area of the gulf.
I received a call from Offshorerodeo the evening before, inviting me to fish with him, but was already committed to this trip with my neighbor and another friend, Jack. I thanked him and advised, that we'd give him a call on the water sometime during the day, to compare notes.
Little did we know a call would not be necessary.
With a Bryson number targeted in the GPS, we set out on, as flat a water, as I've seen, lately.
As we got to within a few miles of the Bryson area, we saw a lone boat, dead-on in our path. In short order we realized this guy was sitting on 'OUR NUMBER'.('Tongue in cheek' here. I am not particular about my spots, but then, some folks are.. Freddy reminded me Bryson was public numbers- But still..)
Now, 'had been me, running the boat, I would have picked an alternate number in the general area, but not Freddy, who continued to bear down on the other boat til we were within a couple hundred feet of it. At this point, I was feeling a little unnecessary and wondering, if we were going to get shouted down for our intrusion.
It didn't take long to realize the 25' May-Craft was occupied by Offshorerodeo and his fishing partner Ron. This could be good or bad, knowing Leon does not mince words , as a general rule.
But, we were welcomed by the both of them, and told that they were picking up a few fish, mostly RS and throw-backs of other species- All caught on dead bait.
The wind and water was so calm, we realized quick, that drifting was the best option. So we dropped live pinfish and drifted.
Nothing doing with that, so after about an hour or a little longer, we decided to head out for the V Tower. Our pinfish supply amounted to several dozen, so we offered the other guys a few, since they didn't have any, as a peace offering for interupting their solitude. Needless to say, they took us up on it, then off we went.
Upon our arrival at the V, we elected to continue our drift strategy. The bite was on.. Everytime a live pinfish was dropped, the rods would start jiggling. I put a nice gag in the box and in short order, Jack did the same thing.
A number of shorts were caught in the quick onslaught, including a couple of amberjacks. Then, after about 30 minutes, they just quit biting. We drifted the tower area for a couple of hours, with little interest from the fish, in anything we offered them.
Finally after a lot of BSing and cracker and sandwich eating, Freddy's pole bent over and delivered a nice keeper AJ. This enouraged us to stay a little longer, but after another 30 minute dry spell, we decided to head back to Bryson. (Ain't the grass always greener?
)Upon our return, we found the other guys hadn't done that good, but did have 2 AJ's- One of them, a biggon. We drowned a few more pinfish to no avail, and about 4PM and decided to call it a day.
We gave the rest of pins to the other guys, since they intended on staying a while longer. They offered us one of their two AJ's, which we took them up on the offer, as I was chomping at the bit, to put a batch on the smoker. (Which I did. Umm, umm good.
)Total haul for the day, was 1 AJ, 2 gags, and the gift AJ. What a deal.
I was told by a friend yesterday, Leon and Ron finished the day with one gag and the one remaining AJ.
Another good day on the water for us all.
Thanks for that nice AJ, guys.
Is that slick or what??
DB's.. What are 'they' doing here?
Th 'Vee', standing tall. Check that water out.. Nice, huh..
Freddy with his bloody AJ. Is 'bloody' a bad word? Cran?
Me and the gift fish. I'm the one on the left..
The Offshorerodeo- A great fishin' machine for our area of the gulf.
me some AJ.....Frankly, I didn't realize they were still around this time of the year....I guess you have to have a nice enough day to get out there to'um. WTG.....