7/28-29
Posted: July 30th, 2007, 8:38 am
My parents were in town this weekend, so my normal fishing patterns were broken. Left to meet them at Cape San Blas after work Friday. Had dinner at the Magnolia Grill in Apalach along the way. Chef Charlie makes a heck of a meal, and they are dog friendly. Would highly recommend stopping in.
Saturday the old man and I decided to forego fishing the Bay and go in search of tarpoon. We left out of IP about day break. First cast with the castnet came up with only jellys. As I prepared for a second cast, I realized that even after you shake those things out, they can still burn you. I now had a knee, lips and wrists on fire, but no bait in the well. Managed to get off a second cast though, and it had so many 5" pogies I could barely lift the net.
After about a 15 minute cruise we saw the first tarpoon free jump. Started drifting and caught 4-5 of the biggest sail cats I've ever seen. Other boats started to move in, so dwe ecided to relocate. Made it to a channel well known for tarpoon, and could see plenty of them rolling and free jumping. Imeadiately my dad's drag lit up. Managed to boat a mackeral that was probably 8-9 pounds. Looked like a spanish, but bigger than any spanish I've ever seen and had the sharp drop to the lateral line, so I wonder if it was a king. Pics to come after my dad sends them to me, and hopefully somebody can confirm for which it was. Fished for a while longer with no action when my dad's line starts singing again. This time I he tightens the drag and I hear "Holly #$*^" and turn to see a big tarpoon landing from a jump. We fought the fish for about 40 minutes without seeing it again thinking how wierd it is the fish hadn't surfaced again. Finally, we see it and it is a huge bull shark. Probably 7-8' and 250#'s. Put the gloves away, as they are obviously not the proper tools to land this beast. Not sure if the shark just scared a tarpoon when he made the first run or what, but it sure had us confused and a little disappointed. Well, we were supposed to meet the girls back at CSB just after noon, so we headed back to the house.
Put the boat in the water once more at Eagle Harbor and ran to the end for some secluded beach and cocktail drinking. The water in the Bay was a little angry, but I was really happy with the way my little boat performed, especially in light of all the weight it was carrying.
Came back to Tally Sunday morning since Katie had to head to Tennessee on work. I took the 'rents down to St. Marks and collected a limit of scallops in short order just west of GMR. Had a feast of scallops cooked in various ways last night, and we let the dogs get their energy out playing with each other. The 'rents headed home today, and another monday is upon us.
Weekends sure are fun, and always great to see the family. Boat appears to be back in good working order. Guess the problem was pretty simple in that I had accidently purchased a deep cycle battery rather than a cranking battery.
Now I have a new dual purpose Optima that should keep me running for a while.
Saturday the old man and I decided to forego fishing the Bay and go in search of tarpoon. We left out of IP about day break. First cast with the castnet came up with only jellys. As I prepared for a second cast, I realized that even after you shake those things out, they can still burn you. I now had a knee, lips and wrists on fire, but no bait in the well. Managed to get off a second cast though, and it had so many 5" pogies I could barely lift the net.
After about a 15 minute cruise we saw the first tarpoon free jump. Started drifting and caught 4-5 of the biggest sail cats I've ever seen. Other boats started to move in, so dwe ecided to relocate. Made it to a channel well known for tarpoon, and could see plenty of them rolling and free jumping. Imeadiately my dad's drag lit up. Managed to boat a mackeral that was probably 8-9 pounds. Looked like a spanish, but bigger than any spanish I've ever seen and had the sharp drop to the lateral line, so I wonder if it was a king. Pics to come after my dad sends them to me, and hopefully somebody can confirm for which it was. Fished for a while longer with no action when my dad's line starts singing again. This time I he tightens the drag and I hear "Holly #$*^" and turn to see a big tarpoon landing from a jump. We fought the fish for about 40 minutes without seeing it again thinking how wierd it is the fish hadn't surfaced again. Finally, we see it and it is a huge bull shark. Probably 7-8' and 250#'s. Put the gloves away, as they are obviously not the proper tools to land this beast. Not sure if the shark just scared a tarpoon when he made the first run or what, but it sure had us confused and a little disappointed. Well, we were supposed to meet the girls back at CSB just after noon, so we headed back to the house.
Put the boat in the water once more at Eagle Harbor and ran to the end for some secluded beach and cocktail drinking. The water in the Bay was a little angry, but I was really happy with the way my little boat performed, especially in light of all the weight it was carrying.
Came back to Tally Sunday morning since Katie had to head to Tennessee on work. I took the 'rents down to St. Marks and collected a limit of scallops in short order just west of GMR. Had a feast of scallops cooked in various ways last night, and we let the dogs get their energy out playing with each other. The 'rents headed home today, and another monday is upon us.
Weekends sure are fun, and always great to see the family. Boat appears to be back in good working order. Guess the problem was pretty simple in that I had accidently purchased a deep cycle battery rather than a cranking battery.
Now I have a new dual purpose Optima that should keep me running for a while.
and then immediately broke the steering and limped back to shore for a day long repair of the hydraulic steering 
fun times with yer dad can never be replaced 
