Carrabelle--Tournament Day (9/8)
Posted: September 10th, 2007, 5:56 pm
My partner and I launched from the Moorings early and headed out the river. We got to the mouth of the river, and just like the others have stated, we were greeted with wind and somewhat rough water. We decided to go west, since it was all we really knew. Our first stop was just west of the public part of Carrabelle beach. We fished there for about 45 minutes with no action at all--throwing topwaters and gulp jerkshads.
So we decided to head further west, down a couple of miles. We decided to try 2-3' of water. There were two other boats in the area, but I didn't notice who it was at the time. After trying this area for another 45 minutes or so, and picking up nothing, we decided to move again. But then I realized that one of the boats was JT and Butch.....so I let my partner know that we were definitely in sailcat territory
. We fished the area for little longer, picking up nothing.
We moved a bit further--around the bluff. Once again, there were a few other boats in the area. But the action was slow. We found a couple of flounder
and one short trout. We continued making drifts in this area with little luck. The wind was really blowing; but we thought we would try the east end of the state park on SGI. We took a beating but made it there in one piece. We fished in 3-6' of water, and immediately hooked up with a lizard fish. Right after that I had a nice catfish (if there is such a thing). At least we felt good at this point because we had something to weigh. Just as I was putting the cat on ice, my partner hooked up with a sailcat as well. It was even bigger. We continued fishing the area for about another hour picking up more trash fish before deciding to head back across.
We figured we'd spend the last couple of hours fishing around the main beach of carrabelle. Just as we got back across the sound and into shallower water, my engine died. I couldn't get it to turn over. The fuel gauge was reading just under a quarter tank--though I'd never ran it that low. We finally made the call to Sea-Tow--and got voice mail
. So I called the 800 number--and they told me they'd get back to me. We set up anchor once we were close enough to fish. Time passed with no call back. It was 1pm when I first called, and it was now approaching 2. I noticed Welby, SKeeter and little skeeter drifting close by. I figured I'd have them let TinCan know that if we weren't there for the weigh in, then don't send the coast guard.
After finally getting Welby and Skeeter's attention....Welby asked if we had any fish to weigh. I told him no trout, and one decent sailcat. He offered to tow us in. But it was only 2, and we didn't want to cut in on there fishing time. Besides, I had the membership to sea-tow .
Welby and Skeeter were sincere about towing us in, and Welby even called Sea tow to get an ETA. It turns out it was going to be at least another hour. So we tossed Skeeter the rope.
At this point the trip was looking like a bust. No trout, towed in, and one heck of a rough-slow-day.
When we got to the scale, Welby, Skeeter, and little Skeeter had the biggest sailcat. Their fish took the lead by .02 lbs--I think. But then our sailcat beat theirs by .02 lbs. to take the $400 jackpot
(If it wasn't for Welby and Skeeter towing us in, they'd have had the jackpot). Go figure. Thanks again, Welby and Skeeter. That was generous, and certainly appreciated.
And thanks to Bad Behavior for sponsoring the very generous mystery fish jackpot. Certainly made a tough day worthwhile. Can't wait till next time.
So we decided to head further west, down a couple of miles. We decided to try 2-3' of water. There were two other boats in the area, but I didn't notice who it was at the time. After trying this area for another 45 minutes or so, and picking up nothing, we decided to move again. But then I realized that one of the boats was JT and Butch.....so I let my partner know that we were definitely in sailcat territory
. We fished the area for little longer, picking up nothing.We moved a bit further--around the bluff. Once again, there were a few other boats in the area. But the action was slow. We found a couple of flounder
and one short trout. We continued making drifts in this area with little luck. The wind was really blowing; but we thought we would try the east end of the state park on SGI. We took a beating but made it there in one piece. We fished in 3-6' of water, and immediately hooked up with a lizard fish. Right after that I had a nice catfish (if there is such a thing). At least we felt good at this point because we had something to weigh. Just as I was putting the cat on ice, my partner hooked up with a sailcat as well. It was even bigger. We continued fishing the area for about another hour picking up more trash fish before deciding to head back across.We figured we'd spend the last couple of hours fishing around the main beach of carrabelle. Just as we got back across the sound and into shallower water, my engine died. I couldn't get it to turn over. The fuel gauge was reading just under a quarter tank--though I'd never ran it that low. We finally made the call to Sea-Tow--and got voice mail
. So I called the 800 number--and they told me they'd get back to me. We set up anchor once we were close enough to fish. Time passed with no call back. It was 1pm when I first called, and it was now approaching 2. I noticed Welby, SKeeter and little skeeter drifting close by. I figured I'd have them let TinCan know that if we weren't there for the weigh in, then don't send the coast guard. After finally getting Welby and Skeeter's attention....Welby asked if we had any fish to weigh. I told him no trout, and one decent sailcat. He offered to tow us in. But it was only 2, and we didn't want to cut in on there fishing time. Besides, I had the membership to sea-tow
.Welby and Skeeter were sincere about towing us in, and Welby even called Sea tow to get an ETA. It turns out it was going to be at least another hour. So we tossed Skeeter the rope.
At this point the trip was looking like a bust. No trout, towed in, and one heck of a rough-slow-day.
When we got to the scale, Welby, Skeeter, and little Skeeter had the biggest sailcat. Their fish took the lead by .02 lbs--I think. But then our sailcat beat theirs by .02 lbs. to take the $400 jackpot
(If it wasn't for Welby and Skeeter towing us in, they'd have had the jackpot). Go figure. Thanks again, Welby and Skeeter. That was generous, and certainly appreciated.And thanks to Bad Behavior for sponsoring the very generous mystery fish jackpot. Certainly made a tough day worthwhile. Can't wait till next time.
, I like that boat in the picture ! Seriously, Congrats on the big sailcat. 
Glad you got in and Kudos to Welby and the skeeters for being true sportsmen! Im afraid Id of had to tell you to hop in and We'd come back for the boat!!!!! 
Remember it starts all over next month!!!
