BigBendFishing.Net

Yesterday, 4/20, I finally was able to make my first real trip out on the water this year. With my Dad down from South Carolina, I was excited at the prospect of putting us on some fish but worried the full moon might have the fish in lip lock mode.

Met up with fellow board member Sharkman at the lighthouse 8:00 sharp and we headed out to the shallows to see if we could find any bait. Trip started slow as we didn't have much luck with the bait, but with some frozen cigar minnows on board we decided to quickly head for deeper waters and give grouper a shot. We had a nice ride out and stopped at a spot about 30 feet deep. Spent about an hour fishing the bottom before I got the first bite... about 1/2" short but at least the skunk smell was off the boat.

With no more bites on the frozen minnows, we decided to give trolling a shot. Not that it can't be productive, but trolling usually isn't my favorite way to fish - - but with the bite so slow I was eager to see if we could up the action. Sharkman and I both put lures off the back... and... BAM !!! Action ON!!!

Here's Sharkman with one of the first groupers we hooked...


Picture of me with my Dad...


Highlight of the day... Sharkman and I double at EXACT same second and both haul in keepers...


Without leaving our first spot, we pulled in a dozen grouper before we stopped counting (aren't they supposed to be rare these days??? ). Color of the stretches didn't seem to make a huge difference... Sharkman was using a blue top / silver bottom stretch and I used green top/orange bottom lure until I lost it on a snag / then switched to red head/white body. All colors caught fish at about the same rate. Having not gone out too far, we did have a number of shorts but were able to keep six safe keepers in the boat and we threw back at least two that were legal but close enough we were worried about putting them on ice.

Having just stuck the name "Marine's Dream" on the boat I was relieved to have the first trip out be a good dream and not a nightmare Also wore the social t-shirt and being the superstitious sort, will likely have to wear the shirt on future trips until the luck wears off



Great day on the water with friend and family, nothing broke, and pounds of meat in the freezer... couldn't ask for better

One PS - - Bman, thanks for the cheeks/throats post! Pulled the post up before cleaning the fish and looking forward to cooking them this evening! No cobia sightings this trip out, but will PM you when I see they're here in full force. Also looking forward to getting you out on the Econfina... St. Marks was a MADHOUSE yesterday around 2:00pm with bad chop running about 30 boats to the ramp while a slew of folks tried launching for afternoon fishing

It was probably the Shirt. I had a BBF visor and a pullover on yesterday and we also tore them up trolling. Great day!

How far did you go out in that boat?

2true, best estimate at our distance out (one way) was 15 to 20 miles out of the lighthouse. This said, my Panga is a 22' Marquesas model with trim tabs so I can handle some relatively rough water and still have a good time as long as I'm not riding sideways into swells. The trip out yesterday morning was great and I ran WOT (around 35mph with a 90hp ETec). Had to go a bit slower coming back in as the wind really did pick up and unfortunately I did have to ride the worst angle possible (white caps hitting us from the sides)... first time in 3 years I've actually gotten more than a few drops of spray in the boat (flared Panga bow normally knocks down most all spray!)... we did get wet on the trip back in but I was still impressed with the Panga riding the swells relatively well, all things considered. Don't know what the top wind speed actually was yesterday, but think the weather folks were a bit off on their afternoon predictions

BBG

It was both.

Nice haul, now I'm definitely going out one day this week

Nice report, enjoy those throats.

Good deal- Looks like a fantastic trip!!

Give us the details when you cook the cheeks & throats.

I still want a ride in that Boat!

damn fine haul.

Love those Pangas

I came in behind you guys to the LH in the chop. Both my fishing partner and I were impressed with how your rig was riding out there, sucked down to the water, while we were bouncing around in the chop. Taking the waves at 10-11 o'clock is never fun but that rig looked pretty dayum impressive out in front of the lighthouse on the way in. The ramp was horrible.

And the people driving 20mph on the road out wasn't fun either.

Nice report - get that fish oil hot.

it was definately the shirt....I had my BBF visor and social shirt from 2 years ago and caught fish most of the day. That doesn't always happen

Nice job

Tom, if you still got any extra shirts left I might just have to pick me up a couple extra! With you and Dolphinatic posting great reports this weekend, looks like there is strong statistical evidence building to defend the positive effects of BBG gear

Atticus, sorry I didn't get the chance to chat with you but, man, was I ever ready to bolt from the madness at the ramp! I'm used to putting in at Econfina and I've only seen it close to being as busy once and that was last year during one of the early weeks of scallop season when the weather drove a ton of folks in all at the same time. And thanks for the kind comments on the Panga... took the folks at Panga Marine's advise when I ordered the boat and put both trim tabs and a jack plate on the boat and haven't regretted it for one second! Not only use the jack plate when in skinny water but also in combo with the trim tabs to fine tune my ride depending on calm/rough waters. If calm I can ride fast and high but when things get rough it's nice to be able to push the bow down a bit Got the trim tabs to counteract weight of t-top and the impact of the weight on the boat's balance, and sure is nice to level things out when I have an odd number of folks on the boat and more weight on one side.

And you must have been reading my mind on the folks crawling out of the refuge... not sure they were close to making it to 20 and they definitely had me gritting my teeth and looking for a long straight stretch to pass them Don't get me wrong, I'm as big of nature lover as most anyone (and a fairly conservative driver too) but I also have a rear view mirror and occasionally sneak a peek at it and believe if I saw a chain of cars behind me I might just consider pulling over on the shoulder to let folks pass me