St. Joe bay and Carrabelle 7/3-7/12/08
Posted: July 13th, 2008, 5:47 pm
The family spent the 4th at Mexico Beach as usual this year. Friday we scalloped at St. Joe Bay. Scallops numbers were adequate and they were fairly large. Check the southeast portion of the Bay if you're down there. Most came out of 4' of water or less. Friday night we caught the Mexico Beach fireworks from the beach with Barhopr and his family. Barhopr had some mean South Carolina fireworks that kept us entertained until the show started.
Saturday we headed to Carrabelle for offshore fishing. We fished in 60' of water just north of the O tower with live and dead bait. Brought home 10 nice grouper and 2 snappers.
Sunday we moved from Mexico Beach to a condo at Pickett's Landing in Carrabelle.
Monday found me launching pre-dawn from Lanark looking for some reds to pull my string. Found 8 not far from the ramp willing to play. Caught them on topwater and the spoon.
I met the family at Lanark mid-morning and we checked out the scallops down near Turkey Point. We found huge scallops but very low numbers. Just barely got enough to go with our meal, but the sizes were impressive. Took the family out to Dog Island to play on the Gulf side. My daughter found some cool shells while out there.
Tuesday, I launched early again from Lanark under threatening skies. I fished a new area (to me) and was not disappointed. Reds aplenty and they could not get enough of the He-Dog. Caught 20 + by 10 a.m. As the sun got up high enough to see, I pulled out the fly rod. Going through the process of straightening my fly line and doing practice casts, I lucked into 2, 18"-20"
flounder. Lost both boatside however. Heartbreaker, but still pretty cool on the flyrod. Storms and waterspouts ran me off the water by 10:30. We spent the rest of the day poolside at Pickett's Landing.
Wednesday I was back in the same spot as Tuesday, but with a much different wind. The wind had turned from the west and brought lots of grass with it. Still managed to find 11 reds and a small trout on the spoon.
Loaded up and headed in by 9:30. At Pickett's Landing we loaded up in a borrowed Mako 26 and headed for Dog Island. We spent the rest of the day on Island Time, whiling away the hours. Fished a little off the docks. Found a 25" trout that liked pinfish (no pics) and the kids had a ball catching cats, rays and sharks. Headed in in time to make it to That Place on 98 in Eastpoint. 1 st time I had ever been there. I was impressed. The food and service were very good.
Thursday we scalloped with another family back down at Lanark. The numbers were poor but the sizes were very nice. After scalloping we borrowed the Mako again and headed back to Dog Island. The kids played while we chilled. We ate a wonderful meal of cobia and grouper and fresh scallops. I think I could live on Dog Island for 6 months or so.
Friday the weather was sorta iffy so we lounged around the pool most of the day. That evening we grilled steaks and ate dinner at the poolhouse at Pickett's Landing.
Saturday morning we packed it all up and headed back to Georgia. Would've loved to stay, but the money had run out and it's time to go back to work.
If you're looking for a great place to buy or rent at Carrabelle. Check out Pickett's Landing. Dan and Kelly Ausley have really built something speacial on the banks of the Carrabelle River. If you're interested in renting at Pickett's Landing check out Sandy Beach Properties website @ http://www.mysandybeach.com/VacationRentals" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Can't wait til next time.
Saturday we headed to Carrabelle for offshore fishing. We fished in 60' of water just north of the O tower with live and dead bait. Brought home 10 nice grouper and 2 snappers.
Sunday we moved from Mexico Beach to a condo at Pickett's Landing in Carrabelle.
Monday found me launching pre-dawn from Lanark looking for some reds to pull my string. Found 8 not far from the ramp willing to play. Caught them on topwater and the spoon.
I met the family at Lanark mid-morning and we checked out the scallops down near Turkey Point. We found huge scallops but very low numbers. Just barely got enough to go with our meal, but the sizes were impressive. Took the family out to Dog Island to play on the Gulf side. My daughter found some cool shells while out there.
Tuesday, I launched early again from Lanark under threatening skies. I fished a new area (to me) and was not disappointed. Reds aplenty and they could not get enough of the He-Dog. Caught 20 + by 10 a.m. As the sun got up high enough to see, I pulled out the fly rod. Going through the process of straightening my fly line and doing practice casts, I lucked into 2, 18"-20"
flounder. Lost both boatside however. Heartbreaker, but still pretty cool on the flyrod. Storms and waterspouts ran me off the water by 10:30. We spent the rest of the day poolside at Pickett's Landing.
Wednesday I was back in the same spot as Tuesday, but with a much different wind. The wind had turned from the west and brought lots of grass with it. Still managed to find 11 reds and a small trout on the spoon.
Loaded up and headed in by 9:30. At Pickett's Landing we loaded up in a borrowed Mako 26 and headed for Dog Island. We spent the rest of the day on Island Time, whiling away the hours. Fished a little off the docks. Found a 25" trout that liked pinfish (no pics) and the kids had a ball catching cats, rays and sharks. Headed in in time to make it to That Place on 98 in Eastpoint. 1 st time I had ever been there. I was impressed. The food and service were very good.
Thursday we scalloped with another family back down at Lanark. The numbers were poor but the sizes were very nice. After scalloping we borrowed the Mako again and headed back to Dog Island. The kids played while we chilled. We ate a wonderful meal of cobia and grouper and fresh scallops. I think I could live on Dog Island for 6 months or so.
Friday the weather was sorta iffy so we lounged around the pool most of the day. That evening we grilled steaks and ate dinner at the poolhouse at Pickett's Landing.
Saturday morning we packed it all up and headed back to Georgia. Would've loved to stay, but the money had run out and it's time to go back to work.
If you're looking for a great place to buy or rent at Carrabelle. Check out Pickett's Landing. Dan and Kelly Ausley have really built something speacial on the banks of the Carrabelle River. If you're interested in renting at Pickett's Landing check out Sandy Beach Properties website @ http://www.mysandybeach.com/VacationRentals" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Can't wait til next time.
