6-3 snapper trip

[konrad]

Took the day off work to see if we could put some snapper in the ice box before they got pounded by the weekend traffic. We ended up heading out of Mashes Sands landing at 7:15am. I was expecting to find 3 foot seas and rain but was pleasantly surprised to see the sea’s at less than 1 foot with only a few clouds around. Our plan was to head to some numbers about 20 miles off shore were I have been catching them all winter while the season was closed. We were also hoping to find some bait for the live well too on the way out. I took some Spanish sardines along just in case we couldn’t find any. About 8 miles due south of Bald Point I found the bait and then some. It only took 10 min to fill the live well and we were off. Flat sea’s and a bunch of bait, things were looking good. All we needed to do now was to find the notorious endanger red snapper that have been messing up my grouper fishing for the last several months.

Got to the first spot and as soon at the bait hit the bottom we were hooked up. Just as I was about to bring the fish in the boat a cuda decided he wanted it for breakfast. Since we are snapper fishing I wasn’t using wire but the hook caught the cuda perfectly in the corner of the mouth and it was on. Although I have caught several of them in the past they were never even close to the size of this one. Easley 60 plus lbs. It was the first time I actually wanted to use the fish de-hooker that is now regulations when bottom fishing. After that we put 1 large mangrove and 1 red snapper in the boat. Hooked up with a few AJ’s too but they weren’t on the menu so we let them go. And then nothing. It amazes me that at this same location only 4 days prior you couldn't get past the snapper to catch anything else. It was time to move and since the clouds where starting to build I didn’t feel comfortable going any farther off shore.

The next spot was closer to shore in about 50 feet. Great move. We finished up our limit of snapper in no time. I was even catching them free lining live bait for kings. Ended up hooking up with a few grouper too. By this time it is about 11:30am and with the rain coming so we decided to start heading in.

I got about two miles from the landing and had to stop and wait for the storm to pass. As I was watching the storm I noticed a water spout starting to form. It lasted for about 5 min and went just past Angelo’s. Since we weren’t in the storm and as far as I could see it didn’t cause any damage it was a pretty cool way to finish up the day.

[cmccord]

Mother Nature is an awesome thing to watch. Glad you got out and had the chance at the elusive, endangered Red Snapper. Sounds like it was a successful day.

Old Barry Cuda will make you think a little more about using the dehooker, although not its intended purpose.

[Ron Wilson]

Another good offshore report. Thanks for sharing.

[wevans]

A danged fine trip now, where did ya say that 50 foot spot was at