3 reports in one.

[konrad]

Took my dad out Sat the 9th to see what we could get into. Our plan was to see if any kings were around and maybe spend some time trying for grouper. I figured snapper was out because all the reports I’ve read tend to say they are out past the 80’ mark. Out of Mashes Sands this is a 30 mile run and a little farther than I wanted to go. First stop was to pick up bait which wasn’t a problem, then headed off to the first spot in 45 feet. Before I drop anchor I like to turn the motor off to figure out the drift. While we did this I dropped down a big curly tailed grub into the depths below. Within 30 sec something slams my lure. After a nice battle up comes a 25 inch gag, the day has officially begun. At that we figured this spot was going to produce so little time was wasted dropping the anchor. Once we get settled the first pin makes its way down and again within a few second I get hammered. Up comes the twin brother of the grouper I caught a few min prior. Over the next 20 min we had our 4 fish limit of gags and it was just after 8:30am. We continued to mess around there free lining bait out the back for a few hours. I was hoping some kings were around but didn’t get the first one. Did manage to land several small AJ’s and a few Spanish though. Every now and then when the bit slowed one of us would drop down a buck tail jig or pin fish to the bottom and instantly reel up a grouper. We must have caught 10 keepers off this spot. I was somewhat determined to find a king and this spot just wasn’t producing “kings”. We decided to head out to the K. After trolling around it a few times without any success a different approach was in order. The tide almost seem to be nonexistent so we thought live bait might be the trick. Laid out a couple flat lines out the back and picked up a jigging rod while the baits soaked. Out of the corner of my eye I see this fish jump what must have been 10 feet in the air. Then the flat line goes off. My dad picked up the rod and fought the beast for a good 20 min. up come a 40-50lb cuda. It was like catching a sailfish. This thing jumped out of the water a good 10 times. After the ordeal of getting him to the boat and unhooked was over we picked up 2 more AJ’s before heading on. The next stop was on the way back, in 35 feet of water. Made several drifts over the structure and as we experienced earlier in the day, the gags were hungry. I used my buck tail jig and my dad dropped down live bait. I think we picked up another 6 or 7 keepers off this spot all in the mid 20 inch range. By now it is aproching 1:30pm and decided to call it a day.

Didn't fish on Sunday.

On Monday I decided to make a solo trip out of St. Marks, again hoping to find the kings. Stopped by the Sholes to pick up bait then headed out to 24 buoy. Messed around there for a few with no luck. Then went over to 24 barge and anchor up. Put out two flat lines and pick up my jigging rod while I waited. Did manage a few Spanish before something big hit one of the live baits. It didn’t run like a king although it did run. It must have taken out more than 150 yards of line before I could feel the braid start to rub against the structure. Line breaks and the mystery fish is gone. Not exactly sure what it was but my guess is a very big cobia or shark. Anyways I continued to mess around there for a few with little luck. Went back to 24 buoy to see if anything was hitting the bait around it. All that it produced was a 30lb cuda. Figured the kings just weren't in the cards so decided to switch things up. Headed on to some shallow water rocks in 20 feet of water to try for flounder. Picked up 8 with one measuring 25 inched. It was a beast and one of the biggest doormats I have ever caught. Since my freezer is full I wasn’t looking for meet and let everything go. I spend maybe an hour here before heading over to a spot that has produced cobia for me in the past. Upon arriving I was greeted by a group of 5 cobs swimming up to the boat. At first I couldn’t get them to eat. Tried live pins, big curly tailed grubs along with a few other things tossed write in from of their face with no love. In past experiences when this happens I find the best way to get them going is to just piss them off and the best way is with a big top water pug. Sure enough that worked. After a nice battle I landed a mid 30 inch cobia. From then on the pin fish seemed to work just fine. Hooked up 4 more times and landed 2 of them. They all looked to be keepers and did measure the largest one before release. It went 45 inches and was around 35-40lbs. I probable could have caught one or two more but I was done. Opened a beer and enjoyed a nice ride back to the fort.

Tuesday morning was spent sleeping in with the only thing on the agenda for the day being to clean the boat. At about 9:30 called up a buddy of mine to work out the plans for a scuba diving trip this coming Sunday. Mid way through the conversation I realized I really didn’t have anything going on. As luck would have it neither did Tommy. Since the boat was already dirty why not take it out again. Tommy and I got down to St. Marks at 11 for some afternoon trout fishing. The wind was blowing but since we were just staying on the flats it really didn’t matter. It was a pretty casual afternoon. Tommy wanted to bring home dinner so we kept 5 and let the rest go. 75% of the fish we caught didn’t measure and the ones that did weren’t that big. I think they were all 16-18 inches.

It was a great few days of fishing. Caught plenty of Grouper, Cobia, Flounder and trout with some misc AJ’s, cuda and Spanish mixed in.

[roadtrip]

very nice report

[Flint River Pirate]

Thanks for the report, sounds like a good time.

[Tidedancer]

Wow! That is a great 3 days of fishing. Thanks for sharing.

[Harmsway]

Wow, konrad, that's one helluva week fishing!