Off shore Steinhatchee 4/2

[Ifishtoo]

Great day to be alive. Finally got a trip with a dear old friend. Life has tossed each of us some curve balls, but after six yrs, we both could get together for some fishing. Fishing is something we have shared for many, many years. We fished 20-30 miles off of Steinhatchee, in 42-58' on a "post card perfect day". We were fishing for meat and we returned with plenty of big pink mouth grunts, large sea bass, and SIX fat 24-28" red grouper. We tried to avoid gags......... they were there and they were hungry. Some live baits would have filled the boat with nice gags. We were using double rigs with cut squid.

For whatever reason (cool water temps??) the fishing was slow in 40-45', so with perfect weather, we ran another 8-9 miles out to 55+ ft. I returned home sore and aching............. and feeling refreshed! Sorry about no pics, with no cell service offshore, our phones were off, and stowed away, high and dry. Once we stepped off the boat there were ten trillion April sand gnats waiting for us to clean 125 lbs of fish. No one wanted to waste a minute taking a picture. Besides, none of us old farts knew how to post on an internet forum.

LOL, We do know how to hold a job for 40yrs, stay out of jail, and fight cancer........ but we're not much on technology.

[FUTCHCAIRO]

SOUNDS LIKE YA HAD A GREAT TIME, IT IS GOOD TO HAVE OLD FRIENDS, ALL OF MY OLD BUDDIES HAVE ALL PASSED ON, NOT MUCH FUN FISHING ANYMORE. ONLY TIME I CAN REALLY ENJOY FISHING THE GULF IS WHEN MY YOUNGEST SON, DAVID, AGE 50, IS ABLE TO TAKE TIME OFF FROM HIS CONSULTING WORK TO TAKE ME, HE IS OUT OF THE COUNTRY MOST OF THE TIME AND NEEDS TO SPEND TIME WITH HIS FAMILY WHEN HE CAN GET A BREAK.
PA
SEMPER FI

[SS-342]

Sorry about no pics, with no cell service offshore, our phones were off, and stowed away, high and dry. Once we stepped off the boat there were ten trillion April sand gnats waiting for us to clean 125 lbs of fish. No one wanted to waste a minute taking a picture. Besides, none of us old farts knew how to post on an internet forum.

LOL, We do know how to hold a job for 40yrs, stay out of jail, and fight cancer........ but we're not much on technology.

I heard that! Enjoyed the report without the pictures and yes, those sand gnats are bad! Shows wisdom! Thanks for the good post.

[Slough]

[Ifishtoo]

SOUNDS LIKE YA HAD A GREAT TIME, IT IS GOOD TO HAVE OLD FRIENDS, ALL OF MY OLD BUDDIES HAVE ALL PASSED ON, NOT MUCH FUN FISHING ANYMORE. ONLY TIME I CAN REALLY ENJOY FISHING THE GULF IS WHEN MY YOUNGEST SON, DAVID, AGE 50, IS ABLE TO TAKE TIME OFF FROM HIS CONSULTING WORK TO TAKE ME, HE IS OUT OF THE COUNTRY MOST OF THE TIME AND NEEDS TO SPEND TIME WITH HIS FAMILY WHEN HE CAN GET A BREAK.
PA
SEMPER FI

Great post. I know how hard it is to catch up with old friends. We have moved three times since 1999. Life changes, circumstances like>>> jobs, health, family, cancer; are just a few things that bring about moving. Many of my old buds have passed or have fallen upon hard times and/or have poor health. My health is not what it used to be, but I have still got some good times left in the tank. I know exactly what you mean about "many old fishing buds have passed away".

FUTCHCAIRO, I understand every word of your post. Buried my brother last year, now mu wife & I are retired on some property in the rural eastern panhandle. These days, I have some better health, but now I'm 200 plus miles from the few fishing buds I have left. I had hoped to hook up with some fellas west of Tallahassee on this forum, but so far, "Everyone has a full boat".

Maybe we'll meet down at Panacea/Carabelle, swap some tales, and plan up something! LOL