THEY DO EXSIST.... STATE WATER GROUPER
Posted: June 5th, 2014, 2:23 pm
Well, Went down to DI/Panacea area to do some fishing this week. The family was down all weekend and left due to the yellow flies so I was by myself Tuesday and Wednesday (with all my fishing buds at work and the boat already down here I said what the hell I am going fishing)
Day One: Weather was terrible and I was determined hit the water so I decided to go to St. Marks and beat around the river and try to find some trout.
I did find one keeper and caught many shorts and catfish. all in all a good day on the water!
Day Two: Weather was getting better so I was able to fish a greater area but was still limited to hiding behind reefs & islands and such.
First off, Landed a 24" trout in the first 15 minutes on a silver spoon. After that I weeded through many shorts and found two more keepers before lunch. I decided to head in and gave it a rest in preparation for ideal forecast the next day. Got the boat ready to go for the run out the next morning and went to bed early that night after a belly full of fresh trout.
Day Three: the day of reckoning!!!!!
I was the first one at the landing, Idled out of the channel at 630 AM. Once I got to 30' I started trolling heading towards to my first spot and picked up a Big Spanish trolling a stretch 30. After about 45 min I gave up on that. I never actually got to my spot after marking some pretty good structure while tolling I drifted through a few times with Squid and picked up some grunts and rock bass which I knew were going to be there. But I had my mind on finding a grouper. I decided to anchor up and immedialy got a good slam and next thing you know I pull up a nice keeper 22" red grouper in 40' of water.
. Shortly after I catch a hand sized grunt and decide to hang him out the back a few cranks off the bottom. Within no time a 24" Gag decides to swallow him whole. I was ticked at this point to find a red and a gag within just a few miles of land. I almost thought it couldn't be done "legally". At that time I was under the impression that the total limit on grouper was two but since found out I could have brought in 2 gags and two reds in. I was so ticked at the time I headed in looking to find some trout in an effort to fill the box with a variety pack so to speak. Headed inward and chucked a few trout in the box and headed in @ 2:30 to clean up the boat and head on home.
All in all great trip out on the water!
Day One: Weather was terrible and I was determined hit the water so I decided to go to St. Marks and beat around the river and try to find some trout.
I did find one keeper and caught many shorts and catfish. all in all a good day on the water!
Day Two: Weather was getting better so I was able to fish a greater area but was still limited to hiding behind reefs & islands and such.
First off, Landed a 24" trout in the first 15 minutes on a silver spoon. After that I weeded through many shorts and found two more keepers before lunch. I decided to head in and gave it a rest in preparation for ideal forecast the next day. Got the boat ready to go for the run out the next morning and went to bed early that night after a belly full of fresh trout.
Day Three: the day of reckoning!!!!!
I was the first one at the landing, Idled out of the channel at 630 AM. Once I got to 30' I started trolling heading towards to my first spot and picked up a Big Spanish trolling a stretch 30. After about 45 min I gave up on that. I never actually got to my spot after marking some pretty good structure while tolling I drifted through a few times with Squid and picked up some grunts and rock bass which I knew were going to be there. But I had my mind on finding a grouper. I decided to anchor up and immedialy got a good slam and next thing you know I pull up a nice keeper 22" red grouper in 40' of water.
. Shortly after I catch a hand sized grunt and decide to hang him out the back a few cranks off the bottom. Within no time a 24" Gag decides to swallow him whole. I was ticked at this point to find a red and a gag within just a few miles of land. I almost thought it couldn't be done "legally". At that time I was under the impression that the total limit on grouper was two but since found out I could have brought in 2 gags and two reds in. I was so ticked at the time I headed in looking to find some trout in an effort to fill the box with a variety pack so to speak. Headed inward and chucked a few trout in the box and headed in @ 2:30 to clean up the boat and head on home.All in all great trip out on the water!
