Panacea trip report 10/9 & 10/10
Posted: October 13th, 2014, 9:32 am
Headed out of Mashes Sands Thursday morning at daybreak to a near shore hump looking for trout. At 11:00 had only two keepers in the box and a few shorts to show. Went to plan “B”, caught some pins and headed out to Barge 24 area. Located some good bottom but nothing much to show….no kings….no cobes….and no grouper. Only caught a few grunts and sea bass. I did hook something on a double portion of squid that spooled me on 50lb braid and kept going! Headed to Ochlocknee shoals about 2:00 and found some thick turtle grass in about 5’ and also found the trout. Had our limits within an hour or so. Then back inshore to hunt some reds. We caught 10….6 just under the slot and our limit of 4 within! Headed out Friday morning to calm seas and a beautiful sunrise. Rolled up on Ochlocknee shoals with thoughts of a quick limit of trout but not today……only caught 6 shorts by lunch and none for the box. Headed back inshore to salvage the day with those reds but disappointment continued. Only managed two rat reds! Loaded up and headed home scratching our heads. I guess that’s why it’s called "fishing" and not "catching"! We did hit some huge schools of bluefish heading in Friday and had some fun with them for a spell. And of course there were ladyfish and needlefish galore on Ochlocknee shoals so there was constant action all day, just not the kind we would have preferred. But the weather was great and the water was beautiful. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip!
