At 10:30 am in Cedar Key the winds were light and the water was glassy. I didn’t see a wave the whole day.
Running out.
Sweet pre-front fishing day!!
I was headed to a favorite spot where I used to stone crab with the kids, about 7 miles offshore in 24 feet of water, but I didn’t get to fish this spot as a boat was on the small set of rocks (go figure….). I moved on as I didn’t want to crowd him.
Pushing to 34 feet I hit a number of old numbers but struggled finding any fish. I trolled some pretty good bottom but my plugs didn’t even get a sniff from the usual problematic black seabass or lizard fish. Let alone a grouper. Totally untypical! Not knowing the area where this fall’s red tide went through I was thinking maybe that was the problem (?). At 38 feet I switched over to bottom fishing and I picked up a number of black seabass and white grunts for a fish fry. Mixed in were a number of small red groupers plus 4 legal red groupers from 8 to 12 lbs – all released since the GOM season is closed (it’s hard to keep up with different coastal regulations that change frequently (updated)).
Although running late I stopped at another favorite spot in 23 feet for a few minutes and trolled through the area. Fifteen minutes later I had 3 grouper on the deck keeping the largest 2 and headed back in.
What a sweet day on the water!
Surface water temp was 65 ˚F and surface grass was not a problem. Despite an overcast cloudy day there was top-to-bottom clarity in 33 feet of water.
Cooler shot
Life is good!
Hoo Yah!!
Brian
