BigBendFishing.Net

Went Coastal Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Did not end up with a goose egg, but didn't need a trailer to bring the dead ducks back in either. Ended up with 10, 3 blue bills, 4 buffleheads and 3 common merganzers. The redheads and blue bills are offshore, not inshore.

Better than a blank anyway! We hunted the afternoon. Bet I know where you were, as I listened to the shooting.

Don't be afraid to set up away from land. We used to blind up 1-2 miles offshore and it did not effect the bills or buffies. Even shot a few redheads.

We fished on 12/29 and saw plenty of birds just outside the refuge boundary.


Getting away from the yahoos

How do common mergansers eat?

They good!!! Just cut in small strips and put them in an old sardine can-cant tell the difference!

Afraid ... until you have been in a leaky layout boat 5 miles off of Steinhatchee in 30 degree weather and have the wind and waves climb very fast, you don't know fear!

Ain't gonna set up just to shoot buffies, but we have set up offshore before in appropriate conditions. This time we only had texas rigged decoys.

I wasn't talking REAL fear, just the fear of failure.

Ain't nothing like a good buffie smackdown. I don't have the patience to sit 5 hours to shoot a couple bills and a redhead.

Drop 4 guys off in a couple foot of water with 6 decoys each and some gray rain jackets and they'll shoot a box of shells in about 20 minutes

FTReelty wrote:They good!!! Just cut in small strips and put them in an old sardine can-cant tell the difference!

I've never known anyone to shoot a merganser on purpose.

I've seen that happen, but I don't eat buffies and the guy who hunts with me don't really care to eat them, so unless one gets too close to our regular set up, we just don't target them. Buffies have saved a few mornings from being skunks.

MudDucker wrote:I've seen that happen, but I don't eat buffies and the guy who hunts with me don't really care to eat them, so unless one gets too close to our regular set up, we just don't target them. Buffies have saved a few mornings from being skunks.

Do you eat mergansers?

Salty Gator wrote:

MudDucker wrote:I've seen that happen, but I don't eat buffies and the guy who hunts with me don't really care to eat them, so unless one gets too close to our regular set up, we just don't target them. Buffies have saved a few mornings from being skunks.

Do you eat mergansers?

Nope, I don't eat sawbills, but my hunting buddy does. Now, I ain't say that one or two haven't made their way into duck gumbo pots over the years.

MudDucker wrote:Afraid ... until you have been in a leaky layout boat 5 miles off of Steinhatchee in 30 degree weather and have the wind and waves climb very fast, you don't know fear!

Oh I dunno.....trying to cross a big deep lake to get back to the boat ramp in a canoe in the middle of a tropical storm rated right up there for me with "okay this was incredibly stupid to come out in and lordy I sure hope I don't die and I sure as heck won't do something like this again"