St Marks 4/12

[procraftwes]

Flats fishing in a trawler...

When this happens.


This happens..


Trawler drafts 3' and has a protected prop.. I've run aground before(many times) and wasn't really worried about getting stuck or damage just didn't want to damage any seagrass.

On the way there I saw something from the flybridge that was over 150lbs just outside the channel. Call me crazy but it was jack shaped but a bit more slender. Not a shark. Was the largest fish i've seen inshore.

I found a good edge where the grass stopped in 3'-4' and hung around there(about a mile from the lighthouse).

Solid bite but windy and ripping tide so it was difficult(big boat didn't help). fished from 4-6pm

3-4 trout just short(one was probably just over but it was late and not filleting one trout).
2-3 huge ladyfish
1 3' blacktip(never gets old)
Constant bites and missed hooksets.

Somehow got robbed of 3 pinfish on popping corks.. Must have been surgeons.

The empty cooler didn't tell the story and if I had my smaller boat and could drift fish I'm sure I would have caught a limit.

[DixieReb]

Too much boat! At least ya got out, I haven't even been able to go.

[doomtrpr_z71]

I bet it was a comfortable ride out though

[procraftwes]

I bet it was a comfortable ride out though

Didn't notice any chop until I stopped.. Also ran offshore for a test of my new autopilot which is awesome.

7 knot cruise get's kind of old but the fact that I only burn about a gallon of diesel an hour doesn't.

I have a small tiller but need a hard dinghy which would have been perfect as a home base/flats boat.. Even a kayak would work but i'm lazy.


Got back to working on my fishing boat and seriously considering a repower. The engine runs like a champ but all of the components are getting old and rusty. Couldn't get the steering cable nut back on but at least its hanging on the boat and not from a tree.

That old 85hp weighs just 255lbs though which is 140lbs lighter than a 75hp etec . Might just stick with the 3cyl yamaha 2 stroke 90(same as the 85 with oil injection).

Another pic from that day.. Side story my flybridge steering went out just as I got back(probably because of the autopilot pump taking some fluid) so I had to dock a 20,000lb single diesel trawler from the lower station, alone, at night, with tinted windows and no bow thruster.. .. Conquered that fear.

[doomtrpr_z71]

You know, it's always after dark when I come back in at St Mark's too.

[Ted in Tallahassee]

+1 on the dark on the way back in to St. Marks (fort) ramp. Especially in summer when the sun slants in and it's "near dusk" for a loooong time. "Just one more cast ...."

What is the "best" size boat? There isn't one! I "make do" with my 15' jonboat. Has a Yam 25 on it. I make it do just about everything. Yes it's small but there are definitely SOME advantages to a small boat. I'd say one out of three times I go out, at some point I'm out of it pulling it along while walking in like 6" of water, and probably one out of two times at some point I've got it pulled up on an oyster bar while I walk around casting. It's merely a mobile fishing platform. I can get it into most places. I think of it sort of like a souped-up super kayak. It's kinda hairy though when I'm "offshore" (about 10-14' deep water, where the rollers seem to suddenly get rolling and deep) and heading into a bit of wind and you get green water sometimes coming over the bow.

I also really like the easy towing/storing/cleaning, and that it uses little gas. Worst thing is if I want to take more than one person along. Two people total is fine. Three is crowded. I've had four before but at least two are usually small kids. Four adults in the boat is pushing it! I've done that once or twice on scalloping trips. Sort of like a bus just to run out there, snorkel, and come back in. I probably need a new prop, as it's not nearly as cupped as it used to be, what with all the mud I've run through and after having filed all the various dings & gouges smooth.

I fantasize about one day having something like a 19" center console shallow-draft bay boat with maybe a 115 on it. But I know that would require a whole new dimension of needing to be aware of where I CAN'T go. Big or small, it's all a compromise.