Set out Friday night to spend the weekend on the water. Made our way to the end of the channel and set out my bait traps in hopes of some livies for the next day. Cooked a few steaks and some lobster lost in the freezer since my last trip to the keys a few months ago. As the sun came up, we headed out to 40 ft of water and promptly caught two grouper in the 12 lb range, yeah! this trip is looking good. Tried a few spots heading north with no result. About noon, set out the stretches and continued north till we came across a cooler. There was pepsi's and a few beers floating around and we netted it all and brought it in the boat. On the radio, we heard a conversation about an over turned boat. Putting 2 & 2 together, we started looking for the boat(s). About 16 off Suwannee, there she was, keel in the air. A good samaritan had picked the three mariners out of the 57 degree water. From what we were told, they had been in the water for 2 hours. This would be a great time to remind everyone that you need more than a 1 to 1 scope when anchoring in heavy 2-4 seas, especially in a small craft. Sea Tow arrived, righted the boat and gave the tug. I have some great photos of it email me for them. Anyways, we headed in to Suwannee marine to get some fuel. I have to give a shout out to those guys, I raised them on the radio asking what time they closed. They stayed open till I was able to make it, 20 minutes after normal closing(5pm). Friendly bunch, I recommend them highly! Headed back out and anchored on an artificial reef. We proceeded to catch a bunch of the biggest sea bass I have ever seen mixed with some grunts.
In the early AM, made some breakfast and ran to the Crack and the Superledge. Picked a few fish here and there, but nothing too great. Pushing noon, it was time to start heading back towards home port. Stopped on a few reliable marks and picked a few more before heading home.
We finished the trip with 8 grouper, the biggest close to 20 lbs. Water temp varied between 57-60 degrees that I noticed.
The seas ranged between intolerable to glassy in the afternoons...
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C/K 2.19-21
Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels
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nautigator
- Posts: 62
- Joined: January 20th, 2005, 8:12 pm
- Location: Gainesville, FL
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coolrowcamping
- Posts: 32
- Joined: July 10th, 2003, 9:47 am
- Location: Valdosta, GA
good report
DID YOU HAVE ANY LUCK WITH THE PIN FISH TRAP?
WHAT KINDA BAIT WERE YOU USING?
JUST CURIOUS
WHAT KINDA BAIT WERE YOU USING?
JUST CURIOUS
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nautigator
- Posts: 62
- Joined: January 20th, 2005, 8:12 pm
- Location: Gainesville, FL
the pinfish trap came up the following day with 3 unrecognisable fish of the overly slimy sort. I bait the traps with 1 whole sardine and the two pieces of 1 broken in half. This trip the baits were solid frozen, and I think there were just several pieces. The grouper were caught on a mixture of dead bait and stretch plugs.
