Water 82 degrees
Dark water from Lanark out to Dog Island from Tropical Storm Debbie
We finally got way off the hill today as the seas died enough to get the Nan Z off the trailer in search of a red snapper
We double teamed them today with Phil, Dee and Larry following in their boat as we pursued the Red Snapper and anything else that would stretch our string.
We caught a few pinfish in umbrella cove and we were commenting on how Debbie had turned the water dark and reddish looking. What a lot of water coming into the Gulf!
We headed another 17 miles off the Island at a 330 degree bearing.
I had one snapper number from a few years ago that I had never tried. It was in 65 feet of water.
We arrived with some nice rollers coming by the boat and a fresh wind blowing so we didn't get overheated as the sun started beating down.
We started catching nice grunts right away.
Then Nancy's rod tried to escape her hands as she got pulled down hard.
The fight broke her old Penn reel, but she kept trying to bring the fish up.
As it neared the surface I saw the color we were looking for, Snapper color!
I scooped it up and it was a beauty for our little boat.
The fish was 27 inches long and weighed ten pounds on the boga grip.
Phil hooked up on a fish that broke his hook in half. He blamed that on Wal Mart hooks.
We never did get another snapper to bite, and the sharks started rolling in. I decided to pull anchor and head about 6 miles to another spot that was south of K tower.
As we were riding around we were going in and out of the biggest weed line I have ever seen here in our short time at the Forgotten Coast. On one side of the weed line was the darker colored water, on the other side was the clean water. Spanish and bonita were tearing it up whenever we got near the line.
We layed down and Nancy hooked up on one of the bonita and it took her around and around the boat.
She finally landed the stocky fish. Not good to eat, but plenty of fun to catch.
As the afternoon breeze started kicking up we started working our way back to the hill. The wind was making for a wet and rough ride.
Many more grunts, black sea bass and mackerel came to the boats.
It was nice to see Phil and Larry let Dee fish once in a while. Every time they would let her drop a line she was hooked up on something.
Their white striper rods stayed bowed up most of the day.
It was a nice offshore trip with a great crew on one of the few days we have gotten offshore in this windy year of 2012.
