water temp 71
Wind N 10 mph
Well it is the 24th day of gag grouper season in Wakulla Co. waters and we haven't been able to get out yet due to the wind.
The only nice day to go was the opening day and the old Seacraft wasn't ready for a sea trial.
We got up today and it was real foggy, which meant no wind, even though NOAA was saying 2-3 footers and rain. Rain showers were approaching from the east, but wanting to get in some grouper action, Nancy and I headed off to Lanark ramp. We donated our $10 ramp fee and headed off to a number right at the state waters line.
As we got through the pass on the north east end of Dog Island we could see the 2-3 rollers coming in from the south. We continued and decided to go a little off course and hit some numbers Terry Carruthers gave me before he moved to ATL.
A guide boat was anchored up on one of the spots, but we could troll around him easily enough.
On our first pass I was watching the Lowrance structure scan and saw the bottom jump up and told Nancy to get ready. The words were barely out of my mouth when she yelled "fish on".
I picked up the rod that was behind me and quickly discovered it was hung on the bottom as the drag was spinning.
We turned over the lure snag and tugged and tussled with the stuck plug, finally backing up the way we came hoping to remove it from the bottom.
It finally came loose and I immediately felt the pull of a fish. My drag had been set too loose and the grouper had grabbed the Manns Stretch 30 and pulled it into it's den.
We got it aboard and it weighed 8.5 lbs. What a good start!
We got set up again and began the troll over the 44 foot deep structure and as we approached the bottom came up again. I said get ready and bang another one hits the plug. This time the drag was set right and the twin came aboard. Another 8.5 pound fish.
The grouper guide boat had seen enough and pulled anchor and left.
We trolled the area another hour with nothing to show, so we decided to anchor up and fish as the wind was getting pretty fresh out of the NE with rain showers around us.
Nancy quickly got pulled down with a just barely throw back red grouper that measured 19".
I dropped down with an L-Y and caught a nice red grouper.
We pulled anchor and headed back to Lanark to begin the work of cleaning fish and boat.
Happily we dined on panko coated pan fried grouper for dinner.
About Dang Time!
