Wicad!

7.25.12

I went solo today in front of Piney Island and off Mashes Sands point.  Looking for tarpon all morning.  It was very hot and steamy today, I was thinking I was back in ATL.

Only saw one roll today, with a few LY's in the mix they should be there soon.

I have started throwing the Wicad swim bait that my buddy Nick builds.

Yesterday I had some swipes from some big fish, I don't think they were tarpon.

Today, though a black tip shark and a trout wanted some Wicad-ness.

Nice swim bait Nick!!

Jumped One Tarpon

7.24.12

Nancy and I headed out to try and use the DNA kit and swipe a tarpon.
We want to contribute to the fisheries effort to track the tarpon in the area and they sent us this cool DNA kit to do it with.

I have tried it out and found out I'm not related to Steve Jobs.

We found the LY's schooling in 16 feet of water which is pretty far out from the shoreline off Bald Point.

The tarpon were there rolling around in the bait.

Nancy set up on one which hit a grunt under a cork, but he quickly threw the hook.  It would have been a good one to play with because it was in the 70-80 lb. range.

I caught a spinner shark on a DOA bait buster.

Nancy caught numerous sail cats and sharks on grunts and crab knuckles.

She even caught a big sail cat while talking to Hunter on the phone.

She's a pro!  (Sail Catter)

No Grouper Today

7.17.12

Water temp mid eighties

We took the Nan Z out to try and catch a grouper sandwich, but to no avail.

We watched a huge lighting storm from the deck Monday night and wondered if we would be able to go.

Tuesday morning looked better, so we headed out to a ledge that has produced nice grouper in the past.  It was south from Mashes about 22 miles and in 55 feet of water.

We fished all of our humps that have produced there in the past and could not hook up on a grouper.  Only grunts and black sea bass were interested and they did not jump on the hook easily.

So, knowing that their were afternoon t-storms predicted, we headed back in around noon.  About 20 miles out we hit a log in the water.  Slowing down and realizing we didn't do any harm, we kept heading in.
As we viewed the big thunderstorm brewing at Mashes, I was wishing I had a 150HP under my saddle, but the 115 Yamaha was flogged and going 37 mph.

We arrived just in time to view this coming.

White Pelicans

7.11.12

Tried tarpon fishing last week with no success.  Nancy hooked up on a nice spinner shark on Monday down at Mud Cove, but it broke her line on the first jump/spin.

I tried going out Wednesday but didn't get out very long due to storms rolling in and out.

But, I did bump into this flock of white pelicans in Dickson Bay.

When we see them come in in the fall and spring we know the seasons are changing, so I was surprised to see them here in the middle of summer.

New Tune!

Check out a very young Robert Earl Keen singing Five Pound Bass to the right.

SON!!!!

College of Charleston Fishing Team Results

7.2, 4, 5, 2012

Water low eighties.

Very dark and tannic near shore after the heavy TS Debbie rains

Hunter and Charlotte came in to the big town of Panacea for a little fishing and R and R after finishing up some late spring schooling at C of C.

We wanted to scallop but the fresh heavy rain had made the visibility very low and we didn't want to swim around in the water without the ability to see scallops (or sharks).

So, the seas let us fish a few days.

On Monday we wanted to go on a cobia run, but there was a heavy chop and it was like getting in a washing machine every time we tried venturing out to our favorite spots for the cobes, so we tucked in behind Shell Point Reef and in front of Piney island.

The Nan Z managed the usual potpourri of fish; two trout that will become four nice sandwiches coming aboard.

Charlotte started off the week with a keeper trout.

We took a break Tuesday and geared up for a tarpon trip on Wednesday.

While I was trying to catch some pinfish for bait on the clam bar, the crew were busy catching trout.  Some came on white pearl grubs under the tourist rig and others came on spoons.

Charlotte with a tourist rig trout

Ol' Jack Crevalle was wanting onboard too

We tried down at Mud Cove and managed some sail cats and sharks.  We found some tarpon rolling in front of the old KOA, but they were still pretty scattered.

Hunter intensely trying to catch up!  Charlotte with Mr. Slimey

They both have good dentists

Thinking we were gonna have some calm seas, we decided to head out to our snapper hole off Dog Island on Friday.  The seas were calm as we headed south from Mashes Sands but as we turned the corner at Lighthouse Point, I knew it might get a little sloshy for the Nan Z.  A bank of clouds and thunderstorms were out on the horizon.  

Always a Nice View off the Mashes Pier

We managed to make it to K tower, and with one eye on the water spouts forming in the distance and the other eye on the tower, I maneuvered the boat back and forth in front of the tower and let the crew drop down and see what the could bring up.

Nancy quickly got a nice door mat flounder in 55' of water.  That was a good start.  She then connected on a nice Gag.

Cool Gloves!

Hunter caught some spanish and had a cuda or two cut his lures off.

We used up our bait and headed back to the hill as the storms had started to dissipate and a nice ride was welcomed as we accomplished another safe trip off the Forgotten Coast.

The College of Charleston fishing team put up some good numbers this week!

Can't wait til they come back.

It Was A Snap(per)

6.29.12

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.