Team Bad Fish spent Friday and Saturday out.... Friday was Mike & Mike & Dale, while I was working. Indoors. :banghead:banghead I will let them add their story, but from all accounts, the Gulf was ROOOOUUUGH on Friday!:banghead:banghead:banghead
Friday night, Mike wanted to make it up to me that I didn't get to go that day, so we headed out under a full moon and an ever-increasing north wind. What a gorgeous clear night, but just a short distance off the beach, we could tell that it was only going to get choppier. The original plan was to anchor up for the night at one of our close-in spots and then head out just before dawn to see if we could scare up a grouper or 10, but we decided to head back into the bay, tool around for a bit and just enjoy the night, and when the tips of our noses got too cold and the wind found its way inside our jackets and blankets, we headed back to the dock and decided to do it the next day.
Saturday, Ultralite Mike's daughter Kelly and her friend Shaylee were aboard. While Mike launched and the girls got ready, Dale and I tag teamed pinfish with sabikis off the dock, and I had a first- I'd never caught one of these on a sabiki, but lo and behold he was jaw-hooked when I brought him in- an anchovy, normally a filter-feeder, and they were abundant under the dock that day:
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In the course of the next 30 minutes, Dale and I caught enough pinfish to feed every grouper in the Gulf....... LOL....... We left the dock around mid-morning and ran the beach just looking for something COOL. Birds were EVERYWHERE, diving and feasting on the bounty of bait that we saw. From the Pass to about Chickenbone, we stayed just Gulfside of the first sandbar, chasing bait and throwing a few jigs here and there, to no avail. Still, the girls were enjoying the boat ride and the Gulf was fairly calm that close to the beach and there was a lot to see on the way. We decided to try a couple of spots close to the beach. Shaylee likes to fish, but hasn't really caught anything big before, and from what I can tell, doesn't get to spend a lot of time on boats. It was tough to find a bite, but Ultralite Mike brought the first one in:
Shaylee was inspired- determined to land something, she did Mike one better:
The first picture shows that great grin of hers- after turning the fish around, here is Shaylee's catch:
It was Shaylee's first flounder, and her family will enjoy eating it! :clap Go, girl!
That was all for the bite at that spot, so we headed a short distance south and tried another spot. We worked just as hard for our bites, as nothing on the bottom took our offerings, but a live shrimp set about 40 feet down on itty-bitty Stella got nailed- and I got to fight this one- I love that light spinning tackle!!!!
A few good runs and a gaffshot and it's not huge, but it was fun to fight and added a little weight to the fishbox:
While this schoolie king wasn't terribly large, consider that it was caught and landedon that light Stella, 10# test, with 20# mono leader, and a single 1/0 hook with a live shrimp.
What is it with me and toothy critters?
One more drop with that setup resulted in a good hookup that ran and finally broke off, so the meat for the fishbox was done for the day. Two flounder and one king in the box, but those fish became the entertainment for the rest of the afternoon. Kelly is becoming quite the lady angler already (one day we'll get her to touch live shrimp though!!
oke) and she wanted to pose with my king.....
And Shaylee saw how fearless Kelly was and wanted in on the posing:
"Is it gross?"
"Hey, this is pretty cool!"
Getting two 15-year-old girls to hold a bloody fish, and on top of that for them get a real kick out of it, is a riot!
On the ride back home, we stopped to see if the redfish were biting at one of Mike's spots, and when no one took the live shrimp we offered, we headed to the dock.
Kelly makes this one look like a real lunker (how much more fun could we have with one fish???? :letsparty).......
Shaylee gets in another great photo with the king:
But this was the one that made the trip for me- Shaylee's day out... she didn't get seasick though the chop was definitely noticeable and that wind was stiff, she baited her hook, held a bloody fish, and got herfirst flounder! You go, girl- hope you enjoy eating it as much as you did catching it!!! :clap
