My day was an experiment to see if I could fish. I popped something between my first 2 fingers 3 days ago and I did not start out in good shape today. For those that know me this is just another bump in the road for me to overcome.
This trip was to be a redfish and trout inshore trip but he had gotten some reds yesterday and wanted to do something different. I had to make a trip out to this area sometime this week so I put both into one. I knew there would be fog to deal with so we met at the dock at 7:30. On the way out we hit a fog bank in one of the passes. A small crew boat came by. I asked where he was going and I followed him good thing I did. Even with radar he made a wrong move and got stuck. I was able to pull him off the mud flat and we continued. A bigger crew boat came along and the 3 of us continued on. At the entrance to Zin-Zin bay the big boat which is now in the lead in the fog goes straight instead of turning slightly and he digs in to a stop. The boat behind him also grounds but not as bad and I was able to stay in the channel in 4.8 feet of water. in a few minutes we all continued with out furtehre insodent. Radar and tracking on both boats and they still had issues. Both boats run this same run every day and some times more than once a day. This area is not a place for the novice.
I swear the fish read the requlations. 98% of all the fish we caught today were just under legal limit. On Monday thru Thursday we can not take red snapper but we still went into the waters and targeted other fish. The trigger fish used to be 12 inches over all but now they are 14 inches fork length. This means we have to have a 16 inch overall trigger to be legal. 13 to 13 3/4 fork length was the norm today. This one was on board just for a photo opp.
The Lane snapper seemed to have lock jaw or may be starting to move out to deeper waters as the season changes. One trip does not make for a decision making change in fishing areas though. We did get 3 of them. The bite was hot and we landed several trigger fish and red snapper. Even the red snapper were short today. 2 weeks ago they were not that small. We got angel fish, spanish mackerel, hard heads, and even a few small grouper.
James called the trip when he was well done. If you come down here be sure you put on sunscreen before you get red.
This evening I cleaned up a few fish on my cleaning table that my neighbors built for me. Got a couple of good meals out of them for Jo-ann and I.
Life is Good!
Fishing is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that.
CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM
04-09-2013, 07:52 AM
Lots of shorts
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