Two Trips Today
The first one was a 6 hr and the second was a 4 hr. It makes for a long day for both myself and my 1st Mate. We got to the boat between 6:15 – 6:30 in the morning. We would not get home until around 7 pm. I don’t mind the long days as long as the fishing is good. Fortunately, It has been good lately. The offshore has been slow, but the reef action has been pretty easy. We have been catching live Ballyhoo, (baitfish) every day and using them to catch lots of Yellowtail Snapper, Cero Mackerel, Kingfish, Yellow Jacks, Mutton Snapper, and an occasional Grouper.
The first trip went well
Catching the live ballyhoo was easy and the fish were cooperating nicely. We tucked up behind the reef for comfort. There was a bit of wind and it was a little rolly in exposed waters. If we have moved around, I think we would have caught more, but on anchor, we only caught one “keeper” Mutton Snapper. The Cero Mackerel kept us pretty busy. Lately, they have been pretty big ones. Cero’s can get up to 15lbs, but anything around 10lbs is a big one. And they put up a very good fight, especially with you are fishing with light spinning gear.
We had to pick through the Yellowtail
Where we were on the reef you tend to get a lot of small ones. But because of the sea state out deeper, I decided to keep it close to the reef to keep it as calm as possible. We only had two people fishing and we were keeping busy. So I saw no reason to move. By the time it was time to go in, we had plenty of action and plenty for dinner. Everyone seemed happy.
The second trip was a little shorter.
Only 4 hrs. Fortunately, we caught enough bait in the morning that we did not need to anchor up again to catch more. The Cero Mackerels bit well in the morning, but they slowed down in the afternoon. Fortunately, The Yellowtail Snappers were…..well. Snapping!! I only had one angler, but it was pretty much non-stop action. We had quite a few throwbacks, but we were discriminating, and letting some “barely legal” fish go. The last half hour proved to be the best. We caught a large Yellow Jack, a 12lb Black Grouper and a Keeper Red Grouper. We had plenty of fish and as an extra bonus we had a fantastic sunset on the way home
