We just had a half day trip this morning.
My customers decided they would like to try to catch some Yellowtail snapper for dinner for that evening. We anchored up on the reef to the west. Conditions were good. There was a gentle east wind and a slight west current. That means that both the wind and the current were going the same way and the lines would drift back off the back of the boat. These are good conditions for trying to fish for Yellowtails.
The fish were biting pretty well
for the first part, then the “Tax Man” showed up. That means Sharks for those that don’t know. Barracudas can be a bother when fishing for Yellowtail snappers. they will occasionally take one or two. But Barracudas will get full after taking a couple of fish. Sharks are another matter. It takes a lot of Yellowtail snapper to fill up a shark. Honestly, I’ve never seen one get full and leave so I don’t know if you can fill one up. Even if you could, there are usually more that one around.
Anyway, once the Sharks showed up,
the fishing slowed down. Because it was only a half day, there wasn’t really time to make a move. We managed to get a few more Yellowtails and even hooked a couple of sharks, but we were using light spinning tackle for the yellowtail snapper so we were not able to land the sharks. We did not get our limit today, (10 per person), but I think we got enough for everyone to have some Yellowtail snapper for dinner tonight and we got to see some sharks.
I know everyone has seen sharks on TV
or in the movies. But when you see a shark just a few feet away from you in the water, it is an impressive sight. Even though we are in the boat and safe, people tend to back away from the stern when they see a shark come up after a fish. The biggest one we saw as a lemon shark about 120lbs or so. Not a monster, but still a big fish