Hey Reef Raider Fans it’s been a while but I am back with more fish stories, and as usual with pictures to back the story up.
This is Summer and the weather patterns are pretty predictable, afternoon thunderstorms, but those tend to be over land, and out on the water it is typically beautiful. Such was the day on Friday, I headed out after work put the boat in the water at Homestead Bayfront and I was off, I got there a little earlier than Hector and Danny so I went out and dropped the pin fish trap in the water. I didn’t really like the spot but I said what the heck, I left it there and went back to the dock.
I picked up Hector and Danny and we headed out, I expected my little trap to have at least 15 to 20 pins since it had been in the water nearly an hour, but unfortunately the catch was meager, just 5 pin fish in the trap.
We decided to drop the Pin fish trap in different place while we went to another spot to catch some Pins on Sabiki. We put 10 or 12 in the live well with the Sabiki, and headed back to pick up the trap. This time the trap performed as expected, in just 25 to 30 minutes, it had brought in more than 20 Pins.
So we headed out to open ocean. We tried drifting a few times but I am still a rookie at that, and it was not productive fishing. Then we saw a weed line with lots of bait activity around it, and tried pitching some pins out to it, but that did not work either. After a while we gave up on that and decided to do what we are good at, and that is Snapper fishing.
The current was ripping, the buoys on the recently deployed Lobster traps were mostly underwater due to the severity of the current. We knew the current was going to pose a problem, but we stopped at the fist spot in around 65 feet of water. We put chum in and did all the things that attract Snapper, but the current just kept the chum on the surface and it never made it down the fish. To add to our problems, we had a school of 25 or so Chubs right behind the boat devouring our slick.
We picked up and moved in a little shallower, to a spot in 49 feet. I hate to say it, but it was more of the same, even the Chubs followed us to this new location. Things weren’t looking good, we still did not have a fish in the cooler and it was starting to get dark.
We picked up and moved again, this time to 37 feet to see if the current would ease up a bit, but we had no such luck. This would be our last best shot however because if we did not bring the snapper up here, it just wasn’t going to happen.
We put the chum in the water, tossed some oats and chum mixed with a little Menhaden oil to attract the snapper and at first things were quite, but some 10 minutes later just before the pessimism was about to hit, BANG…
Well, not really BANG, more like peep, it barely bent my rod. Still, a snapper caught is always a good sign that things could get better. It was a peanut, not even worthy of measuring, and it went right back in the water. We shook the bag and tossed in some more of the mix, and then I caught another one, still not big enough to keep, but at least it was on the very next drift.
The next drift finally produced one for the cooler, and the skunk was off the boat; shortly thereafter, Danny was loaded with a Tail and then Hector, and you know if Hector is catching with his Yoyo and 40 pound test, things are looking up.
When night fell I caught the first Mangrove Snapper, and not long after that Danny brought up a nice size Mang. The action stayed pretty consistent for the next few hours, I caught a nice Mang myself and Hector caught a pretty good size Tail he decided to mark with his shaved head brand so he knew it was his.
Believe it or not, we nearly caught our limit (the Snapper aggregate is 10 per person, but Mangrove Snapper count as 2) and quit fishing a little after 10:30 PM. We headed in uneventfully and happy to have had another good time and a productive fishing trip on the Reef Raider.
Hopefully I will have another fishing story to tell soon.
Till Then…
This is Summer and the weather patterns are pretty predictable, afternoon thunderstorms, but those tend to be over land, and out on the water it is typically beautiful. Such was the day on Friday, I headed out after work put the boat in the water at Homestead Bayfront and I was off, I got there a little earlier than Hector and Danny so I went out and dropped the pin fish trap in the water. I didn’t really like the spot but I said what the heck, I left it there and went back to the dock.
I picked up Hector and Danny and we headed out, I expected my little trap to have at least 15 to 20 pins since it had been in the water nearly an hour, but unfortunately the catch was meager, just 5 pin fish in the trap.
We decided to drop the Pin fish trap in different place while we went to another spot to catch some Pins on Sabiki. We put 10 or 12 in the live well with the Sabiki, and headed back to pick up the trap. This time the trap performed as expected, in just 25 to 30 minutes, it had brought in more than 20 Pins.
So we headed out to open ocean. We tried drifting a few times but I am still a rookie at that, and it was not productive fishing. Then we saw a weed line with lots of bait activity around it, and tried pitching some pins out to it, but that did not work either. After a while we gave up on that and decided to do what we are good at, and that is Snapper fishing.
The current was ripping, the buoys on the recently deployed Lobster traps were mostly underwater due to the severity of the current. We knew the current was going to pose a problem, but we stopped at the fist spot in around 65 feet of water. We put chum in and did all the things that attract Snapper, but the current just kept the chum on the surface and it never made it down the fish. To add to our problems, we had a school of 25 or so Chubs right behind the boat devouring our slick.
We picked up and moved in a little shallower, to a spot in 49 feet. I hate to say it, but it was more of the same, even the Chubs followed us to this new location. Things weren’t looking good, we still did not have a fish in the cooler and it was starting to get dark.
We picked up and moved again, this time to 37 feet to see if the current would ease up a bit, but we had no such luck. This would be our last best shot however because if we did not bring the snapper up here, it just wasn’t going to happen.
We put the chum in the water, tossed some oats and chum mixed with a little Menhaden oil to attract the snapper and at first things were quite, but some 10 minutes later just before the pessimism was about to hit, BANG…
Well, not really BANG, more like peep, it barely bent my rod. Still, a snapper caught is always a good sign that things could get better. It was a peanut, not even worthy of measuring, and it went right back in the water. We shook the bag and tossed in some more of the mix, and then I caught another one, still not big enough to keep, but at least it was on the very next drift.
The next drift finally produced one for the cooler, and the skunk was off the boat; shortly thereafter, Danny was loaded with a Tail and then Hector, and you know if Hector is catching with his Yoyo and 40 pound test, things are looking up.
When night fell I caught the first Mangrove Snapper, and not long after that Danny brought up a nice size Mang. The action stayed pretty consistent for the next few hours, I caught a nice Mang myself and Hector caught a pretty good size Tail he decided to mark with his shaved head brand so he knew it was his.
Believe it or not, we nearly caught our limit (the Snapper aggregate is 10 per person, but Mangrove Snapper count as 2) and quit fishing a little after 10:30 PM. We headed in uneventfully and happy to have had another good time and a productive fishing trip on the Reef Raider.
Hopefully I will have another fishing story to tell soon.
Till Then…
The Last Yoyo Man
My head did not fit in the picture, but at least the Snapper did
Doesnt look big enough next to my head, but it was a bit beyond 12 inches
Look how happy he is with that Yoyo
Here is my take, nice and clean
There is the big Mang I caught, not bad
