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Took a couple of guys from work out in my Whaler on Friday for their first offshore experiences. We cleared the Freeport jetties in the dark and were greeted with flat seas. Nice! As soon as I could see well enough, I set the engines at 4500 rpms and rolled on out. We hit several spots out to 45 miles and caught fish all day long. Snapper, kingfish, ling, triggers, AJs. We fished until 2:00 and ran back home at 40 mph. Tally: 10 keeper snapper, several kingfish to 33 lbs (kept him for one of the guys), one 40 inch ling (yum!), three undersized AJ (released), also released dozens of undersized snapper and triggers to the hovering bottlenose dolphin. Used 87 gallons of fuel, 2 gallons of oil, 100 pounds of ice, 25 lbs of sardines and 5 lbs of pogies. Should have pics soon from one of the guys, will post on this thread when I get them.
Today, I took my wife and dad. Neither of them get a chance to fish very much and both are prone to the old mal de mer. Cleared the jetties at 7:00 and there was a two foot chop, ran an easy 23 mph out today. We hit two spots out to 35 miles. We started catching fish within 30 seconds of arriving at our first spot. Michele had the first snapper in the box inside two minutes, moments later my dad's first snap hit the ice, I followed suit. We made a dozen drifts and had six keepers. When it slowed down and we were boating only small fish, we made a ten mile move. We caught three more keeper snapper. Lots of throwbacks to the dolphins today, too. Easy pickens for them... Michele caught a small AJ and then my dad got sea sick. We made a couple more drifts. I lost a real nice snapper about 20 feet down when the hook pulled. Michele and I were catching only throwbacks and dad got sick again. Decided to head on in for him at 11:45. Final tally: nine keeper red snapper, dozens of throwback snapper, and a small AJ (released). Ran in at 32 mph. Burned 65 gallons of gas, 1.5 gallons of oil, 12 lbs sardines, 100 lbs ice.
Today, I took my wife and dad. Neither of them get a chance to fish very much and both are prone to the old mal de mer. Cleared the jetties at 7:00 and there was a two foot chop, ran an easy 23 mph out today. We hit two spots out to 35 miles. We started catching fish within 30 seconds of arriving at our first spot. Michele had the first snapper in the box inside two minutes, moments later my dad's first snap hit the ice, I followed suit. We made a dozen drifts and had six keepers. When it slowed down and we were boating only small fish, we made a ten mile move. We caught three more keeper snapper. Lots of throwbacks to the dolphins today, too. Easy pickens for them... Michele caught a small AJ and then my dad got sea sick. We made a couple more drifts. I lost a real nice snapper about 20 feet down when the hook pulled. Michele and I were catching only throwbacks and dad got sick again. Decided to head on in for him at 11:45. Final tally: nine keeper red snapper, dozens of throwback snapper, and a small AJ (released). Ran in at 32 mph. Burned 65 gallons of gas, 1.5 gallons of oil, 12 lbs sardines, 100 lbs ice.
