05-28-2009, 09:00 AM
I went down to FL with DLancas for Memorial day weekend in his boat. His family has a place down there and we had been planning this trip for some time. It was a treat to get out in saltwater again!<br /><br />First day was wind, rain and 6-8 ft seas so no fishing. <br /><br />Second day it was still too rough to venture out into the pass so we scouted around ending up fishing jetties and located a sweet-spot full of redfish. We caught 10 bull reds, ladyfish, and bluefish on bucktails &amp; live bait. We were thrilled for such great fishing, but we really wanted to get out in the Gulf and see what we could do. We had done some prep-work pulling published reef coordinates and converting them into electronic format so we could import them into this Lowrance. Numbers were good to have but we learned they were not truly accurate, but close enough that with some looking around we could find some structure...it moves over time. <br /><br />The following day we went out 5, 9, and eventually 12 miles trolling live bait. We noticed a lot of anglers out Memorial day. We trolled live bait on king rigs for a while first thing near a sunken barge and eventually had an 8ft hammerhead swim up to the boat sniffing around. We reeled in our 20lb gear and threw out a 2lb blue runner on a 80lb Penn 750ss. The shark took it and made a few strong runs 100 yards before it cut the 80lb braid. I assume it may have been tail wrapped or swallowed a portion of the 2ft steel leader to cut us off like that. Regardless it was an incredible experience just to feel that power for a couple burns. We had a few good bites down deep out 12 miles, but the shark was the only fish we hooked...so we went back to the jetties and caught more bull reds 
<br /><br />The last day we went to Mexico beach and caught bait on sabiki rigs. We went out 6 miles, then 9 miles to a tideline next to a reef that looked great on the depth finder. We immediatly started catching kings, spanish, and blacktip sharks. We were the only boat for miles. It was so smooth out that DLancas could use the trolling motor and planar boards to approach the reef with stealth. I have seen Watts Bar rougher...so this was a really calm day. We caught numerous blacktip sharks , 7 kings, and a huge spanish. We also had a bonus triple - 3 smoker kings on at once on one pass! We also caught a red snapper off the bottom and released it. The action was intense and I was enthralled with the experience, so not a whole lot of pics. <br /><br />The biggest king we hooked was 30lbs. I have been king fishing before and caught amberjack instead. This was my first King Mackerel and what a great bonus to get a nice one. It&#39;s what I was hoping for so I could understand why they call them smokers. I have never heard drag ripped at such a high pitch. <br /><br />We also saw huge schools of bonito and ladyfish that were fun on topwater and spoons. We finally left fully content when we were surrounded by dark clouds and got soaked in a rainstorm running back to the ramp. A truly memorable trip! I will be back for sure. I have been looking the past few years and finally got a new boat last weekend just for this type of bay/nearshore fishing...and TN striper fishing as well! A few pics below:<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
<br /><br />The last day we went to Mexico beach and caught bait on sabiki rigs. We went out 6 miles, then 9 miles to a tideline next to a reef that looked great on the depth finder. We immediatly started catching kings, spanish, and blacktip sharks. We were the only boat for miles. It was so smooth out that DLancas could use the trolling motor and planar boards to approach the reef with stealth. I have seen Watts Bar rougher...so this was a really calm day. We caught numerous blacktip sharks , 7 kings, and a huge spanish. We also had a bonus triple - 3 smoker kings on at once on one pass! We also caught a red snapper off the bottom and released it. The action was intense and I was enthralled with the experience, so not a whole lot of pics. <br /><br />The biggest king we hooked was 30lbs. I have been king fishing before and caught amberjack instead. This was my first King Mackerel and what a great bonus to get a nice one. It&#39;s what I was hoping for so I could understand why they call them smokers. I have never heard drag ripped at such a high pitch. <br /><br />We also saw huge schools of bonito and ladyfish that were fun on topwater and spoons. We finally left fully content when we were surrounded by dark clouds and got soaked in a rainstorm running back to the ramp. A truly memorable trip! I will be back for sure. I have been looking the past few years and finally got a new boat last weekend just for this type of bay/nearshore fishing...and TN striper fishing as well! A few pics below:<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />