07-23-2009, 09:00 AM
It&#39;s been a while since I have been able to get out fishing, but I got a break and took my boat down to Mexico Beach, FL for a long weekend with friends. It was great that DLancas was also able to take a break from work and bring his family towing his boat staying right on the canal. The Gulf was a bit rougher than we experienced on the last trip around Memorial day, but rather than target trout/reds on the flats we opted to go out 3-9 miles for a few hours when we found the right opportunities with varying wind conditions. <br /><br />All the reef waypoints had been imported into the GPS from our last trip and we focused on locations that had previously produced. DLancas scored Big with kings, a big shark, amberjack, and a bonus full-grown Crevalle Jack for his nephew Jody on the reef we fished last time. You might recognize Jody from past HOF striper reports. He has landed a few nice ones and I hear that big Jack was one of the toughest. I caught one like that years ago and it nearly whipped me with a half-hour fight so he is already quite accomplished at landing hard-fighting fish for his age. I was pleased to find a couple tasty grouper on some new numbers we had never fished. <br /><br />When the gulf got too rough we would explore reefs and structure closer nearshore or head back in and anchor near the tip of the cape catching blacktip sharks on every cast like we were on a bed of bluegill. It was a nice break from work and incredible fishing as expected for this fertile area. I am already planning the next trip when I can get back to stay longer! A few pics below:<br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />