Fishing was excellent during a recent trip to the Gulf.

Unlike freshwater fishing, saltwater fish will eat just about anything you place before them. Cut bait, live Pinfish, Cigar Minnows, etc.

The one bait that they could not resist was a two ounce Mack Farr Bucktail Jig - it caught everything!

tom

Looks like you guys had a awesome time!!!! "but without me"

Glad you had some good fishing and fellowship, in the good old gulf.

Glad you had a good time. Too bad it may not last if the oil slick kills off everything. I will be heading down there and hope it doesn't.

Nice pix--- some serious rod benders.

Thinking about heading down to shell island/ st marks in a few weeks-- anyone been down there lately?

Go out to the bird tower then start making your way to the right which is the west side of the channel. The fishing has been better in this direction.

Thanks Bill; do you usually stay out and drift wherever the wind pushes you, or do you tend to stay in close?
The times we've gone, we go as far west as that line of poles-- do you recommend going further west?
Thanks for the info!

Yes, We head out to the tower and take a right, then we ride another couple of miles west. You can still see the light house but you will start getting in an are with more holes.

We usually just drift but it seem like the last few times we went the wind would push us directly east and I like to drift back towards shore. So, I just dropped the trolling motor and kept us in the direction we wanted to go.

When we did drift I had two mushroom anchors and would keep them tied to the back cleats on the boat. Some times you will have a one anchor dirft an then some times you will have a two anchor drift.

I found this to be the best at fighting the wind and current. One time, I think we were drifting at 4 mph so out went both anchors and it slowed us down to about 1 mph. But be sure to get the small rubber coated ones because they don't hang up as much.

Another point I need to make is..If you get the area map from the fish camp store it will show the sand bar on the west side. Last year we fished it and had a blast!! There were cobia swimming in the area but they were skittish to the boat and we never hooked up. So fish "around" the sand bar at some poit during your trip. Just don't get out on top of it when the tide is going out. LOL

Bill-- great tips and info--THANKS!

Bill K

Billy. I have got to fish with you some time. You know all the good spots. See you on the lake. Getkidsfishing.

Tom,

Looks like a great time. Where in the gulf were you fishing?

I would still be sore from reeling in that AJ. Those things will put a hurting on you. The kings are sizzlers and the red snapper are good table fare, but give me the black grouper over all of the above....

Nice job

Bfish

Sopchoppy - St. George area.


tom

Looks like you guys had a good time. Seas lookes flat. Thats always a bonus. Capt Mack-erel looks like he is going on Safari. LOL. Either way, you guys caught some good eats.

Tom,
Just curious how far out and how deep you were fishing for the snapper, grouper, etc? I'm taking my boat down to SGI next week and plan on hitting some of the artificial reefs that are charted on the FWC.com site (7-12 miles out & 35 to 105 foot depth).
Any insight will be appreciated.
Schmitty

We started fishing at a depth of about 50 feet and worked our way out a few miles or so from there. Good luck.

tom

Thanks for the reply - here's to the Red Snappers hitting next Tuesday!

I go every year to a place called Shell Point. My wifes aunt has a beach house there and she has a pontoon boat parked over in the canal around the corner. I always go and get some live shrimp and go out into the flatts in the Apalachee Bay. I catch trout, cobia and all sorts of other things. I am going in a few weeks and wondering if you guys have any suggestions. I'm kinda lost on any good spots. You can see the St Marks light house from where were staying. Its a 24 ft pontoon so I dont usually leave the flatt in front of the house. Whats biting good now? Its usually Sept when we go.

I'm leaving Friday and plan to be out at least 5 days on my trip. We'll be hitting sikes cut and the mouth of the apalachicola bay as well as artificial reefs offshore (if the weather permits).

We'll be using live shrimp, any baitfish we can catch, stretch 25's, spoons, yo-zuri's, buckail jigs (thanks to Tom and Mack Farr's last post) and cut bait.

I'll post a full report when I get back.

Good luck & have a great time.

Striper sniper,

see the post with advice about that area from Lil' Bill one page back; he's talking about from the mouth of St Mark's river just about due west from the lighthouse. Shell point looks like it's the west side of the bay from St Marks river. That wide flat out there is where the action seems to be; I had to cancel my trip down this past weekend, but am hoping to make a trip this next month....

David, We usually have great success with the popping corks and about a 3 ft leader on the live shrimp. When you cast them out, jerk them making a popping sound which in return attracts the fish. I have also done well (if the water is calm) on a sammy. The mackeral will tear them up. The most important thing is the Gulp shrimp in new penny color. The Gulp really does well on the flats, you can put them under the float or even use a jig head and work it through the submerged grass.

I would also suggest trying to pick up some live pin fish. We would usually put them behind the boat about 100ft under a balloon. This will get you bigger fish and sometimes a nice size shark for a good fight.

Watch out for the freek'n catfish. I had one nail me in the hand last year, it swelled up and hurt for a month. After this incident I beat the hell out of about 10 of them.

I would love to see Bill woop the crud out of one!!!...lol

A damn ninja ain't got crap on me. While the trolling motor was in it's stowed position I turned it on full blast and lowered one into it. The freek'n fish nicked up my prop and got free. I hate those things!!!! LOL

Trying to crop the cathead off with your TM and tearing up you prop "PRICELESS" you can't win, when it comes to feeler face...LOL

I must be in the perfect spot luckily. Last year when I went to the bait shop I got a tackle box for my saltwater tackle and got some of those popper corks and used them. I also did try the gulp shrimp. They did work pretty good. Your rite about the pinfish too. I cant wait till that line gets hit, its usually a nice one that takes it. I have a problem taking my nicer combos down there to fish with. Last year I washed them off each night with tap water but they still got some rust and stuff on them afterwards. What do you do to keep them clean?

I use Salt Terminator and you can purchase it from BPS. It's blue in color and comes with a nozzle to hook up to the hose with a bowl on the bottom for the solution.

We stay at Shell Island fish camp and the river out to the gulf is fresh water. I have the raw water wash down on my boat. So, on the way back in we would squirt the boat and all of our rods down with the salt stuff.

It prevents damage and cleans the salt away from where ever it is sprayed. It's like it leaves a film on things when sprayed. I've used it every trip and not have any problems later with my gear. You can also hook it up to your OB to flush it out too.

I used the salt terminator on my only trip to the Atlantic. It worked great for everything including the rods/reels. I was also told by another saltwater fisherman to use this on your boat, trailer, and pretty much anything that touches the salt water. In fact, he recommended getting a cheap two gallon sprayer from Home Depot etc. and filling it up beforehand so that you could use it right there on the trailer after unloading your boat in the water and at the end of the day when putting the boat back on the trailer. Seems extreme but it worked very well for me and for this other individual. It only takes a few minutes to spray everything with a yard sprayer (I am talking about the type that you hand pump).

Anyone interested in a Avet LX 4.6:1 MC, I have one up for auction on E-Bay. Will take $265 for it. It's brand new never and been put on a rod.

sold