# Snapper Report and Dangerous Boater from 5/24



## jw1973 (Feb 8, 2009)

Fished some hard bottom to the SE yesterday. Little bumpy on the way out but manageable. Looked like some of the spots were holding 30+ boats. Spot I went to is just inside of 9 miles and there were 9 boats on it. Big area, everyone was polite, so it was all good.

The crown thinned out around 10 or so and I think there was my boat and 1 or 2 others. We were anchored but a lot of folks were drifting. It was me, my bro in law, and 4 kids, age 8 - 16. Bite was steady but we had a lot of shorts. Most fish were 18"-21". I did hook up on a big one but the man in the great suit got a piece of him. The fish was bitten off just behind is fins and was still 20". Probably would have been 30" if it was whole. Still had a great box of fish with 9 ARS and 6 mingos. Bait was mostly frozen cigs. Current was pretty strong. We drifted a couple times and it looked like we were trolling.

I have a 24' CH. Guy pulls up in a Pursuit, probably 28'-30'. Big spot, crowds thinned out, and he pulls right up next to us. No biggie, public spot, opening day, all that. The guy seemed polite and asked where he was, said his GPS wasn't working. I told him where we were and explained that we were on the South end of a very large natural bottom spot and that there was good relief everywhere around us. Next thing I know, the guy pulls about 100 yards up current of us and drops anchor. Almost immediately, my bro in law and I are on the side of my boat, holding on to his bow rail, trying to avoid a collision. Oh yeah, I have a fish on while this is happening. The guys anchor line is now dragging on mine. My bro in law wipes out while he is trying to hold the other boat off of mine but he was ok and the other boat finally pulls away without getting the anchor lines tied up.

So the other guy continues to drift. Each time, he drifts right by me (25 yards) and the pulls back up right by me with a large wake, rocking our boat more than any of the seas would this day.

At this point, we are 1 ARS short of our limit and here comes my buddy, drifting right towards me again, looks like a T-Bone waiting to happen. Bro in Law and I drop our rods and proceed to the front of the boat to hold the guy off. The guy just stares at us and continues fishing. So here we are, holding on to his bow rail for a bit and he decides that now is a good time to start his engines and back off of my boat. This is when we decide rounding out our limit is not that important and we head home.

And of course my new friend follows us, haha. All good, the guy was rude, he wasn't an a$$hole. I honestly think he was just inexperienced. I was inexperienced once but it was on a 19' boat and I stayed clear of other boats.

I did manage to hook a decent size shark, 6'-7', on a spinning rod. Got him to the boat, snapped a couple pics and set him free. The fight was awesome. Sharks really are beautiful creatures. I'll attach a picture of the shark as I am sure you know what a box of ARS looks like.

Be careful out there guys!


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## recess (Oct 8, 2007)

Trust me they come in all kinds . we have some real nincompoops around here. Glad you able to get out and with a fresh dinner on its way.


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## Chapman5011 (Mar 7, 2013)

jw1973 said:


> Fished some hard bottom to the SE yesterday. Little bumpy on the way out but manageable. Looked like some of the spots were holding 30+ boats. Spot I went to is just inside of 9 miles and there were 9 boats on it. Big area, everyone was polite, so it was all good.
> 
> The crown thinned out around 10 or so and I think there was my boat and 1 or 2 others. We were anchored but a lot of folks were drifting. It was me, my bro in law, and 4 kids, age 8 - 16. Bite was steady but we had a lot of shorts. Most fish were 18"-21". I did hook up on a big one but the man in the great suit got a piece of him. The fish was bitten off just behind is fins and was still 20". Probably would have been 30" if it was whole. Still had a great box of fish with 9 ARS and 6 mingos. Bait was mostly frozen cigs. Current was pretty strong. We drifted a couple times and it looked like we were trolling.
> 
> ...


Had same kind of situation. I drift a cigar on a duster when we drift. Maybe 20 feet behind boat was my duster. Had a guy keep circling me on the drift. He finally caught my duster with his prop. I did not have the clicker on, on the reel and the reel is on top of the roof in the rod holder.
Well, he took at least one hundred yards plus the duster once I realized. He never knew. So we moved before he figured it out. He was moving just fine. 
We were at the chevron when this happened.


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## badonskybuccaneers (Aug 19, 2013)

sometimes it doens't seem like you get much relaxation or enjoyment out of fishing when some people want to be like that?!?!?

Glad you were the better man and had a decent day out there. I get stuck at work on these busy holiday weekends...


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## Mike aka FishWerks (Oct 22, 2007)

jw1973 said:


> Fished some hard bottom to the SE yesterday. Little bumpy on the way out but manageable. Looked like some of the spots were holding 30+ boats. Spot I went to is just inside of 9 miles and there were 9 boats on it. Big area, everyone was polite, so it was all good.
> 
> The crown thinned out around 10 or so and I think there was my boat and 1 or 2 others. We were anchored but a lot of folks were drifting. It was me, my bro in law, and 4 kids, age 8 - 16. Bite was steady but we had a lot of shorts. Most fish were 18"-21". I did hook up on a big one but the man in the great suit got a piece of him. The fish was bitten off just behind is fins and was still 20". Probably would have been 30" if it was whole. Still had a great box of fish with 9 ARS and 6 mingos. Bait was mostly frozen cigs. Current was pretty strong. We drifted a couple times and it looked like we were trolling.
> 
> ...



Man, I salute your positive attitude. I don't know if I could muster the same upbeat outlook. Good on you man and congrats on the catch. :thumbsup:


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## reelndrag (Feb 20, 2013)

well im glad u didnt have any collisions yesterday and still managed to enjoy it! the boat I was one was closer in and we limited out quick! caught 2 sharks one right at 6' (spinner) everyone in our group of boats was really nice and considerate for the most part. tight lines!!


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## Lejet (Sep 30, 2007)

We had the same kind of experience yesterday. We were on a close(5 mile) spot and had numerous boats on it with everyone behaving. This dude shows up in a 35 foot boat. We have a bright yellow balloon behind our boat with a hard tail on it. This gut pulls up right behind us. We tell he is about to hit our line with the balloon. He looks down at our balloon five feet off his bow and stays right there with his engine idling to maintain his position. Was doing it for close to an hour. Funny how 20 boats can be happily fishing in a spot and it just takes one!


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## reelndrag (Feb 20, 2013)

its always that 1 boat that does stupid junk like that :thumbdown:


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## Ga Transplant (Feb 26, 2012)

I guess I was lucky, the spot I fished had about 6-8 boats but for the most part everyone stayed anchored far enough apart and those drifting did it away from the others. I'm glad to hear you managed to avoid any damage and keep your cool and I agree, limiting out isn't worth dealing with that.....Fish-on. GT


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## DantheGuy (Jun 12, 2013)

Awesome report. Glad you a good day on the water. I remember being out at an artificial reef near the Zuez, and was hovering over the spot. Just bumping her inter reverse against the current and some other guy must have wanted to fish the same spot so he was actually backing up letting the current push him towards me, Engines to engine. Had to get on the throttle a couple of and even moved.. I definitely sent a lot of foul language his way.


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## bambam (Jun 12, 2009)

Great report and nice shark. Sounds like you got good control of your temper.


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## salinesolution (May 26, 2013)

I may have had an issue with the same guy on Friday. I was just checking spots to see how thick the fish were on various public spots & trolling some plastic between some that were close together. Ran up on a spot with 1 boat anchored on it so I set my troll to go by 60-70 feet off his transom. I was just barely creeping along & this yahoo shows up in a large Pursuit & drove right over my 2 lines trying to find the spot. 

I tried shouting to him that he was heading for my lines but he was too busy maneuvering around the anchored boat & watching his bottom machine. The sad part was the wreck was right on the published public numbers. 

I just sailed away shaking my head.

I'll be on them Tuesday when the crowd has thinned.


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## 20simmons sea skiff (Aug 20, 2010)

I caught a shark like that last year, thought I had the bottom.


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## bcahn (Jan 10, 2013)

Not cool, that's how folks get hurt!


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## jw1973 (Feb 8, 2009)

Yeah, there are plenty of days where I may have lost my cool with something like this. I guess I felt a little sympathy for the guy. He had a deer in the headlights look a couple times.

I fished the same spot Saturday and Monday. Lots of boats out, lots of easy going boaters, lots of smiles. It's easy to be kind to a clumsy guy when every one around you is being cool.

I'm too tired to post a full report for Monday but it was similar to Sunday except more mingos, no shark, and no current. Left at 8, cleaning fish by 1.


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## Gulflady (Jun 19, 2010)

Great report and nice shark pic, at least ya got out there.


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