# 4-3 [41 Spot Slot, Surprise Flounder, & a MONSTER!]



## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

*Part I: *
Friday was a pretty sick day. Josh gave me a call insanely early in the AM (9 o'clock) & woke me from my peaceful slumber to tell me to go get packed up & come over so we could load up the boat. Considering I went to bed just 3 hours before that, I was pretty tired. But who could say no to a day on the Mako?! Shook off the events of the night before, grabbed my gear, & made the trek over to Josh's place. Shortly afterwards we launched out of Sherman, ready for the adventure ahead. Hit some flats first, which turned out to be a great idea. Tried our hand at sight casting at some extremely weary reds, most of which weren't interested in the lures we were presenting. Finally got a beautiful 20.5'' slot that I saw cruising the shoreline to eat. Turned out she had 41 spots (17 on one side & 24 on the other). Luckily for us she was extremely photogenic, because I just had to get some sweet photos of her before sending her to the cooler to "chill" out. Shortly afterwards we ran to some docks near Perdido to look for some specks. Saw Spanish busting everywhere, but they didn't want anything to do with anything we threw at them. Missed some decent trout, snagged enough pinfish to supply bait for an all-day offshore trip, & Josh also managed to find a chunky 13.5'' flounder. Finally around 3:30 we realized that our stomachs had got the best of us & that we needed to head in to grab some grub. Went back to the crib for a while & then met up with the guys at Matrix Shad for some dinner over in Perdido. Ended up talking for a few hours (time flies when you're having an awesome time!) & worked up another appetite, so we headed back to my place to make some blackened redfish & flounder. 

*Part II:*
By the time we had cooked & eaten, it was already 10:30. We decided that we had no choice but to go out for round II. Johnny decided that he wanted to join us as well, so the three of us headed back to Sherman to hit the water for an all-nighter. Fished dock lights in the channel near Perdido & in the lights at one of the bayous near Sykes, but the wind proved to be quite the force to be reckoned with. We decided to ditch the dock light game to go hit Sykes to look for Josh's personal record bull, since there have been so many monsters out there lately. It didn't take long before Josh hooked into a 42.25'' 35 pound hawg on a 1/2 oz. Golden Eye jighead & a Tiger Bait Matrix Shad. After a quick photoshoot we sent her back to go burn up someone else's drag washers. Fifteen minutes later I hooked into what would be my only fish of the night - a healthy 36.5'' bull. The bite shut off after that, so we headed to 3 Mile to fish for about a half hour until the sun rose, but we didn't see any action there. Headed back to Big Lagoon to hit some flats for an hour, got rained on, missed a couple good slots (tiredness had finally set in), & then headed back to the ramp so we could all go home & get some well-deserved sleep. Johnny & I finally made it back to the apartment around 9:30AM, at which point we both proceeded to pass out for the entirety of the day. 

*Tally for the Trip:*

*Me:* 20.5'' slot & a 36.5'' bull
*Josh:* 13.5'' flounder & a 42.25'' behemoth redfish (new personal record)
*Johnny:* Enjoyed spending some time on the boat!

Tight lines everyone!


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## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

Here's the other photos of Josh's new personal record fish!


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## Reel Sick (May 4, 2009)

Long report lol but a good one nice bonus flatty


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## John W (Sep 3, 2014)

Nice catch guys! That sounds like a full day!


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## 60hertz (Oct 1, 2007)

Awesome report. The water has been so clear in that area that the Reds are extremely wary of just about anything - could only get them to eat a clouser on Friday, anything heavier really spooked 'em.


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## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

60hertz said:


> Awesome report. The water has been so clear in that area that the Reds are extremely wary of just about anything - could only get them to eat a clouser on Friday, anything heavier really spooked 'em.


Glad you got some of them to eat. It's definitely been a challenge lately! Really looking forward to getting into one on the fly sometime soon! That's at the top of my list right now.


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## LIM-IT-OUT (Aug 26, 2014)

As always had a blast!!!!

We diffenitly covered alot of water but well worth it. Found cruising slots on the flats, noticed alot of action and life begining to take place in areas that have been dead since late fall and hooked into my personal best bull on my favorite lure all in all with great friends that I consider to be as die hard as I am about fishing. And even though Johnny didnt catch anything he still had a grin on his face watching the sun rise as we were getting rained on, what a trooper.

Tight Lines and Good Fishin


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## The_hub (Jan 12, 2015)

Great report guys. I'm hoping to hit the flats this weekend. And you have turned me into matrix believer.


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## WAReilly (Jun 2, 2014)

Nice report guys!


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## dabutcher (Apr 19, 2008)

Great report. I would have fallen asleep on the couch after dinner.


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## Dimebag (Jan 15, 2014)

Gppd stuff fellas


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Man those are some beautiful spots on that red!!!! Glad ya'll killed em again! I'll be back out probably Wed night!


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## silverking (Feb 11, 2010)

Way to get after 'em!


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## Zacvuittonet (Oct 11, 2014)

Awesome report yo! The busy weekend killed my chances to go.. Planning on hitting it tonight. Save some fish for us lessers!


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## Sheepshead25 (Mar 30, 2015)

Well played, fella's. That's dedication.

Those pics are pretty awesome!


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## tkh329 (Mar 14, 2012)

Great report! Although I don't know how you do 24 hours straight on three hours sleep! Glad to hear the flats are picking up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## coastie83 (Apr 20, 2014)

That's an amazing photo of thafish with the red. Not sure if you were trying to blur, or just using filters but man, if I was the editor of Florida Sportsman I'd use that photo as the cover. Awesome man.


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## LIM-IT-OUT (Aug 26, 2014)

Zacvuittonet said:


> Awesome report yo! The busy weekend killed my chances to go.. Planning on hitting it tonight. Save some fish for us lessers!


Hope to meet you on the water broseph. Ill be there from 0000-0430; 070415


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## LIM-IT-OUT (Aug 26, 2014)

tkh329 said:


> Great report! Although I don't know how you do 24 hours straight on three hours sleep! Glad to hear the flats are picking up
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Trust me that dude spends more time asleep then anyone I know hahaha I have to wake him up slowly throughout the day. I got him out of bed this time by saying I was hooked into a monster cobia and he needed to meet me at the ramp asap:yes:


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## Zacvuittonet (Oct 11, 2014)

LIM-IT-OUT said:


> Hope to meet you on the water broseph. Ill be there from 0000-0430; 070415


Heck yeah bud! Trying to choose between Sykes and 3 mile. Which has been producing more biting bulls lately?


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## 153 Large fish (Nov 30, 2013)

Nice pics....epic fun...and a grandma mamma red!


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## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

coastie83 said:


> That's an amazing photo of thafish with the red. Not sure if you were trying to blur, or just using filters but man, if I was the editor of Florida Sportsman I'd use that photo as the cover. Awesome man.


Glad you like the photos man! I used a half a dozen or so different editing tools to create the finished product. I really appreciate when people compliment our pictures, because I'm big into getting great shots so that we have a lot of awesome pictures to look back at someday!


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## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

The_hub said:


> Great report guys. I'm hoping to hit the flats this weekend. And you have turned me into matrix believer.


Glad to hear you've entered the Matrix man!


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## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

Jason said:


> Man those are some beautiful spots on that red!!!! Glad ya'll killed em again! I'll be back out probably Wed night!


We'll be out tonight too Jason! Let's get on some bridge beasts together!! :thumbup:


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## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

Somehow I forgot to add the picture of the bull that I caught on this trip. Not that it's a big deal, but here she is! Thanks for the awesome photo Johnny!


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## Fielro (Jun 4, 2012)

Great report Captain....


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## Ridefish (Jun 8, 2014)

Ooooohh! It's a photography thing. I thought you were all in to fishing!


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## LIM-IT-OUT (Aug 26, 2014)

Fielro said:


> Great report Captain....


ThaFish(1st decky) writes the reports, I (capt.)put us on the fish. Its a turn 2 win win situation plus sawyer is a very well prospective for becoming an artist in the way of the fly rod and eye for catching once in a lifetime still shots its a combination made for easy fun sailing


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