# Finally good to be back on the water.



## Ocean Man (Sep 27, 2007)

Ifinally got done making some repairs on the boat. It had been 3 months or so since I had been offshore. I had a crew of 4, my Uncle James, my buddies Duayne,Keenon and I. We left out of Navy point around 7:00am heading to the Gulf. The original plan was to head to the East Edge and work our way back. Well the North wind was ripping early so we decided to stay in close and work on some Snapper. It didn't take long for Mr. Cuda to show up once we got anchored and he proceeded to help himself to dinner. 

Snapper with Cuda cruising in the background.










King for lunch.










Half of an AJ










The Snapper were biting pretty good and once the cuda got his fill, we caught our federal limit of 2 apiece pretty early. The wind and waves were starting to die down by this point so we decided to run to the edge to put some color in the box. By the time we got there the wind had stopped blowing all together and the Gulf had smoothed out very nicely. We anchored up and started dropping down some baits. James bows up pretty good and pulls up this nice Almaco.










We were getting lots of bites on this spot but most were Snapper so we moved on down the edge a mile or two and got anchored up again. I managed to jig up a nice Triggerfish which was one of our main targets for the day.:hungry We started dropping down some small pieces of squid in hopes of finding some of his brothers and sisters but it wasn't to be at this spot. I did catch a nice 16in Lane Snapper, and James caught a keeper Scamp and we all added some Mingo's to the box. Then all of the sudden a nice Cobia swims up to the boat. I was bringing up an Almaco at this time and the Cobia shot down trying to eat him. I knew my hook was too small and the Almaco was too big so I quickly reeled him up and got him past the hungry Cobe. We threw out some chum to keep him interested till James fed him a dead croaker. He sucked up the croaker but didn't get the hook so James fed him another and this time the hook finds the corner of his mouth. James then handed the rod off to Keenon so he could catch a big fish.

Keenon fighting the Cobe.










Underwater shots as he brings him to the gaff.



















Keenon with the Cobia.










Keenon and Duayne with Cobe.










It ended up weighing 32lbs on the digital scale. We continued on fishing but the bite had slowed down a little so we headed off to the Timberholes to add a little more color to the box. The first spot we stopped at was pretty slow so we moved to another spot where the bite was much better. I missed a Grouper bite right off the bat then couldn't get him to eat again.:doh We noticed right away that our baits were getting mauled on the way down so we set up to catch some Triggers. Welaid with the Triggers till it started getting late then headed back in and made one more stop in State waters to finish off our Snapper limit.

Sunset










Back at the dock I dumped all the fish out on the deck for quick pic.








<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Final tally for the day:<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">16 Red Snapper<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">20 Trigger?s<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">10 Mingo?s<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1 Cobia<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">2 Almaco?s<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1 Mangrove <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1 Lane<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1 Scamp<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">It was great tofinally getback on the water and do what I truly love to do. Having such a good day catching fish just made it all the more sweeter. Now we can have a couple good meals and all get to put some fish in the freezer.


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

That is what I call one mess of fish. Nice report.:clap

Jon


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## 82whaler (Sep 28, 2007)

Talk about making up for lost time......dang what a catch.


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## Garbo (Oct 2, 2007)

Wow. Can you say haul....


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## David Ridenour (Sep 28, 2007)

What a comeback! Nice report and pictures.Thanks for posting.


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## zodiac470 (Oct 2, 2007)

Glad to see you got the boat fixed. That is a nice bunch of fish.


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## 401 Cay (Sep 30, 2007)

I'd have been impressed with just the triggers, but DAMN! Great Job!


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## seacapt (Oct 1, 2007)

Looks like a great day on the water (and under). Thanks for thegreat report and pic's.


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## FelixH (Sep 28, 2007)

Wow! Nice box o fish!!!

I'm envious of the catch... but not of the cleaning:letsdrink


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## bonita dan (Oct 3, 2007)

Great report and damn fine catch Matt:toast Glad to see ya found a cure for your Myboatsapieceofsh*titus and got it going again. Got any of that elixer laying around that ya don't need


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## REALITY BITES (Oct 10, 2007)

Great Report, I hope to have a day like that soon. :clap


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## RUSTY (Oct 2, 2007)

Great mess of fish


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## Corpsman (Oct 3, 2007)

Outstanding! How did you get the UW pics?


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## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

Outstanding Report. I especially like the Cobia underwater pix's.


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## reelcanuck (Oct 6, 2007)

Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Fine fish fry there.


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## frydaddy (Oct 1, 2007)

You made up for lost time, great catch! Wish it was me.:bowdown


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## GULFFISHER1 (Sep 28, 2007)

Loved the post makes me want to get back out there.


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## Ocean Man (Sep 27, 2007)

Thanks for the replies, it was great mental therapy to be back on the water catching some fish again. I was about to go crazy stuck on dry land.



> *Corpsman (10/11/2007)*Outstanding! How did you get the UW pics?


I have a dive camera that I hold over the side of the boat and snap away. Its hard to get a good shot because you cant look thru the view finder so you just have to point it thebest you can and take a lot of pic's. Here is a couple more.


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## Deeplines (Sep 28, 2007)

After that report All I can say is LOOK OUT FISH!!!!!!


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## Murphy's Law (Sep 27, 2007)

Great report and pic's :clap


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## wirenut (Sep 30, 2007)

Nice:bowdown


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