# Winter Blast 12/30



## bcahn (Jan 10, 2013)

Morning all,
Decided to brave the cold and head out Saturday morning to a strong North flow with 1-3 ft seas. Launched at Hurlburt around 7, made bait at the bridge rubble and headed south. We planned to target only grouper so live bait was crucial. Hit a few spots 18 miles straight south from destin. First drop, 2 hook ups both break offs.  Move a few miles west and landed a 36" AJ. This guy kicked our butt! Successful release and off to another spot. Surfaced a 150 lb plus bull shark that wore me down. Moved again to our final area where the winds died down and seas followed. :yes:
My wife drops and immediately gets nailed, game on. The fish rocked her and she had to give up the rig. We backed down and gave him slack, then he made another run. Pullin this guy felt like a 5 gallon buck coming up. Red Grouper at 20#. :thumbup:
Made several drifts with 2 more reds in the box. Great day on the water with friends and family. Smooth ride in with a clear skyline. 
Awesome way to end 2017! :notworthy:


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## OHenry (Apr 28, 2011)

Very nice! Congrats


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## bigrick (Sep 29, 2010)

release?


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## Team Kaos (Jun 21, 2017)

bigrick said:


> release?


I certainly hope not. Nice catch and great eating!!


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## bcahn (Jan 10, 2013)

Yea, i thought AJs were out of season in DEC, did I miss something?


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## bigrick (Sep 29, 2010)

Thought you meant the fish in the picture. We got our butts whooped by some AJs Saturday too. Lost every vertical jig in the boat.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Winter fishing is always a blast!


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## bcahn (Jan 10, 2013)

*Worried*



bigrick said:


> Thought you meant the fish in the picture. We got our butts whooped by some AJs Saturday too. Lost every vertical jig in the boat.



Oh gotcha, man I thought I threw back a legal fish. That sucker took us down hard! I purposely didn't jig just to avoid them. My buddy caught him on the bottom with a ruby red with nothing showing on the screen.


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## BIGDUCK (Jun 15, 2017)

Well done !


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## SH27GameFish (Jul 4, 2014)

nice , maybe I can get my boat off the lift next week , super low tides are killing me


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## bcahn (Jan 10, 2013)

*Horrible*



SH27GameFish said:


> nice , maybe I can get my boat off the lift next week , super low tides are killing me


Man that sucks, hope you can get out soon, winter fishing is a blast!


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