# GET SHORTY 7/24-7/26 offshore report



## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

Headed out Thursday night with 7 aboard way out into the canyon in search of blue water. According to our sat shot there was supposed to be blue water east of the canyon with almost all rigs we wanted to fish in dirty . So we slow boat out in some chop arriving at the spur around midnight and deploy some sword baits, which promptly get bit right away . I’m thinking Dang this is too easy when up come shark #1 followed by 2-3-4 and 5 . 

Dawn came quick and we start trolling at grey light with no bite what so ever for hours as we trolled in search of something fishy which we never seemed to find. The water was blue green way east of the canyon and south , and we just didn’t feel like making another 100 mile run to Lloyds ridge so we decided to troll in toward the wings and roll up toward the closed zone and the Johnny Walker ridge " my old stomping grounds" . 

Somewhere along the way we locate a log that’s loaded with bait and tons of chicken dolphin, which we proceeded to catch one after an other till we had enough to make tacos for all. We then topped our bait off and headed on trolling the ledges and poking around bottom fishing. We were catching a few scamp but not setting any records. 

We decided to anchor for the night in 135 ft of water over a spot I had great luck at many times in July and august for black snapper and every thing else that prowls out there. We get set up and most went to bed , i stayed up all night and tore them up with 2 buddies. We caught a nice grade of beeliners, lanes snappers , kingfish and the target fish: Black snapper up to 12 pounds all night long. When dawn busted we had filled the 350 yeti to the top, when all hell busted loose on teh surface with 50-60 pound AJ's bust up top. Well what to do other than throw out and popper and bingo we are on big time. We had 15 year old Gino in the boat with his Daddy Chris and he hooked into a monster 5 feet from the boat that fought so hard he thought he was gonna get pulled over. Gino caught 3 big Aj's all by himself and the crew landed a few others too which was a nice end to a long night of fishing . 

During the night we saw the biggest show of bait i have ever seen so shallow , with flyer after flyer jumping in the boat or being netted which we used to free line for giant black snapper feasted on the surface in 130 ft of water. I have never seen so much bait in so close, it was crazy with squid everywhere , fin fish ect. Hence the AJ surface bite was on !

Once the sun began to rise I went to bed before it got to be 100 degrees, but the crew trolled up and down the ledges off Mexico beach and panama city to no avail as there was no Wahoo love this trip. We tried some other grouper spots we had and they seemed to be off as well with the current ripping and the wind howling in the opposite direction it made for tough drifting. Late in the day the decision was made to troll to the nipple and then deep drop near by which paid off big time.

I came up to let Reggie and others sleep and right near the nipple in 650 ft we hooked up on White Marlin #1 which hit , came off and then hit again only to shake off right away. I reset the bird combo he hit and 10 minutes later we hook White Marlin #2 who made quick work of us again by coming off almost instantly , dang white Marlin are so hard to actually get to the boat.

After that we trolled up on some spots deep and while I napped the boys were being real quite, and catching fish. I woke up and looked out the cabin door and saw everyone on deck , so I am thinking "what’s going on ". So I get up and hit the deck to see they are catch some nice Yellow edge and some pretty big Golden Tile fish, which i have never caught. I take over a TB1000 and send down my drop. I quickly hook up and after putting my TB into High gear up pops a nice 10 pound golden tile , my first ever !

The next drop I just got down and all the sudden I am hung on the bottom , or so i think till it starts coming up : OMG " what in the heck do i have this time" . The fish pulled rag and fought the entire way up until it was 50 ft or so down when we first saw color , and as it came closer and closer it was evident I had a giant Golden Tile fish : Bigger than anyone any of had even seen. The fish measured 41.5 in long with a 23 in girth and weight right at the 30 mark on my boga scale. 

After that we made a few more drops catch a real nice yellow edge and a few more nice tiles when we called the day and headed back the last 45 miles to Orange Beach, making dinner at ships harbor where I saw Woody at dinner with his girlfriend. We had huge steaks for dinner and then red fished all night off the dock , capping off another great trip to the wonderland we call the GULF.


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## Bravo87 (Jun 19, 2014)

That's awesome! Looks like fun was had by all!


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## Mike Moore (Feb 10, 2010)

Great report


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## submariner (Oct 2, 2007)

nice looking fish sounds like a gooooooood trip thks for sharing


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

Toad!


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## sniperpeeps (Mar 5, 2011)

Awesome report. That tile is ridiculous!!


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## Mac1528 (Mar 24, 2012)

Great sounding trip and report. Thanks for the pics of the catch. Good look'in fish!!


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## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

Thanks guys :thumbsup:


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## jcasey (Oct 12, 2007)

Wow, sounds like you guys salvaged a trip that started out bad. Very nice post and thanks for sharing those pictures.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Most def. the largest tile fish that I have ever seen out of the gulf! Good job!

Robert


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## bcahn (Jan 10, 2013)

Great report and some cool pics!


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## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

MSViking said:


> Most def. the largest tile fish that I have ever seen out of the gulf! Good job!
> 
> Robert



Prob should have certified weighted it 

It looked so big I thought for sure it may bust the state record 


It made a record setting dinner last night for sure :thumbsup:


Thx Robert


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## WhyMe (Apr 21, 2013)

Nice report. Great fish!
WhyMe 
Mako My Dayo


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

Monster tile! Random question, but is the guy with the Pelagic hat holding the two smaller tiles named Dave Owens?


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## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

FenderBender said:


> Monster tile! Random question, but is the guy with the Pelagic hat holding the two smaller tiles named Dave Owens?


No 

That's my new buddy Jason 


Who is from Birmingham Al

He is friends with my boat partner Reggie :thumbsup:


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## recess (Oct 8, 2007)

Fish smack down !!!! Nice going guys


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## JVT (Jun 5, 2009)

I gotta get an electric reel. That tile makes the couple we cranked up from 300' a month ago look like pups. What a great looking box of fish.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Nice haul Mike and Reggie. That's a beautiful Golden Tile. We need to go on a Tile smack down trip soon when our schedules and the moons and planets align.


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## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

Chris V said:


> Nice haul Mike and Reggie. That's a beautiful Golden Tile. We need to go on a Tile smack down trip soon when our schedules and the moons and planets align.


No doubt Chris : it's been two years since I've been in OB now and we have yet to fish together :thumbsup:

As always great to see you at SAMs

Talk soon Buddy


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## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

recess said:


> Fish smack down !!!! Nice going guys



:thumbsup:


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

Man talk about an epic fishing trip, you guys had one. Your report was a pleasure to read and it gave me the feeling of being in the cockpit with a popping rod! Way to go.


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## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

Kim said:


> Man talk about an epic fishing trip, you guys had one. Your report was a pleasure to read and it gave me the feeling of being in the cockpit with a popping rod! Way to go.



:thumbsup:


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## DISANTO (Oct 1, 2007)

Nice haul! Full box for sure! Where's the wife!


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## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

DISANTO said:


> Nice haul! Full box for sure! Where's the wife!


Thx 

As for my wife , she and the daughter had a gymnastics meet .


So I was solo :thumbsup:


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## fishmagician (Jun 4, 2014)

That's what happens when you stick with it!! Good Job.


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## BlueH20Fisher (Mar 20, 2008)

Awesome. Only thing I can find deep dropping is white snapper the size of reds...


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