# Five man grouper limit Snowy,yellowedge,red,gag,scamp plus others



## recess (Oct 8, 2007)

Quick stop at the bait boat in the pass, and it was off to the SW for a little bottom bumping. Our crew today was Darren, Jeff, Rob, Tim and myself. The conditions at the pensacola passweresomething you only dream for, the day before you go off shore. Gently one foot chop with 5 knots or so winds from the west, but that changed off shore out about 15 miles. The seas increase to 2-3's and a heavy chop. Oh well we needed to catch a few kings or bonita's for deep drop baits. Anchor up on a spot about 17 miles out and started catching kings and bonita's. I thought I would get in on the action and sent a live fish down on the bottom , it was instant hook up with a gag grouper. What a welcome sight it was. You see lately while deep dropping I only get to drive the boat, and it was my short time to fish. Tim slipped a fly line out the back, and to our surprise a 300# bull shark grab it. Jeff did a good job getting her next to the boat for a quick release and a RECESS never again welcome. After we caught enough bait it was off to our deep drop numbers, but we never made it there. While running we are always looking for new spots. In about 200 feet we ran across a set of rocks that was making lots of fish. We drifted it and started catching some of the nicest scamp we have seen in a long time.We stop catching scamp there and as I said lets go find some snowy's , I thought I was going to have a mutiny on my hands. You know the oldsaying leave a spot that you are catching good fish on. But I was hoping that we could find some deep spots around and maybe catch a few snowy's. Here is a few pictures of our catch today. Gene and Crew
































 this ones for you Fiver


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## TOBO (Oct 3, 2007)

Great job ,again, thanks for the pics!


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

You guys rock. You need to change you boat name to fish slayers.


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## Fiver (Nov 6, 2008)

great box of fish guys! ...took my mother tosee her and dad'sold house in fairhope and spent time with the family today but my mind was at least partially offshore. Glad you were able to get in on the action and pull up that gag today Gene!


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## BuckWild (Oct 2, 2007)

Rock on!


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## prostreet78 (Mar 2, 2008)

Gene, Thanks so much for the invite; I had a GREAT time today!!! I really enjoyed meeting Darren, Rob, and Tim. Whenever you have another open seat, let me know. Thanks, Jeff


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## Mullethead (Oct 4, 2007)

Great job Gene - see you still getting those barrelfish & scorpion grouper ! Those are some fine Scamp!


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## Fiver (Nov 6, 2008)

nice video guys....so which lake was that? I know it couldn't have been the gulf of mexico...lol..the GOM doesn't get that flat as far as I know. :doh


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## SnapperSlapper (Feb 13, 2009)

When they shorten the deep water grouper season to two months, I'll give you a call.

Seriously, why do you want to give NMFS more ammunition to shorten the season on one of the last fish we can catch?

I'm all about killing a pile of snowies and yellowedges, but why broadcast it?


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## Fiver (Nov 6, 2008)

> *SnapperSlapper (6/20/2009)*When they shorten the deep water grouper season to two months, I'll give you a call.
> 
> Seriously, why do you want to give NMFS more ammunition to shorten the season on one of the last fish we can catch?
> 
> I'm all about killing a pile of snowies and yellowedges, but why broadcast it?


If you believe scientists makerecommendations for recreational quotas based upon posts on PFF, empirical evidence be damned, then step into my office as I have a bridge to sell you. What's wrong with creating a little bit of excitement in the community? This portion of the gulf of mexico has an excellent grouper fishery, and one recreational boat that hits the water on average less than 1 time per week cannot and will not change that. Furthermore, these guys make time to map new spots every week to insure that none of the spots are overfished. What's the problem again?


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

I'm not going to comment on the posting of the trip results but I will say I mapped those spots over 20 years ago and many more that Recess fishes . And the fish produced are the same today as they were 10 to 20 years ago when I fished them.


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## Pinksnappertrapper (Dec 7, 2007)

Nice. You guys really know what you are doing. I would LOVE to go if you ever have an opening. Just let me know. How far out did you go? Congrats on a GREAT mess of fish. Joe


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## Corpsman (Oct 3, 2007)

Good job once again guys!


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## user6993 (Feb 15, 2009)

> *SnapperSlapper (6/20/2009)*When they shorten the deep water grouper season to two months, I'll give you a call.
> 
> Seriously, why do you want to give NMFS more ammunition to shorten the season on one of the last fish we can catch?
> 
> I'm all about killing a pile of snowies and yellowedges, but why broadcast it?


 Where to start with this one? Where was the NMFS monitoring the posts from recess and other fishing teams showing picture after picture of snapper over running ALL the reefs in this area? Did it change the opening of the snapper season? NO. I also know that a lot of good fishing teams do not post their catches here or on any other forum. But does that fact increase the population of fish left in the ocean? NO. Did you also know that over 60 % of the fish we catch, goes to feed families that do not have the opportunity or means to catch a fish and enjoy what we are blessed with? No. We work hard and are always trying new ways to catch fish on the boat. And I might add, we have a ball doing it. Sometimes, we catch fish sometimes we don't. But I thought this was the Pensacola FISHING forum. To post pictures of catches, ask questions and so on. If the owner of the PFF or monitors ask me to stop posting pictues of futurecatches and comments I will. This is my comment now like it or NOT. Gene


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## Captain Rog' (Apr 3, 2008)

Great job Gene, You make it look easy. My thoughts on the deepwater fishery are they grow slower and recover slower than shallow water fish. I rarely fish my deep spots more than once a year. I don't post my trips but sometimes the guys that I take do. See you Thursday I'll bring the smoked AJ dip.


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## user6993 (Feb 15, 2009)

> *Pinksnappercatcher (6/21/2009)*Nice. You guys really know what you are doing. I would LOVE to go if you ever have an opening. Just let me know. How far out did you go? Congrats on a GREAT mess of fish. Joe


We found our fish around 40 miles out to about 50 miles. On some new spots found last week coming in. Gene


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## NaClH2O (Feb 14, 2008)

We had another great day on the water yesterday. It started off a little slow at the Trysler grounds which seemed to be shark central. After we snagged some nice baits it was off to greener pastures. We did manage to find a new spot in about 220 foot of water that was on fire,the current was really ripping there. When you did manage to get a bait past the Amberjacks, Almaco's and Kings it was game on with a grouper on the bottom. Can't say enough about good electronics. Really enjoyed fishing with Jeff (prostreet78) and Darren (Poggypumper) yesterday,its always nice to put a face witha screen name. B-rad we really did miss you but it sure was nice to have a calm day offshore for once. 

Here are just a few of the pictures from an action packed day yesterday. 

I was pretty pumped when I saw this beauty roll up.










Jeff with a beast of a Snowy. That fish will make alot of people extremely happy.










Tim with the boats first Sea Bass. One of the best eatting fish in the sea.










My biggest Red Grouper to date. It put up one heck of a fight, but the little torque 200 was up to the task. That is one fine reel.










Again itwas another great team effort and it was nice to see Gene get back in on the action. Maybe the blue water will roll back in before long, but if it doesn't we will still have a blast doing what we do.

Team Recess

Rob


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## ScullsMcNasty (Oct 4, 2007)

wow! you guys slay em!! congrats on some fine fish, again!!!


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## countryjwh (Nov 20, 2007)

as always, a fine mess of fish.


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## Runned Over (Sep 6, 2008)

> *SnapperSlapper (6/20/2009)*When they shorten the deep water grouper season to two months, I'll give you a call.
> 
> Seriously, why do you want to give NMFS more ammunition to shorten the season on one of the last fish we can catch?
> 
> I'm all about killing a pile of snowies and yellowedges, but why broadcast it?


Recess, I went out fishing for Grouper and didn't catch one, so, mathmatically, your catch does not impact the Grouper numbers so much. JMHO.

Nice job and keep posting!!!!! :clap


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## pogypumper (Mar 24, 2008)

Gene and Crew,

Thanks for another great trip out. It was great to once again put some quality fish on the boat and the deep dropping was a blast!

It seems as of lately, there are attempts to derail more and more threads on this great forum. I think that's too bad because it's really helpful to a lot of people for these good crews to take the time and share their pics and reports.

Speaking of which, I will be adding some additional pictures of this trip sometime later.

Pumper


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

super catch as always!!!:clap as far as the fish nazis go they can kiss my grits. i think your trips prove that fish are bountiful.:clapgreat job guys!!!


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## recess (Oct 8, 2007)

> *nextstep (6/21/2009)*super catch as always!!!:clap as far as the fish nazis go they can kiss my grits. i think your trips prove that fish are bountiful.:clapgreat job guys!!!


Thanks for the kind words all And i hope nobodys takes this comment as bragging but the fish are there you just have to get away from everyone and take a risk looking around areas that don't look so good on a chart, cause when you find something it is game on the fish are hungry!! we are very lucky to have such a good fishery , There were no secrets what we do we fish smaller relief spots with live baits , lighter leaders and the smallest weight we can get by with Thats all . If we all left some of the bigger gravel and edge numbers alone the fishing would be superb, but instead countless boats pound them week after week with not much to show for i say don't go south to the edge and hit the same old spots invest in (if you don' already have) a good depth finder head southwest or out south east and look around if you find something put a bait down it might be worth your while . We have logged over 500 private numbers over the past 4 years thats how long we have lived here. the fish are here and in force. YOU HAVE TO RISK IT TO GET THE BISCUIT. can't wait to met most of you at the oval office thursday night, i got some snowy, gag red roupers and a bunch of barrel ready from this report.

TIM


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## bellafishing (Oct 1, 2007)

Nice job Team Recess!! You guys catch the hell out of some grouper! How deep are you guys fishing?

Bob


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## recess (Oct 8, 2007)

> *bellafishing (6/21/2009)*Nice job Team Recess!! You guys catch the hell out of some grouper! How deep are you guys fishing?
> 
> Bob[/quote
> 
> ...


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## Dylan (Apr 15, 2008)

If im not mistaken there are a couple of Pomfret in there..How often have yall been catching them??


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## user6993 (Feb 15, 2009)

> *Dylan (6/21/2009)*If im not mistaken there are a couple of Pomfret in there..How often have yall been catching them??


I am not sure what a Pomfret is, but if it's what we are calling a barrelfish. We have been catching them I think for the last four weeks. They are so thick, we move to another spot when they show up. 700 feets down and you can see the schools move in on the spot. Kind of like when the mingo's move in 175 feet. This is a whole new type of fishing we have got ourselves into. You just don't know what you are going to bring up when fishing that deep. Gene


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## countryjwh (Nov 20, 2007)

when you are looking for different spots on the edge, do you just look for any type of indention such as a rock or do you look for big rocks that light up with fish. i have never fished the edge but have found spots just easing out slowly and running over them. i would like to start making it to the rocks out of dauphin island, but i dont know what to look for. if this question is to much to ask for information, i understand completely if you dont want to give up secrets.


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## Ultralite (Oct 1, 2007)

good job guys! consistency is your middle name...jeff, congrats to you on the hoss snowy...700' of water and there you go...


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

Good job Gentlemen,... !!!:bowdown:bowdown:bowdown

Jim


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## Out Align (Oct 18, 2007)

Man yall always wear em out. You post a picture like that every week it seems. I'm seriously jealous.

You must have a freezer full or you and all of your friends, neighbors and relatives have a freezer full.

Good job.

:bowdown


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## recess (Oct 8, 2007)

> *countryjwh (6/21/2009)*when you are looking for different spots on the edge, do you just look for any type of indention such as a rock or do you look for big rocks that light up with fish. i have never fished the edge but have found spots just easing out slowly and running over them. i would like to start making it to the rocks out of dauphin island, but i dont know what to look for. if this question is to much to ask for information, i understand completely if you dont want to give up secrets.


When refering to the edge you are looking for smaller relief pretty much live bottom nothing that marks up very large about a 5 foot rise then flattens out into a thicker mark on the screen most are no bigger than 100 foot squared just a decent section of live bottom they hold some serious fish but can't be overfished quickly. but the edge is so large there is live bottom everywhere so it gets a little harder locating a good area that hasn;t been fished out. plus the commercial guys hammer that edge just before summer starts and they do put a hurt on it. i know a boat that fishes out of fort morgan and south about thirty miles they put a good catch of scamp mostly every trip.

TIM


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## recess (Oct 8, 2007)

> *Dylan (6/21/2009)*If im not mistaken there are a couple of Pomfret in there..How often have yall been catching them??




sorry about the size of the pic don't know how to shrink it but this is a pomfret they have a fork tail , and are completly diffrent than they barrelfish. although they kind of look alike i guess.


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## bellafishing (Oct 1, 2007)

I hear you on the shallow water boats marking your spots. I guess that's why we try to just drift fish as much as possible. Do you guys anchor in 700 ft?! Are you using electrics? Thanks for the responses!

Bob


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## submariner (Oct 2, 2007)

Recess crew is a class act. I have fished with them and have enjoyed and learned from the experience. Gene and company make you feel welcome. Their fishing expertise is only a small part of thier sportsmanship. Way to go and keep posting the results


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## NaClH2O (Feb 14, 2008)

> *bellafishing (6/21/2009)*I hear you on the shallow water boats marking your spots. I guess that's why we try to just drift fish as much as possible. Do you guys anchor in 700 ft?! Are you using electrics? Thanks for the responses!
> 
> Bob


Bob, Gene does a tremendous job holding us on the spot, so we do not anchor. I am completely amazed at how he does it. We use two electric reels when we deep drop.We try to drop bothbaits at the same time from thebow of the boatso Gene can watch the angle of the lines as they are going down keeping us on the spot we are fishing.

Team Recess

Rob


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## SnapperSlapper (Feb 13, 2009)

Enjoy the deep water fishing for the next 18 months. 

How does catch and release work in 700'?


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## beerfish (Nov 9, 2007)

AwesoMMMM!


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## Get'n Wade (Oct 28, 2007)

You guys Rock! Just to let you know, I am up for adoption.:bowdown


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## bellafishing (Oct 1, 2007)

That's awesome! I've been thinking about trying some deep dropping in the future, going to have to update the transducer first though. 600 watts just isn't good enough! You guys kick ass!!


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## mpmorr (Oct 3, 2007)

Great Job Gene and Team Recess, paying your dues seems to pay off big time. Well done.:bowdown


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## Ocean Man (Sep 27, 2007)

Another great report, with tips for how to do it. :bowdown:bowdown


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## Getsome (Sep 28, 2007)

> *SnapperSlapper (6/22/2009)*Enjoy the deep water fishing for the next 18 months.
> 
> 
> 
> How does catch and release work in 700'?




What are you a PETA troll?



Great job as usual team recess, you guy have mastered what you do.


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## NaClH2O (Feb 14, 2008)

> *SnapperSlapper (6/22/2009)*Enjoy the deep water fishing for the next 18 months.
> 
> How does catch and release work in 700'?


<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Mr. Passive Aggressive Snapperslapper I?m sure you already know that in 700 foot of water those fish have around 25 atmospheres of pressure on them. With there bulging eyeballs and their stomachs partially pushed out we quickly release them to an ice bath, and then give them a 50 mile trip North free of charge where they wind up on my table and several of my friends tables. Here are a few photos of what happened to the last catch of grouper so when they shut that fishery down the NMFS will have evidence that RECESS wiped out the entire grouper population in the entire freaking GOM. I guess that their data will be as flawed as it is now with the highly endangered Red Snapper. We will need to start hitting our spots a lot more frequently since we will only have 18 months to fish them. You know this is a fishing forum where people share knowledge on how to locate, catch and *eat* fish; if you don?t agree with that and can?t get excited about that you need to find a new hobby.<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Team Recess<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Rob



Snowy and Red Grouper on the Grill.










The finished product seared Scamp, Snowy and Red Grouper. 










Scamp, Snowy and Red Grouper with a Pan Asian sauce, along with Royal Red shrimp.


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## Fiver (Nov 6, 2008)

:clap

excellent post, Rob.


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## Russian (Jan 13, 2009)

Once again damn nice haul. Those pics are making my mouth water.


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## Travis Gill (Oct 6, 2007)

With Scamp and Snowy I wouldn't even bother cooking that red grouper. Those deepwater fish is where its at as far as eating goes, hard to beat fresh yellowedge


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## mpmorr (Oct 3, 2007)

> *Getsome (6/22/2009)*
> 
> 
> > *SnapperSlapper (6/22/2009)*Enjoy the deep water fishing for the next 18 months.
> ...


I assure you Richard is just about the farthest thing from PETA you will ever get. Some of you may not remember him but he has been on this forum and the old one for a very long time and knows more about fishing and hunting than most. Ask him what he does for a living? You would be suprised, and Team recess sorry about the derail, great job like I said before, you guys rock.


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## NaClH2O (Feb 14, 2008)

> *Freespool (6/22/2009)*With Scamp and Snowy I wouldn't even bother cooking that red grouper. Those deepwater fish is where its at as far as eating goes, hard to beat fresh yellowedge


With the Pan Asian Sauce on it the Red Grouper even tasted pretty good, granted its not Yellow edge, Scamp, or Snowy. I think that sauce would make freshwater carp taste good.

Rob


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## Fiver (Nov 6, 2008)

Yep, Pan Asian is still one of my favorite ways to eat fish....great stuff.


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## user6993 (Feb 15, 2009)

Boys boys let's play nice now. I can understand the comments that's Richard said. I to wish that the NMFS would use a little better judgement in their decisions for shortening or closing the grouper and snapper seasons. But if I thought for one second that by posting our catches it would alter their decisions I would stop posting them. Our posts are there to encougrage not to hurt anyone or start any conficts. What do you say we end this and pick up our fishing poles and just go fishing. Gene


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## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

> *SnapperSlapper (6/22/2009)*Enjoy the deep water fishing for the next 18 months.
> 
> How does catch and release work in 700'?


Weren't you looking for some advice on electrics for deep dropping a while back? What did you plan to do with those, drift the pass?? Oh, and I'll bite...what do you do for a living SnapperSlapper...I'm guessing you are a "Professional" fisherman of some sort.

Nice job fellas...that's a hell of a haul right there!!!


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## SnapperSlapper (Feb 13, 2009)

Here's the deal. One of the next things up on the NMFS chopping block is the deep water recreational fishery. Within a couple of years, we'll be hamstrung like we are with snapper. We'll have a much more restricted season and smaller limits. It's coming.

The question is when, and how severe it will be. I don't think that NMFS is reading this forum. But, the more people that are talking about this "new" fishery, the more likely they'll move it up on their list of priorities. I have been doing some deep dropping. Ten years ago, we were playing around with itiin 400-1000 foot of water with 80 wides, manually cranking. Since then, I have bought electric. But as far as anyone is concerned, we haven't caught a fish yet. The folks on the trip know, and people I tell about the trips know. But I have no need to broadcast it to the world.

In addition to the threat we face from the NMFS, there are more and more people fishing, with better and better electronics. I don't want to see the deep water grouper/tile fish fishery go to hell.

Don't think it can happen? 

What about the Lump. Ten or fifteen years ago, it was an awesome winter/spring yellowfin fishery. There were awesome catches made. It wasn't that well known. Then, several of the charter boats started advertising it heavily on Mike Lane's Rod N Gun site. For the last five years, a pretty weekend day would see 100 boats anchored up on it for two months straight. The fish took a beating, and now the fishing on the Lump is horrible. How many folks have had good trips there the past two years? How do the trips compare to ten years ago? They suck. And the reason is the huge increase in pressure. And the reason for the huge increase in pressure is the internet.

What about the spring ling/cobia fishery. Ten or fifteen years ago, if you caught a 70# fish, it wouldn't raise an eyebrow. They were pretty common. It wasn't unusual to see a couple 100# fish a year. There were boats fishing for them, but not everyone that had something that would float was out there. Now, it's like a war, and the pressure has gone up 10 fold. The fishing now sucks. If you catch a 70# fish, you'll win money with it. And everybody that has a spinning rod and something that will float is out there hammering away at them. Much of the increase in pressure is, in my opinion, attributable to the internet.

What about fishing out at the rigs? How does it compare now to 10 or 15 years ago? In my opinion, it is much worse. Used to, if you had pretty water at the "close rigs" (Petronius/Ram Powell/Marlin/Beer Can), there was a better than 50/50 chance there would be tuna there. And, except for a few tournament weekends, it was rare to see more than a couple of other boats out there over the course of a weekend. So, when you got to a rig in pretty water, chances are there were fish there, and chances are that you would have it to yourself, or have to share it with only a couple of other boats. And that meant you could catch some tuna. Now, if you have a pretty weekend in the summer, there'll be 20 boats at the Petronius, and 10 at each of the other rigs. The fishing is horrible. If a fish jumps, there will be 6 boats up on plane running straight at them, putting them back down. The number of yellowfins caught over the past few years has gone up astronomically compared to 15 years ago. And the ones that are left are heavily pressured. Why is there so much more pressure, and so many more boats at the rigs? One reason is the internet.

So, I'm sorry if it offends you if I don't want to see the deep water grouper/tile fish fishery go to hell. Once it's gone, I guess I'll have to learn how to trout fish.


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## TinManMike (Oct 26, 2008)

SnapperSlapper, all of the above examples may be true, but I believe you could say that for the entire Southeast U.S. Fishery. The Keys aren't what they used to be 10-15 years ago. East Coast of Fl., Jax- St. Aug area, Middle Grounds, Etc. What it sounds like to me is, It's OK for you to fish where and how you want, but nobody else should be doing it. Maybe I'm interpreting what you said wrong, but I don't think so.


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## Heller High Water (Nov 1, 2007)

WOW fellas, you guys have been on fire for years! I would love to spend a day fishin with you men. I cant believe you guys even anchored in 110ft. So many people do that it is ridiculous. I wont even go near a good spot now if someone is in the area. Crazy, you would like to think the ocean was big enough for all of us. At least we know by your post the fish have plenty of room.


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## c-hawse (Jun 22, 2009)

hay gene looks like yall did ok for a bunch of youngins lol.

finally decided to get on the fourm , i will keep in touch.

c-hawse


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