# 4-26-08 in the Gulf



## Ocean Man (Sep 27, 2007)

I tried to get a full crew of 4 for Saturday. I asked a few people but didn't get any takers and then Duanye one of my regulars backed out as well so that just left my Uncle James and I. We headed to the East Edge to see what we could find. We anchored up over a nice show of fish on the finder. The bite was a little slow if you dont count all the Red Snapper we were throwing back. We did catch a few Mingo's, a nice Trigger and I jigged up an Almaco and a nice Spanish. After a few hours and not much to show for it we moved into some natural bottom alittle closer in. We both started out tryingto catch some Triggers and some bait. I caught a White Snapper and sent him down on the 6/0 looking for a Grouper. It was down for a while before the rod doubled over. I pulled it out of the rod holder and after a good fight and several nice runs I had a nice 6ft Shark to the boat. I got James to man the rod while I took some pics.


















It was still a little too early in the day to keep the Shark so we cut the line and and let him swim away. We got back to Trigger fishing and were putting a few in the box when James decided to drop down a live pinfish. He was quickly rewarded with a nice 9.5lb Gag Grouper.










At that point we only had one live pinner left. James offered it to me but I told him he could have it since he did such good work with the last one. He dropped it down and it was quickly grabbed up by another nicer Gag Grouper at 13lb's.



















We had one more pinner in the bucket that was dead. Once again James offered it up but I told him to keep up the good work (all along I'm thinking there's no way a Grouper will hit that small dead pinfish). He dropped it down and is hooked up once again. This time the Grouper won the battle and broke him off in the rocks. I had a live White Snapper down the whole time and didn't get any takers, the Grouper were wanting small baits for some reason. After a while we decided to run in to our Snapper hole to finish the day. Once we anchored up and set out the chum churn we instantly had a Snapper and a small AJ in our chum line and the finder was marking fish from the bottom all the way to about 10ft under the boat. We sent down some large baits in hopes of some big Snapper. James had a dead Squirrel fish on for bait and it didn't take long before his rod was bowed and line was stripping off. After a nice battle up comes a 13.5lb Red Snapper.










After netting his fish and taking a quick pic I dropped down a butterflied White Snapper. I got slammed a few minutes later and brought up a nice 23in Snapper. A little while later Ipulled up a22in Snapper. After that James got a big hit then line went screaming off his reel. After a back breaking fight James pulls a fat Shark to the boat. 










We debated for a while then decided to keep it so we put a tail rope on it and dropped back down to catch our last Red Snapper. We both hooked up and brought in 2 more nice Snapper I threw mine back and we kept James's 22 incher. I dumped the fish on the deck for a quick pic before we pulled the Shark onboard.










Once we made it back to theramp I put the shark on the dock to show a few kids that were there and took a pic.










Final tally: 4 nice Red Snapper, 2 Gag Grouper, 9 Triggers, 9 Mingo's, 1 Almaco, 1 Spanish, and 1 Shark 5'3" to the fork.


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## skullworks (Oct 2, 2007)

Sounds and looks like a great trip!!!:bowdown:clap


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## Brad King (Sep 30, 2007)

Awesome report.. Those are some mighty fine lookin fish


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## konz (Oct 1, 2007)

Thanks again for the offer man, and I'm sorry I couldn't make it out.

Great report!


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## fishaholic (Oct 2, 2007)

Good report, :clap


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## Capt. Mickey Locke (Oct 4, 2007)

Nice mess of fish! Good Report.


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## Coryphaena (Oct 2, 2007)

Matt, you never fail to bring in a good catch. Wish I could have gotten some of the live pinfish we trawled out to you....... Congrats on a great day!!!!:clap:clap


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## duckhuntinsailor (Sep 28, 2007)

Matt, nice trip. Anytime you need a crew give me a call. Even if my boat's in the water I'ld be better off going with you. My number is 573-424-8007, throw it in your phone for quick reference.

Jeremy


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## sandman (Oct 31, 2007)

Well done! 

What a great trip, report & the pic's were awsome!!! 

Thanks for sharing & continued success to you & your crew.


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## reelhappy (Oct 31, 2007)

nice box of fish you got thier. the shark pic is awsome ! how did you get it to come out so clear? and what kind is it?


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## Ocean Man (Sep 27, 2007)

Will do Jeremy, would love to have you on the boat sometime.



> *reelhappy (4/28/2008)*nice box of fish you got thier. the shark pic is awsome ! how did you get it to come out so clear? and what kind is it?


If you are talking about the second pic, it is an underwater shot. They always come out good because your not looking through the reflection on the water. As far as what kind it is, I believe it to be a Sandbar Shark but Shark ID is not my strong suit.


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## NaClH2O (Feb 14, 2008)

Great report. Looks like yall had a great time.:bowdown


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## how2fish (Jan 21, 2008)

Great report thanks for sharing I won't be able to even smell the salt till mid May so thanks for feeding my Jones..:bowdown


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

Matt,

Give me a call next time you need a crew. I'm just down the road from you and can help with anything you need before and after the trip as well.

Cell: 529-9349


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## flyingfishr (Oct 3, 2007)

you really loaded up on em Oceanman. way to make something outta a smaller crew. thanks for the great pics.


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## reelsmooth19 (Nov 27, 2007)

That was a hell of a day. Good job nice fish:clap


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