This was my not quite filled cooler as more fish came after I took the pic. Under all those snappers were 1 Queen Snapper, 1 Barrel Fish and a 15lb Golden. Fished deep water. 1000-1300ft. Not too bad with 4lb lead and E-Reels.
You got Vermillions (beeliners) that deep?!? We get em in 100-150' here lol Hope those coolers got packed with ice... you're not in PA anymore btw... told you you needed a fish bag
We got the Beeliners in 500ft. Caught so many at night that I had to put the rod down and get some sleep. Got my share of YellowEyes too. Dolphins exacted quite the toll though. Got me 4 times on some really nice hookups. Waited until I got the fish to within 50ft of the surface, then simply pulled down on the rig until the fish came off. Watched my rod bend almost into a U shape which was the telltale sign the Taxman got me. They have to eat too I guess so I didn't get TOO angry with them. Cost $150 get the cooler cleaned and bagged. Got them in the cooler, then stopped by a PUBLIX for some ice. Got 16lbs of regular ice and 1lb of dry ice there. Kept the fish cool until I got back to Virginia. Stopped at a WaWa and got 7 more 7lb bags of ice for the drive home. I had so much fish in that cooler I needed help getting it back to my truck and loaded. The Queens, Bluelines, Goldens and Barrelfish were in 1000ft +. Lots of black belly Rosies too. Could have used that fish bag too although I would have needed the one with wheels. Most coolers were filled to the brim with fish. Next year? Probably the Dry Tortugas run as I missed out on all the snowy Groupers that came over the rail. Actual rail time: 2 days as the American Patriot can only enter and leave the Marina during high tide. The other 2 days was for loading gear, unloading and sorting fish onshore not to mention 12hrs. one way to the fishing grounds. My new garage freezer is full to the top with filets. The size of some of the pool contenders were just huge. I used 40lb backing, 80lb shock leader and 80lb rigged with 7/0 circle hooks. Put my Seaborg 800mj to the test too. Passed with flying colors until one of the mates cut my line by mistake and I didn't have enough braid left on the reel to be functional. Good thing I bought a backup Shimano Beastmaster 9000B filled with 40lb braid. Great trip overall man! Another item off the bucketlist. Perhaps if the AP has an opening next year, I would do a second Pulley Ridge trip. I would bring a lot less gear though. They's booked until Sept-Dec '25.
Nah, Zip lock bagged. I vacuumed them once I got back to the ranch. Really iced them down before I left FL and again when I got to VA. One Blackfin and a Mahi did come up. A Gag Grouper also came up but he had to go back. Blackfin hit a 800g SPJ jig. Mahi hit a bucktail. They served up the Blackfin as sashimi. Monster Queens and Barrelfish too. Quick question.. Looking at Oct. '25 for a Howell's Hook 4 day trip. What does it look like down there in Oct? Was told it was okay minus the storms.
cool. I got a blackfin on my SPJ rod once. I'm not as familiar with down there (but I know it's a ALOT calmer ocean than here) October is a crapshoot especially here.... weather can be really nice, but fall ocean starts to wake up. And with all the crazy climate changes it seems that everything is pushed back a month later than usual. One thing for sure, it's better than November, which for us is probably the windiest month of the year. Speaking of October, I'm hoping for at least another shot of a flat ocean off LI to give me another shot at tuna before it gets cold...
Head boats are still hunting them between storms up here. Seems folks are hooking up too. Thanks for the info on Oct. I might go on and book either for Pulley or Howell's Hook in Oct. Love the fishing down there in the Gulf. I'm a convert!
Sending my brother a box with some shimano Orcas and a Rapala X-rap magnum X-Plode for his B-day.... hopefully they get used (and bloodied) before next summer. (was originally saving them for X-mas, but he's fired up after getting that yellowfin .... but maybe I'll get a chance to toss them too.
Just reserved another Pulley Ridge trip for mid Oct. 25. I'll keep an eye on the Oct. GoM weather patterns this year. Hopefully will provide a clue as to what to expect next Oct. With any luck, storm season should be over by then..
Deep Dropping is now my favorite style!! You might wanna consider a Pulley Ridge/ Dry Tortugas trip one of these days. Not that far from JAX to Marco Is.
So ran my boat yesterday.... Spent too much time looking for bait, then ran about 17 miles. I pulled the hook on a solid fish (probably a cobia), lil buddy broke one off on structure. We did jig up a few blue runners then trolled them in hopes for a big kingfish or wahoo to no avail. I did have a big cuda go airborne rt towards us.... I literally ducked as a 5' tooth filled torpedo was flying at my head as he cleared the boat... That was fuct. Saw a big albino Hammerhead smashing some bait on the way in. Unfortunately came in with clean ice, but interesting none the less. I'm sore today
Sounds like a horror movie with an attacking fish coming right at you. You guys good? Helene didn't shit on your too badly I hope. So far Oct. isn't looking too terrible so far. I hope this pattern holds for next Oct. but ya nevah kno. Taking wifey with me on a inshore Sea Bass trip on Saturday. Nice relaxing day as we'll be using small electrics and I'll be bringing a small spinner for jigging small squids.
Yeah thanks. No real issues on this coast aside from a bunch of yard clean-up... Gulf side on the otherhand...
I’m in London soon to airport. The Hudson Canyon was on fire this weekend. My Cap did an over night trip. Boated 4 Swords, 3 - 50 lb Yellowfin Tuna, 1 massive Tile, and 2 medium Bigeyes. I missed a good trip.
Sounds like it... Good thing there's really no reason to waste any more Sundays at MetLife so, take these last 3 months and get busy!
Although the ocean is a washing machine boys got out to the AP and had a drop and reel experience on Blue fin Tuna yesterday.
