Fun, Family, and Florida 3

One of the things that I love about having a little place down in Florida (besides seeing the family) is the opportunity to get in to some great, blue water, warm weather fishing this time of year.  Unfortunatly for us this year the weather did not co-operate.  It was eighty degrees two days before I got there and the forecast is for 80 two days after I have come home but for the week I was there it was low 40's at night and a high of 50's to low 60's during the day.  The north wind that brought that cold weather was blowing offshore and made it just to rough to get out on most days.  Other than a quick and uneventful morning trip to catch some permit I was relegated to watching the manatee play in the warm springs of Spring Bayou in Tarpon Springs. 

A favorite of my wife, the endangered manatee seem to be making a comeback.

Although it wasn't the 3 days of fishing that I wanted to get in while I was in town we did manage to get out for one day of grouper fishing.  I had been hearing that the grouper were really on the chew the week before I got there so I couldn't wait to get my shot.  We went about 30 miles sw of the house to about 65 ft of water.  We anchored on a little ledge, dropped a chum bag over the side and immediatly started catching fish.

Having a good supply of chum is essential when anchoring over a ledge or reef.

The first fish to be caught was a tasty little grunt, followed shortly by a nice keeper size gag grouper.

My brother-in-law Tim caught some heat for taking so long to land this little grunt.

My dad, Auggie-Doggy put the first keeper on the boat.

My brother Jon caught and released over twenty short grouper, including this half inch shy gag.

As everyone is well aware, I am constantly amazed at fishery managers decisions and when it comes to grouper management it is no different.  For the first time ever, the west coast of Fl. will close to grouper fishing for two months in Jan. and Feb.  In recent years the bag limit has been reduced and other protections such as gear restrictions have been put in place.  All of these restrictions have been aimed at the recreational community.  If these restrictions have a scientifically based reason for being enacted then great, let's do what is right for the resource.  That being said, can someone explain to me why a red grouper has to be over 20 inches for a recreational fisherman and just 16 for a commercial?  We must have caught and released over 40 grouper that a commercial fisherman would be able to keep.  Just like gulf red snapper, why are we taking such extreme measures when the resource tells a different story?

Anyway, back to fishing.  Besides battling some grouper, I couldn't wait to try out some of my new Fetha Styx rods.  When these grouper hit they do it with an attitude and I can't think of a better test for a rod than getting a big grouper out of the rocks.  I was using a Fetha Styx "Jigger" spinning rod and the new Big Game series 70MH.  The problem I had was deciding which on to use.  They both performed great and I can't wait to get some albacore on these new Big Game series rods.

This Fetha Styx Jigger had the backbone to lift this keeper red (below) out of the rocks.

I also caught a bonus king while jigging.  Although not all that plentiful and a little small this time of year, they are great fighters and a nice catch any time of the year.

Spring and fall are the best times to target big smoker kings.

We had a great day on the water with steady action all day and as always, I am already looking forward to my next trip to Fl.

Dad, "You have to clean all the fish".