December in the Gulf

Got out for a little fishing Wednesday. As you can see from the snapshots, I put my birthday present to good use. Sharon got me the neatest little Nikon Coolpix camera and it takes great pictures. Of course, you have to allow for the subjects not being too photogenic and if you do that, they're not too bad. I finally got Bill Kisling to take a picture of me with a grouper I caught instead of me always being the one behind the camera.

The weather was perfect, the seas were calm, and the fish were biting! Captain Ron likes to make good long runs so today was just the ticket for that. You can go way out when the water is smooth like it was this trip.

We had no trouble getting our limit of nice ones.

Now, all of you who have been giving me static about not posting for so long...phhhhhhhhhhttttt!

Trolling for Grouper!

Larry, Moe and Curly (AKA Larry Iman, Ron Schlitt and Ed Mitchum) pose shamelessly with an eleven pound grouper I caught while trolling today just three miles offshore from St Vincent's Island. They always do this to me! Make me take the pictures and then take all the credit for catching the fish. Well, I'm not taking it any more. From now on, any picture that I post from our trips will be of them displaying MY fish.

Larry, Moe and Curly With Grouper

 

Friday Fishing Fun!

The gulf calmed down Friday and we got to make a run out to the deep water for some excellent bottom fishing. Just the usual suspects: Larry Iman, Capt. Dave and boat owner Ron Schlitt, and yours truly of course.

If there were ever a more perfect day for fishing offshore, I've never seen it. The wind was calm, the temperature moderate and the seas glassy for most of the day.

Capt. Dave is a very experienced guide and knows where the fish are, so we caught a great number of fish including the ones pictured here. We also caught a boat load of red snapper which had to be put back since that season is closed till March.

Just thought you might like the pictures. I can't resist throwing in at least one photo of the water as we come home.

Two Happy Guys!

 

Larry battles a grouper on light tackle.

Ron brings in a grouper caught while trolling.

Always a pretty sight!

 

Ron shows off a couple of bad boys we caught.

January on Apalachicola Bay

Just a short post about Monday's adventure.

Sunday evening, we ran into Steve Harris at Harry A's while dining with Ron and Lois Dickey. After we ate and had some drinks, Steve suggested we have a go at the reds on Monday. My social calendar being booked pretty solid, it took me about sixty seconds to agree, so the trip was on!

Since my trolling motor batteries had been acting up, I got up early Monday so I could test them and get over to the marine dealer to get that problem resolved. After turning in the defective one and getting the temporary replacement installed, going through the pre-underway checklist,and hitching up the boat, I was finally on my way to pick up Steve, Tom Slocum, and Ed Mitchum. I had talked earlier to Ed about going with me and since his social calendar is about as full as mine, he thought he could squeeze in a few hours of fishing.

Finally, we got the boat in the water and proceeeded to have some nice action, catching several redfish on the flats north of the island. Tom is pictured here showing one of the beautiful redfish we caught.

Tom Slocum shows off his nice redfish.

 

Recent Fishing Trips

Haven't posted for a while, so I decided to get a few pictures of my fishing buddies out for everyone to see. I've been fishing several times over the last few weeks and have caught some nice fish. However, everyone else on the boat is so busy trying to outdo each other, I can't get them to stop fishing long enough to get a picture of my fish!

Here are photos of Ron Schlitt, Ed Mitchum and Jack Mossburg with some really pretty grouper and snapper. Snapper season is out right now so all the red snapper have to be returned, but we've been catching some that we'd be really happy to keep if we could.

Taking pictures on the boat is a good way to capture the beauty of the fish. After they've been in the cooler even a little while, they lose their natural color and are not much to look at.

Jack with red snapper

Ron holds gag grouper while Ed toasts with his sandwich!

Ron with a beautiful red grouper that he caught.

Jack with a nice Gag Grouper

 

Sitting at my computer playing in an on-line poker tournament when I looked up and this is what I saw. The most beautiful rainbow was there for about five minutes. I thought it was really neat. And then it was gone!

 

 

 

Short post, Long trip.

Went offshore with Ron Schlitt yesterday. Two of the best photos are below. The first is just to show how calm the Gulf of Mexico can be 44 miles off shore. For most of the day it was so calm, we could have been on a mill pond. We did have a bit of rough water later in the day when we started for home.

The second photo is of Ron holding a 32" amberjack that Jerry Berberet had just reeled in from approximately 150 feet of water. Amberjacks are known for their fighting ability and for pulling all the way to the boat. When you boat one of these bad boys, you know you have been in a battle.

The other suspects on this trip were Ed Mitchum, Larry Iman and me. We left the dock at 7:00 A.M. and got back at 5:30 P.M. completely worn out.