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SlowMovin

Beach Fanatic
Jul 9, 2005
483
42
Actually went to the beach yesterday (something I rarely get to do since moving to Florida). Still no bait in the water--no schools of baitfish, no sandfleas in the surfline. Threw some pomp jigs for a while, but no takers.

Didn't see a single cobia boat all afternoon.
 

Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,644
1,773
SlowMovin said:
Actually went to the beach yesterday (something I rarely get to do since moving to Florida). Still no bait in the water--no schools of baitfish, no sandfleas in the surfline. Threw some pomp jigs for a while, but no takers.

Didn't see a single cobia boat all afternoon.

I am seeing Sand Fleas in the early morning. When the weather warms enough to start finding some good size Sand Fleas, the Pompano will be biting. We are not quite there yet.
 

aquaticbiology

fishlips
May 30, 2005
799
0
redneck heaven
we arrived friday morning and put in in St Andrews West Bay per the usual

we were not alone, already cobia madness had set in the locals and closer-than-us's and anyone else with a jonboat and homemade flybridge

there were at least 5 boats in line to launch with others arriving every minute

we chose the reverse route (out st andrews pass, then up to destin pass, then back through the canal) and started about 9am

the bay water was a little cloudy and still cold as hell, but there were a few bait balls here and there and i was able to net 6 little fishies and put out two trolling lines and one with the small doa crab in clear with red

we got a smallish redfish about 11am on the doa crab just as we came into the pass at st andrews

as soon as we were past the jetties and in the ocean we could see the hundreds of boats that were puffing along the shoreline just off the sandbar with one to look and one to throw and one to hand up beer

we saw the first cobia pack about 1pm near the pcb volcano alvins and got one 47" cobia right thereafter, gaffing and dropping him into directly into the big white empty igloo cooler and taking turns driving and sitting on it until he quit bouncing which was an awful long time when you're holding onto the handles thinking about how thin that plastic is

he finally quieted down and i covered him with ice from the other cooler and some saltwater - it took about eight buckets to cover it so he was a lot of fish, but once cleaned he didn't quite fill up the little deep freezer

the packs of approximately 40 cobia per pack were pretty thick, but they were eating live squid and the ocean was absolutely chock full of squid balls and the cobia were apparently following them

there were so many idiots trying to follow the dancing cobia who were following the dancing squid that lines were getting notted together and boats were almost hitting each other on a regular basis

we decided to depart before were departed or at least snagged with one of the many misthrown 4 oz fake orange squid cobia rigs that somebody somewhere was obviously making a bundle on

we went offshore after snapper and trigger fish since we were already in the ocean - it was really funny watching the onshore antics once we got out of the madhouse and joined the circle jerkers on the reefs

the local current was to running hard east to west which just didn't feel right going clockwise and the wind was from the south blowing hard and cold, so we made it only about 5 times around the circle then made straight for destin pass about 6pm

almost as soon as we were out of the circle we caught a monster black grouper who was promply cleaned and a generous portion given to the grill along with some yellow onion halfs and new potatoes wrapped in foil

there were some flippers playing tag outside the pass and it looked like a quiet night except for the wind, so we stayed outside and anchored up just north of the metal pile just south and west of the sea bouy off Destin pass

someone was shooting fireworks on the darkest part of the beach but they weren't the pretty kind

the cool air was magnificent so i put on a jacket and sat on the stern and watched the jets going around and around and around over the airfield and fished with some dead frozen shrimp and caught a nice red snapper for the freezer up here

slept in til late morning the next day only finally getting up when the inverter's battery alarm went off but stayed anchored up outside just as long as possible totally enjoying the lovely long swells and the cool breeze coming through the galley windows

with a marvelous breakfast of french toast and bagels and cream cheese and that wonderful cheap food club coffee, it was time to say goodbye before the spell was broken, so i pulled up the anchor and we went in via Destin pass and just skirting along the forbidden zone back eastward to catch the intracoastal thus heading back down the canal to the trailer

lots of folks were fishing on the banks, but i couldn't see what they were catching if anything

caught one drum waiting forever to pull the boat out - saw them coming by and grabbed the shrimp and rod quick!

finally loaded up and headed back home yesterday afternoon - not bad at all - if i can ever afford to fill this thing up with gas again we'll see you out there

and that, class, was my cobia trip (bow) :D
 

aquaticbiology

fishlips
May 30, 2005
799
0
redneck heaven
SlowMovin said:
Actually went to the beach yesterday (something I rarely get to do since moving to Florida). Still no bait in the water--no schools of baitfish, no sandfleas in the surfline. Threw some pomp jigs for a while, but no takers.

Didn't see a single cobia boat all afternoon.

yeah, they were all in pcb! total madhouse!
 

redfisher

Beach Fanatic
Sep 11, 2005
374
37
AB, i'm terribly jealous cause mine came from the market...still no pomps, threw to a cobe two days ago and couldn't make him eat...Sooo, when all else fails, head to the bay...pulled some trout and flounder from the yak and plan a rather simple feast a little later today...AB, love to see a picture of your fish if you snapped one before hakkin him up...Red
 

aquaticbiology

fishlips
May 30, 2005
799
0
redneck heaven
sorry, no pic unless you want one of the freezer (the less documentation the better when dealing with the FWC!)

--http://myfwc.com/law/Weekly/index.htm

"Officer Neal Goss conducted a resource inspection on a commercial vessel at the St. Andrews Marina. Officer Goss had recently made an undersize red grouper case on this same boat a week prior. The previous case involved harvest and possession of 52 undersized red grouper. It was discovered that the vessel was again in possession of 18 undersized red grouper. Officer Goss filed the case with NMFS enforcement agents.
In the past two weeks, Officer David Erdman has arrested 11 individuals for operating vessels while under the influence."

;P
 

Miss Kitty

Meow
Jun 10, 2005
47,011
1,131
70


COBIA R CUNNING!!!

jdarg...you have the best ideas!!! I actually ate some of the less intelligent cobia on Sunday and it was very tasty!!!

 

chrisv

Beach Fanatic
Nov 15, 2004
630
75
Freeport, Florida
aquaticbiology said:
sorry, no pic unless you want one of the freezer (the less documentation the better when dealing with the FWC!)

--http://myfwc.com/law/Weekly/index.htm

"Officer Neal Goss conducted a resource inspection on a commercial vessel at the St. Andrews Marina. Officer Goss had recently made an undersize red grouper case on this same boat a week prior. The previous case involved harvest and possession of 52 undersized red grouper. It was discovered that the vessel was again in possession of 18 undersized red grouper. Officer Goss filed the case with NMFS enforcement agents.
In the past two weeks, Officer David Erdman has arrested 11 individuals for operating vessels while under the influence."

;P

Unless you're keeping shorts or over slot or over limit, no need to be leery of FWC. Every officer I've encountered has been a professional helping to protect the resource. (Read my post a year ago about the bald eagle.)

I witnessed some jerkoff redneck keep what appeared to be 2 12 inch trout (too short to keep) the other day (after he anchored up 10 yards from me in LaGrange Bayou,) and when he pulled in a redfish, I hollered over "nice fish" and asked him how long it was. He replied "I forgot my stick," to which I replied "you better measure it if you don't want me on your boat!" He then rummaged through his boat and found a stick, upon which the fish measured 22 inches (slot), and he unceremoniously dropped the fish onto the floor of the boat. I know the trout he kept were too short and along with that red were just unlucky enough to be caught by someone who lacks the mental capability to respect the resource.

Typing that (and editing before submitting) just made me burn up.
 

aquaticbiology

fishlips
May 30, 2005
799
0
redneck heaven
chrisv said:
Unless you're keeping shorts or over slot or over limit, no need to be leery of FWC. Every officer I've encountered has been a professional helping to protect the resource. (Read my post a year ago about the bald eagle.)

I witnessed some jerkoff redneck keep what appeared to be 2 12 inch trout (too short to keep) the other day (after he anchored up 10 yards from me in LaGrange Bayou,) and when he pulled in a redfish, I hollered over "nice fish" and asked him how long it was. He replied "I forgot my stick," to which I replied "you better measure it if you don't want me on your boat!" He then rummaged through his boat and found a stick, upon which the fish measured 22 inches (slot), and he unceremoniously dropped the fish onto the floor of the boat. I know the trout he kept were too short and along with that red were just unlucky enough to be caught by someone who lacks the mental capability to respect the resource.

Typing that (and editing before submitting) just made me burn up.

i understand completely - as someone who has helped to maintain the very stock of snapper, king mackeral and even mullet, i appreciate the situation and the reason for the rules

all the the fish i caught, except for the one red snapper (i mean grouper ;-) ), who ate the hook and would have died anyway so i put him out of his misery, were well within all the rules and i've had no problems with the fwc since i am an ex-coastie and a graduate-level marine biologist and the boat has a full kitchen with a coffee pot and nice table and soft chairs for filling out reports after a hard day

the 'sieze you later' and the 'expect a mackeral' were my two previous boats and both were participants in at-sea rescues when some dumbass did something stupid, so i know where you're coming from
 

chrisv

Beach Fanatic
Nov 15, 2004
630
75
Freeport, Florida
aquaticbiology said:
i understand completely - as someone who has helped to maintain the very stock of snapper, king mackeral and even mullet, i appreciate the situation and the reason for the rules

all the the fish i caught, except for the one red snapper (i mean grouper ;-) ), who ate the hook and would have died anyway so i put him out of his misery,

That's a judgement call you have to make on the water, it's frustrating when you pull up a short snapper or grouper and know that it's survival chance is slim, but also know the law. Swallowed hooks, ruptured swim bladders and distended stomachs can seriously disable a fish, but proper handling can allow the release and likely survival. Use of circle hooks, ARC dehookers (http://tinyurl.com/f7ebj) and Novak venting tools (http://tinyurl.com/n2ctw; http://tinyurl.com/m65kd) have proven to decrease the mortality of these reef fish. I urge all fisherman to obtain and learn to use these tools to protect the future of recreational fishing. It comes down to responsible fishing. Even if you know that a fish's chance of survival is slim, keeping a short is illegal, and I guarantee that if it can't recover, it will be eaten and used for survival by another fish, so it's not wasting. The chance of survival is what we're talking about, and ultimately the sustainability of the stocks.

The real problem is that the true threat to the stocks is commercial fishing, but the agency that regulates the stocks is the NMFS, an agency of the Department of Commerce. So you have the stocks being regulated and "protected" by the very entity that threatens it. Yet every time the rules come under review, the first, and often only, option considered, is to limit RECREATIONAL fishing. The recent grouper closure was an example of this. Every time a recreational angler is ticketed for keeping shorts (for whatever reason,) this group gains credibility for it's suggestions. The commercials come off as the more responsible party because they are more accountable for their catch.

Bottom line, we have to take a macro approach to this; making decisions each time a fish is pulled from the bottom is inefficient and ineffective.
 
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