Great Fishing at Grayton Beach

I just realized this afternoon it's been over 2 weeks since I wrote a fishin' report.... Oh well, better late than not at all. The weather has really been up and down the past couple weeks and the weather gurus have not been able to predict dark let alone how hard the wind will blow or if it will rain.

Capt Kerry and I went out one morning with a forecast of "east winds 5 to 8 knots, seas less than 2' and a 20% chance of rain" at 7:30. It started blowing up at 8, by 8:30 it was 25 knots and we hit the beach at 10 AM 5 minutes ahead of lightning and rain that lasted all day.....and had the surfers out by noon. The next day had a 100% chance of rain (we all canceled our trips) and it never came a drop.

Luckily we have had a bunch of great, calm, sunny days too so it's really just been luck of the draw for my anglers.

The cobia run was more of a walk this year although I did hear of several fish being caught yesterday.. in May... there have been a few years where I caught more in May than April but so far they have not really shown that well.

The Kings on the other hand are here and HOT !!! The full moon was last night (normally an off switch for Kings)but the bite was as good as it gets today. There are still lots of Vermillion Snappers and the grade has been better than average as well. The Mahi have started showing also but are hard to target, more of a 'i'd rather be lucky than good" bite.

The pompano guys on the beach have been doing REALLY good and I think there are more sharks out on the reefs than I can ever remember. There are a couple spots with some really nice AJ's in close but...... there are some really BIG bull sharks hangin' there too... Lots of fish to chase and lots of opportunities!

Here are some pics of some folks who cashed in on some.

One of my regulars with a couple buddies on the first of a 2 day fishin' jaunt. 5 Kings, 5 spanish and a bunch of snapper.

Day 2 had different buddies, 5 BIG kings and a bunch of snappers.

Another regular with a couple buddies on one of my few 'long" trips they fished 7 hrs with a limit of Kings at first, then a search for Cobia and finally, bottom fishing at the end to cap off the box!

Two more locals with a PRIZE Black Snapper and a File fish, one of the once a year catches . It was even better this year since Triggers are closed and they are about the closest thing too one!

This fellow had his kids catchin' grunts fro schoolin' and then went and got them to help catch 2 fine AJ's.. a school of 5 bull sharks showed up to eat the 3rd they had on.

Another regular group with a limit of Kings on a WINDY morning. Luckily it was a North wind so it was slick on the beach where the Kings live.... we did stick our noses out a couple miles long enough to catch a good Scamp.

3 Good Kings and a bunch of snappers.

these guys got on the boat and said they wanted something "big and long and then a bunch of fish". we caught that great tasting black tip out of the gate and then filled the box with snapper on an afternoon 3 hr.

This mornings 3 hr trip. We caught the 3 fine mahi and the Kings in close the 1st hour then ran out and caught a bunch of snapper offshore as well as a 7' Bull... we let that one go!

This afternoon I took my oldest daughter, her fiance' and my ace boat hand on a 2 hr play trip. It was blowy and bouncy. They went 8 for 22 on the Kings and 2 for 3 on the Mahi.... LOTS of action but it's hard to wind and hold on at the same time.

The full moon was last night and that usually means a slow bite but it was as good as you could want today. I hope that's a good omen for the next couple weeks as it wanes !
Just over 2 weeks till Red Snapper season (Fl.state waters) !! I can't wait!!! The "catch share" proponents (the folks that think they are going to get rich 'cause they will OWN all the Red Snapper in the Gulf) are fighting hard to keep the States from letting the public have access to the fishery.

Please do not believe all you here (or read) about fishery management... do some research and see how some of it is just a big "grab" by folks looking to get rich at the expense of the average fisherfolks.... Luckily for the general public Florida is giving EVERYONE a 70 day season and not just a select few as the Feds are.