21 July 2007

Met David, Skylar, Samantha, and Tatianna at Galvez at 0600. It's hard for me to believe that a whole year has passed since I saw these guys last! My objective for today was to prove to Skylar (the "fisherman" of the bunch) that the girls could fish just as good as he could. Boy did I ever drive that home today.

We first stopped for Pinfish to turn into Redfish, then proceeded to the Pass, where we found a serious lack of current. With the neap tide yesterday the fishing should have been on fire, but without current you can just about hang it up. We made a few drifts with no success and finally decided to spend our time chasing Kings instead.

After getting bait we ran to the Sea Buoy and began a drift for the kings. I was just about to put the kite up when my phone rang, it was Capt. D.P. His first words were, "Get back in here". Dusty was a little behind me this morning, he stopped to trout fish Big Lagoon. By the time he got to the Pass the current had started moving and sure enough the fish were biting.

I struggled to make the decision to run the 3.5 miles BACK to where I was unsuccessful just a half hour ago. It looked so good out there at the buoy, but I have great faith in Dusty's abilities and his advice. So I pulled in our lines and made the run, I'm glad that I did. It took us just a few minutes to find the reds and Samantha was the first to put a hook in one.

After a great battle, we landed Samanthas fish, a nice 28 1/2" red that we released. A few drifts later and it was Tatiannas turn to feel the power that these fish pull with. When all the grunts, groans and strains were over Tatianna held up her fish for a photo. Notice how I haven't mentioned Skylar yet??? Well he was having some troubles getting a bite. So after Samantha caught another fish, this time a catfish, we decided to go back after the kings and give Skylar another opportunity to redeem himself.

We drifted and slow-trolled to no avail, 40 min had passed without a single knock-down. I picked up and ran to a close snapper hole in hopes of finding a few kings hanging out over the reef. Upon arriving we noticed Flipper putting on a heck of a show, jumping around and slapping the water with its tail.

Although the Dolphin exhibit was great, it sure put a damper on the fishing. After slow-trolling around the wreck several times, we finally got a bite and Skylar jumped at the chance for his redemption. The drag sounded and the rod bent, Skylar had the fish coming his way and ... the hook pulled. What a day this kid is having!!! Upon further inspection it seems that he was foul-hooked into a Snapper and it just didn't hold long enough. A couple more circles around and again another bite, this time Skylar hangs on to him and boats a nice King for the grill.

On that note we head for the ramp and all the boat traffic along the way. With the Blue Angles show today the boats were out in force and the ride back to the ramp was a little bumpier than usual. We returned and cleaned our catch, shook hands and said our good-byes ... until next year.

Thank you again David, Skylar, Samantha and Tatianna for a wonderful morning.

Capt Josh

20 July 2007

I met Ben, Jim, Sandy, and Carlton at Galvez at 0600 for a morning of Kingfishing. We first stopped for some Pinfish, then headed for the Pass to try the reds. The tide was neap and without any current the bite was non-existent. A short run to the bait boat for some live Cigar Minnows and off to the Sea Buoy.

Once we stopped by the buoy, I put the kite up and set out two flat lines. As I was attempting to get the down-rigger set, disaster struck. I finished getting everything ready to deploy the 'rigger and stood up... right into a hook that quickly found it's way into the top of my ear, to the barb. It took several minutes to assess the problem and attempt to remove the hook. Thankfully I had a few Docs on board who weren't freaked out at the sight of my blood, and with their help, and a good pair of pliers, we safely removed the hook and went right on fishing.

The bite was slow, but we still managed to boat a few nice fish, like this one that Carlton caught.


























As the morning wore on the wind died and I was forced to take the kite down before it came down by itself. At that point we began slow-trolling our way back towards the Pass. Our time was drawing to a close and the boat traffic was increasing dramatically. I asked the fish gods for just one more fish ( a nice 20 pounder would do!), and was prepared to give it another 20 min or so to happen.

A 40' boat passed us just about the same time that the 12lb spinning outfit started screaming out line... and I mean SCREAMING. Jim grabbed the rod and held on with everything he had. He looked over to me and asked as seriously as humanly possible "Are you sure I'm not caught on that boat ?!?" I told him that I was as sure as could be!

The initial run was around 200 yards and it took a long time to put it all back on the reel. The fight lasted about 25-30 min before we finally got a look at what had eaten our live cigar minnow. A BIG King. Another 10 min passed before we could subdue this monster and introduce him to the gaff. We boated the fish to high fives all around and shouts of congratulations to and from everyone. I attempted to get a weight with the Boga Grip, but my 30lb model immediately bottomed out. The big scale was brought out and we got a reading of 35 lbs, what a fish on a 12lb outfit!!! Congrats Jim on a job well done.







We unanimously agreed that that fish would be hard to top, so we set off for the ramp.



Thanks again Ben, Jim, Sandy, And Carlton for a seriously adventurous morning (nothing I haven't come to expect from this bunch).

Capt. Josh

15 July 2007

Met Dave and Brian at Shoreline at 0600 and to the Pass we went. Our first twenty minutes or so were fairly uneventful except for watching the show as Capt D.P. slayed them right next to us. A little further adjusting and we started catching too.

Dave hooked the first one and that's when I reached for my camera... and realized I'd left it at home! Oh well, no pics for today! We caught a total of five Redfish before deciding to do something else. Three of those fish were 15-20lbs and the other two were in the slot.

A stop at the bait boat and a run to the snapper hole and the fishing resumed amid red snappers, small ones. We must have thrown back 8 before landing one big enough, but that fish was 7-8lbs. Dave and I really wanted Brian to catch a King and the ones that had been hanging around this wreck for the past week just weren't here today. Another move was in order. We trolled live baits around three different wrecks before the weather and the time both forced us home, without our Kingfish. Although the Kings evaded us the day was a success, a FUN one.

Thank you Dave and Brian, I look forward to fishing with you again.

14 July 2007 Fishin' Chix PRB Orange Beach

The alarm clock went off at 0400, time for another Fishin Chix adventure. I launched the boat and arrived at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Al at 0520. By 0545 Roxanne, Allyson, and Sara were on board awaiting the go signal from Capt Wes. 0600 and were off, a quick stop to get the freshest of live shrimp straight out of the net (Thanks Chris!!), and straight to the trout flat.

Our drift across the grass flat yielded no strikes, bites, or looks, so to the pass we went. Finding the right fish on tournament day is never easy. The legal size reds were nowhere to be found today, by anybody, save the one boat that brought back both of the tourneys legal fish (Congrats Alissa and Bruce). But we did find SOME redfish, just not ones small enough by tournament rules. The first of these fish was quite a battle for Allyson; lasting 35 min and torturing the rest of us with laughter (to the point our cheeks hurt!).

As the fish neared the boat I noticed that it was tail-wrapped; and upon further inspection we found that Allyson had NOT hooked the fish. Rather she had lassoed the fish by the tail, the hook never stuck in the fish!!! And again the boat explodes in laughter.

Sara was up next and looked like a pro on the bow with a BIG bend in the rod. She had taken some lessons from Allysons fiasco and hooked her fish in the mouth, the proper way. 10 min later she had her fish boat side.

I pulled up one last time and again Sara hooks another big bull which we land and release. With the reds not working like we needed them to we decide to change gears and try for a King Mackerel. To the bait boat !!

After some telephone recon we head for a local wreck that the Kings have been inhabiting these last few weeks. It only took us minutes to get the first bite, but 20 min or so to hook one. Roxanne landed this one, our first King of the day, on about our 5th bite.

Running out of time I quickly reset and within 15 min we had put two more Kings in the boat. One of them a nice 10.5lb fish that was just out of contention for third place. It was lines out at 1100 per tournament rules and a beautiful ride back to The Wharf for food, drinks, and awards.

Thank you so much ladies for my best Fishin Chix event yet. Sara , Roxanne and Allyson you guys were awesome!!

And thank you very much, Claudia, Capt. Wes and all the Fishin Chix crew that makes these tournaments possible and thanks to Covenant Hospice for all the work they do, we are glad to help raise money in any way we can.

Capt Josh

13 July 2007

I met John, Jon, Cal, and Zack at Galvez at 0600 for a 5hr excursion. Our first stop was for bait; and after a couple of throws with the net we had what we needed and proceeded to the Pass. When we got there we found boiling current and loads of jellyfish, not condusive for fishing. On to plan "B", Mackerel.

A short stop at the bait boat, and a couple dozen Cigar Minnows later, we were on to the Sea Buoy. We set up a drift with five live baits; One on the downrigger at 35', two flatlines to the windward side, and two more on the kite. Fifteen minutes into the drift we get our first King Mackerel, a nice fish in the 7lb range, off the downrigger. Another 10 min pass and John sees a fish messing with the far kite bait. He grabs everyones attention just in time for us all to watch in awe as an8-10lb fish sky-rockets 15 feet out of the water after the Cig hanging from the kite. Immediately, the closer kite bait gets eaten and Cal fights this fish to the boat.

The wind began to die so we decided to go try our luck with the Snapper. Our first spot produced the best with all three of our legal Reds and the nice Schoolmaster. Then, on our last stop of the day, John sees two fish swimming by the boat, Barracuda. They ate three or four baits before a hook finally found its mark and Zack brought him boatside for a quick photo op and a release.

Thanks again John, Jon, Cal and Zack for joining me today, it was great.

Capt. Josh

06 July 2007

I met Brent at Shoreline Park at 0600 and we headed for the pinfish trap. We met Capt D.P. at the trap and traded him some pinfish for some live shrimp. Our next stop was the Pass in search of the Redfish. When we got there we found a neap tide and jellyfish galore!!! One drift was enough to send us packing for our next spot.

A quick stop at the bait boat for a few live Cigar Minnows and on to the Sea Buoy. Three lines were set, two on the surface and one on the down-rigger. The bite was slow here as well, but we did find two nice Kings before moving on to the Snapper hole. At one of our many public wrecks we caught a few short snapper; and peering at the bottom machine I noticed a wad of big fish just 20 feet down. A live Cig on a 12lb spinning outfit produced our largest King of the day at around 17lbs.

We moved a few more times, marking fish at each location, few of which wanted to bite, and most those few put our 12 and 20lb tackle to the test, and it failed. At our final stop of the day we boated a nice Lane Snapper and a Mangrove Snapper to go with it. All Brent wanted to take home, just enough for a meal.

Thanks again Brent, I enjoyed our time together today.

05 July 2007

0600 and I'm shaking hands with Dani, Sam, and Robert, all eager to get underway and fishing.

Our first stop is to set the Pinfish trap to do its job while we Trout fish. Well, the trap did it's job, but the Trout didn't do theirs. So after loading the Pinfish we head for the Pass and start Redfishing. It only took two drifts for Sam to catch this one, just oversize.

The very next drift Dani hooks into a nice Red but pulls the hooks before we could get a good look at it. The bite was slow so we decided to head for the Mackerel grounds. I called Capt Corey Maxwell for a report. Corey said that the Mackerel bite was slow for him this morning, and that he had some baits if we needed them ...we did.

After getting the baits from Corey we made a bee-line for the #1 Buoy. We quickly set up a slow troll pattern of live Cigar Minnows. 30 min or so had passed with out a bite, although we could see people around us catching fish. I stopped trolling a started just drifting and the fish started biting. It seemed like they preferred a drifted bait opposed to a trolled one?!? (same baits). We concluded the morning with 4 nice King Mackerel, the biggest being 17lbs.

Thank you again Dani, Sam , Robert, and Gary for making this happen today, I had a great time.

30 June 2007

I met Harris and John at 0530 at Heron Bayou. I had been getting good reports about the mouth of Perdido River and and surrounding areas; so we fished Perdido Bay..and I strongly stress FISHED !!! The fishing was HORRIBLE, the worst day I've seen all year. There were more Dolphins chasing Mullet than I can ever remember seeing in North Perdido Bay. I think that had a lot to do with the fish bite, which was non- existent. Harris pointed out the full moon still glaring at us from just above the horizon. Whatever the cause, it wasn't great.We did, however, manage not to get skunked when Harris boated a Largemouth Bass.

All in all a pretty poor morning, but that's how it happens sometimes. You can't be a hero EVERYDAY!

I got home to a rambunctious 5 year old, begging to go fishing. I relented, and hauled the boat to Galvez for a short trip with Shawn and Cam.

We ran to the Pass and I caught one oversize red while Cam caught a nice Ladyfish and a shell (don't ask me how). Then we headed back to the ramp, back to pick the baby up and on to the house. By the time I got the boat cleaned and things re-stowed I was exhausted..what a long day.