Another 10hr

[JasonGotaProblem]

My god that was awesome. You can't keep Most species of grouper til September here in the Florida Gulf or I'd have a serious freezer problem. But I got 3 good sized lane snapper and a bunch of other non keepers. But more than anything the people around me were a ton of fun and the trip so far was a ton of fun. Im still like an hour from the dock. I don't wanna jinx it.

Pics when I have more service

[JasonGotaProblem]

Let's try this

[nelz]

Glad you had a good time. So did they get any reds? How big were the lanes?

[Brewcrafter]

Awesome Jason!!!! - john

[jgp12000]

Sounds like you slayed them Jason! So which combo did what & how many poles does the boat allow you to have out? On the party boats I been on I always used their gear (1ea.) Senator 112 maybe? I am retired so I can ask 50 questions like a 2 yr old...

[JasonGotaProblem]

So I can give a better write up now.

We were allowed 3 rods. As usual I'm far too focused on playing with my toys and not focused enough on catching fish. But I have fun. I ended up leaving my Baja and bringing my everol. I realized I had 50# braid on everything and might want to bring something heavier just in case.

We got a fair amount of rain. A lot more than the forecast suggested. But on a hot July day I didn't hear anyone complaining.

I can't help wondering if they read this site because none of my minor complaints from last trip are still valid. I didn't like that you couldn't bring phones. That Changed. I hated that 3 of the 10 hours were spent listening to super cheesy disco music. That definitely changed. The music was so good this time I had to look up a song to find the artist because I liked it so much. The food was good, and the deckhands, the captain, and the cook, were chill and helpful. But that wasn't a change from last time they were all cool then too. I highly recommend Hubbard's. After tips, meal pass, fees, etc im out about 220. Not bad for what I got out of the trip.

I was the first one to put a fish on the deck but the last one to put my first fish in the cooler. But again I blame that on trying to play with my toys and target big fish instead of targeting meat. I realized I was down to my last hour of fishing time and got serious I went to my lightest and most sensitive rod with a smaller bait and a more active presentation and got all my 3 lane snapper in the last half hour of fishing time. Saw a dude leaving with about 25 fish. I guess he was serious the whole time.

I also got to put my knots to the test as I hooked the bottom once, on my very last drop of the day, and couldn't break it off for the life of me. One of the deck hands had to help, he showed me a new trick, and eventually got me free after a lot of fighting but the line never broke. The hook bent. So my FG leader knot and my crimps are better than I thought.

[JasonGotaProblem]

More pics. The skies were truly awesome looking out there. I swear mid day I saw sunset colors but the phone didn't really capture it so it may have been my glasses. But whatever, I enjoyed it.

[Keta]

:0) !

[JasonGotaProblem]

And I have come to a conclusion. F mono. When I was using mono leaders all I did was get bait stolen. Didn't catch anything. Hardly felt anything. Lost a lot of bait. When I switched back to flouro I felt every nudge on the bait.  And caught fish.

[Gfish]

You got the sunset. I like that "rock release" hook you're using. Fun and learning. We have some snappers here with a very similar color pattern, except the colors are completely different; blue and green.
'

[Crab Pot]

Nice Jason, hope to fish with you when I'm down there.

I've never caught a Snapper.

Steve

[JasonGotaProblem]

So the final chapter to this. The fish got put to great use. Asian street tacos.

Which is a fancy way of saying I swapped the cumin for ginger and the oregano for more cilantro, but didn't change much else other than adding teriyaki to the marinade. Served with carrot shreds diced sweet peppers kimchi and some diced spinach because we didn't have lettuce or cabbage.

I put the bowl of fish in the ice bath because I was afraid I'd filet too slowly and it would get warm.  I still have leftovers for tonight.

[steelfish]

looks like you had a great fishing day amigo!  congrats, btw, those tacos look yummy

[oc1]

Looks great and gratifying.  What's the sauce?

[Donnyboat]

Thanks Jason, good report very interesting, cheers Don.