My Brother and I drove out to the beach this past week to do a variety of fishing. He had a few business meetings and we fished around them. We started off on the pier Monday morning. Fishing was good, no big fish but lots of eater size Roundheads with a few skates and sharks mixed in.
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Back out on the pier Tuesday afternoon found rougher weather blowing in. We got soaked...but filled the cooler with Roundheads again. Also saw some really nice 48"-53" Reds caught out on the end of the pier.
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Wednesday morning we caught a head boat out into the bay for some Croaker fishing. Passed what looks like a Navy Destroyer at one point.
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When these guys came back in they were all riding in the big boat because the larger dingy was full of fish and the smaller one was packed with crabs!
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Who would ever think you'd see a pre-war LB 60 on a head boat...unbelievable...nearly 80 years old and still fishing!!
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Ahh...Thursday we shifted out of "googan" mode and hopped a 17 hour deep drop trip. We went about 50-60 miles out...seemed like an eternity...but on the first drop started yanking up nice Blueline Tilefish. I got three of these doubles.
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The next spot produced more Tiles but also gave up some Sea Bass.
We drifted back over the spot many times, and I thought my arms were gonna fall off before we limited out.
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On the way in the sea was almost as calm as a mill pond, and we were escorted back by some dolphins.
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Finally...Virginia Beach on the horizon...just as the sun set on a fine week of fishing!
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Nice Mo! Looks like a blast!
Great pictures Mo! Tired arms ona fisherman is good thing.
Wow, nice variety of fishing you guys managed
That last fish pic of the black looking fish looks like something really big tried eating it. The missing webbing on the fins says it all....and the tail is nearly gone. I'd say you did that fish a favor
Ted
Nice fishies Mo!
Dang that sounds like a fun time you had.
I still cant believe all the different fish some of the fellas here have access to... Jeff
Glad to hear you got out on the big pond 8)
Some good eating fish you guys brought in
And yes, that is the USS Gravely DDG-107. She is the 57th built of her class, (Arleigh Burke class)
She is big, fast (4 GE LM 2500 Gas Turbines) and heavily armed. A true fighting ship.
She is probably with Carrier Group Two @ Norfolk. I tend to follow these things.
Once upon a time, I served aboard DDG-24, a different class in the 70's
DDG = Destroyer, Guided Missle
Thanks for sharing
Dan
Good job Mo. Glad you had fun. Dominick
Looks like a fun trip, Nice pictures. Long Beach getting it done!
Looks like you guys had a great trip, Mike. Good for you!
I was just up there,,,wish I could of fished with you :D can't wait to see you getting some cats again ;D
Way to go Mo - sure looked like fun :)
A bit of everything on that trip, mo! Looking good!
.........Lou
Very nice trip. Those little Black Sea Bass are good eats but we don't get them too often in S. Florida. Looks like you were using a hand tied dropper loop chicken rig with Mustad 39977 EZ Baiter Long shank circle hooks. That is identical to what I tie and use for Blueline Tiles and Vermilion Snappers in S. Florida. Was that the boats rig or did you make that? Just curious.
Scott
I missed you by a couple of days!
I'm not thrilled about paying to fish off of a pier, but the fish are coming in no doubt.
Good job
Ron
Quote from: Ron Jones on June 17, 2018, 12:10:47 PM
I'm not thrilled about paying to fish off of a pier, but the fish are coming in no doubt.
Before we got there, I had the same concern, but considering the pile of fish we took, that $10/24 hr. fee seems almost a steal! We gave away a lot of fish too. I was way "over gunned" with my Penn 210 catfishing combo and my Shakespeare 2091A spinning behemoth. Next time I'll have the right size gear. We learned a lot on this trip.
Quote from: conchydong on June 17, 2018, 12:06:28 PM
Looks like you were using a hand tied dropper loop chicken rig with Mustad 39977 EZ Baiter Long shank circle hooks. That is identical to what I tie and use for Blueline Tiles and Vermilion Snappers in S. Florida. Was that the boats rig or did you make that? Just curious.
Yes, that was the boat's rig, but we tied up the same rigs for the pier only using smaller hooks. We had them wrapped around a foam chunk for easy transport without trying to tie in that insane wind. I think the next time we'll apply what we've learned and bring our own gear for the deep drop too. I'm so glad we didn't do like some of them...bring the
wrong gear and create messes. The mates were so disgusted with one guy. He had mono on his reels, and it would stretch under the boat and tangle our lines on the opposite side, over and over. :-\
Awesome Trip Mo!
Thanks for taking us along. ;)
Looks like you had a good trip Mo.
We're you able to take the fish home?
Very nice.
Sal
Quote from: Alto Mare on June 17, 2018, 10:03:37 PM
Were you able to take the fish home?
Yes...we had one cooler full of Roundhead and the other cooler was full of Tiles and Sea Bass...all filleted and iced for the ride home. When we reached my brother's place in Parkersburg we tossed some butter and garlic in a skillet and seared two Tilefish fillets just to see what we had. I'm impressed, it was very good. 8)
If you think the Bluelines are good, wait until you eat the Goldens. That will be your next trip.
Mo: You are a seasoned "salt" now ! You will have to come over to the left coast and give our fishing a try: start with AT in Northern Cal, fish with Lee in Oregon, Ted in Washington then catch a ferry to Vancouver Island and hit me up for a trip!! I think we would hit it off just fine plus I could get a few Southern cooking tips from you.
Cheers:
todd
Thanks for taking us along, Mo !
Glad you got some good fishing Mike, thanks for the report, cheers Don.
Quote from: mo65 on June 17, 2018, 12:27:08 AM
...... and I thought my arms were gonna fall off before we limited out.
just like fishing in fresh water right amigo?
I have a love & hate relationship with deep drop fishing
excellent trip, I normally never have time to fish when traveling for busines, just one time in Denver, fishing for trout, but it didnt produce any fish just a great experience.
MO; you guys kicked butt!! :D Very nice Drum.
Joe
Those redfish look huge. What baits were they fishing? I've always wanted to catch tilefish. Maybe on my next trip down south.
It's said that Tile fish age the poor man's Lobster.
Joe
Quote from: FatTuna on June 22, 2018, 01:53:46 AM
Those redfish look huge. What baits were they fishing?
Those reds were caught on mullet.
Quote from: Reel 224 on June 22, 2018, 12:24:56 PM
It's said that Tile fish age the poor man's Lobster.
I'll go along with that Joe...it's a lot like lobster...white sweet meat.
Quote from: Reel 224 on June 22, 2018, 12:24:56 PM
It's said that Tile fish age the poor man's Lobster.
Joe
First Ive heard this... Jeff