72 degrees, 1-2 ft seas, it was time for day off fishing...Capt Tom, Frank Morgan and I set out in fog with maybe 50 yards visibility on the TomCat. We had to run slower than normal due to fog, but we were 41 miles out in clear skies by 9 am. What a day!!
I rigged a 7 oz diamond jig on my high speed Penn and dropped it to the bottom in 180 ft...about 3 yanks and I had the first gag grouper of the day, next drop with the same jig I retrieved about 30 ft from the bottom and started jigging...amberjack about 25 lbs!! I have this reel spooled with 80lb power pro braid and use a shimano trevala rod that is awesome, the sensitivity is amazing and it allows you that early first feel when the jig gets picked up, which allows the chance to get a jump on a grouper or AJ before they turn back into the wreck.
We kept 7 gags that weighed up to 28lbs, 1 aj, and released 40 red snapper. The snapper were all nice fish, most were over 10lbs, but it was vent and release til June. We were using large boston mackeral for bait in hopes of not catching snapper, but they were aggressive and HUNGRY...
Capt Tom put the TomCat on auto-pilot at 45kts and we cruised into the canal just as the sun set....not that I would have noticed, I was napping in the cabin:) see photo gallery for more pics....The offshore fishing will be this good until the season closes on 1/31/09 for 60 days...
