2001
Fishing Reports
1/6/01
went to Port Canaveral for fishing since at the last moment I hear thru the
grape vine that not a single shrimp to be found. Weather was great and fish
were biting, the shrimp I bet are buried in till
it warms a lil.
1/26, Oak
hill, calm, 40s, 3 gallons, I started after dark and met up with Dave, and
dipped during the out and incoming tides and left at 12. Jethro
1/28, Oak
hill, 58 degrees, calm, 3 dozen, dark till 830 small to medium.
2/6/01,
Haulover and Oakhill,68 @ 6pm - 43 @ 4am, wind was calm. 2.5 gallons, Went to
HC at sundown, the park is closed for the shuttle launch so had to travel
around from the north. Got 3 dozen large to jumbo and one stray OH shrimp.
Larry hooked a nice 46" red, I got a 36". Finished our trip at RB to a total
of 2.5 gallons,
2/13/01
Riverbreeze, 68 degrees, foggy, wind from the north @ 10 mph, 5 GALLONS, Best
run all season or it could have been the BOX NET. All running deep maybe a
gallon dipping. Shrimped from dark till 1100pm.
2/15/01,
68 degrees, south wind@10mph, 1.5 gallons, did pretty good at first dark till
10 then it slowed to one every ten minutes. The current was still flowing
north when I left at 1230. I was surprised at the high number of shrimpers out
there and those two channel hogging barges. And yes the boxnet and boat is
full of slime again.
2/24/01
From dark till 4 am, Haulover till 1030 then to Oak Hill, Air temp was 72-68
degrees from the ESE, 5 gallons! Went out with Saltycracker, got a few dozen
large to medium @ HC then left for OH to the back waters north to fill the
bucket with small- medium. Lots of work dippin small shrimp
03/08/01
HC/ OH backwaters, 47 degrees and calm, Water temp was high 60s, 1 gallon
large-jumbo/2 gallons small-medium. Me and Dave went ti HC at sundown and
dipped some nice shrimp till 1030. I had another friend Vince come out in his
boat and he did about as good. While I was out there I mentioned to Dave that
I haven't heard from "The Shimpslayer" in a while and talked about some of his
colorful stories, when I thought I heard him mention "Wow what a red!" I
believe we were in the same spot Clammy threw the net on the NASA guy. Got to
the backwaters of Edgewater at 1230 for the tide change. Right off the bat we
were dipping small shrimp when the wind started from the west and it got cold.
Dipped till 230 and headed back to Riverbreeze. Didn't see anyone dipping in
edgewater, the wingnetters did not have their nets deployed and saw a few
dipping around the RB area. Got home at 4 and snoozed
3/16/01,
HC, 70s, W to NW, 6 dozen jumbos, water was messy but the shrimp came slow and
steady with little current. Lots of trout to push the shrimp to the surface.
Not many people out there so all in all it was an OK night.
4/3/01, HC
& RB, low 70s, water temp 71, around a gallon, Lots of fish action at HC,
mullet fingerlings getting slammed, caught a 20" trout but no shrimp, stayed
there till 1030 and headed to OH where the shrimp were small to medium.
Stayed till 230,
4/11/01,
Riverbreeze, Wind S @ 10-15 mph, 76 degree air, 78 degree water, 5 gallons!,
Took my brother-in-law and nephew out at dusk and dipped till 1130. Most were
caught small to medium with the framenet set at the bottom. Lots of weed and
jellyfish but worth the time sorting them out. The peak time was around 930 to
1030. Must have been good down towards Lopez as we heard lots of cheers and
geers.
4/13/01,
Riverbreeze, 75 degrees, calm, 3 gallons, Fair size medium a few large shrimp
thanx to the framenet. Nice night to be out but the idiots next to us with the
noisy generator with the mom with the mouth of a marine made it rough on the
wife to stand f this f that. Then when we got to the ramp there were a few
flat trailer tires due to roofing nails dumped at the ramp and caused a backup
and wait to trailer out. Friday the 13th was what it was
4/18-19/01, RB, 12 am to 4, 56 degrees, mild south wind, calm, 5 Gallons!! The
shrimp are so thick you can walk across the water on them!! mostly on the
medium side, didn't take long to get them. Haven't seen them running like that
in a while with clean water and no weeds and jellyfish!
4/26/01,
OH, 5 Gallons, south of Lopez, mild east wind till 1030, the ran early and
found the right spot. No boats except the lucky one next to me! Dipped till
1030 but got my limit at 10. Watched for larger ones and replaced them from
the small ones. Then the winds kicked up and the shrimp went away.
5/25 Went
out the Sebastian Inlet with my sister-in-law and her boyfriend to do some
fishing. The water was clear but no bites. Saw a dark cloud under the boat and
it kept moving. Decided to take a dip and see what it was and was surprised to
see about 1000 snook all schooled up and just sitting there. Got a lil closer
and the scattered. They sure make a racket when they do that! Anyway below is
a photo of a manatee that was hanging around the boat.
5/30 Went
on a charter trip out of Sebastian on the
Surf Rider and caught 11 king mackerel and two lane snapper. One
king had to be 20# till a shark took half before getting it in the boat.
6/3/01 Went
out of Port Canaveral around 4 am to search for bait with Dave. Caught a few
dozen pogies at the drawbridges and headed out to sea and noticed the boat
wouldn't plane. Like it was lacking power! After checking things out I noticed
the bilge was full and couldn't figure why. The only thing it could have been
was the baitwell was leaking and emptying in the bilge. After the water was
remover we were off to 8A reef. Did some trolling but no luck. Then we did
some bottom fishing and caught a few keeper seabass. Then tried trolling again
and had a couple hookups but was only successful in bringing in a half a king
and a remora.
6/13/01
Caught this 51" cobia along with two others. My partner gaffed the fish and it
slipped out of his hands but was able to bring it back to the boat and I have
to admit it was a hefty fish! Went out at 430 am to get live bait at the Port
Canaveral drawbridges and headed out to 8A reef's NE area, caught some cobia,
a king, mutton and lane snapper, triggerfish, a red grouper, and seabass. It
was worth it to go on a weekday. The cobia were following the manta rays. Saw
some kings under the boat around 11 am but wouldn't take the bait so we left
around 1pm.
My buddy
Vince got a nice king.
6/18/01
Went to Port Canaveral at 1230 am and went offshore to 8A reef. Turned on the
starfireII and saw what looked like a big shrimp run till I looked a little
closer and saw that they were squid.
Caught 7 shark
and a few breakoffs by sunup and then started trolling and caught a couple
kings. One came up short cause of the shark bite. Then bottom fished and
caught a 33" cobia.
Nothing else but
bait was caught so went trolling again and landed another king. Went home at
1100 am.
Nice night and day.
6/20 Went
back out there with a couple buddies and was able to get one king, two sharks,
a remora, and a flounder. The water was flat but they both got seasick.
Maybe I
should have told them to eat a high protein meal before going out.
7/1/01
Went out of Port Canaveral 8a reef for some night time mangrove snapper
fishing. Water was rough but the fish were hot! Me and my partner caught 9
with 3 good sizers. He got the 6 biggest while I only caught 3 of the
smallest. Had a great time.
7/2/01 Had
to go back out and do it better this time and caught 15 of them along with a
couple huge nerf sharks. Too bad there is a 5 aggregate limit per person on
those snapper!! Had a great night until powerpack went out on the boat and had
to have Seatow come haul me back in! If I didn't have the insurance it would
have cost me $1006!! 9pm to 6am the cost it $175 an hour.
7/22 Went
back during the new moon but all there was to be caught were sharks only
8/4 tried
again to try for mangrove snapper but the weather was rough and was only able
to nail one and a lane snapper. I need to learn how to keep squid from inking
the boat and everything else. Water clarity was poor.
8/12 Got the new motor on the
boat YEEHAW. Went out around 530 am and went to 8a for a while. Bottom fished
and got plenty of bait and trolled and got a small wahoo before heading to
120' water. Saw divers bring up a mess of flounder but all we caught were
sharks. Headed back to 8a and caught several seabass and half were keepers.
Trolled again for a fair size king.All in all the day was great and enjoyed
being on the water.
8/15 Went
out of Port Canaveral to 8a for some kings but all that would bite were cudas.
A buddy that went with me showed me his hot spot with lots of current and it
had lots of fish below but wouldn't bite. Then a Wahoo hit my freelined minnow
and shot up with an awesome leap and spit the hook. 1 cobia later on around
noon I tossed another minnow 4" and got slammed on 20# line and fought this
fish for close to an hour!
Later on
John B. tossed a minnow and a huge wahoo hit it and rocketed about 30' out of
the water! Never saw one go that high and of course it spit out the hook too.
Trolled back to 8a and John caught a huge 20# +cuda on a skirted bonita strip.
As you can see by the photo we had great weather. Never had a boring trip out
yet, and always something to learn out there.
8/29 Went
out of Port Canaveral 5pm at 8a reef, first off I couldn't get the bait down
with out a hit/cutoff so I used a wire leader and dropped a pigfish down and
hooked a 20#+ barracuda. After getting that out of the way commenced to fish
bottom but only caught 6 morays and a huge stingray along with only one
beeliner. Moved to a wreck and caught one mangrove snapper. Not the best night
but owell.
9/1 Got up
early and headed to 8a reef. Got bait and went to the sub wreck but nothing
would bite so off the the Dutch wreck. On the way we say a shrimping boat
doing their sorting. Tossed a line under the net but nothing and then the
shrimp boat captain called us over and asked if we wanted some lobster and
chum. I said heck yea and for the cost of a 6 pack we got 4 lobster and 10# of
huge squid. He let us tie off and fish but the kings wouldn't bite. Stayed a
while and chat and he turned me on the the lon lat #s of where he empties
their bycatch. Told me to watch for him in 3 months since he would be catching
white shrimp vs. the rock shrimp load he had today. Anyway, continued to Dutch
and got this black margate and a nice triggerfish. If you catch a margate your
in for a treat! They are excellent eating.
9/22 Didn't see but a navy
security boat while coming in today into Port Canaveral. As for the offshore
report, The water is cloudy, Got lots of skipjacks for bait out at 8a, Caught
one 20# spotted wahoo, two sails, a blue, and a 250# piece of the dutch wreck.
Translation: one cuda, two sailcats and a bluefish. As for the piece of wreck,
it was caught in the anchor and had one heck of a time pulling it up. All were
released to fight another day.
Photo of a (spotted wahoo)
10/6 Went
out of Port Canaveral early in a friend's boat and tried a few spots ne of 8a
in 105-85' water caught nothing but lots of sharks but recorded lots of fish.
Later on about 3pm the red snapper light came on and caught several shorts one
nice one but came up half its size due to a cuda taking it. Fished all day and
had a great time.
10/13 Went
to Port Canaveral for snook but all we got was a glimps. The lock nazi was
good to us to allow us to fish up to the tower even though he informed us that
the restricted area was 100s' back to the end of the piling. Still with that
we saw snook popping the water at the lock door but wouldn't hit our baits.
Lots of bluefish and one small flounder to log today. It's time to hit
Sebastian Inlet now at this time of year.
10/30 went to Canaveral for snook but all I caught were jacks. My buddy caught
one wi9th a mullet and a bait hook. Will be putting my circle hooks away for
offshore fishing since I lost alot of fish with them aarrgghh!!
11/1 Went back to try the full moon @ Port Canaveral and was fortunate to catch
a 30" snook. It was a really slow night but worth the trip.
11/10 Went to Sebastian Inlet for the Florida Sportsman bash and had a great
time. Caught a triple tail off a sheet of plywood drifting offshore.
Waited for the early evening outgoing tide but had my prop spin out and grounded
me for the rest of that night. The wife saved the weekend by finding a new prop
in Christmas at 9pm and was back on the water the next day. Didn't catch much
the next day but there were plenty of jacks in the inlet and put her on a couple
big ones for her first fight with them. Later had a cookout with the group and
had some of the best eats with them. Great fish and lobster with all the other
amenities. If you didn't make the event you really missed out. Thanx to Capt.
Randy and Capt. Bryan for their organization of this event.
11/19/01 RB, calm variable winds, 0 shrimp, the water was like
coffee so we sat there till 730. There was only one other boat so we went to
Canaveral for snook. Lots of bait and yes there was snook caught. Don't think
there will be a shrimp run this holiday but I could be wrong. Jethro
11/30/01 Went to the flats of Merritt Island with Capt. Bob (Flatstime) and he
put me on some nice reds. Got two slot sized caught on gold spoons and missed
two big ones on dead mullet this time but not because I didn't see them. It's an
awesome site to see those big tails waving and lots of them.
Bob is good at getting you to the fish
if you are looking for a flats guide, and commend him for taking me. Thanx again
and I owe you one.
12/1 Roughed it in 7' seas out of Port Canaveral with JohnB and hooked some red
, mangrove, yellowtail, lane snapper, cobia, spadefish, and black margate, John
had the most luck. Missed some heavy fish on power pro line (three week old
line!). Will be respooling my poles with mono. FWC was out checking boats for
illegal fish. With all the rules you just about need a lawyer an board to cypher
and translate the rules to keep out of trouble. Was a great day and an
adventure.
12/7 Went to St.Pete to fish an artificial reef. Found fish but wouldn't bite.
Tried the Skyway Bridge and caught what they call white fish and grunts.
Found after getting home that someone at Oniel's Marina hit my truck and looks
like it was hit by a trailer. Last time there. Red tide can make for a no fish
day.
12/10 Went out with Flatstime and got our limit in red snapper and one nice sized grouper
along with a few lane and mangrove snapper out in 100' water. The water got
rough around 10am but was clean. Jethro
12/15 Had to get out since the weather was so nice. Took off out of Port
Canaveral to the Lead Wreck. Caught a few lane snapper Then headed to my
favorite spot and hooked this fattie! Not the best day offshore but still worth
the trip.
12/19/01 Went out of the port buddy boating with JohnB and his daughter I had
Nickychevrolet in my boat. The weather was Ideal first out. Tried one spot
and caught a couple lane snapper. Baracuda made things difficult to on landing
any other fish so went to another wreck. Caught grunts, a spadefish, couple more
lanes, and a porgy. Most were caught by Nick. Got slow and decided to go
back to the first spot and fish and caught some short snappers. Later in the
afternoon I hooked up on what appeared to be a shark and found out it was a
large cobia!. Turned out to be a 47#! Had Nick take some photos but found only
the sunrise photo in the camera!!! AARRGGHH!!! Anyways, Getting ready to
leave John hollers tuna under his boat! So we put out our lines and had fun
catching bonitos. The winds picked up to 20mph and 3' waves every 3 seconds from
the southwest so it was a long ride home. Will listen to the weather radio more
attentively from now on and will double check photos in the camera before
putting the fish in the box. A lesson learned. Still had a great time. The only
photo of the day below.
I didn't see many boats out and never got to do any trolling. I think JohnB had
a good time too with a couple on his boat helping with the chum line. Envious he
got grouper though. Couldn't have been much better than that. No sharks, eels,
cudas, or m-i-l fish. But i guess I could complain about all them red
snapper and not enough grouper. Ohwell another day.
