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I went out of the pass for some offshore action with 3 classmates of mine (2 were newbs to fishing and never been offshore)
Almost had a stick in the spokes early on when the Sea Isle Marina had bags over 3/4 of the gas pumps! Luckily the one worked and we were able to fill up.
Went out and hit up some of the rigs. Lots of underlings at most of them, but no keepers. Had some fun making them chase lures right at the boat. Buddy hooked one (told him not to), and they caught a big bonnethead shark.
Freediving confirmed no keeper lings. Also no snapper of any good size. Did shoot a decent smack which is always fun as they are small targets that keep moving.
Here's where things got a bit interesting. We saw the weather coming in, and the temp dropped about 20 degrees. The wind started picking up and we decided to tuck in behind one of the bigger rigs for some shelter and to act as a lightning rod while we waited it out. I didn't know how bad it would be, so we decided not to tie off, and just to idle in place. One of the newer guys was jigging off the bow, and got a good fish on. It runs to the back, and he doesn't follow it (remember the boat is idling forward too). Yep, mono all in the prop. Boat has no power now and the wind and seas are picking up quick. Thank God I brought my big drift sock, so I deploy it off the bow, put on my fins, grab a knife, and jump in. Luckily the seas were not as big as the squall Coe and I got caught in earlier this year, but it was still very tough. Took me about 10 minutes to cut it all out, and the prop sliced me up quite a bit on the forearms as I was unwrapping. There was absolutely no way I would have been able to keep up with the boat without the fins or the drift sock slowing it down.
We wait out the storm with my skinny classmates shivering away and me enjoying the nice weather
Afterward, we headed out further to the next set of rigs. More underlings. I managed to find a decent mangrove and shot it. They land a small keeper king on the flatlines. Also got my first triple tail which was pretty cool. At the last stop, I shoot 2 sheeps and they catch some spades so we can have more meat.
Running back through the pass, there is a 3' rattlesnake floating in the middle!
Not a stellar trip in terms of numbers and quality, but I had a heck of a good time. What's the saying? Offshore fishing is like sex, when its good, its great, and when it's bad, its still pretty good
Will post up pics later on. Ya'll enjoy these flat seas!
Almost had a stick in the spokes early on when the Sea Isle Marina had bags over 3/4 of the gas pumps! Luckily the one worked and we were able to fill up.
Went out and hit up some of the rigs. Lots of underlings at most of them, but no keepers. Had some fun making them chase lures right at the boat. Buddy hooked one (told him not to), and they caught a big bonnethead shark.
Freediving confirmed no keeper lings. Also no snapper of any good size. Did shoot a decent smack which is always fun as they are small targets that keep moving.
Here's where things got a bit interesting. We saw the weather coming in, and the temp dropped about 20 degrees. The wind started picking up and we decided to tuck in behind one of the bigger rigs for some shelter and to act as a lightning rod while we waited it out. I didn't know how bad it would be, so we decided not to tie off, and just to idle in place. One of the newer guys was jigging off the bow, and got a good fish on. It runs to the back, and he doesn't follow it (remember the boat is idling forward too). Yep, mono all in the prop. Boat has no power now and the wind and seas are picking up quick. Thank God I brought my big drift sock, so I deploy it off the bow, put on my fins, grab a knife, and jump in. Luckily the seas were not as big as the squall Coe and I got caught in earlier this year, but it was still very tough. Took me about 10 minutes to cut it all out, and the prop sliced me up quite a bit on the forearms as I was unwrapping. There was absolutely no way I would have been able to keep up with the boat without the fins or the drift sock slowing it down.
We wait out the storm with my skinny classmates shivering away and me enjoying the nice weather
Afterward, we headed out further to the next set of rigs. More underlings. I managed to find a decent mangrove and shot it. They land a small keeper king on the flatlines. Also got my first triple tail which was pretty cool. At the last stop, I shoot 2 sheeps and they catch some spades so we can have more meat.
Running back through the pass, there is a 3' rattlesnake floating in the middle!
Not a stellar trip in terms of numbers and quality, but I had a heck of a good time. What's the saying? Offshore fishing is like sex, when its good, its great, and when it's bad, its still pretty good
Will post up pics later on. Ya'll enjoy these flat seas!
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