Florida Sportsman Forums - Northwest Fishing Reports http://forums.floridasportsman.com/ Fishing, Diving and Hunting Reports Only. en Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:33:21 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.floridasportsman.com/images/misc/rss.png Florida Sportsman Forums - Northwest Fishing Reports http://forums.floridasportsman.com/ <![CDATA[A Cobia "Orientation" Day]]> http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?116413-A-Cobia-quot-Orientation-quot-Day&goto=newpost Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:58:15 GMT As the old saying goes, it REALLY is a small world sometimes. So about two weeks ago, I posted a job opening for our office and got a slew of... As the old saying goes, it REALLY is a small world sometimes.

So about two weeks ago, I posted a job opening for our office and got a slew of applications. One of the first things I (and almost all other hiring managers) do nowadays is paste applicant email addresses into criminal databases, google, and social media sites to see what pops up. Well, in the case of one applicant a picture of a doormat size flounder popped up! Almost instantly I thought, "I've seen that flounder before!", so do a bit of digging and confirm it's site member Ontiltttttt applying for our open job!

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As a few folks might recall, using my "big bend gyrene" profile name I then joked with him on his flounder thread that he doesn't realize it but he's been emailing me and I'll likely meet him in short order... few hours later I'm writing him all formal-like using my real world name and inviting him to interview with our office. Later that night, I get an email from him excitedly proclaiming he's finally figured out I'm "Big Bend Gyrene!" :grin Long story short, he interviews and the entire staff picks him for the job. They made a good pick because he's licensed, has solid work experience, and almost certainly has a MD education in his future, but I'm secretly celebrating because I know from our conversation during his interview visit that I'm gaining another valued fishing bud!

So after his very first day of work, I ask him if he might want to chase cobia the next day. Verifying we've picked the right candidate, he locks in the invite within about a second of my sending it.

After launching with the sunrise, we ran out to 8' of water and I started filling up the live well while Ontiltttttt fished a new penny gulp jig. Neither of us had a slow bite. Bait was easy to find, and Ontiltttttt caught trout, ladyfish, and seabass.

After loading up with bait, I ran out to a spot in 18' with very rocky bottom and within seconds of dropping our anchor we're spotting eagle rays and cobia are tackling our initial drops. We're a bit slow to reach our initial bite and lose it, but didn't have time to cry about it because almost instantly another rod off the back gets hit. End result a 31' short but solid fighter that we tag and release.
:beer

Tagged Cobe.jpg

Things really slowed down after the initial bite, with just enough time between a few monster bites that we were too slow to the reels. Growing worried we might not get any more bites, I decided to chum some dead baits and it sure seemed to work as within minutes we had on the bite we wanted! A BIG keeper cobe that gave Ontiltttttt exactly the fight he wanted (and maybe even a bit more)... the fight took almost exactly 35 minutes, and involved multiple additional cobia sightings during the fight as well as a brief double hook-up, with the second bite lost to a prop cutoff because Ontiltttttt and I were both upfront when the drag on the second rod sounded the alarm.

Got the beast up to the boat and had nightmarish visions of friend Bman's lost monster cobe (shared report earlier this spring) which gave my net the slip after Bman tried wrestling it at the same time I landed it. Debate trying to use my boga, but the beast keeps going crazy at the boat, and actually try gaffing it a few times but each time I prepare to stick it the darn thing seems to have ESP and dives... decide I'll prove to Bman the net is beast capable and on my second attempt with the net, capture the cobe as well as possible with it diving down the center of the net. Go to pick it up and find it is so big that the front 51% is in the net but the back 49% of the cobe is thrashing wildly from the back of the net. Determined not to lose it, I go into Jedi mode and will it to stay in using "THE FORCE." Heave it over the side of the boat and it lands right in the middle of the live well. End result, in Ontiltttttt's first trip out for cobia he ties Ranaman's Celeste for the 2nd place boat record with a 35 pounder. :dance

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We ended the day with one more keeper cobia and a new first... my first "double hooked" cobia! Turns out the cobia took one of our back baits and sneakily reached the second before sounding the alarm.

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For anybody on the board who hasn't landed a big keeper cobia wondering how fun they are to catch, here's a highlight reel of Ontiltttttt's two fights. Think it's fairly obvious Ontiltttttt had a good time... sure there are millions of folks who've had far less enjoyable day #2 orientations! :grin

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]]> Northwest Fishing Reports big bend gyrene http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?116413-A-Cobia-quot-Orientation-quot-Day So did anyone catch a fish http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?116247-So-did-anyone-catch-a-fish&goto=newpost Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:50:36 GMT today? today? ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports ferris1248 http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?116247-So-did-anyone-catch-a-fish Headed down to St. George Island http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?116030-Headed-down-to-St-George-Island&goto=newpost Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:23:29 GMT I will be down all next week and just wondering how the water has been lately. Anybody catching any pomps on the beach? I will be down all next week and just wondering how the water has been lately. Anybody catching any pomps on the beach? ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports Catscratch http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?116030-Headed-down-to-St-George-Island Pretty good day out of carrabelle http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?115790-Pretty-good-day-out-of-carrabelle&goto=newpost Thu, 13 Jun 2013 03:40:25 GMT Attachment 89596 (http://forums.floridasportsman.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=89596) ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371094732.421553.jpg
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]]> Northwest Fishing Reports Seachaser24 http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?115790-Pretty-good-day-out-of-carrabelle Tarpon http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?115787-Tarpon&goto=newpost Thu, 13 Jun 2013 02:51:23 GMT Anybody been doing any good around st Vincent island? Thanks Anybody been doing any good around st Vincent island?

Thanks ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports Red Fish http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?115787-Tarpon St. Marks http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?115437-St-Marks&goto=newpost Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:24:00 GMT Got out today and had a great day but no keepers. Caught bunches of specs but all in 12"-14" range. Where or where are their moma's? Scouted the scallop beds out by the rock. Nothing there yet. :USA ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports Wrangler Angler http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?115437-St-Marks Scallops? http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?115115-Scallops&goto=newpost Sun, 09 Jun 2013 00:45:35 GMT Anyone seen any scallops out of steinhatchee yet? Anyone seen any scallops out of steinhatchee yet? ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports LeeT8034 http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?115115-Scallops Panacea Bite 6/1 http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?114344-Panacea-Bite-6-1&goto=newpost Tue, 04 Jun 2013 07:34:03 GMT Corralled the troops last Saturday for a little fishing down in Panacea and the flounder bite was insane. Fishing around residential docks with 1/2oz... Corralled the troops last Saturday for a little fishing down in Panacea and the flounder bite was insane. Fishing around residential docks with 1/2oz jig heads and Gulp Shrimp was the ticket to catching some doormats sized flounder. We caught them all day long with the largest being 23-24 inches.

My buddy also tussled with a 3 ft blacktip shark and I was able to muscle in a 7lb gafftopsail catfish, the largest I had ever seen.

I had heard from an FWC officer earlier that day that gafftopsail cats were good eating but upon cleaning mine I noticed some small white balls, maybe about the sized of a cooked rice grain, embedded in a fillet. Upon closer inspection (and cutting some out) I noticed they were small worms crawling through my "dinner." Throughly grossed out, I cut the fillets into cubes and fed the seagulls; I'll know better next time :nono

Here's a picture of the largest flounder from this weekend.
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]]> Northwest Fishing Reports ontiltttttt http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?114344-Panacea-Bite-6-1 Morning Reds!! http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?114230-Morning-Reds!!&goto=newpost Mon, 03 Jun 2013 17:30:03 GMT First morning out fishing on SGI and surrounding areas, got a nice slot red. Caught it in the grass on the island side where the ramp is that the... First morning out fishing on SGI and surrounding areas, got a nice slot red. Caught it in the grass on the island side where the ramp is that the oysterman use. Few minutes after sunrise, lots of big reds showing off their tails. Didn't get any of those big reds, but caught that slot red on a topwater popper! Lots of fun.
perhaps tomorrow I need to get out there with a live pinfish or mud minnow, maybe a berkley gulp on a popping cork.

Where else are good places to fish on the island or appalachicola? Guess I must have missed the memo that the bridge was out of commission. That puts a damper on my fishing plans, but guess I can make do! lol

Anyone ever fish the east pass from the park?? ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports mshutley http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?114230-Morning-Reds!! Redfish, and Cobia, and Sharks, OH MY! http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?114033-Redfish-and-Cobia-and-Sharks-OH-MY!&goto=newpost Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:42:13 GMT With only one 2013 offshore trip made before the Memorial Day weekend, Lady Luck blessed me with the opportunity to make two trips out over a long... With only one 2013 offshore trip made before the Memorial Day weekend, Lady Luck blessed me with the opportunity to make two trips out over a long holiday weekend, one on Thursday, and another trip on Sunday.

The first trip was scheduled due to a promise I made to a friend, Amanda, to take her and her boyfriend out to target cobia. The good news is we found them, the somewhat less fortunate news is we found lots of shorts. I think this bothered me far more than it did them, as Amanda said she liked the idea of tagging the fish more than she did keeping them. With meat in the freezer I couldn't argue against the logic so we enjoyed tagging multiple cobia.

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Can't say we didn't hook any keepers as we lost a few big bites. In addition to the cobia, Amanda landed a NICE sized mackerel, and earlier in the day while fishing for bait her boyfriend Jon landed some really nice keeper trout in 10' to 12' waters.

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Another positive result of the trip was finally getting to test out a couple of Swann Freestyle cameras given to me almost seven months ago for my birthday. Helped me do something I haven't done in earlier videos... actually capture strikes / bites! :) Still need to do a bit of work to get the cameras setup better (times are wrong in the video/mounted one upside down) but all in all I like them a great deal, especially since they are half the price of the GoPros, and come with voice activation, remote control activation, and a lcd screen included. Here's the first footage I captured.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqUFVgwQ-OA

Sunday I was fortunate enough to make a trip out with my closest fishing buddy, Sharkman. Between 2002 and 2008 we worked at the same plant and fished together almost every other weekend, but job changes have made getting together much more challenging these past few years. Cool thing about close friendships is that the space of time doesn't affect them, and so it was with the trip out with Sharkman. Didn't hurt the friendship that we ended up doubling on reds AND cobia! :grin
We wanted to test some new spotlights on my boat so we met up at 5:00am and ran out to the flats... only to find it was ROUGH! So we decided to fish for redfish a bit before running offshore. Doubled up pretty quickly. :beer

Ran offshore despite it being a bit choppy and quickly doubled on cobes. Managed to boat one nice keeper as well as to release a few shorts before the sharks showed up. Actually had both a hammer and a bull visit the boat, with the bull biting and providing Sharkman a GREAT fight! Made for a fun trip as hope the video shows. Good times with good friends out on the water... that really is what it's all about! :beer

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]]> Northwest Fishing Reports big bend gyrene http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?114033-Redfish-and-Cobia-and-Sharks-OH-MY! Any Pompano reports around SGI?? http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?113698-Any-Pompano-reports-around-SGI&goto=newpost Thu, 30 May 2013 20:54:09 GMT Heading down at the end of this week. I'm really wanting to get some reds and flounder, but wondering what the Pomp bite looks like.

Honestly, I've never caught any pompano at all. Would love to get into it. ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports mshutley http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?113698-Any-Pompano-reports-around-SGI Spanish.........er.....Ladyfish http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?113485-Spanish-er-Ladyfish&goto=newpost Wed, 29 May 2013 16:54:11 GMT We stayed several days in PSJ and fished a few. The grandsons fished and caught a lot of fish. Just most were not the ones to be brought home. ... We stayed several days in PSJ and fished a few. The grandsons fished and caught a lot of fish. Just most were not the ones to be brought home. Grandpa didn't get much fishing in but he got to hold up one marcel tree of ladyfish.



We caught LOTS of ladyfish while trolling for Spanish Mackrel. But the boys didn't care. They just wanted to catch more than or bigger than their brother. It was a good weekend. ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports Bakerman http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?113485-Spanish-er-Ladyfish St. Marks inshore 5/27 http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?113282-St-Marks-inshore-5-27&goto=newpost Tue, 28 May 2013 13:40:12 GMT Had a great day of redfishing for Memorial day.
Fished the afternoon high tide and wound up with 7 for the boat, estimated 20"-30+" with most being at or just above top of the slot. 5 for me and 2 for my fishin partner with each of us losing a good one.
Quit taking pics after having to bail over the side swim to the bottom and retreive/revive an over slot fish that was just laying on the bottom belly up after his release. Had a frig full of offshore fish from Sunday's trip so all these were released to fight another day.
Here's all I've got of what was some good drag screaming fun.

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[IMG][/IMG] ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports ducknfish http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?113282-St-Marks-inshore-5-27 Jollymon at work and play http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?113105-Jollymon-at-work-and-play&goto=newpost Sun, 26 May 2013 23:13:59 GMT Offshore of Carrabelle, 3 gag (2 ducknfish, 1 micci_man), 1 39" cobia (me), Jollymon keeping rock bass, etc… pics may follow. ]]> Northwest Fishing Reports Dieseldorado23 http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?113105-Jollymon-at-work-and-play Top Water Action Carrabelle http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?112863-Top-Water-Action-Carrabelle&goto=newpost Fri, 24 May 2013 19:25:56 GMT Really cool clip from a show we did last weekend. http://youtu.be/p0lKwvV6tD0 Really cool clip from a show we did last weekend.

]]> Northwest Fishing Reports flat sick http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?112863-Top-Water-Action-Carrabelle