Some last minute Grouper.....and got out fished by a girl.

Predator257

Day 1: Saturday - Grouper season coming to a close on the 1st. My mission to find some, and we did that on Saturday. This was my first fall season on the Gulf, and only about the fifth or sixth time getting out to hunt the Grouper. I’ve found some all but once or twice. This was a Successful trip! A few shorts and Elizabeth brought home dinner with a nice 24.5 incher. Casting some big Yo-Zuri’s. Elizabeth also caught a short Redfish inshore. Apparently Elizabeth’s fish was so big, neighbor Steve (and acting first mate) couldn’t get it all in the picture, lol. I caught more, but the kid brought home dinner.




Day 2: Sunday
I may actually know what I’m doing, and my kid has been paying attention! She identified the good bottom and structure on the depth finder while driving the boat while I was up front and got her line in the water and went on a 4 casts, 4 fish caught streak. She ended up with seven total in about 12 casts before getting cut off and losing what seemed to be magical Yo-Zuri Sashimi Magnum lure. Hers were all 20”-22”. We Caught fish so fast I didn’t even get pics of them all and she didn’t stop to pose either, just let neighbor Steve hold up the fish while she was hooking another! Would have made a great video! I got three in the boat also. We caught all within 20-30 minutes time in the morning on the outgoingtide. These fish are real fighters and hit bait like a hammer, tore the hooks right off of my lure! I put a 24 3/4” fish in the cooler. Yo-Zuri answered my Facebook message at 10 P.M. at night and told me to send in the lure for them to look at and they’ll make good on it. The orange and gold was on fire! I need to find more spots like this, it was a blast and trolling for miles produced nothing. The kid out fished me almost 2 to 1, but I finally caught a keeper (I let her pose with it at days end).



I'm looking forward to next season, and finding some more spots by then.

The filets came out great beer battered and blackened. The heads made a nice Vietnamese Pho style soup.

Salty Dawg44

Well done!

nick

Awesome. 

xmuskyguide

Can't beat that!

mburke001 aka TripleB

Good job 👍 

surfman

  

Ruff One

Don't feel bad, girls and women have done me in many times. She looks like she is officially "hooked"!! Looks like you have found one of those sweet spots. Enjoy it!

AC Man

Nice Feesh! What model Xpress is that? 

Predator257

Thanks! H24 Bay

AC Man

I have the same boat only the 22 footer. Only been in it once idling down the Silver River breaking it in some.

Any tips on set up or accessories fishing Big Bend out of this style boat? I've had boats since 1970, but this is my first metal boat.

Predator257

I looked at the 20’ initially. Closeout special put me in the 24’. I’m glad I didn’t go any smaller. Happy with mine so far. Blew a fuse in the wiring for the trolling motor when cranked up to ten and had to rig something to get back in as the iPilot wouldn’t stow. Repair shop said wiring wasn’t heavy enough gauge and dealer paid for that. After dealing with that I had the quick disconnect block out on. The Yamaha SHO 175 runs great,  very smooth. Just did the 20 hr service. I may put weather stripping on my hatch doors as water seems to get in, mostly when I wash the boat. There were small gaps towards the bow on each side where the angle changes, up under the top edge that let water get into the compartment that I caulked. The Humminbird that it came with (Helix9) sucks and will be replaced when I sell my two fishing kayaks. I’m trying to figure out how to mount some pole holders on the boat, that’s what I will find to be the most useful add on for what we do. First boat, got not quite a year ago, so I’m learning as I go. No complaints. I got metal because I’m a noob and it is forgiving. I can see myself in something else down the road, but very happy so far.

capt louie

Great report , good catchin'. Especially on the cast and crank . Thanks for the post.

BTW , what port did you fish out of ?

Predator257

Been going out of Yankeetown Marina as I’ve heard the ramp at the end of 40 is/was screwed up.

AC Man

Predator257 said:

Been going out of Yankeetown Marina as I’ve heard the ramp at the end of 40 is/was screwed up.

That's where we go out of too. Thanks for the info on your boat. Don't worry about upgrading. That is a good boat for the area as long as you do not want want to go offshore. This is the first non self bailing boat I have owned, so will keep it closer to shore. My 36 CC console took me a day to get ready, a day to fish, 70 miles offshore and a day to clean the boat and fish. I'm done with that. The Xpress is low maintenance and well built. I'm all for that.

My brother has his Sea Hunt bay for sale and just bought a 16 Sea Ark tunnel  Jon boat. He loves it.

Predator257

Can’t forget the traditional fish fry. Beer battered with some Shiner IPA, as it was free and IPA’s ain’t fit to drink, crispy seasoned fries and a blackened filet. YUM! 😋 

capt louie

Now we're talkin' !  Looks good.  There was a town hall meeting on fixing the 40 ramp . Not sure the outcome but is needed.

Big Bend Brian

Very nice! Loved the report and the photos. Keep it up! Gotta love grouper. That aluminum boat will serve you well in the shallow gulf. Looks like it's nicely rigged.
Brian

Enyar

I think we're going to need some recipes for the above mentioned feasts

Predator257

Enyar said:

I think we're going to need some recipes for the above mentioned feasts

Thanks! Unfortunately no recipes, I only use those loosely as a guide. Usually just throw something together off the top of my head. If unsure, look at a few recipes and incorporate into whatever I have going on. That IPA had a real nice smell in the batter. A darker maltier beer works good too and better to drink while cooking IMHO. Here’s something else I threw together a few weeks ago, just to get your tastebuds going. Mind you, I live and cook in a barn right now as waiting for our house to be completed.

AC Man

Predator257 said:

I looked at the 20’ initially. Closeout special put me in the 24’. I’m glad I didn’t go any smaller. Happy with mine so far. Blew a fuse in the wiring for the trolling motor when cranked up to ten and had to rig something to get back in as the iPilot wouldn’t stow. Repair shop said wiring wasn’t heavy enough gauge and dealer paid for that. After dealing with that I had the quick disconnect block out on. The Yamaha SHO 175 runs great,  very smooth. Just did the 20 hr service. I may put weather stripping on my hatch doors as water seems to get in, mostly when I wash the boat. There were small gaps towards the bow on each side where the angle changes, up under the top edge that let water get into the compartment that I caulked. The Humminbird that it came with (Helix9) sucks and will be replaced when I sell my two fishing kayaks. I’m trying to figure out how to mount some pole holders on the boat, that’s what I will find to be the most useful add on for what we do. First boat, got not quite a year ago, so I’m learning as I go. No complaints. I got metal because I’m a noob and it is forgiving. I can see myself in something else down the road, but very happy so far.

Do you have the Navionics chip in the Humminbird? Otherwise you are correct. Useless.

Predator257

I think. Sorry, like I said, I’m new to this. It came with Navionics that I had to download. Someone told me to go to Millers and check out the special chip I could put on it. I went and looked but wasn’t impressed, it looked almost the same as what I had basically. I guess I want to see more contour and detail in a relatively contourless area. It’s the standard Helix, no MEGA or CHIRP imaging which is the big downfall. I want to have a better idea of what the bottom actually looks like and see it. Looking at the Garmin 94 Plus or 7610 and maybe the Panoptix transducer add on. 

Doc Stressor

You won't find a better fishfinder for shallow water use than the Humminbird.  However, they are not easy to set up since the menu system is complex and non-intuitive. 

In order to see depth contours, you need to go to the advanced menu (press the menu button twice) and select the chart tab. Then select chart detail level. 

"Chart Detail Level allows you to add details and layers to the chart views. The available settings are determined by the installed map card and selected map source.

1. Main Menu: Press the MENU key twice. Select the Chart tab.

 2. Select Chart Detail Level. 3. Press the RIGHT or LEFT Cursor keys to select one of the following:

Basic - shows land areas, ports, obstructions, and restricted areas

Navigation - In addition to the Basic level, Navigation shows navaids, landmarks, ferryways, and navigation routes.

Underwater - In addition to the Basic and Navigation information, Underwater shows depth contours, fishing areas, underwater wrecks, tides, and currents.

Custom (Advanced User Mode) - Select Custom to select specific chart detail layers. You can show or hide chart layers such as navigation canals, boundaries, restricted areas, coastline, bridges, and more."

Play around with the Underwater and Custom setting until you see whatever you want to see on the screen.

Garmins are much easier to use for navigation. But they lock you into using their own charts and chips.  Humminbird beats them out for down imaging and side imaging detail when you compare generation to generation. They also have much better bottom type discrimination than Garmins if you use them in non-Chirp 2 D mode. 

Predator257

Thanks! I will definitely try that out. Definitely not any easy to use unit, and I need easy. If it had the MEGA and CHIRP, side view and such, I may be okay with hanging onto it and leaning the unit, but just being the basic nav unit/ depth finder I find myself wanting more. I want to see how the new Lowrance Live looks when it comes out. Locked into Garmin Maps is a downfall, but ease of use is a big plus. I usually do homework for months befor making a decision. Plus, got two nice fishing kayaks I have to sell to help fund a new purchase.

Wishin i was fishin

Nice work dad! And great report!