Let me just start by saying it’s fishing, not catching. We had a weird current and wind on this trip. We kept on drifting towards the wind on some areas and where there was no wind there was a whirlpool that made the lines in the bow go to the stern and the lines in the stern go to the bow. The mates worked hard at the tangles but I think we did a good job at not having as many. Key here was fishing with the right weight. 12 to 16 ounces was best, those using less were getting their lines all over. Jigging was almost king on this one. Slow jigging got many fish and some were nice quality. Well, yes it was a grind, but at least we had a nice breeze to cool us off. And with the pics below you can now see what a bad day of fishing at Pulley Ridge looks like, and I can testify to the old saying, it is a hell of a lot better than the best day at work. And the other saying: If you snooze you miss out on quality fish.
Below, getting ready to load the boat.
We took a group pic at the beginning since so many just wanna dock and go home.
Upon arrival to Pulley Ridge the mutton snappers and red groupers were waiting for us with open arms. Here is Nilson with the first red grouper of the trip at around 6:30 am. Photo courtesy of Bill Benz.
Gilbert started shining with the red groupers as well. Photo courtesy of Bill Benz.
The red groupers and mutton snappers responded very well to our jigs. Below is Jongsoo with a mutton caught on a Shark jig and a Shark and Cudaman Slow Jigging 7′ rod.
Below it’s me on the same jig and rod with what we call a “muffin”. It’s a mutton snapper that was on the smaller size but made it to the box.
Miami Chris got this mutton around 9:30 am.
Then Jongsoo landed this nice mutton snapper on the same setup again.
Below is Chris, he just ventured on slow jigging and landed 2 muttons back to back on the jigs.
Bill got in the action landing this nice red grouper below.
Jared converted with the same Shark and Cudaman slow jigging rod. 
Gilbert joined the action with this nice mutton snapper.
Around 10:30 am double header by Art and Bill. Art was second high hook of the trip and landed 8 nice mutton snappers as part of his load.
Below is Gilbert with a nice red grouper.
Here I am again, but this time with a jiggingdepot.com jig and my Shark and Cudaman SJ7 rod.
Jared took home some nice mutton snappers caught on his very expensive jigs. Unfortunately for him he lost many jigs to cut offs, OUCH! My wallet hurts just thinking about it.
Gilbert again and another red grouper.
Art got one of the first blackfin tunas, and a very nice one non the less.
Bill jigged all methods, and here he is again with a nice almaco jack.
Bill was on fire at one point. Landed another nice red grouper. 
Jared followed him with another nice red grouper on the jigs.
jongsoo tested just about all his jiggingdepot.com jigs and they produced very well. Here is another nice red grouper.
This gentleman tried and finally landed his fish. The red groupers were all over on this trip.
Will got another nice red grouper on a 220 gram jiggingdepot.com jig and a Shark and Cudaman SJ7 rod.
The afternoon landed and with it came quietness and tangles and the grinding started real hard.
As the night flew by Captain rare and I made our move towards the stern and back and as we floated to the stern Nilson got a very nice blackfin tuna that was enjoyed by 3 black tips that came cookie cutting it to the top. The sharks came and went but were not much of a hassle for us. in the background is chef Camela, she made some awesome burgers and fish tacos.
Jongsoo also got into the blackfins with his jiggingdepot.com jigs. The blackfin tunas came sporadically through the night, I know a few guys got some on the H4L jigs that were given as samples. I hope they took some pics.
Night turned to daylight and I was on the grind side of things when I heard “DOLPHINS!, DOLPHINS!” I quickly ran to my rod I had ready with an H4L Texas Toothpick and got me a small dolphin “no pic sorry” it was lost due to a missed gaff. Three time it was missed three times I had it belly side up next to the boat, but that’s how life goes. I then went back to fishing and as the day went by lunchtime was here and again I heard “DOLPHINS!, DOLPHINS!” this time i got my other rod that was ready with an H4L Wingman, I sight casted to the bull but the he stood back and let the cow hit it. I quickly set the hook and she ran to the sides, she took one jump and as I got her head out the water she quickly gave up. this time the gaff didn’t miss.
Afterwards it was back to the grind, a fish here and there and then Bill with a mega donkey of about 70 to 80 pounds! Bam! That most have been a lot of work. I was catching some z’s while this happened. Photo courtesy of Bill Benz.
And again Bill, but this time with a blue line tile. We ran into some of them at 350 feet of water.
. Here is Jared connecting a 2 dinner size scamp. I think he will post on his blog. If you go there you can read the recipe he made “Scamp grouper in a lemon garlic chardonnay reduction with brown rice and molasses kale”, it looks good.
Captain rare took the snapper part of the pool with this mutton snapper over 8 pounds. Chris came second so rare took the money and Chris took the Rum and cigars. Enjoy!
Gilbert, on the last few hours pulled a Hail Mary beating my cow dolphin and took the pool money with this nice black grouper, he also took biggest grouper prize and most snappers, groupers, and blackfins combined. He put a big bait on and went home with big black grouper steaks.
Below photo courtesy of Bill Benz
Will made out nicely on some big blackfins winning biggest blackfin tuna.
We fished until the time allowed,Nilson got one of the last mutton snappers caught.
Miami Chris got a few kingfish at night and on his last efforts he hooked up a fish that made him go from the stern to the bow.
This was his reaction when he saw the fish.
A bobo, a bonner, or better known as a bonita in our waters. Oh well, it could have been something better.
The night ended and we went back home. her at the dock was the marine biologist collecting samples and measurements.
Here are the guys waiting on their catch.
If you didn’t sleep so much below is what an average cooler would look like. Nilson catch, minus a few red grouper and a big margate. Photo courtesy of Nilson.
Rori’s catch and his future fisherwoman next to it. Photo courtesy of Rori.
William was very happy with his H4L jigs.
Heaviest overall and heaviest grouper: Gilbert
Heaviest snapper: Captain rare Nilson
- 1st Place – Gilbert
- 2nd place – Art
- 3rd Place – Miami Chris
Heaviest fish caught on jig – William
Heaviest blackfin tuna – William
Heaviest mutton snapper – Nilson, rum went to Miami Chris
First wahoo – Prize given to Rory, he is the only one that came close to it
First mutton snapper – Jongsoo
First grouper – Captain rare Nilson
Worst luck – Imran
Once again thanks to the sponsors on our trip and for our trip. You make this trip a lot better than it normally is.
Captain Greg Mercurio of http://www.yankeecapts.com
Osage from 360tuna.com
Captain Phil Caputo from boatlessfishing.com
Captain rare from boatlessfishing.com
And this humble nonprofit blog that is here to help as many as possible.
And again thanks to the forums that let me post these trips:
http://www.boatlessfishing.com
Thanks again from the Shark jigging Depot team.
ShoreBound Adventures 