Coco Cay Bahamas Vacation Cruise Adventure 8-30-13

September 9, 2013 by cudamanadventures

This is one of many non fishing reports that I will be making. I hope to bring some useful info in case it might help you with any kind of decision you will be making about a trip on a cruise.

Well, I know it was a well deserved vacation for my wife and I and also for her sister and family. We all decided to hop on a cruise and this time try a different one as we normally would book it with Carnival Cruise lines. Many people had told us about Royal Caribbean being a top notch cruise line, but to me a cruise is a cruise. One thing for sure the people working on that ship told us that they were going through some serious cut backs. Well we felt those cut backs on the quality of food and drinks (not paid ones). None the less we did have plenty of fun on our own.

When we first arrived on the boat it was as any other cruise, a few lines to get in and then as soon as we got there we were ushered to the muster station, which was all done at a bar, they got us there in a rush just to sit us down and watch and hear the important stuff which was hard to hear among the so many people at the place. Same thing happens at other ships but on this particular voyage it all felt a bit disorganized. Well the emergency instructions were given and off to our rooms we went. We went into the rooms and our luggage was not there yet, we had to wait for it but as prepared as we were my wife and I had a change of cloths with us and so we got into some comfy outfits and kept on waiting for the luggage. Well, it was taking long so we went to check and see what was going on, the luggage was just sitting by the elevators and we were told that if we found our luggage to just take it and so we did. We were used to the other cruise line have our luggage waiting for us inside our room. No biggie, after getting there at 1pm it was now about 5:30pm and so off to having some fun we went…Our group got together and decided to meet at the top deck for a few picture taking opportunities.

On the way out: Government Cut on the left and a fisherman returning from fishing on the right.

Welcoming Party on the Sun Deck

Some other ships were also leaving Miami so we got some in the background. A few drinks were purchased and the night went on to dinner, unfortunately the tables only held up to ten people so one couple had to sit by themselves s on a table near us, they tried to accommodate us in one table but it was not possible due to the arm chairs taking so much space. Dinner was good but lacked flavor here in Miami we are used to lots of spices and flavorful meals, I guess you just can’t satisfy everyone but on our end the food was bland. The dessert, well the banana creme brulee was the only dessert I really did liked. I found it weird that in the main dining room menu they would put plates and coffee you had to pay for, some items which were included on other ships not of the same company so if not careful you could end up paying for a meal you though was included. You need to pay attention at the menu and items in boxes that have numbers next to them, LOL. After dinner it was off to a few night caps and some dancing and dancing we did. It was hard to find out where the fun was at not even the workers knew where to go for fun. We received our compass (itinerary) like on the second night

It was morning time and off to Coco Cay we went, we waited for the Tender boat and arrived to a desolated island, which was nice, we had heard a=of a nice quite beach on this island called Barefoot Beach and were told we need to walk a mile but it was much less than that. We found a spot on it and I got ready to explore the water snorkeling just to find out that it was 2 to 3 feet deep for miles on end. I must say I did enjoy snorkeling in 2 feet of water through the grass and as you would go there were pockets that were about 4 to 5 foot deep and many mountain like sand formations rising from the bottom of the sea floor was something really nice to see. It felt as if I was looking at pyramids on a dessert of grass at times. The water was beautifully clear and all felt as if I was inside a big aquarium but no fish were in sight with the exception of some small conch and old sand dollar skeletons. We spent a couple of hours in this area I was snorkeling while the rest of our family was resting on the shallow water. We all got hungry and so we went to look for the BBQ stands that were mentioned to us before hand. Arrg, again food was bland, but it was food and the fruit punch was more like water punch with kool aid flavor and as we saw the crew empty half a jug of juice into a bin and then filling it with water we realized why. Ok no problem I got a watermelon and added it to my juice, problem solved. After finding a table and eating we grabbed a few chairs and relaxed for a bit, took a nice nap and then it was back to our snorkeling adventure. I brought my own snorkeling set so my wife and I did not have to rent one. First impressions when in the water were ok the normal Sargent majors you find near rocks at any beach all over the Caribbean were there, then my wife and I decided to venture a little farther east to where there was a fence not allowing us to go any further, there we saw some dog snappers and nice size schools of grunts mixed in with a few blue tangs, brown tangs, and wrasses. We decided to go towards the middle and saw a tire on the sea floor it was full of life with several species in and out it’s surroundings. After that my wife was a bit tired and so we went back to shore and after she left to let ou r nephew’s son use the equipment I continued on to the the other side of the rocks which were facing the ocean, the water was much much cooler in this area and it was were most of the fish were. Thousands of sardines balling up getting harassed by bar jacks, yellow, jacks, blue runners, mutton snappers, and a singlebarracuda it was very nice to swing in between a nice size school of those barjacks and to be able to see that awesome iridescent blue line on their backs as they swam alive right in front of me, it felt so good to be there and took me back many years when I used to go diving on a much regular basis. I was able to take some video and some not so great pictures but at least I will be able to remember the day almost as brightly colored as it was. The day ended and back on the Tender it was. Tonight was formal night so we prepared for the picture taking and a nice dinner. On the other company’s ship this would have been lobster night but on Royal Caribbean we got served tiger shrimp instead if you wanted lobster you had to pay $29 additionally. What a shame, but still had a nice time. The night ended with a midnight buffet of yet again more bland food and bland desserts. Can’t say that all of the food was the same way, there were plates or single items that were tasty and kind of made up for the rest of filler food as I called it. Many people have a different way of liking things, me, I like flavor and it just wasn’t always there. Here are some pics of that day and night.

On the Tender boat and our arrival at Coco Cay, Bahamas. Great spot for a family shot

This is what the flats of Barefoot Beach look over and under the water

Kayak excursion passing by on the flats

Here is an underwater video I took in the flats of Barefoot Beach

Breaking out the snorkel at Coco Cay snorkeling area. Did bring my own and did not have to rent.

Underwater images from the Snorkeling area: Barjacks and Scaled sardines

Below is a video of the snorkeling and a small time lapse back to the ship

http://youtu.be/WYLtCL4XrMM

Last look at Coco Cay, Bahamas

On formal night. Every Cruise ship has a night were they give a grand dinner and you can take the opportunity to take professional pictures and you choose only the ones you want. We have done it before, this time we decided to save some $$ and take some pictures our selves. Well these are not professional pics but will do 🙂

Midnight buffet

On the third day it was Nassau and visit to Atlantis, been there before and as before it was awesome. So much to do there, our plans were to take a Taxi cab straight there since the cost was only $4 per person once there we were to just go to the aquariums which buying the tickets straight from Atlantis was only $45 bucks per person and that allowed you to walk around the premises and look at all the aquariums. We went through the main aquarium called The Dig, it has been about 8 months since my last visit and can tell you that most fish had lost their colors in comparison with the last time I was there. Most fish in captivity tend to do so, I was hoping that perhaps they would release most of the fish and restock with more species to keep the aquarium with lively colors. Perhaps many tourist that go there would not even know what color a mutton snapper or a Nassau Grouper really is. By the way I was really surprised to see several Nassau Groupers in captivity since they are pretty much endangered species. I was also surprised to see saw fish in captivity and big 10 to 12 foot ones at that. After the dig we went to to the predators tank which is where the saw fish were along with several species of sharks, trigger fish, barracudas, permits, and several species of groupers. In this aquarium there is a nice tunnel were the the fish swim over your heads. After the tunnel we ended by the Hammerhead tank, they keep a couple of 10 foot or so flat hammerheads in shallow water mimicking the flats of the Bahamas. You can see them fining through the water swiming in circles right behind jack crevales. There is a suspended bridge which is in between two observation towers, pretty cool to walk right through it while the hammer head swims right under. I am pretty sure the hammerhead does not appreciate being in there but that is what an aquarium is for, to show case fish and mammals. The day went by fast and we just had an opportunity to see one more aquarium and we were told of turtles so we went to see them and in the way we found a nice looking cave with yet another aquarium full of grunts shaping up a tornado figure in the water, it was pretty nice sight to see as the fish did look very healthy. As we got to the turtle pool they were being fed and soon after we got there we left. It was to late to go to the beach so we headed back to get get some souvenirs and back to the boat we went. It was another great experience being at Atlantis and so we will be back on another day.

Aquarium at The Dig

At the predator aquarium

At the Flats Hammerhead hanging bridge, one of the hammerheads is on the right

Stopped for a picture with my lovely wife

At the Cave Aquarium and the Turtle pool

That was the end of our mini vacation of which I brought back a nasty flue that kept me in bed most of the week and out of fishing for another weekend. Goodness for Tamil-flue pills and other antibiotics!!!!

Yankee Capts Mutton Marathon 8-16-13 to 8-18-2013

August 20, 2013 by cudamanadventures

THE FISHING TRIP: Yankee Capts Mutton Marathon
Aboard the “Yankee capts” with Captain Greg
The Spot : Dry tortugas
Weather : Friday ESE up to 10 to 15 knots, Saturday ESE up to 17 knots, Sunday E up to 20 knot winds, some rain, cool temperature
Water: Up to 5 foot seas is my guess. Water color clear and mild currents
Fish catches: Quality muttons but very low quantities, plenty yellow tail snappers enough for everyone on the boat to get their limits, and the usual bait fish such as bonito and blue runners
Biggest size Type : Mutton up to 15 pounds (is my guess didn’t see it on a scale)
Techniques : Live bait, dead bait and Vertical Jigging
Jigs : 80 to 150 gram, butterfly jigs, blue, pink, and green jigs worked best. Only caught bonitos on them.

My buddy Ed had been itching for the experience to fish on the Yankee Capts and he knew I was planning on a trip, so we decided to hop on the Mutton Marathon trip. Well, for starters I knew I was going in to a trip with a big possibility in bad omen of weather. There was a Low Pressure system in the Yukatan Peninsula and a High pressure system in the Carolinas it would have gone both ways. I normally like to fish before or after a storm, this time it was in between. Sometimes we have to do what we can to get an opportunity to fish and so it is my luck that this year I have been against a wall of bad luck. It is called fishing not catching so no excuses of bananas on board. I will blame the cause to this trip to my lack on getting fresh bait for my self on this trip. I only went out once to get fresh bait and it was only micro blue runners and jacks that I found, plenty for yellow tails but no mutton snapper bait. I could have gone and tried harder to get some good goggle eyes but I just did not have the time and did not want to kill my self over the bait and so I made the wrong decision of calling the Captains in the keys and depended 100% on them. Well, there was no bait in the Keys, no one had it and even ballyhoos were not accessible for purchasing since it is commercially closed in August. Out of 4 Captains called and 5 bait shops visited and was only able to acquire frozen old bait and I mean freezer burnt old bait. Our only chance was to get fresh bait on the boat.

As we got to the dock it was the usual unload and get all ready for the trip, after doing so we enjoyed a nice Hogfish Sandwich and a few drinks. The boat left the docks and we arrived at the grounds at around 4am in the morning. First stop 110 feet deep. At this dept you are usually able to acquire fresh bait. I got my net ready as a few flying fish were visible, dang it they left as soon as the engine stopped running, crap! I tried the sabiki for some gogs but had no luck and the sun came up a bit later than usual giving us more time but the bait just wasn’t at this stop. OH well, we tried getting yellow tails and we got plenty of that, a story that would repeat over and over during the day. It was now night time Friday, the boat was anchored at 110 to 120 on all the stops and the flying fish came close to the boat and I was able to secure at least a dozen or so of them but about 8 were only 3 inches long which was not so useful when you are in yellow tail City. The yellow tail would just chump at the small baits and when using the old frozen baits those would just fall right off and when hooking them in the spine you would just bring the cleaned out bones, if you are a fish bone collector this was the time for you to appreciate, not for me. It was time for a super hot shower get a little cleaned up and drink a beer re look at my strategies and see if I could do something on Saturday to turn my luck around.

The clock kept going as it always does, it was now past midnight and the Captain tried moving to deeper water the current was good for 8 ounce fishing but the wind and the current were on opposite ends, it was tangle city USA. New Yorkers against Canadians, against Floridians blaming each other for the tangles when it was nothing but wind to be blamed, LOL. It all got quiet everyone looked at each other and kept on trying to fish with some relocation to other places on the boat. As the day came by us the captain again moved to shallower waters this time to some ledges in 85 to 90 feet of water. Well it was another bust, hardly any bites and sad to say maybe the reason we weren’t catching much is in the video below. My buddy Ed dropped a Gopro in 90 feet of water with a small contraption we devised, take a look and just pause it when you see fish.

Later in the day we made another move and when I saw that ledge on the screen I was so happy, I hurried down and grabbed my jigging rod, jigged and jigged but nothing happened. We actually had arrived in shark city USA, shark are always all over the Dry Tortugas and up to date I have been able to avoid them by using crabs, octopus, and squid, well nothing else was interested on those offerings other that yellow tails that were chomped by the sharks anyways! But then the sharks moved out and up came some action with a few muttons and some nicer size yellow tails and juvenile red groupers. As the sun started to go down Ed gets a blue runner, I immediately cut it and tell him how too hook up the chunk. He sent it down and only a few seconds when BABAM!!!! ZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZ he thinks is a shark and Jarvis and I at the same time say “iIT’S A NICE SIZE MUTTON RUN MAN!!!” Ed did his thing and got the fish up inch by inch. “UFFF!” he said, “got him!” and so he retired for a little while in the afternoon right after that, the man sure was happy of the catch, LOL.

Ed and his prized catch

As the night fell on us I went back to bait fishing, the bait was hitting small sabikis and guess what? I only had huge sabikis that worked in the past, I left my smaller sabkis at home because I tried to downsize on the tackle I brought. ARRRG! I only got one goggle eye and 2 blue runners. The blue runners were taken by sharks and the goggle eye was lost because Rodney the Rod Holder failed me. the rod holder was in a spot that when I pulled it out the lever went on free spool as I got a bite. CRAPOLAS AGAIN!!! OH well again, the afternoon came by and the weather turn for a bit and we lost some of the wind and the clouds, Nice! WEED! WEED! WEED! Not the one you smoke the good stuff lots of Sargasso floating around. I got prepared and setup a rod in case dolphins got close by. Nothing came close by so I went to the stern to try and sling a knocker rig with a whole ballyhoo on 30 pound test braid line for a shot at a mutton and what happens to pass by as sling my bait out into the depth? 3 dolphins, 2 cows and a bull. Art a quick thinking fisherman also had the same Idea as I did and had a rod ready so he sent the chunked bait out and hooked on to a small cow and kept it in the water long enough for other to throw some bait out. I already had the whole ballyhoo on my knocker rig so I brought it in to the top and got nailed by a bigger cow. At least I got a 10 pound mahi mahi on this try and did it by chance since my prepared mahi mahi rod was at the front. After that it was nothing but yellow tails and yellow tails for me. Art and Jarvis who are regulars on the boat had fresh goggle eyes and speedos, they were hauling one quality mutton here and there at a few stops. Art won the pool with one of those fish and I think Jarvis ended with 8 muttons or so after Jarvis no one had more that 3 or 4 muttons and I only got a short one I had to let go.

It was past 12am on this night and Sunday had arrived, Ed spent a lot of time sleeping because he developed a big back pain but he kept on fishing in between naps, I woke him up to help me with the bait. I went on to try and try and we did nothing but try. In the end I only a small strawberry, a 10 pound mahi mahi and had kept only 20 yellow tails since I used the rest for bait. That was all I had to show for this trip. I didn’t even take a pic of me with the fish. It was not a worthy catch. Here are some more pics for your enjoyment.

On left a nice vintage modified for fishing, you get to see so many creative stuff in Key West. On right a look at the boat from the Hog Fish Grill restaurant

The boat now has some nice front racks!

Ed working the bow and Lindon with his watchful eyes always ready to help someone

Richard the new mate with one of Jarvis muttons

The New Yorkers working the transom. They sure looked like they had fun.

On left Captain Yuri, flying right by us. We were fishing the same waters he was. On right an Andy Griffiths boat also went right by us

A nice weed patch we worked on Saturday

On the way in a look at the yellow tail filled totes

The tourist boats from the Keys on the left and on the right the Catamaran from Fort Myers to Key West, talk about speed

I wonder how the winds were in Key West, this sailboat got stuck on a sand bar, expensive mistake.

Fishermen gathered around waiting for their catch to be distributed

Fishing on Outta Control Florida Sportsman Trip August 2nd 2013

August 7, 2013 by cudamanadventures

THE FISHING TRIP: Florida Sportsman South Regional get together fishing trip
Aboard the “Outta Control IV” with Ralph Hawkins
The Spot : Fort Lauderdale to Islamorada Humps
Weather : Friday ESE up to 2 knots, Saturday SE up to 7 knots, Sunday SE up to 7 knot winds, rainy
Water: calm up to 1 foot seas Water color clear and strong currents at the beginning slowing down on Saturday afternoon.
Fish catches: Monster AJ, Monster Banded Rudder fish, Over 100 mangrove snappers
Biggest size Type : AJ upto 80 pounds
Techniques : Live bait and Vertical Jigging
Jigs : 80 to 300 gram, butterfly jigs, blue and pink jigs worked best.

This trip had been planed months ahead, I made all possible to be able to go on it. The plans started in the Floridasportsman forum by a member named Ryan (copout@castaways). many members have been in other outings but I had not. When I arrived I did not expect a bout full of joyful and great people. From the minute I got there it was all about comradery, helping one another load gear talk about the plans ahead and expectations on the trip. It all started to get together and then BAM! a bottle of Seagram’s and some Ginger soda hit the bait cutting table. OH BOY!!! Steve said and ain’t gonna touch that stuff, some one else said beer only for me. But it didn’t take long for everyone to become even friendlier. Yeap! the drinking did get started, the fishing stories were told, and then little by little some started talking on how they fish where we get bait what gear we use. As always the boat is spotless, the showers even have cold water and hot water, but you have to be careful on how hot you put it, it does get extremely hot.

We went to Bent bait and it seemed like it was drunker than many in the boat or was that the buzz? Well we were using plain sabikis but since there were no threadfin herrings or pilchards we tipped the sabikis with squid and off everyone went helping, some catching some de hooking some cutting bait and others, well drinking, what else? Not all fit in the back so why not let the other catch the bait. In the end everyone helped one way or the other. The bait caught was the good o’l mighty BooRunner (blue runners), a few pinfish, a few dozen spot tail grunts. We were set and off we went fishing.

A beautiful sunset over the Miami scene as we left the old Bent Marker

The first few stops did not yield much, a mutton snapper caught on pre frozen sardines caught by Ralph and winning the biggest snapper pool the as we moved and moved finaly there was a wreck closer to the keys where the AJ’s where hungry at night. Steve paid with the drinking and almost ran out of gas catching this AJ, the current helped the AJ fight stronger. Then as they stopped feeding the Captain moved to another spot, this time it was a sharkathon, all was shark after shark so he captain made a longer move, again , and again.

It was morning time and we arrived at Carysfort to try and get some yellow tails. The crew went on the mission of putting two 15 pound chum blocks (one blood and one tiny silversides), that rallied up some of the fish but the current was still going Bob Marley on us, it just kept JAMMING! i was able to get one yellow tail while another 2 muttons were landed. Then it was nothing at all. Carys Fort Reef Light is where we meet a very happy waving youngster, dad, and family moving next to the boat and drifting with their anchor all the way around to the propeller of their boat, wonder why it didn’t start and dad had to dive in the water for? Well they had their anchor rope wrapped around the bout and in between the propelers. Fellows be careful when renting a craft you do not know how to use, there are motorized crafts not bicycles. Well the Captain made a few more moves that were still pickings of small fish.

Night time came and what do I see? BANANAS? What? BANANAS? BANANAS IN A FISHING BOAT? YOU AIN’T GONNA CATCH NOTHING MAN!!! “No problem, I did not buy these bananas, the crew did” I think the trick is eat the banana while drinking water at the same time, the water sucks the bad mojo away. Then drink a beer an hour so you forget the banana bad luck thing.

Well, the very next morning while fishing for big AJ’s at the islamorada Humps he hooked up to a sailfish on a kingfish jig and let the sailfish go unharmed, so Karma got his back.

The first big, well I should say monster AJ came on board. it was Doc’s first ever big fish and he was happy to have caught it and was undisputed for the big fish pool. After this fish he was ready for another when most people would just sit down.

It was BBQ king Doug’s turn and this time he had an AJ on a small jig and was very happy for the battle and chose to continue as well. brave people I tell you most would just rest.

Then came my turn and Jeff’s turn to get into the AJ’s and were reward with some nice decent size fish.

Coming back from the Humps Captain Ralph decided to anchor by Alligator Reef light and catch bait plus what ever mangrove snappers we could catch. We loaded with mangrove snappers and bait and as we were doing so Jimmy caught another sailfish, DO NOT FREAK OUT!!! This was the second Sailfish of the trip. Jimmy thought it was a flying fish, looked at it closely and realized it was a sailfish after he took it out of the dip net. Took a quick pick and released it.

After the bait gathering and getting the boat’s limit on mangrove snappers it was off to the Isla Morada’s humps again. Where the battles began. We caught many fish on jigs but some were still trying to land a MONSTER AJ. Ernie took his turn with the kingfish jig and had a great battle with a big fish. We all thought it was a wahoo until the line came back up all frayed. Hmmm wahoo got very shark teeth, may be a shark but better think the boat was following a big wahoooooo. below is the Captain guiding the Co-Captain to following the fish.

My skipjack on a jig

Lots of rare size (for Florida waters) Banded rudder fish were caught. below is the one I caught on a vertical Jig.

Eddie is below showing off his AJ and in the background the rest of the fish caught by all 14 anglers.

For more pictures you can go to the main report written by Ryan, he is the one that set up this trip. We were all very thankful for him taking this long awaited task on his shoulders.

http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?123765-Outta-Control-IV-48hr-FSFF-trip-8-2-4-Absolutely-wide-open-fun!-PIC-HEAVY

Fishing with Phil Pica July 27th 2013

August 1, 2013 by cudamanadventures

Fishing with Phil Pica

THE FISHING TRIP: In search for permit and groupers while jigging
Aboard the “Unknown” with Captain Phil Pica
The Spot : Fort Myers shallow water wrecks
Weather : 0 to 5 knot winds, Fair weather
Water: calm at first then 1 to 2 foot seas
Fish catches: Gag groupers, Permit, Snappers, Cobias
Biggest size Type : Cobia around 30 pounds
Techniques : Vertical Jigging produced two tiny cobias and live bait everything else
Jigs : 100 gram, butterfly jigs

Well we wanted to venture out in the Fort Myers are of the Gulf. The plan we were told was to fish in 60 to 80 foot deep wrecks but the captain spotted large schools of Permit circling shallow wrecks so he changed the plans to head towards those wrecks first. We arrived early at the dock to watch the big Snook and catfish being fed the prior day dead shrimp. We waited for the captain to arrive at 8:00 am but he was a bit late and got there at 9:00 am. He had already the crabs and some backup shrimp in case the snappers were hot. We all loaded our gear and the captain was like “are you guys thinking we are going on a multi day trip or what?” We had brought three rods for each and our own tackle, must captains are used to catching the fish and handing the rods down to their customers but we were not there for that and the Captain knew about it, so all he did was shake his head.

On to the bait catching we went, the excess water from Lake Okeechobee was being let out from the canals and all youcould see was brackish water for about ten miles. When we hit the color change from brackish to the usual green turquoise waters we spotted many schools of herrings being chased by Jack Crevales and Spanish Mackerels. The Threadfin Herrings were trying to swim towards the beaches but kept going back into the green waters to get pounded by their predators. We brought only one light tackle rod to catch bait so the captain decided to use the cast net instead. As we got closer the captain saw an opportunity to pickup from the boiling schools of bait and after a few tries he succeed with a nice net of a couple dozen Threadfin Herrings.

With the bait loaded we headed to the first wreck, there were dozens of schools of Spade Fish and dozens of Permit fish as well. We were in only 30 feet of water so we did not even try to vertical jig that shallow. The captain says set up for permit! So he starts setting up with 20 pound test, he said that the fish were very spooky and anything thicker would not allow for a bite. So I picked my light tackle set up and the others did the same so out went three crabs. Adam decided he wanted the grouper instead and so he fished with a live Threadfin herring, great choice as he was rewarded later on. The first hit came on Phil’s uncle a small permit it was and then Ed’s rod started to scream with another small permit, and then my rod gets hits but as I am fighting it it took me towards the wreck where I was broken off but not by the wreck, it was the fish mouth which was abrasive enough to cut through the 20 pound test line. We were wondering what it was when Adam got a nice hit on his rod, he was using 60 pound test leader so he was able to catch the culprit, a nice 30 pound cobia. the cobia had a follower since Phil was ready with a bottom rod he tossed a live Threadfin herring in the water. I had no time to do that so I took my jigging rod, took off the jig, and out another live Threadfin Herring went, but it was Phil’s bait that was chosen as he was on the bottom and my bait was just free lined on the top water. Phil’s cobia came up to a nice almost 25 pound size.

Of to deeper wrecks we went, this time in 45 feet, we all decided still too shallow for jigging but still tried it and since it was shallow were were basically just yo-yoing the jigs, so we switched to bait. I did not bring a bottom rod as the original plan was to jig so i had to use one of my jigging rods to do so. So I setup a rod in wich I had 70 pound test Jerry Brown and 80 pound test leader I added a swivel to the end of it and decided to go light on the leader using only 50 pound test and a 7/0 circle hook, the only one I had in my bag. Off the Threadfin Herrings went, BAM! I get a hit and immediately it goes straight to the wreck as I was fighting it BAM! Phil gets hooked up on his bottom rod and he starts to reel in but seems that his fish was giving up faster than mines, as it came up closer we knew it was a Jewfish so I decided to tighten the drag and pull the line as much as I could to snap the line. I did not want to be on Phil’s way since his fish was closer to the top. Up came the 150 pounder to the surface where he was greeted for a few photo ops. Since we knew what lurked there we made a move to another spot.

This time we went deeper and again the captain’s avid eye spotted more permits in the mix with dozens of Spade fish. This is where Ed again nailed another Permit. This time we were in about 54 feet so me and Phil started to jig. Ed decided to change it up and threw down a live Threadfin Herring and almost instantly he hooked up with a small cobia that was followed by many others of a smaller size. We tossed some biat at the but since the followers were to small we pulled the bait out. Phil and I hooked up on the jigs with tiny cobes so back in the water they went, none of the bigger ones took our offer of beautiful expensive metals. We took our lines out of the water because these were too small. One more move to about the same depth and on the first drop Adam and Ed get their lines tight and up came the first Gag grouper and then the second while my bait gets hit and WHAT DO I GET? A SHARK!!! Wow my luck hasn’t got any better as the second fish i hooked up was another shark and they got another Gag grouper at the same time. Oh well, it is what it is and got to take what the seas offered us.

After a few mishaps with the bottom machine the captain was able to rig it to start functioning well so after that there was time for one more move. Here we went back to the first wreck to see if the permit fish were hungry again. The Captains spots the Permit fish hanging under some barracudas and this time they were in bigger sizes and bigger schools so HMMMM, wait, wait, nothing happened so I switched to a shrimp and got a small keeper mangrove, Adam got a lane snapper (but i think it was on the stop before this one), and another snapper was landed by Phil’s uncle. That was it, it was time to go back to the dock where the fish was split. i didn’t catch anything worth it but was able to get some filets for a few dinners with my wife and family.

The trip was well worth it, I had a shot at many fish but was unlucky. I sure will try to go again but next time I will only bring my bottom fishing gear. There will not be excuses next time. I hope I will get redemption on my next 3 day trip. I just hope 😦

If You Didn’t Know Report 7-26-2013

July 26, 2013 by cudamanadventures

If You Didn’t Know Report Federal Waters will open for a short 3 day season starting August 23 2013.

The Following was extracted from the FWC Website:

http://www.myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/snappers/atlantic-snapper/

Update: NOAA Fisheries recently announced the 2013 season dates for Atlantic red snapper in federal waters. Red snapper will open for one three-day weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) beginning August 23 and continuing through August 25. The bag limit will remain at one fish per person per day and there will be no minimum size limit.

Recreational Regulations for state and federal waters of the Atlantic
Atlantic Red Snapper Season

State waters
Open year-round
Bag Limit: 2 fish per person per day
Min. Size limit: 20″

Gear rules apply.
Circle Hooks: use non-stainless steel circle hooks when natural baits are used.
Dehooking Devices: required to possess and use a dehooking device to remove hooks embedded in reef fish with minimal damage.
Venting Tools: require fishers on all vessels fishing for reef fish to possess and use a venting tool to deflate the swimbladders of reef fish to help release the fish with minimum damage.

Federal waters

New 2013 season: Open Aug. 23-25
Bag limit: 1 fish per person/per day
Min. Size limit: None

Note: During the federal recreational red snapper season opening, recreational anglers will be able to transit from open federal waters through state waters but vessels possessing red snapper under 20” must travel through state waters without stopping and must have fishing gear stowed. If stopped and fishing in a closed area, it will be prima facie evidence that any red snapper under 20” on board were harvested at the location where the vessel is stopped.

Fishing in Flamingo Everglades National Park, FL 7-14-13

July 14, 2013 by cudamanadventures

THE FISHING TRIP: Flats Fishing
Aboard: Code Red Charters with Captain Ryan 786-505-4831
The Spot : Flamingo Everglades National Park, FL
Weather : 10 to 15 knot winds, overcast weather, did not rain
Water: Clear water on flats, dirty water at outgoing tide
Fish catches: Redfish (Red Drum), Sea Trout, Snook, Mangrove Snapper, Lady Fish
Biggest size Type : Redfish 27″
Techniques : Artificial Lures only
Jigs : Artificial lures used were shrimp imitation and assassin sea shads that had white or chartreuse

This weekend I had planned fishing in the Dry Tortugas on the Yankee Capts boat with Ed, a vertical jigging friend, but the trip was canceled. I then planned fishing right after a tropical storm on Newport Pier, but the storm dissipated and became rain and thunder storms. Then Ryan an old friend of mines turned Charter Captain gave me an offer I could not refuse and so I booked a trip with him and called Ed to see if he wanted to go. We met at Don’s Bait and Tackle before going to Flamingo. Ryan had all the equipment necessary for the trip including all the artificial lures we needed to use. Our target fish were Redfish ( Red Drums), Cpatain Bollywood (Ryan) had already prepared the tackle, leaders, and lures for us and so it was a quick drop of the boat and off we went fishing for Redfish, a short 20 minute ride and we were at one of the Bights. In Flamingo Everglades National Park, Fl these are a series of natural areas that have a “c” shape formation and are located East of the main park ramp. Captain Bollywood position the boat with the current and wind and began poling in about a foot of water as we all looked for signs of redfish. A few wakes were seeing and so Ed had a first shot at them, he had a first hit as you could hear DAMN! I missed it! We then saw the fish moving fast the opposite direction. After a few more of our cursing words Ed again had another shot and this time DAMN! his line went slack and we noticed the fish cut him off. 15 pound test leaders could get cut off quickly if the fish swallows the whole lure, but you get more bites that way. Well the leader was raised to 20 I believe and so we went on to look for more redfish. In our drift direction there was another skinny water boat poling the flats so the Captain decided to go to another spot. This time he took us closer to the Bight’s mangrove tree lines as he was polling at casting a few shots of his own we spotted a snook that had no interest in being pulled by any ones line, the a few small lemon sharks passed by the boat, and then a redfish that paid no mind to anything we threw at it, even a jack crevalle passed by and had not even looked at out lures, I guess we missed sending them the invitation to come out and play with us.

We had to move and so we moved to another Bight, this time the tide was going out and the water looked a bit better since the wind had died down and we were able to see the current acting up in certain areas signaling for higher grounds. As we got closer and closer we began stalking or targets and this time there were quite a few, we missed a lonely redfish as he said good bye to us and then we fixed ourselves into a scholl that kept on going and coming. We had fresh shrimp imitation lures fresh leaders and so we got closer to the school and closer then it looked like the bell rang and all went running out of class. Ryan threw his cast, I threw my cast, we had a double! The Ed is like DAMN! I missed it! NO, NO, IT’S STILL ON! It now was a hell of a triple hookup! and so we reeled in our target species after a few almost tangles that didn’t happen. We took a few pics and off we went thinking of a new target, this time spotted sea trout were in the mind of the Captain. We got rid of the shrimp imitations and used some Assassin Sea Shad lures. This time the target was easily found as the Captain already had a spot he knew where they would be and we did not have to stalk them nor polling the flats was involved. We simply cast our lines and a few spotted sea trout would gladly and furiously hit our lures, it was one after another non stop action. We had fun until fun was no more, too much repetitive fishing and it gets boring. So we decided to accept the Captain’s recommendation to get out from the inshore waters and go to the inland lake for some snook or tarpons. We went 1 of 3 on the snook and 0 for 3 on the Tarpon, as we were going for those species Ed kept on hooking trout and the Captaion and I got some Lady fish which I kept for later fishing outings. It was a lot of fun fishing with the guys and was nice to do it all on artificial lures only. If you need an affordable Charter to Isla Morada or Flamingo Everglades National Park you can contact Code Red Backcountry Charters at 786-505-4831, Captain Ryan says he guarantees the target fish or you do not have to pay. The full day Charter is only $350 up to two people.