Summer’s here, and dock days are getting hot- both the weather and the fishing. I had the pleasure of meeting Big Mike on the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach on Saturday. By the time I arrived, Big Mike had already caught and released dozens of mangrove snapper- mostly small, but still fun to catch. And remember- the 8-11 inch snapper of June will be the 13-17 inch snapper of September!

Figured since Big Mike had travelled alll the way from Ohio for a little fishing, I should show off a bit. So… first cast, first shrimp, I promptly nailed a 32″ snook. It was a fun fight, and it was a battle to keep the fish out of the pilings. I thought this would be the start of a great day of snooking, but, alas, that was the only one of the day. I did end up catching about 3 dozen Snaps, keeping 4 foot longs. By 2 p.m., the sun was blazing, the current was slack, and the bar was calling.

On Sunday, I returned to the Merry Pier, joined by my friend Cletus from Tampa. We tore the snapper up, keeping 8 out of… who knows? 100? Most ran small, but there were plenty of 10-12″ fish mixed in. We picked up a nice 20″ redfish on the dock, and I caught a 16″ filefish, of all things. That was a first for me. We wrapped up midday. Sunday evening, we had a crowd over for blackened redfish, snapper & sausage, and grouper nuggest (from the offshore trip last week). There were no leftovers.

 

June 17, 2007- I ventured offshore yesterday aboard the Getaway with friends Matt, his father Tom (Happy Fathers Day!) and Cap’t Dick. We departed the Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grille at 7:30, and headed west.

Conditions were ideal- a light breeze and scattered cloud cover, just enough to keep it from getting too hot. The first stop for bait at the PassAGrille marker proved futile, so we headed out the Egmont Channel, stopping at the Whistler Bouy. Got a few baits with the sabiki rigs, when the Mate hollers- something big and fast had grabbed his blue runner boatside. Switching gears, the sabiki rigs were hauled in, and the heavy tackle was hauled out. A live pinfish was irresistable to the big cobia that had been lurking in the shadows of the bouy. The fight was on!

After 15 minutes of head shakes, bulldog runs, and deep soundings, the cobia was gaffed and in the cooler. A nice healthy 30 pounder. Not bad for a bait stop. Another stop at the end of the ditch produced good bait, and a cuda hookup.

We made a run out to a ‘secret spot’ about thirty miles out. Well, the secret was out, as four other boats worked the wreck. They were pulling up schoolie amberjacks in the 5-10 pound range. Captain James on the GetAway had other ideas, and we drifted away from the pack, fishing deep to hook up the larger fish. We caught and released 3 nice fish, but Matt landed the fish of the day- a 40 pound amberjack, a real brute.

We made a run to a snapper spot in 105 feet, and the fish finder gave a great show, but nothing was biting. After 15 minutes of soaking baits, I had a massive hit on my pinfish. I was thinking ‘big grouper!’, but it was soon apparent that I’d hooked another amberjack. This one went around 30, and joined Matt’s fish in the box.

The final stop was in 150′, about 43 miles offshore. We fired down some baits, and Dick’s rod immediately doubled over. After the ensuing battle, a beautiful 15 pound red grouper found her way into the cooler. She was soon joined by 3 others, so we limited out on reds. Matt brought up a small American Red Snapper, and Dick released a small shark, just to add some variety.

It was an altogether excellent day on the water- beautiful weather, good friend, a professional Captain and Mate, and lots of big fish. I’ll get some photos uploaded in the next day or so. I’m looking forward to getting out on the GetAway again soon.

 

Who: Me!

Where: The Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grille, Florida. More precisely, the North East Corner at the pilings.

What: Snapper. Mangos. Lot’s of ’em. Most about a foot long.

When: Sunday, starting about 7 a.m. High tide was around 8:40, and the bite peaked around 10:30

How: Tossing hand picked live shrimp tail hooked (with the point buried to reduce snags) on a #2 hook WAY upcurrent (despite a 1/2 oz weight). The tide quickly swept the shrimp back to the pilings, where the mangrove snapper were waiting. I used a 2 foot florocarbon leader (30 lb – those barnicals are sharp!) and 15 lb mono. The hooks were from Owner.

Why: Simple. I finished fishing by noon, spent a few hours on the beach, then had some friends over for a fresh snapper dinner. A new recipe:

Spray a glass baking dish with a thin layer of Pam 100% extra virgin olive oil. Layer the botton of the pan with snapper fillets (in a single layer). Add some fresh ground sea salt and pepper. In a seperate dish, combine seasoned Italian breadcrumbs, small cooked bay shrimp, a dash of Paul Prudhomme’s  seafood seasoning, and mayonnaise. Layer this over the snapper fillets, then add a layer of jumbo lump crabmeat. Lots! Finally, top with another layor of snapper fillets, spray on olive oil, add a dash of fresh paprika, and throw it in the oven. Good stuff!

Saturday fishing was a bust, thanks to tropical storm Barry. The lower sections of Merry Pier were literally underwater, as the storm tides peaked in the early afternoon.

Sunday was a different story. My buddy Tim cruised in from Tampa with a bucket of shrimp, and we proceeded to have an excellent afternoon of fishing. Upon arrival at noon, the tides were sluggish, and so were the fish. But as the tides began to recede, the bite picked up.

One thing I will say about Merry Pier- it can offer great variety. We caught:

• Mangrove Snapper
• Grouper
• Redfish
• Whiting
• Pinfish
• Catfish
• Sand Perch

And, we saw a small snook brought up. Dinner consisted of pan fried snapper (including a very nice 15″ fish that Tim bagged) and a 20″ redfish, blackened. Pictures to follow (once I figure out how to post them). We had a couple of monster hits, so there are definately some larger fish lurking around. Heard reports from last week of cobia, blackfin shark, and tarpon in the immediate vicinity.

Now that the water temperature’s in the 80’s, the fishing should continue to improve throughout the summer.