I hit Merry Pier at sunrise on Saturday, scored a few jumbo shrimp from the bait shop, and had some fun with the local snook population. I landed three undersized snook (to 24″), and lost a BIG one – probable over slot size. The current was outgoing, low and strong, and the fish were hanging in the spot where the Egmont Key boat usually sits. But, after an hour, the showers moved in, then the rain began in earnest, so I packed up and headed home.

Sunday was more of the same, without the rain. The fishing was a bit slower, though, and the snapper showed up, which put an end to using shrimp. And the snook didn’t display any interest in pinfish, so, after an hour or so, off I went.

Sunday night, we joined Tim for a little tailgating and the Buc’s game. The food and the company were great… alas, the game wasn’t, as the Bucs dropped to 4-4 when they couldn’t muster the offense to score a simple lousy field goal with 2 minutes remaining. Then, I watched the Rockies self destruct. Pretty rough weekend for sports, altogether (Florida, USF, The Lightning, the Dolphins – even my Murray State Racers all lost). Oh well- next time!

 

 

A good day’s work- red snapper, mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, vermillion snapper, red grouper, scamp, gag grouper, triggerfish and more. Another successful day aboard the Getaway, based at the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Yes, it was quite a haul:

Only problem is that these fish were caught over a year ago- 9/9/06, to be precise. Tim, a professional photographer who was on the trip, came by yesterday for some fishing, followed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, and dropped the photos off.

So… how ’bout this weekend? Well, it was a wee bit slow. This slow:

There were still a few grouper hanging around. The bigger ones bit live pinfish just as the sun peeked over the horizon, highlighted by a 20 1/2″ (still ot quite legal). After a couple hours, it was little gag grouper- millions of ’em. They were everywhere, biting pinfish, sardines, shrimp- you name it.

We managed 3 keeper snapper, 1 18″ mack, and roughly one thousand smaller fish. Miss Pass-A-Grill, the local headboat, brought in a load of key west grunts around noon. They also had one big flounder, which seemed a little out of place among all of those grunts. I heard they nailed 6 keeper grouper the day before. As the water cools, the bigger grouper move near shore- I may have to take a little boat ride here soon…

Date: 9/29/07
Time: 4:30 a.m. till around 10
Tides: Strong outgoing (2 a.m. high tide)
Conditions: Water clarity poor, partly sunny, light east wind
The Catch: Bluefish, grouper, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, ladyfish, catfish, pinfish

It was a pretty slow weekend for fishing, despite high expectations. Mike ( a work at home dad) and I hit Merry Pier at 4:30, but the bad news was that the (brand new) batteries on my air pump had died, and 3 dozen pinfish I had picked up at Gulf to Bay Bait and Tackle perished. A real setback. Luckily, Mike netted some frisky finger mullet, and I brought 5 pounds of frozen sardines.

I lost a snook under the dock on one of the mullet, and I managed a decent mangrove snapper with sardine. I also caught a small ladyfish just before sun-up, which I promptly threw back… as bait. Sure enough, after a couple of minutes it got nailed, but I was cut off in the rocks.

Next up was a 16″ bluefish. It ate a frozen sardine- no, I’m not kidding. Jumped twice, too. Not much else was happening. he dock was packed with people, and nobody caught anything, with the exception of small dock snapper and grouper.

Sunday, I hit Blind Pass midmorning, and threw a ‘Gotcha lure. Man, the bluefish and spanish macs love those things! I upsized to a RattleTrap after getting bit off. I thought there might be some snook lurking in the incoming tide, but, no hits. So, I thawed some Mahi, grilled it up, and had a great time with the gang watching the Buc’s win.