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After debating whether or
not we should
hit the beach
or go offshore,
we loaded everything
up in my
truck, both offshore
gear and beach
gear and headed
to Port A.
We stopped at
WhataB's for
breakfast and after
looking at the
surf, the decision
was made to
run offshore. After
filling Gabes Pathfinder
with gas, ice,
and some live
perch we headed
out and were
greeted with nice
1-2 foot
slow rolling seas.
Once out a
few miles, the
bonita were thick
and we needed
some shark bait
so we chased
them for a
while. Those fu*****
bonita would not
hit a thing,
I even threw
a small fly
like lure into
a full on
feeding frenzy and
nothing. Screw the
bonita, let's
go find a
rig is what
we both said
and then the
boat died. Dead
on the water.
This is to
be the first
of several bad
omens this day.
Somehow a wire
came loose under
the console and
Gabe found it,
thank God.
So
onto the rigs
we go. Finally
we get to
a good looking
rig with some
nice water around
it. Set out
a couple lines
for a drift
and we're
immediately snagged in
the rig. Bad
omen #2. So
we decided to
drop a few
of the fresh
live piggies that
we brought along
and I look
in the livewell
and...no piggies.
They all escaped
through the drain
that I didn't tighten properly.
Bad omen #3.
There was a
crewboat at the
rig that made
tying off impossible
so we booked
it to another
rig off in
the distance.
Once
at this rig,
we were here
to stay. Tied
up, dropped some
baits down and
immediately we were
swarmed with snapper.
They weren't
too keen on
hitting anything but
they were there,
thousands of them.
Big ones too.
Gabe is the
first to pull
one up, a
little red snapper
and a small
strawberry grouper:
An underwater view of lots of
mangrove snapper:
We just
couldn't take
all the snapper
swimming around the
rig in peace
and harmony so
we hopped in
armed with spears
and tried to
scare a few:
Gabe shot
one, then my
sling broke and
by this time
the snapper knew
we were serious
about trying to
ram spears through
their heads so
they dove back
down to safer
water.
So we
do the snapper
thing for a
while and in
the process we
catch a few
good baitfish to
send out live
on the shark
rods. I send
one out and
within minutes I'm hooked up
to something big,
smoked some drag
and pop, gone.
This was repeated
about 10 times
in a row,
all within an
hour. Every big
live bait we
sent to the
bottom was smashed,
but somehow they
missed the hook
every time.
Action
slowed on the
snapper bite after
boxing quite a
few beauties. As
I'm rigging
something different to
try, my rod
with cut bait
bows over, Gabe
grabs it and
the fight is
on:
After a
long drag smokin
battle he hauls
in more bait
for us, a
big jack:
At this
point the shark
rods had been
sitting idle for
some time when
Gabe's TLD
starts moving. This
time he let
the shark eat
the bait for
a while and
then he let
her have it.
Finally we have
a good hookup
and decide to
motor away from
the rig so
we don't
lose this one
as well. Gabe
whooped the shark
pretty quickly, a
good sized blacktip:
I snapped
this pic of
her underwater hoping
it would be
a good one:
After that
shark we were
pretty whipped from
the sun so
we decided to
call it a
day. On the
way in we
noticed we had
under a half
a tank of
gas left, so
we kept a
close on on
the gauge. The
seas had picked
up considerably and
we were getting
pounded pretty hard.
Just as I
thought we were
home free and
we could see
the jetties, the
engine dies. Bad
Omen number 1000.
^%#$!!!
We thought we
were out of
gas and I
got on the
horn to the
coast guard to
find out how
we could get
some gas when
Gabe checks the
battery switch. It
turned out that
the battery bounced
up and turned
the battery switch
off. Whew. We
gave thanks as
we putted in
through the jetties
and back to
solid ground. What
a day.
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