Calm weather and a Tournament on a Saturday meant a lot of boats leaving Port at the same time Saturday Morning. I was at Freddie Patrick Park 5:45, and waiting in line on Flounder St. We managed to rig the boat, and get my guest belongings in the boat as we inched forward in line. By the time we were in the water, the main parking lot was full and the overflow lot was filling quickly. We beelined out to 8A for a simple bottom trip and anchored up. A few dozen boat were already there, including a half dozen commercial Kingfish boats who spent the whole day running circle patterns in and around all of the recreational boats. Our action started quickly on the flatlines, with Kings being thick on the reef. While other boats burned gas trying to find the fish, we simply threw a bag of chum over the side, and let the fish find us. Meanwhile we were bottom fishing while waiting for the sound of drag peeling out. Like the day before, the bottom bite was a little slow on the reef, and many under sized fish were caught. We did bring some Triggers and Lane Snapper back, but the Kings were the cooler fillers this trip.
My guest had never been offshore fishing before. This was actually a surprise trip for the 13yo son of my guest, who managed to keep the whole trip a secret, up until the time they were at the Port, including the drammamine tablet the night before, the getting up at 3:00am and leaving Kissimmee, and the long ride over to the Port. None of my 3 guest had ever caught anything more than lake and pond sized fish before. The first King though only 33" totally amazed them at the strength and fight. We were using medium-light spinning setups with 20lb mono, They spoke of the "muscle burn" from fighting the fish. Each of my 3 guest had more than one fight with the Kings. I took a turn with the action (with my guest OK), and it turned to be a 35 pounder. This fish likely did not know it was even hooked until it saw the boat, and then my guest found out why they call them "Smokers". It took a little while to get it into the boat, but watching the amazement of my guest was as much fun as fighting the fish.
Another handful of Kings were fought before we decided to pull anchor, and drift away from the crowd, which now topped 50 boats at 8A, with likely hundreds elsewhere out of the Port. We defiantly wanted to beat the bulk of the boats in before the log jam at the docks began.
We drifted and my guest bounced a few baits off the bottom, with mixed results. They took the opportunity to cool off with a quick dip in the water. Not long before we were ready to head in a flash of colors near the boat got our attention. 2 Mahi were quickly hooked, and like the day before after one was in the boat, the other threw the hook and quickly took off. A good way to end the day, with 8A Mahi.
Only their first Offshore Fishing Trip, and they are already planning the next one.....and the one after that!
Captain Henry
"Wile E. Coyote"
ACME Ventures Fishing
www.ACME-Ventures-Fishing.com
321-794-7955 / 407-349-1546 |
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