Got out for double half days today. This morning the wind was cranking 15-20 out of the north, a little rougher than anticipated. I had Charlie down from Long Island and we ventured out to the mackerel grounds. It was a little bumpy getting their, but not too bad. We anchored up and had a little slow start but by the end it was pretty good. The mackerels took a while to get going, but at the end if was almost every cast. I think we landed close to 20 or so. We also got two large mangrove snappers for dinner for Charlie, which was perfect because he didn’t need a ton. After that we made our way home.
This afternoon I had long time customer Jeff Godlewski who comes down with his group from CDW in the spring usually for a big corporate work/fishing trip. We did the same routine, the wind had laid down nicely in the afternoon so it was a straight shot out. The mackerels bit OK again, and we also caught several nice snappers, one was a big lane snapper which was cool. We only gave it an hour and then tried to run out to a deeper wreck which I normally wouldn’t do on a half day, but Jeff didn’t mind the extra running time to try for something quality, plus it was pretty calm so I could get their fairly quick. We couldn’t get on the spot however because a boat was already there, so we ran inshore to the channels to try for a tarpon for the last bit. We saw a free jumper and got in the area with him, and started to mark a handful of fish on the bottom machine but not a ton. I never saw one roll though. We caught a few sharks, never had a tarpon bite, and then the tide quit and it was time to go. But a fun afternoon anyhow. I have the same deal tomorrow, two half days, so it may be a similar day as today we’ll see! Hopefully the fish cooperate just as well.
