02/03/12 - Friday.
Cloudy, but not so cold. Not that windy either. We are in the beginning of Februrary, so I am still not expecting the fishing to be very good. The weather this winter is mild, but always cloudy. I miss the sunshine.
Just Ryan Brooks and me on the boat today. It is his first time on the Triton. I think he likes it.
We decide to stay close to the shore for awhile. In fact, we fish the docks. We do have some success. We catch a couple of small trout and a small redfish around a few of the docks. We do this for an hour or so, but there really isn't much biting and what we do catch is too small to keep.
We head out to "Trout Hole" near the last channel marker. We catch a couple of small trout there and a couple of grunts, but nothing to write home about.
It is still morning. Do we do it? Do we head for deeper water? Heck, why not! Sooner or later I have to find the guts to head offshore. So we shoot for something called Ochlocknee Shoal. Warning, there are two shoals named this. This time, I head due South. At lot less crab traps this way. I'm learning! And, I discover that there is actually another channel marker a mile or two South. So I have a new comfort zone. We head for the Shoal that is due South, about 10 miles offshore. Really, not that far, but further offshore than I have ever Captained. Ryan and I have both been deep-sea fishing, but trust me, when you are the Captain, a LOT more runs through your mind.
After 20 minutes or so, we get to the shoal, or at least my GPS says we are on the thing, but for the life of me, I can't find shallow water. The fish finder says we are in 25 feet. If there is shallow water here, I don't see it. The only thing we have are shrimp so we drop those down. Nothing. We move around some. Ryan ends up catching something very large. As he brings it closer to the boat, we realize it is a small (3-4 ft shark). Hate those things. A few minutes later, I catch a stingray. Hate those things. Just as Ryan gets the shark to the boat, I tell him to be careful, but the shark bites through the line. Problem solved. We aren't using leaders.
I set a Waypoint for the Shoal (or what is supposed to be the shoal). Did I mention that I am getting much better at the Lowrance GPS? As we are cruising back from the Shoal, we run into a large school of Spanish Mackerel. These fish are pretty doggone big and we both get all excited as they are churning up the water around the boat. What do Mackerel eat? We're not really sure, so we throw our shrimp at them. Nothing. Now I know that you can troll for Mackerel, but honestly, we really don't know how to do that either. We make an attempt at trolling, but I only have one bait-caster reel and rod, and it is broken. We feel pretty foolish and I am quite certain we can hear the Mackerel laughing at us. We quickly realize that we do not have the appropriate fishing gear for deeper water. For many years, we were flats fishermen catching trout, sheepshead, small rock bass and redfish. And to be perfectly honest, we got pretty good at that in St. Marks, but out here in deeper water - the rules, and the fish, are quite different. We both agree that we need to "rig up".
We return from our first offshore foray with mixed feelings. Yes, we caught some fish in February; we gained some confidence in heading to deep water; but we realize that we have a lot more to learn. But hey, that is why we are doing this in February because the more we learn now, the better we will be when the fish start biting.
So all in all I feel pretty good until I turn the boat around for the lift and slam the stern into the dock - again. Dammit! Next time I'll do better.
I stop at Crum's (fantastic fishing store in Panacea) and buy a new Penn reel and rod. I also purchase some King Mackerel lures, some spoons and some leaders. I'm learning boys.
Captain Paul
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