Action Jackson

March 18, 2012

Yes, I know, I was just fishing on the 16^th and here I am again two days later on the Triton.  It sucks to be me!  Bill and Ann offered up their house for us to stay at last night.  The house is in Panacea and only a few miles from Rock Landing Marina, so it is very nice to have that available to us and saves us a long drive in the morning.

On the boat today are:  Gene and "Action" Jackson Griffin, Cameron Paul and me. – Captain Marc Paul.  If you think I "love" fishing, well, you haven't met Jackson.  That boy LOVES to fish.  I promised him a long time ago that I would take him out on the Triton.

I would really like the boys to experience the Spanish mackerel that Bill and I caught on Friday, so I head straight for the location where Bill and I caught so many of them.  We fish there for about 45 minutes, but there is simply NOTHING biting.  That sucks.  I really wanted the boys to hook into those Mackerel. 

Seas are only 1 to 3 today so instead of heading into Ochlocknee Bay, I decide to head out to Ocklocknee Shoal.  The shoal is about 10 miles offshore.  There are some obstructions around the shoal that I want to fish and I wouldn’t mind fishing the shoal itself for trout.  The first obstruction we get to yields only a pilot fish.  Man, those things are ugly. 

The tide is coming in and the shoal is running about 8-11 feet deep.  I figure it is a perfect place to catch trout.  Alas, nothing is biting!  The boys are getting bored.  I feel bad, especially because I had such a good day fishing on Friday. 

I head to a couple of other obstructions that are on my map near the shoal but there are no bites.  I decide to head back into shore.  I am hoping that I see some schools of Mackerel, but except for a few dolphins playing in our wake, I see nothing.

I stop at an obstruction that is just outside the Ochlocknee Bay Channel.  We start catching some small silver trout and a few small drum.  Well, at least we are catching some fish.  We stay here for awhile and our fish count goes up, but honestly, it is still tough fishing. 

I don’t think Jackson cares.  Have I mentioned that that boy just loves to fish.  I don't think he ever quits smiling when he is on the boat.  I can’t wait to take him Grouper fishing.  I really hope he hooks into a big one.

We head back into the dock with just a few small silver trout in the livewell.  We had a lot of fun, but I wish we had caught more fish.

April 1 – Grouper season begins.  We are all looking forward to that!

My Panacea Fishing blog will take a break next week as I am on Spring Break Vacation with my family for a week.  We are heading to Savannah, Georgia, Florence S.C., and Wild Adventures.

I’ll write again in a couple of weeks.

Tight lines.

Captain Paul



Spanish Mackerel Slayers

March 16, 2012

On the Triton today is Bill Brattain.  The weather temp is 83 and sunny.  This is only the second time that I have taken the boat out in sunny weather.  A little windy, but all in all, a beautiful day.

Our first stop, of course, is "trout hole" next to the channel.  We stay for about an hour, but not much here really.  We both catch a small silver trout.  They don’t put up much of a fight, so we decide to move on. 

It is my intention today to head into Ocklockonee Bay and fish the oyster beds for trout and redfish.  But, before I do, I decide to head to another spot on my map which is on the way and which supposedly has an obstruction on the bottom.  Ryan and I fished this spot a few weeks ago, but didn’t get any bites.  This spot is only about a mile from trout hole.

So we drop our lines.  Bill starts with a DOA plastic shrimp.  I mention to him that I have never caught anything with those but he says he has had luck with them.  I am fishing with frozen shrimp.  A little time goes by.  Nothing.  So – it is going to be that kind of day!  Bill changes to something called a candy corn jig.  I have no idea what the heck that is, but hey, to each their own.  I stick with my frozen shrimp.    It isn’t long before something hits his rig pretty hard, but then it gets off.  He reels it up.  It bit the tail of his candy corn off.  Interesting.  So he sticks another one on and throws it out. 

WHAM!  Whatever hits it is big and strong.  It starts running.  What the heck is it?  It takes Bill several minutes before he can get it close enough to the boat.  A large Spanish Mackerel.  I grab the net, get it in the boat and just like that, we have a decent fish in the boat.  Cool! 

I am very tempted to borrow one of his frickin Candy Corn jigs.  But this time, instead of leaving my frozen shrimp on the bottom, I decide to reel it slowly.  WHAM!  Mackerel.  In the boat.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

A couple of hours go by.  Bill and I have twenty Spanish mackerel in the boat – some of them quite large.  We are both exhausted.  These fish are VERY strong and fight like crazy.  The last one I caught took me 15 minutes to get in the boat.  Every time he saw the boat, he would take my line.   I thought you had to troll for these damn things?  We are simply anchored and reeling  slowly.  Honestly, I think we could spit on our lines, drop them in, and catch a mackerel.  These big monsters are hungry.  My fingers are all cut up; I am bleeding everywhere, because their teeth are sharp as razors.  Bill helps me put some bandaids on my fingers.  I’m loving life!

We have a snack and decide to head into Ochlocknee Bay to hunt for redfish and spotted sea trout.  As soon as we get there, I catch a 16 inch trout.  Okay, this could be very cool!  But after an hour of fishing the oyster beds, we get no more bites. 

It is such a beautiful day.  The temperature is perfect and the breeze is just right.  We have lunch on the back of the boat while anchored to the oyster bed.  After lunch we troll around the beds with various spoons and shrimp, but get no bites. 

We decide to head back to our “Mackerel” spot.  We both catch one right away, but after that, things quiet down.  I don’t think either of us are disappointed as we caught so many of them.

We shake hands on a job well done and head into shore.  I have caught Spanish mackerel on a charter boat before, but never on my own boat.  Without a doubt, this has been the most productive fishing day on the Triton. 

If anyone has any good mackerel recipes, please send them my way.  I don’t really know how to cook this fish.  Some people say it is wonderful, other’s - not so much.

That was a lot of fun Bill!  Let’s do it again soon.

Captain Paul

March and Baby Redfish!

Friday, March 2, 2012

I would like to say the weather is better, but it isn't.  It is warm though!  80 degrees.  Amazingly warm.  On the boat today is just Ryan and Marc.  I asked Russell Paul, but he wasn't feeling well.  We arrived at the dock around 7:30 a.m.  At least, I think it was the dock.  It is so damn foggy that I can't even see my boat.  Wow!  I've only seen fog like this once before and that was when Gene Griffin and I went fishing with a guide many years ago at Shell Island Fish Camp.  Except today, I am the guide.

We start heading out the channel, except I can't see the channel markers.  I have to admit though, I was kind of looking forward to this challenge.  I MUST trust the trail that I created on my GPS called "Channel Out".  Since I can't actually see the markers, I must simply follow the red trail on my GPS.  So I do.  I make one slight error and we come close to going aground outside of the channel.  Stay on the damn line Marc!  Without seeing channel markers until we are right up on them, we are still able to navigate.  Wow!  Both scary and exhilarating at the same time.  Without electronics, I wouldn't have made it 100 yards.

I decide to stop at "Trout Hole" which is just West of the last channel marker.  Once again, no problem finding this because of my electronics.  Because the weather is questionable, we only have frozen shrimp on board.  I have no intention of deep sea fishing on this voyage.  Even with my limited Captain skills, I do know that getting trapped 25 miles off the coast in heavy fog is not adventurous, it is just stupid. 

Drop lines.  Bam! Small redfish.  Well, that is kind of cool.  Drop line.  Bam!  Small redfish.  For the next hour, I keep this up.  Ryan is getting very pissed because he keeps missing his bites.  Then, he catches something that looks exactly like a spotted sea trout, but it has no spots.  Hmm.  Ryan says, "Maybe we should call back to the Marina and see what the limitations are on these things".  I reply, "Well, I'm certain they are trout so they gotta be 15 inches".  We fish for another couple of hours catching trout after redfish, after trout, after redfish.   The fog is unrelenting.  We hear a couple of boats around us, but we can't see them.  Wait, is that the fog lifting?  Is that sunshine?  Yes, no wait, No, it isn't.  Fog is back.  God Psyched us!  There is a sunken wreck on my map just South of us.  I decide to head for that even though we are catching fish.  We get to wreck but catch nothing.  I really want to fish the oyster beds in Ochlockonee Bay, but with this fog, I really don't have the confidence to go that far.  So we head back to "Trout Hole".  Bam, more fish.  At the end of the day:

Marc:  15 Redfish, 9 Silver Trout.  1 Hammerhead Shark, 1 Nurse Shark
Ryan:  12 Silver Trout, 4 Redfish.

Dang, that was fun.  It isn't Spring yet, so the fish are all small.  When we get back to the dock, we learn that there are no limits on "Silver Trout".  Either by count or by size.  Oops!  Oh well, we would have been cleaning fish for 3 hours, and they would have all been very small filets.

For now, let's keep waiting on the weather.  As things warm up, the fish will get bigger.  I have to admit, I have never seen so many redfish in one spot in my life.

I'll write again soon.

Captain Paul

February Weather - Again

02/18/12 - Saturday

Weather: High 60, Low: 40. Winds 20-25 kts. Seas 6-8 feet.  Cloudy and Rainy.  It's like God wanted to make a carbon copy of last weekend.

February weather sucks for fishing. 

I can take the cold, but please, show me some sunshine.  Less wind would also be nice.
Captain Paul

February Weather

02/11/12 - Saturday

Weather:  High 65, Low: 40.  Winds 20-25 kts.  Seas 6-8 feet.  Lightning.  I don't think so.  I'm having coffee, eating sausage and watching fishing shows on TV.

K Tower & Big Red

02/12/12. Friday.

Weather:  High:  65.  Low:  36.  Cloudy and a little rainy and foggy.  Not what I would call excellent fishing conditions.  Did I mention it is windy.  Seas are 2 to 4 feet.

On the boat today are Ryan Brooks and Gene Griffin.

All week long, I have been getting acquainted with my nautical maps.  There is a lot of information on those things!  The more I study it, the more I learn.  I have been using my compass, learning about North and West coordinates, degrees, sectors, grids, compass headings, underwater terrain, fish havens, etc.  My family grows weary of seeing the nautical maps scattered around the dining room table.

Don't ask me why, but our mission today is to head offshore to a place called "Oar Reef".   It's not like conditions are perfect for heading out there.  Oar reef is about 20 miles offshore.  That means, NO MORE LAND!.  I have never Captained a boat where I couldn't see the shore anymore.  I am nervous about it.  I still don't feel like I know my boat that well.  We leave the dock around 7:30 a.m.  It's COLD!  I think we are morons.  Stupidity loves company though.

We past the Shoal which just last week, I thought was a loooong way offshore.  But we still have another 15 miles to go to get to our destination. The Triton handles amazingly well in 3-4 ft seas.  A few times we really slammed down hard in a trough, but we never really got wet.  In fact, we are all amazed at how dry this bay boat runs in relatively rough seas.  The electronics are working fine and we stay on course right to the reef.  GPS and Fish Finder say we are on it, so we drop down our new poles (bait casters) and our squid (not shrimp this time).  Nothing.  I have several GPS coordinates that I downloaded from the Internet for this location, so we move around to numerous spots.  Nothing.  Did I mention that it is frustrating to fish in February?

We decide to head to one more location on the reef, but Ryan doesn't pull the anchor in all the way.  I would blame him, but I'm the guy that told him not to bring it all the way up. WHAM!  A loud clanging noise and the engine shuts off.  I look at Gene and he looks at me.  We both immediately know what it is.  The anchor chain has wrapped itself around the propeller.  Oh my god! 

Did I mention that we are 20 miles offshore in 3-4 ft seas?  The temperature is 45 degrees and supposed to drop to 25.  Crap.  So Gene literally holds onto my pants while I lean over and attempt to unwrap the anchor chain from the propeller.  Done.  I hold my breath; start the motor.  It starts.  First test passed.  Second test, is the prop stripped?  I put it into gear.  It doesn't seem to have any problems.  Thank you Honda, for making a great motor.

With that calamity behind us, they both convince me to go South even farther to the K Tower. "Heck", they say, it's only 5 more miles offshore".  We are morons so we go there.   Nothing else bad could happen right?

As soon as we arrive, Ryan gets a HUGE fish on the line.  It must be a grouper.  He fights it for awhile, but it breaks his leader.  He, apparently, didn't "rig up" enough.  About the same time, I catch a 29 inch redfish.  Typically, you do your best to "stretch out" a redfish so he will fit into the "slot" of 18-27 inches.  In my case, I try to squish him, but it just isn't working.  He is massive. 

We only catch a few small, grun looking fish at K tower - very few bites.  We even try trolling around it.  It is still early February.  On the way back, we run into LOTS of Mackerel schools.  This time, we have all the necessary trolling rigs, baits and lures.  We troll right through those boys and Gene throws all kind of spoons at them.  Nothing!  They simply aren't interested.  Curse you February!

The ride back is well over an hour.  We get back to the marina without any additional mishaps.  I am learning the area much better, but I still pretty much suck as a Captain at putting us on the fish.  I don't feel too bad though.  40 degrees always makes for tough fishing.

I will blog again soon.  Oh - missed the damn dock this time during the turn-around. 

Captain Paul

Deeper Water & Laughing Mackerel

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