Another day offshore . . . beautiful weather and water but not much luck catching.

 

We trailered to Conn Brown and left there around 10:00 am.  The Luna's (601) joined us in their boat so we buddy boated out to the ships.  The water was perfect for the mosquito fleet (small boats).  We went to the ships in search of Kingfish that we hoped would lead to a Ling.  At the first ship we foul hooked a 5' shark.  It was either a Black-tip or an Atlantic Sharpnose.  They all look the same to me?!?!  Regardless, we turned it lose.  I am not a big fan of shark steaks.  But it did put up one heck of a fight.  Amy had to hold the rod while Meg did the cranking.  After that excitement subsided we moved to another ship and then another and then another.  We tried trolling, bump trolling and drifting.  We could not buy a bite.  The water was calm and a beautiful blue/green but whatever we were doing was not enticing the fish.  The Luna's on the other hand had four Kings boat side throughout the day and were able to land two of them.  They obviously had the correct technique.  We then moved out to a rig at about 15 miles.  You can see in the pic a Caroline Skiff tied off to the rig at 15 miles out.  That tells you the Gulf was flat that day.  When we arrived at the rig there were six boats tied off or running around close to it.  With all of the rigs being removed through the Idle Iron program there are very few left within easy running distance from our port.  Therefore, the few that remain are being over fished.  At the rig we fished for dog snapper but again were unsuccessful.  However, we did get cut off twice by either Barracuda or Kingfish.  That is the way our day went . . . when fishing for one species you catch, or in our case, miss something else.  We just could not get into sync with the fishery.  We then started heading in but wanted to check St Joe shoreline for seashells.  When the water is this calm you can get in fairly close to the shore.  This gives you access to an otherwise unpopulated beach.  It is a beach comber's dream.  Attached is a pic taken from the boat of Amy on shore.  I anchored the boat between the 2nd and 3rd sandbar and she swam in from there.  Unfortunately mother nature did not provide there either.  No treasures this time.  In the past Amy found some unique shells along with star fish and numerous sand dollars.  All in all, it was another beautiful day out on the water.  Nobody got hurt, everyone returned home safely, and we have many new experiences.  We are blesse