So, I’ve got the basket of my Hoveround chucked as I cruise down the ice cream isle at the grocery, all the while thinking to myself, “This thing needs a bigger basket, I’m not going to have room for the cookie isle!!”… No worries, two trips will be a snap thanks to my sweet wheels and the fact that I parked in the blue VIP parking… Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with me physically, the world just owes me these conveniences…It’s at this blissful moment that I start to day dream… It’s Thursday morning, so the lottery dream has escaped me until Saturday and there were no sights to see in the ice cream isle except the ice cream itself. I start to think about Murphy and all his laws that govern my existence.. I’m immediately unsure how to classify the thought process. Is it pessimism, realism, superstition or some other ism, of which, I am unaware? The dictionary defines superstition as an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear, so I can rule that out as I am neither scared or blissful. My optimism overrules pessimism, so it must be realism. With maybe just a hint of superstition?
After finishing my short introspection I deem myself not ready for the rubber room. But still the fact remains, all good things must come to an end. I am, of course, referring to the fact that grouper season will close for four months at the end of December and that’s a fact. What sucks is the fact that the fishing is about as good as it gets right now. What really sucks is the fact that the weather won’t let us get to the fish. What really super-sucks is the fact that when you get there, there’s so many red snapper, you can’t hardly get a bait through them to get to the grouper!! You want a really big, giant, humongous, tremendous, steaming pile of suckdom? It’s called the National Marine Fisheries Service!! The American red snapper is, without a doubt, the healthiest stock of the snapper/grouper complex. Why can’t we keep any? I’m glad you asked.. Because the Enviro-Nazi terrorist groups are running the NMFS, that’s why! Jane Lubchenko, the head of NMFS is one of the PEW environmental group’s former minions. How is it that an Enviro-Terrorist like Lubchenko can end up running America’s fisheries? A little help from our old friend Murphy and a ton of money from Big Oil funding the environmental groups. Which brings me to the biggest head scratcher… Why are the parties responsible for the world’s biggest environmental disasters the ones that are funding the enviros who are running the Marine Fisheries? Call it the shell game, three card monte, a magic trick or whatever the hell you want. The American fisherman and those that enjoy wild caught American seafood are getting screwed. Pretty soon, the only thing we’ll be able to eat will be imported seafood and farm raised tilapia! And by the way, tilapia is not seafood, so stop calling it that, it’s farm raised crap! Get out and help the fight. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem!
Wow, a month and a half off and a couple of cold fronts and my flip flops turned into soap boxes! No need to call the authorities, the antenna tower was actually my duck blind.
The bottom fishing in November was honestly awesome, unfortunately the weather only allowed us to fish a couple days out of the month. Most of November the swells kept the water pretty stirred up, but towards the end of the month things started showing improvement. Should the weather pattern actually reach some semblance of normalcy in December, It could be one to remember. Depending on water clarity, the grouper fishing could start in as shallow as 75’. In the 75’ to 140’ depths, there should also be a decent shot at some cobia too. For the amberjack, they will likely be concentrated from 170’ on out to the cones and deep wrecks. Live bait should be the bait of choice and the bigger, the better. I’m not at all kidding when I say that the snapper have become quite a nuisance. If you just wanted to catch and release, it would be no problem to catch 10 to 20lb snapper all day from 90’ out to 180’. With the larger live baits, there’s a better chance of getting the bait through the snapper to the grouper and amberjack.
The reef bite for kingfish was non-existent last month as the water out past 120’ resembled that of a mud puddle. Much like the bottom fishing, the kingfishing will be dependent on the water clearing up. Once the water on the inshore reefs cleans up, there should be a large influx of the migrating kings. Mixed in with the kings, there should be bonito, a few blackfin tuna and cobia and a scattered wahoo. The live bait will likely be tough to find so the next best thing will be slow trolling frozen Spanish sardines with king busters or strip baits behind sea witches. You may want to troll spoons, plugs or strip baits to locate the fish and then switch over to the spinning minnows. Once the fish are located, the action should be fast and furious.
I know the broken record is getting old, but the trolling was shut down last month by dirty water too. When the Miracle of 505 Glenn Cheek Drive hits in December, the fishing could be magical. The dolphin and sailfish should still be fairly reliable and there should be enough blackfin tuna and wahoo around to keep things interesting. I would suggest trolling in the clean-green water for a little bit on the way out. There have been a fair amount of Sails, phins and a few wahoo caught in the green stuff from 120’ out the edge of the stream and the blue water. Fish a combination of naked mono-rigged ballyhoo and wire rigged bally/lure combos to keep a variety in your spread.
Get out there and get ‘em before Murphy or NMFS gets you!
See ya on the pond!!
