Gulf of Mexico
- This topic has 28 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated Jul 28, 2008 at 6:12 pm by
.
-
Posts
-
the slim beauty is more for going from class to a shock tippet (60-100 lb mono), although it works good for building leaders too.
A waterproof camera pack company had offered me a demo pack to go try out but they never came through.
Hey guys –
I am leaving for the Gulf with Lauren tomorrow. We’re staying in a house on Fort Morgan peninsula west of Gulf Shores, Alabama (near the opening of Mobile Bay). Should be a fun trip; we’ll be there all next week. Next Tuesday (if I recall correctly), we’re heading over to Florida to chase jacks, blacktip shark, undoubtedly some ladyfish, and hopefully some bonita (aka false albacore) with a guide named Baz Yelverton (you cannot make such a name up). It’s my cousin’s birthday and I arranged the trip as his present.
We are supposed to have internet access, so I’ll be loading the Photoblog back up from the road. Hopefully, we’ll catch something other than ladyfish, but we’re basically guaranteed those. In the past, I’ve caught bluefish and pompano in the surf (although the bluefish would chomp off if they were of any size; this year I have bite tippets).
Carter, what was the name of that knot you use to rig bite tippet to leader? The slim beauty? Do you just hook it to the fly with a haywire twist?
Zach
Zach, we’ll be on the other side of the Dixie Bar in two weeks, we’re staying on Dauphin Island!
I’ve used a slim beauty on my muskie tippets but it doesnt do well with wire (tyger wire or the like).
Man, I must be lazy. When I’m going for pike and just pre-tie a bunch of short leaders w/a surgeons loop (larger enough to pull a streamer through) on each end and then just tie up a
They brought in a 160 pound tarpon to the weigh in over on Dauphin Island….
Man you are making me wish I was already there…
Shew. We kinda got whacked by Hurricane Dolly yesterday, believe it or not. We still had an amazing time. Our guide, with the unforgettable name Baz Yelverton, proved to be a total professional with a few aces up his sleeve.
We started out in Pensacola Bay and ran out to see if we could get into the Gulf. No go; the breakers were hammering the surf and turning over 1/4 mile out. There was probably a six foot swell at 8:00 AM with no wind, all pushed up by the lobes of Dolly sitting offshore.
However, Baz still anchored up on a sandbar and we had some ho-hum ladyfish action. I was kinda wondering what he was doing (other than checking his sports’ casting, which is always smart). Suddenly I hear a sccccreeeeeaaaacccchhhhhhh across the sky like the blue’s just been torn asunder and the friggin Blue Angels come ripping over us in formation. They hold practices on the bay right there at that time of day! We watched an entire air show; F-14s flown upside down, at one point a pilot came right over our head at near stall speed and we all waved. I swear he was not 100 feet off the ground. Those guys are flat out astounding.
I probably should have shot pictures but the boat was heaving pretty good and my gear was fogged from being the A/C in the car on the drive over (it was hot and humid). Still I did record an audio, which may make it into a future podcast.
So after that extremely sweet bonus (earned his tip right there in my book), we proceeded up into the bay and set up for sharks (which we were targeting since the albacore were out in the heaving gulf). This was agreed beforehand and in no way a cop-out by Baz; I wanted to try to catch a shark on the fly.
Baz put us right by a multi-million dollar mansion on a point and we proceeded to have shot after shot at cruising blacktips. I had follows and swirls on poppers but no bites, but Jake Campbell, my cousin, who was fishing with us as a birthday present, stuck about a 60 pounder. Holy. Crap.
That fish ran him over 200 yards into his backing on a heavy 10 weight RPLXi. Finally it just sawed through the Tyger Wire; nothing to do, couldn’t budge him. We did get some pictures of the fight, which lasted about five minutes. Very, very cool.
Unfortunately, conditions went south pretty quick after that. The “afternoon” wind started at 10 AM and pretty soon I was the only one left in the boat who could really still cast, and not that well at that. We switched to sinking shooting lines to cut through the gale but the bay was white-capping everywhere. So we ran up in the lee, way, way up about 10 miles into the East River looking for bait and jacks.
We did find the bait and we did manage to cast to it for quite a while. Baz did a great job of setting us up to drift through the menhaden. With the wind howling, I had the dubious satisfaction of seeing the backing knot on my shooting line, but of course all I really had to do was huck it up there and let it sail.
Finally we determined that the bait wasn’t holding any predators other than us, so we went back to the shark point and had a few more follows. I had an epic chase all the way to the boat by a small, landable blacktip (probably 30 pounds), but unfortunately he spooked off when he got within about 30 feet. Chased a little black clouser of all things.
We had a great time despite basically getting blanked (ladyfish notwithstanding). Blue Angels, sticking a shark that big and seeing the fight, and knowing that there was nothing whatsoever Baz could do about wind and hurricanes. I would happily recommend Baz again (Gulf Breeze Guide Service). Total professional in every way, and you know I’ve seen the flip side.
But, alas, my Gulf of Mexico streak of bad luck seems to have held in terms of actually catching fish. Still, for a no-fish day, this is as good as it gets.
Zach
Always rinse your gear in freshwater after getting washed around in the surf.
Forgive the ignorance, Zach, but do you dunk your pack, flies, etc., or do you only rinse the rod/reel/line? I could see how the zippers might be vulnerable and the non-stainless hooks as well, but is it necessary for the rest of the gear we typically carry?
D.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.