I know I sound like a broken record but Yesterday was another great day for fishing. The weather was beautiful, the seas were calm and the fish were bitting. We had Jeff Cornelson and the guys from Heron Lakes Golf Course on board for thier anual trip.We started out amberjack fishing and with three or four A.J.'s hooked up at a time it didn't take long to limit out. So we went cashing snapper. With meat in the box and some pressure off I decided to check some old spots that I had not looked for since Ivan. Well it payed off, the first couple of spots were gone but to my relief a few were still there and LOADED UP with fish. It was nice to have a chance to look for some of these old spots. Most days there just don't seem to be enough time or I'm afraid of getting behind so I just go to spots I know are there. It almost seems like Christmas when you can find spots that you thought for sure would be gone.We finished the day with 545lbs of A.J., snapper and a few triggerfish.
Capt Jonathan Dunnam
Monday, May 15th
After the perfect weather on Sat. and with the forecast calling for 1-3ft seas, I was surprised to find the seas kicking up Sunday morning. By the time we reached the Light House I had to pull the throttles back to 10kts to keep from going airborne. At this point I sent the deckhand down to give the crew the option of going back or braving the 4-6ft seas. We where told real quick that the seas were nothing compared to the mechanical bull they had been riding at the bar they just came from. So we dug in, held on and headed South. Well the fish didn't seem to mind the rough seas, they were giving it up! We ended up with the biggest catch we have had so far this year. We caught a limit of A.J.'s, one cobia some nice grouper , triggerfish, beeliners and just under the limit of snapper . Most of the snapper were over ten pounds so this pushed our total pounds up to 735 for the day. The seas don't seem quite as large when the fish are bitting like they did yesterday. The only draw back was that I had to miss Hope's first Mother's Day as a mother. I guess I will have to change a bunch of dirty diapers to make up for it.
Capt. Jonathan Dunnam
Saturday, May 13th
It was another awsome day. Both the weather and the fish bite could not have been any better. We had Hope's dad and some of his friends and family onboard today. We started the day with a quick limit of A.J.'s and then moved on to target snapper . We caught a fourteen person limit of realy nice snapper. We also had plenty of triggers and beeliners and we were back at the dock by 3:15. We ended up with 590lbs.
We will be back at it tomorrow with a nineteen man charter. (Those guys are going to be in big trouble with wives and moms for fishing on Mother's Day)O well, I say its better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Capt. Jonathan Dunnam
Friday, May 12th
We had a heart breaker of snapper on our trip Tuesday. Lance Brannen, from Texas, had a nice fish hooked up, we could tell by the doubled over rod and the drag that was being peeled from the reel, I eased the boat off the spot to keep the fish from getting broke off in the wreck. After fighting the fish a few more minutes it looked like Lance was going to win the battle. We could see the fish coming up and Adam was getting ready to gaff it when all of a sudden a hungry bull shark appeared headed right for the big snapper. Neadless to say Lance couldn't reel fast enough to keep the fish out of the sharks waiting jaws. We ended up with a head of big snapper, the shark got the rest. The heart breaker was that Lance was entered in the Snapper World Championship and this fish would have certinly made the board. I say that because the head of the snapper weighed 21 lbs!! I posted a picure of the fish on our photos page. We ended the day with plenty of nice fish despite the shark. We will just have to keep trying for the big one.
We had Billy Heard and the group from Process Pump Repair onboard today for their anual trip. The seas started out about three foot but quickly calmed to around a foot. We started out fishing for amberjack and got a limit of them in just 20 minutes or so. We moved on snapper fishing and added a limit of snapper to the box along with some nice gag grouper , scamp, beeliners, triggerfish and two cobia . When all the fish were unloaded at the dock we had 680lbs. Thats a great day by any standard. These guys are good repeat customers and I look foward to thier next trip.
Capt. Jonathan Dunnam