Captain's Report - January/Febuary, 2007

by Capt. Dave Mistretta

Weather: January 2nd 2007 will be a day to remember for my clients. I took my doctor, his family and friends out for a holiday fishing excursion. Three of the passengers were children, quite eager to test their skills on the open gulf. When we got to the mouth of Clearwater pass, things didn't look promising. My radar revealed a large mass of rain sitting directly over us, also producing 20 knot winds. After advising the crew of my dilemma, I could tell these young kids would not be detoured from their much anticipated fishing trip. I informed them that our only chance to pull this trip off was to punch thru the rain mass and head for a clear spot about twenty miles west of the pass. The ride out would not be pretty, but my 40 foot boat could handle it. Of course the eager crew gave me he thumbs up to try it. After a miserable hour drive the skies turned blue and the winds let up allowing us to fish.

Jackpot: On our way out we noticed a giant school of threadfin herring and pinfish on the sonar. After fifteen minutes of jigging, our live wells were filled. Water temps were reading a mild 68 degrees, which is perfect for this time of year.

Our first stop produced numerous trigger fish, scamp grouper and a few keeper gags. Our next rock pile was even more productive. As the young fisherman dropped lines to the bottom all their rods began to double over. Kingfish attacked all lines descended. Within minutes we had our limit of 10 to fifteen pound kingfish. The threadfins we had caught on the way out proved to be the best bait for the big macks.

Our finale: After leaving the extraordinary kingfish action, we idled over to another rock pile in 60 feet of water. This is when our live pinfish produced hefty gag groupers, some tipping the scales at 10 pounds. Everything we tried that day worked with ease producing a box load of fish for the dinner table. This was truly a perfect way to start off the new year!

Past Captain's Reports

• November/December, 2006
• September/October, 2006
• July/August, 2006
• May/June, 2006
• March/April, 2006
• January/February, 2006
• November/December, 2005
• September/October, 2005
• July/August, 2005
• May/June, 2005
• March/April, 2005
• November/December, 2004
• September/October, 2004
• July/August, 2004
• May 7, 2004
• April 2, 2004
• March 6, 2004
• February 5, 2004
• December 5, 2003
• November 7, 2003
• October 2, 2003
• September 4, 2003
• August 17, 2003
• July 4, 2003
• May 5, 2003
• April 21, 2003
• April 10, 2003