Schoe
03-27-2007, 11:34 AM
Yesterday, our friend and member Jimmy Stephens, of Mexico Beach hosted a Shark fishing trip for myself and Stephen Buss who is in the US from the UK trying to catch as many North American species of fish that he can so we really have been trying to get him hooked up with a Shark .
Jimmy has caught many Sharks out of and around Mexico Beach area and offered to take us out yesterday. Jimmy's boat is a 21' Sea Hunt, which is named "Miss Pearl", whose name probably derived from the fact that he and his wife Marie, own and operate Emerald Coast Jewelry here in Mexico Beach.
The boat was launched from the City dock In Port St. Joe where we took approx a 8-10 mile boat ride to the "Shark Hole" that I have heard so much about over the last 3 years but have never been there. As the Crow flies it is straight out the bay from where we are staying.
We arrived there shortly and began doing some "Chumming" with some odds and ends that I was saving in the freezer for such an occasion. We baited up with chunks of fish and began to fish. All the way out there and while we were fishing the wind was building a little at a time. There hadn't been any fish showing on his Combo Fish Locator and GPS when we cruised the area before anchoring but we gave it a good shot anyway.
We pulled Anchor and headed for the Shipping Lane buoys. Easing past the first one Jimmy spotted three Cobia laying under it so Stephen began throwing a large white Jig with some kind of wiggly attached. Jimmy did a great job handling the boat in the wind and ripping current so Steve could work the buoy with that bait. The Cobia weren't hungry or had lock jaw so we went through some real rough water to get where the birds were working the surface and Trolled lures all around trying to catch something. Nothing showed up except bait-fish on the screen. After about an hour of getting beat up by the waves we headed back to the end of Cape San Blas where the wind couldn't get to and threw some live Shrimp where Stephen hooked and landed a Spanish Mackerel which slipped out of his hands back into the water before I could get any pictures. I hooked up with something that got off before I got it to the boat.
The decision was made to get out of the bay to avoid the rough water so we headed toward the Inland Waterway. This was a real rough ride back at half throttle or less and it was a pleasure to hit the mirror water of the Canal where we headed full throttle for some of Jimmy's favorite fish producing spots.
Our first stop we threw live shrimp and caught lots of undersized Speckled Trout and some nice Pin fish that would have been some awesome offshore bait . We moved around to several other places and caught Croakers, Trout, Black Drum, and Hard head Catfish so we did end up feeling some fish after all.
We owe Jimmy a big thank you and really enjoyed the day and plan to see him again when Stephen and myself will be back down in the area in Oct. for a few weeks preparing for the Florida Catfish Classic which will be held in Wewahitchka which is close by.
Here's a few pics. of yesterdays outing. Schoe
1. Throwing for Cobia
2.Trolling in shipping lane
3. On the run
4 and 5. Steve with Speckled Trout
Jimmy has caught many Sharks out of and around Mexico Beach area and offered to take us out yesterday. Jimmy's boat is a 21' Sea Hunt, which is named "Miss Pearl", whose name probably derived from the fact that he and his wife Marie, own and operate Emerald Coast Jewelry here in Mexico Beach.
The boat was launched from the City dock In Port St. Joe where we took approx a 8-10 mile boat ride to the "Shark Hole" that I have heard so much about over the last 3 years but have never been there. As the Crow flies it is straight out the bay from where we are staying.
We arrived there shortly and began doing some "Chumming" with some odds and ends that I was saving in the freezer for such an occasion. We baited up with chunks of fish and began to fish. All the way out there and while we were fishing the wind was building a little at a time. There hadn't been any fish showing on his Combo Fish Locator and GPS when we cruised the area before anchoring but we gave it a good shot anyway.
We pulled Anchor and headed for the Shipping Lane buoys. Easing past the first one Jimmy spotted three Cobia laying under it so Stephen began throwing a large white Jig with some kind of wiggly attached. Jimmy did a great job handling the boat in the wind and ripping current so Steve could work the buoy with that bait. The Cobia weren't hungry or had lock jaw so we went through some real rough water to get where the birds were working the surface and Trolled lures all around trying to catch something. Nothing showed up except bait-fish on the screen. After about an hour of getting beat up by the waves we headed back to the end of Cape San Blas where the wind couldn't get to and threw some live Shrimp where Stephen hooked and landed a Spanish Mackerel which slipped out of his hands back into the water before I could get any pictures. I hooked up with something that got off before I got it to the boat.
The decision was made to get out of the bay to avoid the rough water so we headed toward the Inland Waterway. This was a real rough ride back at half throttle or less and it was a pleasure to hit the mirror water of the Canal where we headed full throttle for some of Jimmy's favorite fish producing spots.
Our first stop we threw live shrimp and caught lots of undersized Speckled Trout and some nice Pin fish that would have been some awesome offshore bait . We moved around to several other places and caught Croakers, Trout, Black Drum, and Hard head Catfish so we did end up feeling some fish after all.
We owe Jimmy a big thank you and really enjoyed the day and plan to see him again when Stephen and myself will be back down in the area in Oct. for a few weeks preparing for the Florida Catfish Classic which will be held in Wewahitchka which is close by.
Here's a few pics. of yesterdays outing. Schoe
1. Throwing for Cobia
2.Trolling in shipping lane
3. On the run
4 and 5. Steve with Speckled Trout