Went Sunday and got one nice King plus bottom creatures sorry no pics that day, so yesterday Went again and no King… but awesome bottom fishing on fire, big surprise was three gorgeous cobia! Big tiger shark give Marty a strain for about 45 minutes and mile of following with boat until we finally saw what in was…12’ plus 500-800lb guess looked as big around as a 55 gallon barrel! also caught the usual waste fish ARS at least 20-25 trying for grouper, one about 30 lb used the descending device per the regs… big sharks loved those big fat ARS ( Lost six that we saw to the big S boys) and we use 100lb braid and little to no drag to horse the fish up to minimize stress. Fishing for grouper IS about imposable with the amount of ARS out there (fishing 60-110’) NO spot was without these things. Also caught about 30 of them Sunday trip! FEDS PLEASE step-up to help with some Common Sense bag limits for our area> >>>I have heard the “ecosystem has to eat. but I personally think we are the top of the food chain” and let the sharks catch their own fish instead of preying on fish that we could utilize!! OK sorry I had to Vent some but other than the “ARS trash Fish” it was two epic days of fishing! sorry no pics from Sundays trip 1-king, 21- Big BSB, 15 -vermillion, 4 -white grunts,4-triggers…(pics)Tuesdays trip 26,30,45 pound cobia, 2 -gag grouper,5 -grisby grouger,16 BSB, 11-vermillion, 6-triggers. stopped fishing at 1:00p… ANY support/solutions to help with the ARS issue would be awesome! (tags as deer???)
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Surely you are not questioning the wisdom of some government bureaucrat are you? Looks like you had a couple of darn good days.
Great pix and great report!!!
THANKS TRIPLE T, you made our day, and glad your days were made Sun. and Tues. too!!!
You are a gentleman fisherman, always enjoy your posts, thanks again.
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Now that’s a great report!! What a fantastic day!
Thanks for the great report.
Where are the kings? I went on 5/30 and again on 6/1 and found zero. Forgot pictures on 6/1 so did not post. All at spots where I have caught plenty before.
Bottom fishing and jig fishing was great in 90+ feet of water. Plenty in the fish box.
Sharks and ARS are a big problem, you are correct. Both obviously endangered as long as you get a paycheck from the endangerment. Otherwise - common. Also weird, the ever-present and often annoying reef donkeys must be 28 inches and a limit of one. Why? (Note, I like eating amberjack strange as that may seem.)
I have found that the “fish point” feature on my new boat’s joystick has helped me cut down on the ARS bycatch. If I catch a bunch of ARS just move a bit away but on the same structure or bottom area (still marking fish on the sounder but maybe not so many large fish higher in the water) and reset. It would be a ton of work with an anchor but easy this way. Moving position has helped with ARS but sharks are everywhere.
The snapper tag(s) idea is a great one. Heartbreaking to feed the sharks the big fish.
Keep posting, thanks for making me feel better about my failure to find kings.
Nice haul! Thanks for the report!!
With the new SC water legislation signed you can keep snappers caught in SC waters. Do the SC DNR enforce federal limits?
https://www.dnr.sc.gov/news/2022/may/may25-redsnapper.php
coosawyacht …thanks and yes I love ajs they are NOT trash fish if you prep them right! I only use the loins without the worms LOL but they are great fish for sure!
snickers… Not sure but the new law is for state waters. (3nm out) so not sure what good it is to us maybe it’s the first step???
My GUESS is that it is ok to posses them nearshore and at the docks, so DNR cannot arrest you for possessing them, and NO DNR cannot endorce federal laws, only Coast Guard I believe.
DNR checked us at the 60 reef(13 miles), and said they could only enforce license in federal waters.
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