I’ve only been bottom fishing offshore a few times. I never had any real success at it, even when I went fishing with someone who told me they knew how to do it. I got a call asking if I wanted to go fishing with Sellsfish. I had heard stories and seen pictures, and my answer was YES!
We launched as the sun started to light up the sky. We ran out and caught bait very quickly. I was already witnessing efficiency that I hadn’t seen before. We got lots of lively, tasty little fish that we knew were going to get us grouper. I noticed Sells was really happy about how full the live well was getting and how good the baits were looking.
We rolled on out to some numbers he hadn’t been to in years. There were no other boats in sights, which he said was a really good sign. He watched the bottom machine and explained to me what he was seeing and what we were looking for. School was in session. “There are the triggers”, he said, “Drop 'em down!”
We all dropped our lines, and immediately I got hit hard. Guess what I reeled up…a trigger. It was like that all day. He would tell me what he saw, and that’s what I would catch. I have never been fishing with someone that good, and it was the most fun I’ve ever had fishing.
We ended the day with almost a 5-man limit of grouper, a limit of vermillion, some triggers, rudders, white grunts, and pinkies. We caught a lot of close-to-keeper size black sea bass. We caught 5 or 6 huge red snapper. The red snappers were heartbreaking to put back. We had to decompress them all, and one wasted about 20 minutes of our time with us reviving it before finally swimming back down. All I could think when the PITA snapper was being revived was when is a shark or barracuda going to grab this fish and his arm? Sells made it a point to make sure that fish lived. I probably would have given up after about 5 minutes of that.
So I learned a lot, made two new friends, and brought home some fantastic groceries. I think the only way to top this trip is to get an invite again. [
quote:He would tell me what he saw, and that's what I would catch. I have never been fishing with someone that good, and it was the most fun I've ever had fishing.
It’s a pure pleasure fishing with people who know how
Great report and pictures!
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Man I would love to get out there with you guys one day. I’m sure it will be the same kind of learning lesson for me nice haul and cleaning facilities lol.
Did not know that. Fished a week down in Destin and those guys had pinfish traps. Didn’t realize they were illegal here. Thanks for the info. Do you tip the sabiki with squid?
28 WA Hydra Sport
Twin 225 4 stoke Yammies
“Fin Loco”
