Capt. Rick of Purpose One Charters, myself, my cousin, and another certified bottom fishing angler fished today.
Current was tough- very tough -at the ledge this morning. Had to come inshore and bumped some new spots on the way back towards the rocks. Finished strong with a genuine red snapper and several gags out of about 80’ of water. Got windy on the way in, but a boat full of fish made the ride easier…
Brought home:
1 ARS (21 lbs)
5 gags
10 scamp
limit of B liners
limit of red porgies
8 or 9 triggers
a dozen or so assorted bottom dwellers
dang man… where was the call?? I actually had today off.
Just kiddin - good job! I was splashing the new boat today in the harbor. I looked for the truck @ Remly’s and was going to leave a note with my address for some groupa fillets.
Originally posted by hi_c
First year shrimp baiting. So in making my poles I used 1" PVC pipe at 10’ long and a 1’ piece of galvanized pipe in one end hammered to a flat blade for getting through oyster beds.
Originally posted by Flight risk
pro tip… Don’t set up on oyster beds. This creates a situation that is catostrophic to your net.
Originally posted by hi_c
First year shrimp baiting. So in making my poles I used 1" PVC pipe at 10’ long and a 1’ piece of galvanized pipe in one end hammered to a flat blade for getting through oyster beds.
Originally posted by Flight risk
pro tip… Don’t set up on oyster beds. This creates a situation that is catostrophic to your net.
Originally posted by hi_c
First year shrimp baiting. So in making my poles I used 1" PVC pipe at 10’ long and a 1’ piece of galvanized pipe in one end hammered to a flat blade for getting through oyster beds.
Originally posted by Flight risk
pro tip… Don’t set up on oyster beds. This creates a situation that is catostrophic to your net.
Yeah. Haven’t decided whether bulls bay or the harbor.
i have a question for you phin and the other guys you are always fishing with. Yall complain about the restrictions that are being proposed on the bottom fish, yet every couple of days you have a post with yall crushing the fish. What do you do with all the fish.
i have a question for you phin and the other guys you are always fishing with. Yall complain about the restrictions that are being proposed on the bottom fish, yet every couple of days you have a post with yall crushing the fish. What do you do with all the fish.
What do you want me to say?
“This many filets went to such and such boat dealer owner… this many filets went to such and such’s girlfriend’s family. Or this many filets went to the guy who washed the boat. This many filets went to SRFC this weekend… Etc. ??”
I apologize for the length of this reply, but it kind of rubs me the wrong way when we went out there and worked very hard for these fish. We don’t go out there and just drop a line. We spent most of the morning trying to find and catching bait by throwing a 10’ net. Covered about 100miles in a 26’ center console. Pulled the anchor and reset in different places during this trip more than 12 times. Used hand crank 4/0 or smaller reels. Got beat all up and soaked when it got sloppy on the way in… I can keep going, but that’d take away from the fact that we thoroughly enjoy doing all of it regardless of the work.
I understand how the fish are everyone’s in a way (until they are caught and are caught legally) and that you can legitimately ask us how we can complain about tighter restrictions. Frankly though, when we worked like dogs to get these fish and have this kind of success after days and days on the water all summer looking around and trying different things at a cost of thousands of dollars not including what we gave up to be out there to begin with, it stings to be asked what we do with all the fish. See where I’m coming from???
No i totally understand yall seem to be some of the best in the bottom fishing scene. I dont bottom fish so i dont care you can catch them all. But like you said you worked like dogs to catch the fish so you deserve them but i dont feel like you should complain about limit restrictions. When they come you will only have enough fish for those on the boat, So why not go ahead and start limiting yourself now and let the others catch their own. But also if you are gonna spend the time to find them might as well load up on them each to their own i guess.
also i am not only directing this thought towards you
No i totally understand yall seem to be some of the best in the bottom fishing scene. I dont bottom fish so i dont care you can catch them all. But like you said you worked like dogs to catch the fish so you deserve them but i dont feel like you should complain about limit restrictions. When they come you will only have enough fish for those on the boat, So why not go ahead and start limiting yourself now and let the others catch their own. But also if you are gonna spend the time to find them might as well load up on them each to their own i guess.
also i am not only directing this thought towards you
I agree- to each his own…
I used to keep every sea bass, dolphin, redfish and trout that was legal… That was because I didn’t catch that many and didn’t go fishing that often… I’ve never really thought much of any fish frozen except grouper and dolphin, but I never caught so many fish at the time that I couldn’t cook them up and have people over to get rid of them …
Now, I let all the trout and redfish go, and I don’t keep but a few sea bass. This is not unlike how I have no desire to kill and process a doe or small buck via rifle. Perhaps I will reach a point where I do not keep as many B liners and grouper also. I think everyone sort of progresses thru this type of thing if they spend enough time on the water catching fish or spend time hunting over the years, but then we reach a point when we are old and can’t go fishing anymore and a young’n brings us some fresh fish and even cooks it up for us. This is where fools like me come in.
I can’t speak for Purpose One’s charters. I would think it’d be rare to find a group who wouldn’t want to keep grouper and snapper. One charter this summer wouldn’t let him throw a cuda back. But then aga
A few things could be considered here.
1.) We post the pictures and reports because I am trying to build a business here. Therefore, there are other boats in the area commercial and charters that are doing just as well and in many instances way better than us, but they do not post here. So while it may look like we are the loan reapers, that is not true. In fact, the day we caught that 21lb ARS, another charter boat caught a 26lber.
2.) There are more than just recreational limit laws that go into play here. The laws reward those that know them.
3.) The reason we cry against restrictions is because we see the catch results. I will take a picture of B-Liners on my sounder and post it here. Some of the biggest offshore shows are of B-Liners. The B-Liner population here is alive and well. It would be like saying that Dolphin are over fished so we need to close the season for the month of May. You would say, but we are catching 30 or 40 a trip in May. Those catches are praised on CF. But, to me there is no difference. They will come for trollers and Dolphin one day. B-Liners and Gags are not over fished. Gags are also extremely plentiful in these waters. Only a handful of boats in C-Town can regularly catch them.
4.)Bag limits are there to limit the catch and that they do. We stop fishing certain areas once those are reached.
5.) As far as MPA’s you can bet that I am going to fish that area as much as possible because once it closes I will probably never get to fish in my life time. Then we will say things like , remember the good old days when we could fish Edisto Banks but that MPA sure messed that up.
6.) What kind of charter captain would I be if I did not catch fish? Charters are not cheap and I strive to make my trips the best my customers have ever experienced.
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