With the NE wind, we decided to stay a little closer to home and ran to the Scarp instead of GTH. Worked the ledge from 8-11:30 and didn’t lose a ballyhoo. Also forgot the planer back at the house that morning and I am 100% sure there is a direct correlation between the lack of bites and not having a bait down deep.
Rigged up the jigging rods and decided to go look for some bottom as we do not spend much time that far north. 10 minutes in to the first live bottom drop in 110’ and I hook up on a shark. Can’t do a (() thing with it as it peels off line headed to the abyss. Then it suddenly stops and I am rocked… After circling the shark turned grouper for a couple of minutes trying every trick in the book to get the (() thing out from under the ledge, Reel Dirty suggests I just bang the bastard’s head against the rock over and over and hard as I can. After about 5 good whacks the fish wanted nothing more to do with it and swam out and straight to the boat, didn’t even have to reel him up…
Spent another twenty minutes with nothing other than a few seabass and triggers to show for the effort and moved on to a new MU #. Reel Dirty lost 68% of a seabass that had taken his jig to a grown barracuda and decided to drop it back down to the bottom. Tick, tick, tick, BOOM.
And that was it, didn’t catch any bliners (we were rigged heavy and using artificial, mostly) and the seabass we did catch were nice fish. Managed to snag about a dozen triggers that were released (insanity, I know) and a good time was had by all. Love watching the sun rise and set over the ocean this time of year. Hopefully we’ll get back out soon.
Do not tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don’t tell them