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Old 03-20-2012, 07:09 AM
 
Location: Port Charlotte
14 posts, read 30,122 times
Reputation: 15

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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarborRat View Post
Went down a little past Cape Haze, fished up the west wall and the northern deep hole today. We had 6 people fishing aboard my buddy's boat. We tried from 1ft to 23ft of water...shrimp, mullet chunks, and crab for bait at varying depths and delivery methods.

Did I mention I hate bait fishing? Well I gave it a shot, still hate it. The shrimp caught every trash fish we have in the harbor, the mullet got 1 nice keeper speck, and surprisingly the crab (quartered) was doing great with the sharks.

If you are looking for sharks bring some blue claw chunks, that is all they would touch it seems, got some nice size bonnets........btw, anyone tried to eat them? We caught and released a few big ones before checking the regulations on the smart phone..seems there is no size limit? Of course after checking we didn't catch any more and had to head home shortly thereafter.

Got a nice sun tan, beer buzz and only 1 in the cooler for the day....saw a lot of charter$$ boats doing worse. OH!...we brought a propane grill out there and cooked up some dogs, barbecue on the water...doesn't get much better.

I am not a big fish eater, but I did keep a nice bonnet last year and it was very good- very mild and meaty. I believe they are the best tasting shark here due to their diet of mostly crustaceans. You got the right idea about catching them using crabs and shrimp on the bottom. I kept a blacktip last week, but have yet to try it. They are also suppose to be good, second to the bonnet. No size limits on these, but to get some good meat- keep only a decent sized one.
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Old 03-20-2012, 09:32 AM
 
Location: Florida
1,646 posts, read 3,026,543 times
Reputation: 1126
Quote:
Originally Posted by adn222 View Post
We live in Alaska but are considering a move to Florida. My husband fishes for halibut and salmon up here in his 25 ft. aluminum boat with a hardtop and twin 115 (I think) Yamaha 4-stroke motors. We were in Florida in January and saw only fiberglass boats. My husband literally loves this boat for ocean fishing and would want to take it to Florida, but I'm thinking there must be some reason we saw no aluminum ocean-going boats. Is it just the way they look, or some other reason. Also, this is my first post, so I'm not even sure I'm doing it right. Thanks for any info
Main reason is big aluminums are hard to find down here! I would own one in a heartbeat. The gator hunters all use bigger ones, pontoon boats have aluminum "hull"s and there are many small aluminum jon boats in the back...so no reason not to have one offshore, other than lightening strikes and bottom paint issues. You need good bottom paint here with the warm water if you keep it in the slip...you can't use the usual copper bottom paint as it will eat the aluminum. It's tough to find good paint made for aluminum.

With the price of aluminum so high, everyone goes for the cheaper fiberglass. In Alaska you have more aluminums probably because of the freezing temps...fiberglass does not like to freeze, especially when waterlogged.

Keep in mind most of the big commercial guys have metal hulls because they know they will last.

Bring that thing down!
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Old 03-20-2012, 11:13 AM
 
Location: Alaska
22 posts, read 45,988 times
Reputation: 22
Thanks for the great info! Wouldn't have known about the bottom paint issue. He likes to trailer it because of the flexibility on where he can fish, and the thought of being able to fish in warm weather year round is amazing. Wish we could move tomorrow but will probably have to work a few more years. In the meantime, I'll keep reading the forums, and when we finally move, I'll feel like I'm right at home. Sure hate passing up some of the great buys on housing I've seen, however. Good luck with the fishing!
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Old 03-20-2012, 02:45 PM
 
3,409 posts, read 4,888,406 times
Reputation: 4249
We're in the same boat. (Pun intended). We can't move yet either, but have made great friends already, JUST by frequenting this forum! We have a lot in PC that we hope to build on, but in the meantime, we come down and visit when we can, and stay with our great friends HH and his lovely wife. And we met because of this board! Same with us and pcozad, Big House, the Sunshines and SoFlGal! So....stick around! You WILL make great friends!
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Old 03-20-2012, 03:35 PM
 
Location: Alaska
22 posts, read 45,988 times
Reputation: 22
Thanks so much. It's good to know there are so many nice, friendly people there!
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Old 03-21-2012, 07:09 PM
 
Location: Florida
1,646 posts, read 3,026,543 times
Reputation: 1126
I did the unthinkable today...

We went on my buddies boat today since mine is still waiting for parts. If you ever see a pontoon with parrots and stuff on the side, that's us in his boat...can't miss it. Anyway, we went more for a test cruise than a fishing trip, but brought rods and bait (and beer) just in case.

We saw lots of activity on the surface all over the northern harbor area. Black fins sticking out of the water, sometimes one at a time, sometimes two or three...small fins, not dolphin or sharks. Sometimes they looked like cobia fins, other times big ray fins and maybe even triple tail. Well, we never figured out what they were. Some report huh?

We were just drifting in the harbor enjoying the breeze and cool weather with some baits out. We tried crab quarters and mullet chunks, top and bottom.

I caught a large sail cat...I think it was the first sail cat I've ever caught but not sure...anyway we decided to keep it as it had lots of meat. I have never kept a catfish before. Even when I eat it at a restaurant I fool myself into thinking it was farm raised in Louisiana or something just so I don't get grossed out. This is what coming from New Jersey and the Delaware River will do to you!

Long story short, I did the unthinkable...filleted up two big cats; one sail and one of the big normal ones (whatever they are called). Fried them in beer batter...pretty damn good, and they both tasted the same to me. So now I've tried mullet and catfish...two trash fish...and thought they were both very good to excellent. I might single-handedly rid the harbor of these junk fish for ya'all.

You're welcome. Burp.
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Old 03-22-2012, 05:35 AM
 
Location: Port Charlotte
463 posts, read 866,857 times
Reputation: 146
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarborRat View Post
I did the unthinkable today...

We went on my buddies boat today since mine is still waiting for parts. If you ever see a pontoon with parrots and stuff on the side, that's us in his boat...can't miss it. Anyway, we went more for a test cruise than a fishing trip, but brought rods and bait (and beer) just in case.

We saw lots of activity on the surface all over the northern harbor area. Black fins sticking out of the water, sometimes one at a time, sometimes two or three...small fins, not dolphin or sharks. Sometimes they looked like cobia fins, other times big ray fins and maybe even triple tail. Well, we never figured out what they were. Some report huh?

We were just drifting in the harbor enjoying the breeze and cool weather with some baits out. We tried crab quarters and mullet chunks, top and bottom.

I caught a large sail cat...I think it was the first sail cat I've ever caught but not sure...anyway we decided to keep it as it had lots of meat. I have never kept a catfish before. Even when I eat it at a restaurant I fool myself into thinking it was farm raised in Louisiana or something just so I don't get grossed out. This is what coming from New Jersey and the Delaware River will do to you!

Long story short, I did the unthinkable...filleted up two big cats; one sail and one of the big normal ones (whatever they are called). Fried them in beer batter...pretty damn good, and they both tasted the same to me. So now I've tried mullet and catfish...two trash fish...and thought they were both very good to excellent. I might single-handedly rid the harbor of these junk fish for ya'all.

You're welcome. Burp.
I caught and cooked a jack cravel and my wife loved it.
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Old 03-22-2012, 05:41 AM
 
9,742 posts, read 4,495,432 times
Reputation: 3981
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarborRat View Post
I did the unthinkable today...

We went on my buddies boat today since mine is still waiting for parts. If you ever see a pontoon with parrots and stuff on the side, that's us in his boat...can't miss it. Anyway, we went more for a test cruise than a fishing trip, but brought rods and bait (and beer) just in case.

We saw lots of activity on the surface all over the northern harbor area. Black fins sticking out of the water, sometimes one at a time, sometimes two or three...small fins, not dolphin or sharks. Sometimes they looked like cobia fins, other times big ray fins and maybe even triple tail. Well, we never figured out what they were. Some report huh?

We were just drifting in the harbor enjoying the breeze and cool weather with some baits out. We tried crab quarters and mullet chunks, top and bottom.

I caught a large sail cat...I think it was the first sail cat I've ever caught but not sure...anyway we decided to keep it as it had lots of meat. I have never kept a catfish before. Even when I eat it at a restaurant I fool myself into thinking it was farm raised in Louisiana or something just so I don't get grossed out. This is what coming from New Jersey and the Delaware River will do to you!

Long story short, I did the unthinkable...filleted up two big cats; one sail and one of the big normal ones (whatever they are called). Fried them in beer batter...pretty damn good, and they both tasted the same to me. So now I've tried mullet and catfish...two trash fish...and thought they were both very good to excellent. I might single-handedly rid the harbor of these junk fish for ya'all.

You're welcome. Burp.
I saw those same black fins this past sunday near the 41 bridges. I was just taking the boat out for a cruise following some minor boat issues and decided not to bother bringing any rods. What a mistake.
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Old 03-22-2012, 05:42 AM
 
Location: Port Charlotte
463 posts, read 866,857 times
Reputation: 146
Went out yesterday afternoon. The harbor was rough and got worse out past cape haze reef.Got a few trout before the hurricane wind and monsoon like rain started.Just a hint there are some big snook in bull bay and they like live shrimp on a float. This was our first bad weather day of the year and with summer just around the corner it's time to start watching those afternoon thunder storms.It was a wet slow ride back to the dock. If I get out of work early today might try the peace river.
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Old 03-22-2012, 08:11 AM
 
Location: Port Charlotte, FL
230 posts, read 407,333 times
Reputation: 201
Default Life is rough in paradise!

yeah yeah yeah....boo hoo

We got 3 more inches of snow last night.

I need the summer to get here so I can get some projects done so I can sell and move down to paradise.

I keep showing my wife the Crow's Nest web cam so she can see yet again another boring nice day.
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