John caught this 14 lb. bonita on our reef trip Saturday. It fought so hard that his fishing rod broke! The broken piece stayed on the line and after maybe 15 minutes the fish finally tired out. Fishing on the reef is amazing, there are many things to see - porpoises and mating sea turtles were the day's highlights. It's always interesting to see what fish show up when you're chumming. This time it was thousands of ballyhoo. Imagine our surprise when, two different times, mackeral launched themselves about 20 feet across the water and dove into the school of ballyhoo. It was an amazing sight.
Kay showed off her master angler skills by landing this huge 24" yellowtail.
It was almost time to head back when John decided to jig with a lure he purchased for walleye fishing but thought he might try on this trip. As soon as it got to the bottom he got a bite but lost the lure when the big fish retreated into his coral cave and the line broke. He then put on another jig and lost that, too. Finally, with a heavier rod and another jig, he was able to land this trophy red grouper! The other lure was still in its mouth!
The grouper and the yellowtail were excellent eating. We cooked 1/2 of each in foil over charcoal and had us another fish feast. The bonita was cut up to use as bait. It worked great the next day.
Sunday was not very windy so we headed about 18 miles out to the gulf stream where we had success trolling for dolphin (mahi-mahi). The remarkable thing about them is their neon color in the water. Some flash bright blue, some yellow, just amazing.
This picture shows how Big Pine Key got its name.
We caught 7 - 2 big ones, 3 small ones, 2 were too small. We caught one on John's miracle lure, too. Jerry's big bull jumped several times in a spectacular display of sport fishing at its best. They will be delicious!
John caught this 14 lb. bonita on our reef trip Saturday. It fought so hard that his fishing rod broke! The broken piece stayed on the line and after maybe 15 minutes the fish finally tired out. Fishing on the reef is amazing, there are many things to see - porpoises and mating sea turtles were the day's highlights. It's always interesting to see what fish show up when you're chumming. This time it was thousands of ballyhoo. Imagine our surprise when, two different times, mackeral launched themselves about 20 feet across the water and dove into the school of ballyhoo. It was an amazing sight.
Kay showed off her master angler skills by landing this huge 24" yellowtail.
It was almost time to head back when John decided to jig with a lure he purchased for walleye fishing but thought he might try on this trip. As soon as it got to the bottom he got a bite but lost the lure when the big fish retreated into his coral cave and the line broke. He then put on another jig and lost that, too. Finally, with a heavier rod and another jig, he was able to land this trophy red grouper! The other lure was still in its mouth!
The grouper and the yellowtail were excellent eating. We cooked 1/2 of each in foil over charcoal and had us another fish feast. The bonita was cut up to use as bait. It worked great the next day.
Sunday was not very windy so we headed about 18 miles out to the gulf stream where we had success trolling for dolphin (mahi-mahi). The remarkable thing about them is their neon color in the water. Some flash bright blue, some yellow, just amazing. 
This picture shows how Big Pine Key got its name.
We caught 7 - 2 big ones, 3 small ones, 2 were too small. We caught one on John's miracle lure, too. Jerry's big bull jumped several times in a spectacular display of sport fishing at its best. They will be delicious! 
2 comments:
Amazing colors and fish! I love the story of the big, fat grouper and the magic lure. Did it really have another lure in its mouth? So, you lost two, got it on the third, and got back one of the lost ones??!
Wow, gorgeous pictures but hey, I wanna see the sea turtles;-) Thought you'd like to know - it's snowing here, yuck. We go to Cleveland for opening day for the Indians on Friday, hopefully no snow by then! Will be watching bball tonight and hopefully see Kaj in the audience! Go MSU!
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