iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

A Nice Trip to the Gulf of Mexic

Started by YellowHammer, October 17, 2015, 08:57:03 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

YellowHammer

Even though we live in North Alabama, we spend a decent amount of time fishing the Gulf of Mexico, anywhere from Apalachicola, Fl to Mobile, Al depending on the season.  We have a twin engine Pursuit center console that lets us go a decent ways offshore, and through the years we have caught some nice fish including tuna, grouper, snapper, anything that bites and pulls hard.  This is our latest trip which we just came back from today.  Here's some pics.  This is a nice red snapper about 30 inches long. 


Here's my mom with an amberjack,


The ever present sharks making life miserable.  We caught this one on 20 lb line and took about an hour.  It was about 6 or 7 foot long.
 

Me with a pretty king mackeral


Mrs Yellowhammer with a huge red snapper


And the view of the setting sun at the end of an 85 mile round trip on a flat calm day.


Now its time to get back to work.
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

wolf nemeth

   Nice!!  I don't get to fish often, but those days are some of my favorite memories...
If you  don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else!

Chuck White

Looks like everyone had a good time.

I used to like offshore fishing when I was in Alaska, nothing else like it!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

WDH

What a great trip.  I see some fried fish in your future  ;D. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

4x4American

Looks like a lot of fun!  Some nice fish...something I've never done is deep sea fishing...what do ya do when you catch a shark?  Can you get the hook out?
Boy, back in my day..

thecfarm

Looks like some nice fish and nice company too.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

drobertson

Looks like a fantastic day!  Will be looking at the food, food, food, topic for some of the table fare ;D
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

YellowHammer

Quote from: 4x4American on October 18, 2015, 08:05:32 AM
Looks like a lot of fun!  Some nice fish...something I've never done is deep sea fishing...what do ya do when you catch a shark?  Can you get the hook out?
Problem with sharks is it has to be played long enough to identify it, otherwise it could be a sea monster of a more desirable species.  We've caught some really nice fish in the past, and some started out as "it's just a shark" and ended up as "look at the size of that tuna, cobia, etc (fill in the blank)"

If the sharks aren't too big, I like to haul them in the boat, roll them in their back to put them to sleep, and get the hook out, it's fun, a little dangerous, and let's folks see that they aren't as quite as bad as they look.  Lots more fish in the sea have a much badder attitude, with teeth and dispositions about like piraƱa.  I had a buddy of mine get his finger cut to the bone several years ago when he tried to unhook a typical red snapper.  As he was bleeding all over the boat he kept yelling "the fish just reached up and bit me!" and I told him that they're called snapper for a reason!  Fish in the ocean have two options, either get bitten or bite back, and they much prefer to bite first. 

I have a passion for saltwater fishing, having originally lived in Orlando as a kid, and we still take our vacations hardcore fishing, the engines fired up at daylight, shut them off at dark.  We've had three saltwater boats over the years, and our present one is nearing the end of its reliable service life, as the saltwater takes a huge toll on equipment.  I've got more than enough logged hours to qualify as a professional charter caption, and one of these days may get certified.  I've even thought of being a charter captain in my retirement.  Some of the fun is watching people who have never been offshore see things they've never seen before, such as the almost glowing cobalt blue water of the Gulf Stream, or the land disappearing over the horizon as the boat heads offshore, or acres of big, hungry feeding fish exploding water in the air and chasing bait and feeling them hit the sides of the the boat, or families of wild dolphin (Flippers) with newborns swimming along with the boat, incredible and sometimes deadly weather, or fighting a fish that is trying to break their back and pull them down to the deck.  It's raw and untamed, and I need a dose every now and then.




YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

LaneC

  Nice catch. That used to be my biggest passion, except spearfishing. I like poles too, but it is like hunting underwater. How far out did you have to go? Those sure are some good eating snapper there.
Man makes plans and God smiles

fishpharmer

Great photos, fish and description of offshore fishing.  Thanks
Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. 
Lucas 618 with 50" slabber
WoodmizerLT-40 Super Hydraulic
Deere 5065E mfwd w/553 loader

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

4x4American

Thanks for the detailed reply, yh!  The way you described it painted a great picture in my mind.  Maybe one day I'll take a charter with some friends.
Boy, back in my day..

Magicman

Thanks for taking us along.  It has been many years since I/we went out, but those times were very enjoyable.  We once got into Spanish Mackerel that just would not quit biting, and we were the only ones on the boat that wanted fish.  Those were some excellent fillets.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Glenn1

Robert,  Those are some very impressive fish that you and Mrs YH pulled from the sea.  When I was a kid, I lived on a canal in Miami Beach.  I would walk ten minutes to get to the Newport Pier.  The old timers took me under their wing and showed me how to catch king mackerel using a long surf rod to send a 4-5 oz weight as far as I could send it.  Then I would use a boat rod with a live bait fish  and slide it down the line of the surf rod.  There was a cloths pin that would unsnap the line when the live bait was hit and the fight would be on.  It was similar to using the kite method but much easier to get it set up.  There were always tons of baitfish around the pier as it was only 2 miles at most from the Gulf Stream.

Another fond memory was sitting outside along the canal.  Many times, huge schools of mullet would come down the canal and get trapped when a school of jacks would approach.  The mullet would be flying every which way to get away and more than a few actually jumped onto the grass bordering the canal.  It was a crazy scene and showed what a fish would do for self preservation.

When you are a professional Captain, Jeanne and I may want to hire your services for a day.  We are avid scuba divers so we feel very comfortable on the water.

Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

YellowHammer

Thanks for all the responses, the stories and comments you've made bring back more memories of my own. I've seen the Spanish bite Magic describes where the bait were jumping into the boat to escape, and the jacks Gelnn1 talks about made an appearance as well this trip and we caught enough to hurt our arms and backs.  Although I've never been spearfishing I'm always tempted to give it a try. 
Sometimes we fish a few hundred yards off the beach, sometimes 35 or so miles, depending on what's hitting and of course, the weather. 
Here's a cool picture my daughter took this last June as we were dodging in and out of some pretty wicked squalls about 25 miles out.  If you look at the bottom right hand of the photo, you'll see a little black dot, it's a boat, and for some reason they misjudged and got hammered in the storm.  We didn't get wet.  It's all what makes ocean fishing exiting and intense, once you push off from the dock, you never know what experiences you'll have, but generally, they will last a lifetime. 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

4x4American

awesome picture...bet it looked better in real life!
Boy, back in my day..

Ianab

Last trip to Cook Islands we did a Game Fishing charter. Advantage there is that "deep sea" is maybe a 1/2 mile offshore.  I remember the depth sounder said ~3,000 ft, and I still had Wi-fi coverage from the rental house on my phone   :D

We went out a bit further (couple of miles) and were in ~10,000 ft. But no action, so the skipper took us back to what must be his "spot X", about a 1/4 mile off the end of the airport runway, and we hooked up a ~40lb Wahoo. We took home 1/2 the fish, and ate wahoo steaks for 3 days  :D

This time we just paddled in the lagoon, but I know what you mean about there being meaner fish. Picasso triggerfish are only thing that's every Chased me in the water. They aren't a big fish, only about a foot long, but they have an attitude, and jaws that crack open shellfish.... Put it this way, I was the one that turned around and swam away.  :o
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

thecfarm

Glad I came back to this thread. Great stories you have to share YellowHammer.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

LaneC

   Ianab, We have the Ocean trigger and Queen trigger here in the Gulf. (the ones I know of) When spearfishing, the ocean triggers are very aggressive and will bite the crap out of you. They will bite through a wet suit easily. They also attack any fish you shoot while spearfishing, even one another. And they do hurt when they bite, but the good thing is they have very white meat and very very good to eat, just very hard to clean. I had 6 on my gun at 1 time. I would take as many as possible to eat. They are my wifes favorite. I hope I am not hijacking this thread, I will be quiet. It just brings back good memories. Thanks for the original post.
Man makes plans and God smiles

Raider Bill

Seems like a chain saw is what I normally think of when skinning trigger fish. That skin is tough.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Ianab

This is a Picasso from our last trip. Beautiful fish, but they have a serious attitude  :D



We could see them cruising the lagoon at low tide, maybe 20 ft off the beach.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

WV Sawmiller

YH,

   Looks like a real nice outing. I grew up near that area you describe but we never fished salt water.

IANB,

   Good pix of the trigger fish. I used to scuba dive and spear fish in the Red Sea when I was working in Jeddah Saudi Arabia and we had them there. I did not know about their attitude till I swam over one's nest and it kept attacking my fin. They can sure be real aggressive attacking someone so much bigger than them.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

YellowHammer

Our triggers aren't nearly as colorful as Ianab's.  Ours are gray and mean little guys, but are great eating, as you guys say.  Trouble is, it takes a big trigger to make a small fillet ;D
Triggerfish are great indicators of how hard a place has been fished.  If the first bait drop or two never hits bottom because the triggers hold it and the 8 oz weight at midwater and devour it, or a mega trigger is the first in the boat, then it means nobody has been fishing the spot because triggers are the first to get caught and the red snapper on the spot are going to be big and stupid. 
We hit a spot last year off Destin, about 5 miles out on natural bottom that had so many triggerfish that we couldn't get past them.  Literally clouds of them about 20 feet down.  I told my brother if we fell in the water, we would be eaten to the bone before the Sharks would have a chance against us. Even our weights were coming up with teeth marks, all scratched up.


YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Thank You Sponsors!