    
John Cooper (Coopie)
New member
Username: Coopie
Post Number: 20
Registered: 8-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 | | Posted on Monday, June 02, 2008 - 8:22 am: | |
I usually Fish on Party Boats (head boat) in Brooklyn New York.
http://www.fishreports.net/fishing/messages/93/441.html is where I post my reports.
My wife and I went out on a half day boat from Key-West Florida.
The Tortuga V
78 degrees and sunny, 65 mph breeze.
A smallish Florida style catamaran party boat.
We had a good time and hooked a couple of fun Red Grouper. But they were shorts.
We had some Yellowtail snapper and grunts to keep.
The trip out is 45 min. and mostly we were fishing for small fish, all pecking away the large bait.
I found myself cutting the bait in half.
Plenty of cold squid & bally chunks.
The party boat was full of some the usual downfalls.
The "Full Gally" was crap, just candy-bars and chips. No coffee, just soda and beer.
Lots of crying for tips in the safety speech and trying to increase pool participation.
The usual spinning reel types stopping everybody else fighting big fish with light line and different bait & tackle.
Miraculously, the regular (who is a mates helper) won the pool.
There is always a Coast Guard safety message from the crew.
In Florida there are a lot of toxic spines and things to get you so be carefull.
There is no shade on this boat except in the cabin so screen up use a hat, glasses whatever.
The mates unhook all fish, if you let them.
The rig is a Knocker-rig: a #6 J hook tied right to the line through a 1 oz egg sinker.
If you can feel it a larger fish takes the bait without the pull of the sinker.
Some of these rigs were bastardized to suspend the bait 6 inches above the bottom.
We fished in 20 to 30 feet of water. There is some tide running and the boat (being shallow draft) lays to the wind.
So sometimes your line is under the boat.
Both the squid and ballyhoo are cut into chunks.
The real mates did not fish and were VERY attentive.
They would not let you unhook your own fish, really on top of the customers.
Your fish is marked and poot on ice instantly.
The boat is clean...heads ok too.
My wife was not the only lady on board.
The customers are all tourists, like me.
This is the cheapest way to go to the reef to fish in Key West.
It is 99% Charter-Boat here.
When you pull in to port, they throw you off the boat and then the pool is settled.
You get your fish while you stand on the dock.
Why? I don't know. Is this all the boats down here? I don't know.
See the giant Tarpons eat the bones as the mates fillet your fish for you.
Alonzo's, in the same marina, will cook your fillets for you! Nice place. |
