The fish were on fire all night & day!
Friday, July 1, a special 39 hour trip, Florida Fisherman style, to the famous Florida Middle Grounds. For the first time in years, two very special people traveled from Tallahassee to Madeira Beach to see what was so special about the Florida Fisherman & the Florida Middle Grounds. Dr. Brian Jacobson, Psychologist, & Mister Joel Devolentine, administrator, have spent a life time helping those in trouble; both are retired Department of Juvenile Justice employees. Both have given so much; now, it's finally time to set back, relax, and catch some fish. Our Captains for this marathon excursion will be Chris, and Buddy. Together, they represent decades of experience stretching from the Northern Gulf of Mexico to the Dry Tortugas. These two highly respected Captains share a common goal:
"Nothing is more rewarding than finding fish for our guests and watching them reeling them in." Boy! were they ever rewarded on this trip.
It is a very good idea to always arrive a few hours early. John's Pass Village has so much to offer. Hubbard's own Friendly Fisherman Restaurant, is a must stop for the sea food connoisseur. Specializing in fresh fish, this world class sea food restaurant proudly serves the famous Florida grouper sandwich, and follows a motto that, "If our fish were any fresher, they would still be swimming around in the Gulf." Brian & Joel decided their trip would not be complete without sampling this signature Florida treat. Great! was their only reply; they were too stuffed to talk. And, best of all, this casual but elegant restaurant will, cook, for a very minimal fee, for us, the fish we have just caught on any of Hubbard's boats. Served with two sides and the restaurant's signature corn fritters, this is really something. OK! now we are full! What else can we see and do? What can our families do while we are out fishing, Well! John's Pass Village has something for everyone. How about shopping in the one hundred unique shops, or a visit to the 1,100 foot long John's Pass board walk? Like to watch dolphin play? We can even relive history on an authentic pirate ship. Arrive a few hours early, you will be glad you did.
OK! It is now three P. M. and the Florida Fisherman is ready for our assault on the Florida Middle Grounds. We will be fishing very deep into the Grounds. The fish rich Florida Middle Grounds, with its thirty foot ledges, is home to over one hundred seventy species of fish, including, our target for this trip, the American Red Snapper. The Grounds are located one hundred miles North West of Madeira Beach Florida. The Florida Middle Grounds, thirty-five miles wide & sixty-five miles long, offers a bonanza for the serious recreational fisherman. Virtually every ledge holds an abundance of fish. And then there are the hundreds of ship wrecks that dot the Middle Grounds. Simply put, locate a wreck, and you will find fish. Both the mighty Amber Jack, and hard hitting, hard fighting, American Red Snapper, love these old sunken ships.
As we are preparing to leave, our first mate, Will, carries out a safety seminar. Then, the John's Pass draw bridge opens wide for us, and we are on our way. As we pull out into the Gulf of Mexico, we witness hundreds enjoying the tropical, crystal clear, warm water, and the sun bleached pure white sands of Madeira Beach. Kina makes us want to jump in and join them; however, we are on a mission, we have a date, a date to meet Mister American Red snapper.
We will hit the Grounds just after midnight. Many of us like to begin fishing immediately. We have developed our own special methods of preparing Spanish sardines, our bait of choice. First, we cut off the tails to help prevent spinning as our offerings are heading one hundred-fifty feet down to meet Mister red snapper. We store our bait in small insulated lunch boxes. A mixture of salt and ice will insure that our Spanish sardines are ready when we are. We will be using forty pound test mono line, forty pound fluorocarbon leader, 5/0 circle hooks, and a six ounce barrel sinker.
1:00 A. M. captains Chris and Buddy sound the alarm! Go get them, and that we did. From the very begging the American Red and mangrove snapper were ready for breakfast, and we were ready to serve them. In fact, when the sun decided to make a showing, many of us had our two day limit of four beautiful American red snapper. The mangroves were also hungry, but the reds refused to share their breakfast. Many very impressive, out of season, gag grouper, and amber jacks, were also coming over the rail of the Florida Fisherman. This went on all day long. As one season closes, we simply target something else. The Grounds have so much to offer every single month of the year. We sure kept our mates busy, Vince had a difficult time gaffing Mister John Donovan's AJ. This monster just will not say, I have had it, you win!
Mister Tony Baker, as did all of us, had an outstanding catch. Tony caught some real monster red snapper, many mangrove, vermilion snapper, and a huge red grouper. Very impressive gag grouper were being caught on a regular basis. Mister Wayne Erwin really had a struggle with some monster gags and American reds.
A quick trip to the wheel house displayed a fish finder featuring a tremendous school of American reds off the bottom, and grouper on the bottom, and they were ready for a fight! Vince & Will love to show off our red snapper. I sometimes think they were every bit as proud as we were. Our Captains, Chris & Buddy, were beaming with excitement, after all, they love this stuff as much as we do.
And then, not to be left out, is the lady who holds this thing together, the lady who makes absolutely sure we do not loose a pound. Miss Tammy (Hahn) Koota, Toms River N. J. Once we have tasted this lady's speciality, 1/3 pound cheese burgers, with all the trimmings, there is really absolutely no wonder why we want to visit the Florida Fisherman again & again. OH! that chicken Alfredo we had for dinner was so good I had to have seconds. We consider Tammy our gift from heaven. She is one of a kind! Great food, plenty of fish, and a seventy-two foot long aluminum catamaran to fish from, and the sound of pure power! Twin 1,150 HP Caterpillar diesels, are music to our ears. Who could ask for anything more? Well, how about very comfortable AC'ed bunks? Talk about heaven on earth!
In all, the entire boat, for the fifth consecutive week end, limited out on our target, American reds. We also caught mangrove, vermilion & yellow tail snapper, amber Jack, gag & red grouper,( now out of season, but not for long), trigger fish, porgies, and sharks. As our marathon trip neared its end, we proudly posed with many of the different types of fish we harvested. Check out an ever so proud group of tired, happy fishermen and crew.
First row: Mister Tony Baker & one of our over worked mates, we saw to that, Mister Vince Taaffe. Second row: Mister Joel Devolentine, Doctor Brian Jacobson, and Captain Buddy Bradham.
Finally, as our catch is unloaded, our extravaganza comes to an end, our fish are distributed, and our trusted mate, Vince, cleans our fish. Many will end up, as a fresh fish breakfast, on the tables of the Friendly Fisherman restaurant.
Excitement for next weekend's trip to the fish famous Florida middle Grounds is already building. Hopefully, once again, the fish will be on fire all night and day.
Bob Harbison a Florida native recreational fisherman.
The Friendly Fisherman Restaurant will cook your fish:
The Famous John's Pass Board Walk & Pirate Ship:
Safety is first. Will gives safety instructions:
Madeira Beach second to none:
Bait & Gear:
Vince pulls in AJ:
Mister John Donovan & large AJ:
Mister Tony Baker & large red grouper:
Mister Wayne Erwin & big gag:
A huge school of ARS shows up:
Vince shows off a fine ARS
Will shows off ARS:
Chef Tammy (Hahn) Koota of N. J. & her pride & Joy
Proud of our accomplishments:
Handing out the catch:
Vince is an expert at cleaning our fish:
