Monster Land:
Due to a very big wind named Irene, the 39 hour Florida Fisherman ll trip, August 26, was a hit or miss project until Friday morning. The weather report called for 15 to 20 kt winds; not too bad for a 72 foot catamaran. A couple of weeks ago we did extremely well on large mutton snapper and scamp grouper. We fished an area known as "Twin Peaks". Finally, we discovered some fish NOAA has not attacked, yet! We wanted another shot at these fun to catch, great to eat fish. Let's go!
We left Hubbard's Marina promptly at three P.M. Friday afternoon. White caps were prevalent as far as the eye could see. And, much to our dismay, that darn wind decided to be a big blow hard with, I think just to annoy us, a great deal of Westerly movement. Never-the-less, we were all in a go for it mood! So that we did. The ride out was very bumpy; however, most of us were able to sleep.
Sometime after midnight Captain Hubbard anchored the Florida Fisherman over the twin peaks; we were ready to go! Problem was, the fish were, for the most part, still asleep. All of a sudden, without warning, something big, really big, hit Mister Craig Scott's light snapper rig. Oh no! finally a fish. "Why is my first fish a monster?" It was man verses beast. Good thing for Craig, bad for the monster, Craig is a seasoned veteran. After about ten minutes of give & take, mostly give, we finally saw color. It's big, really big! It's red and has teeth like a barracuda. Only one thing it could be, cubera snapper. Cubera snapper, the overgrown, mangrove snapper look alike with the big teeth. As this prize of the deep hit the deck, a loud roar of applause filled the darkness of the night. The first cubera we have seen in years. Congratulations Craig, a job well done, well done indeed! After coming down out of the clouds, Craig decided to follow up with a mutton. No problem! mutton on the deck. Then, as if that was not enough, this pro of the pro's decided to try his luck with a dry line. No sooner said than done, king fish on the deck of the Florida Fisherman. Craig, even before the sun decided to make an appearance, had an excellent catch. For us ordinary mortals, the fishing was slow. A fish every now & then; however, for most of us, it appeared that the fish were just not interested in being the number one guest at our little dinner party. Oh well! guess that's why they call it fishing; not catching. Oh! we were catching fish, just not as fast as we would like. Later on, the, "Near extinct" American red snapper decided it was dinner time. Mister Tony Baker landed some very impressive American reds. Then, without warning, all heck broke loose; the American reds were everywhere. We could catch nothing else. Luckily, we were accompanied by a real professional, Mister Jon Wolfson, FWC Reef Fish Tagging Project. Wonder where NOAA was? Mister Wolfson studied, measured, tagged, and released red snapper after red snapper. Luckily, we were able to provide him with a great deal of study materials. Many were tagged, all were properly vented and sent back to their watery homes. Most recovered instantly, dove, and will be ready to fight again. Thank you FWC! Thanks for collecting real data, data from on the water, not from behind the desk!
The amber jacks were also ready for a fight. Virtually everyone who so desired, easily caught their two day limit. Mister Michael Bench was all smiles after catching a very respectful muscle man of the deep. Talk about muscle power. It took a total team effort to out-muscle a real monster of the deep, a huge amber jack. Even with 125 pound test line, and a 12 / 0 Penn Senator, the battle reached epic proportions. Truly a fight for the ages, a classic battle to the finish. Question was, the finish of whom? The drag on that over-grown reel was singing a song. How can this be? That drag had been set very tight. What kind of fish is this? Finally, after 1/2 hour, and battling from the stern to the very front of the Florida Fisherman, we saw color. Will screamed, "It's an amber jack, it's an amber jack, hurry! the gaff, the gaff!" Only one problem, the monster was too big to be hoisted with one gaff. Even with two gaffs, it was still a struggle. This beast had a head as big as a bucket. What a fish! What a fight! Gosh! We will not get another shot at, "Monster Land" until September 16. Then we will be targeting gag grouper. I will be counting the days! If the weather will give us a chance, it should be a red hot two months.
Bob Harbison Native Florida Recreational Fisherman
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Craig shows off his big cubera snapper. James gaffed the monster:
Craig, Captain Mark Hubbard, Jon Wolfson (FWC) admire:
The teeth of a cubera :
Cubera weigh in @ 40 pounds:
Craig's mutton snapper:
Craig's king fish: (Craig, (L) James, Vince, Bob)
Mister Tony Baker lands an ARS:
Mister Jon Wolfson (FWC) hard @ work (On the water data) Jon tags an ARS for future study:
Jon shows the correct way to vent a fish:
Current (on the water) data is recorded:
Jon releases ARS to fight again:
Michael Bench is very proud of his nice AJ:
Will fights a monster
What a brute (James (L), Vince, Will:
Captain Mark Hubabrd weighs in AJ @ 105.9 pounds:
Look at the fish on that fish finder:
The Gulf of Mexico Twin Peaks:
A real Italian dinner:
Big, really big! (James (L), Vince, Captain Mark, Craig, Tammy:
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