Nov 21 and Nov 22 Charter results
Capt. John GiddyUp-Bunch
November 22, 2008
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
It is 4AM on Saturday. The wind is howling and temps in the 40's in SW FL. Talk about a major Blowski. Anyway, I'm up and good to my promise offer the results of Thur/Fri back to back trips.
Upon arriving Thurs AM in 28 feet of water, it was windy and cold. Water temp was 56. Last Sunday, the water temp was 76. By noon the water temp had increased to 62. By 2PM, 64. The wind went totally slack at 2:01 when my charter was over.
For the first 2 Hours, my customers probably wondered "what the hell am I doing out here freezin' my nuts off and payin' my good money for this no action BS?" I wondered the same thing about them. "What kind of freakin' guy would wish to chase fish on a day like this?" Just when I thought "probably would pay $1000 per hour to get away from his Ball and Chain" the Port Side Rod went off first followed immediately by the starboard side. Drags were singing and I did what I always do first. HIT THE MAN OVERBOARD FEATURE ON MY LOWRANCE (I love Lowrance Systems because they are so simple to understand and I am King Simple). Anyway, 1 nice 23" Gag Grouper and a 20" we had to return to mother gulf. About 50 minutes later as water was warming, another slam. This was no grouper. It had to be a King or Cobia, It was a kingfish of about 22 LBS. That little sucker fought my customer like a 40LB King. He was returned to mother gulf as well. At about 11AM, I was joined my 3 other boats who knew my boat. Everyone is friendly on the water to me. 'Hey GiddyUp, what color are you usin'?" "No habla ingles?" We started to torch Grouper on Big Lip lures as soon as my audience arrived. I swear to this. One boat (cleverly) ran my exact trolling pattern where we had a second DOUBLE HOOKUP. They didn't catch JACK. Finally I showed them my lure. SDRB600-6H is the code on the Mann's Box.
What people don't ask me or don't notice is my rigging. GiddyUp would rather take a bullet than use a swivel. Line to Bimini Twist to triple surgeons to canoe knot. My rigging is dead-on precise. They were using swivels and inexpensive leader. I was using no swivel and 60LB Light Pink Yo-Zuri. We were catching fish (i was encouraging my customers to yell and arch that back as to really piss off the other boats) and they were getting skunked.
We ended up with 3 Kings, 1 undersize Cobia, a 4 Keeper Grouper. Not bad considering Grouper is 20.00 per pound down here.
Friday was pretty much about the same. Water temps got to 69 and 69 turns on anything. We proceeded to run the table. After the charter, I met my customers at the Tarpon Lodge for dinner. We had fresh grouper cooked by Chef Jethro Joseph. It was awesome. Afterwards, I smoked a victory Arturo Fuente 858 and about 9PM, the cold wind started to blow. Really blow. It is about 20MPH right now as I get ready to head back to bed.
Saturday and Sunday are suppose to be freakin' miserable. I wonder who will post a record fishing day for the weekend. I'll need to see film to believe it. No guide in their right mind will fish this weekend. Trust me. GiddyUp!
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