Wind and Fog limit great fishing
Capt. John GiddyUp-Bunch
December 11, 2009
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
True to my promise, this report will chronicle 2 excellent days. The trips were all about Grouper Trolling and TripleTail.
On Tuesday I had the opportunity to fish with 2 Dudes from Tampa who were pulling an all nighter. Allow me to state the following without reservation. What happens on a GiddyUp Fishing Charter stays on a GUFC. The story of Tue goes like this. Dudes arrive on time and as we leave St James City on the ebb with a 1130 low (and no subsequent tide movement) the window for grouper trolling is small but great. This was the good news. The bad news was the fog. It took 1 hour to traverse 12 miles. In other words, we couldn't see jack. When the fog lifted at about 9AM, my experience with days like this told me one thing. GiddyUp had two hours to perform (for those who hate my 3rd person reference a la Dion Sanders, work with me) With a solid 120 minute window in which to work, down went 2 ECMAC +25 MirrOlure Deep Divers or what I call my "Morning Lure" This lure is the bomb for low light conditions. At about 8 mins and 59 seconds into the delayed charter, both rods bent completely over and the game was on. If you read the true and weak trash I write on this forum know this. THE FIRST THING I DO WHEN RODS SING IS TO HIT THE MOB on my GPS. 2 Huge Grouper in the box 10 minutes later. Huge means in excess of 15LBS. So, do you think I made another pass over the same area? GiddyUp!!!!
As we trolled the hard bottoms and Pace's Reef, we scored several big grouper but time was running out on us. Things would definitely slow down when the tide stop moving. The All Night Hounds had scored again. Grouper Limits (Gags) for both.
At about 12, we started looking for TripleTail. I might be old in the tooth but I've been blessed with the eyes of an osprey (use to be Eagle). FYI, no need for reading glasses and 1000 bucks says I can read 2-3 letter on the 20/15 line. ANYWAY, the eyes spotted 3-4 pieces of discarded cardboard. The box or boxs look like a dishwasher type deal. Under it was a Tripletail convention. Now the fun begins for Dudes. They brought their Fly Rods. Unknown and unappreciated by them, I put my Andros 23 Black Cuda downwind with the sun at our back. The position of the boat allowed these two lucky STIFFS to score on TripleTail after another. They only wanted to keep 1 per. I thought that was pretty cool of them. Great charter within a short window.
Today, everything was the same except no TripleTail. My charter customers had a blast. New customer/new wife/and all new fishing clothing. (Anytime I had a chance I was slapping the yound Dude on the back to clean my hands). We scored Gag Limits in 2 hours but no Red Grouper. The new hot wife hurled chunks of beef stew or lasagna. Didn't stop me from hugging her goodbye. What's a little hurlage on a good looking babe anyway? When her new Dude went to pay me and extended no tip, I bid farewell with a hand to the shoulder and one to the back. 10 to 1 says she hurled again in the car. He really smelled like fish. That's all I got. 2 Good days with 2 small windows.
Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:
Drag PINK or Orange in the AM and switch to Green/Silver combo color around 11AM. Grouper trolling will depend on the high wind forecast for the weekend. Looks like it will suck the big one.
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