Another great day on the water..
Went out north of Tampa/Clearwater with my buddy Jeff on his 20' Procat. It was a combo fishing trip/test for the season. It's getting warmer - need to make sure the boat is good for offshore fishing. This trip, we stayed inshore.
Boat ran great - we zipped up and down the coast, and a mile or so offshore trying different fishing spots. The boat ran great - everything was cool..
Pic of boat (Same model, not my friend Jeff's)
It was a great day - It made me think about how fortunate/lucky I am to have good friends, great family, and my health.
It's funny - my friend Jeff is an extremely hardcore fisherman, has 2 boats, shitloads of equipment, etc. He talks tides, water temps, what bait to use, etc. I just rig up what's close - and the last 2 trips I caught the most keepers. :giggle:
Caught a bunch of fish.. Trout, black sea bass, 2 sharks, and a bunch of shit fish.
We got boarded by Fish and Wildlife when we got back to the dock.. We were all legal and in compliance. Still a PITA though.
First keeper.. I had a death grip on him - they are known to try to jump out of the boat when lifted for pics - I wasn't going to let him do that.
Small shark I caught - I had the drag set really low, with a sea bobber and a greenback minnow floating.. It was a fun fight. Jeff caught another shark - about twice as long as the one I caught.
Jeff caught 1 nice keeper..
He gave me all the meat - I split it into 2 equal portions, vacuum packed it and froze it. We had 1/2 of it Monday night - trout and black sea bass - it was delicious!
Pic of the boat right before we went out:
