Out on the deep blue it is prime time for groupers and their yummy little cousin, the black sea bass.  In fact, one does not have to run way south to catch both of these tasty species.  Two days ago we were anchored on the west jetty of the Government Cut and the sea bass we eating live shrimp on every cast on rising water. Granted, there were many throw-backs, but we had enough keepers for a large dinner party.  And another first for this Captain/writer, we landed a legal size gag grouper in the Cut.  We added a couple mangrove snappers to the bag and, to our collective amazement, our inshore trip miraculously became a successful offshore trip.  Our original target was bull reds, but we caught only two slot reds on shrimp.  We watched two other boats nearby catch and release one each, out of the slot reds.  The bulls are here right now, catch ‘em up.  

On another soiree offshore last week in between pressure systems, we ventured 21 miles southeast of the Cut in pursuit of group-groups.  A party of 4 fun-loving gentlemen from Bumingham, Ala-dam-bama joined me for some serious grouper crankin’ in the Gulf.  We set up inside of the S tower on a big live-bottom reef looking for all manner of finny creatures.  Our depth was 96 feet and our go-to baits were live grunts and pinfish.  The pinfish are just about all gone offshore now with inshore surface temps in the mid-sixties. 

In the bay, trout are tearing it up.  One professional trout guide friend reports catches of 100 plus fish per day.  This past Saturday we fished the Saint George Island old bridge and produced a mixed catch of reds, trout, whiting, black drum and early-season sheepshead.  Live shrimp are available, as are some fiddler crabs on occasion.  As we move into winter, the sheepshead bite will improve with spawning fish into February.  The new SGI bridge gave up a few fish around the high ICW span, but the old bridge produced better results.  As the new bridge becomes more “seasoned” with new growth, particularly barnacles, the sheepshead will take up winter residence.  Don’t overlook the bridge connecting East Point to Apalach for flounder, reds and sheepshead this winter.  The trick is to get in close to the pilings to fish vertical for sheepshead.  When you arrive, get a reading on how your vessel will hold in wind and current.  You may want to attach a short piece of nylon to a piling, so you can tie up tight without tearing your rub rail off in seas.  Remember to always take your line with you when you leave. 

One of the most reliable target-species of winter is the black drum.  The slot fish (14 to 24 inches) are great eats cooked with skin-on on the barby.  The flavorful flesh is comparable in taste to the other drum, red ones.  Although you can keep one black drum bigger than the slot, the larger specimens are not at the top of the eat list, being somewhat mushy like bull reds and prone to worms. Black drum grow quite large.  Many moons ago, we caught them in the surf off of the barrier islands of Virginia.  It was common to catch 50 plus pounders using ocean clams for bait and giant surf rods.  Yesterday, a friend emailed me a photo of his son holding a 54 pounder caught on a mud bar in the Apalachicola Bay.  It was a 25 minute tussle on light tackle.  Or, at least that is the fish story. 

Till next tide, tight lines and Happy Thanksgiving,

Captain Alex Crawford

www.topknots.com

Last week on an offshore charter, my anglers and I were fortunate to experience something so phenomenal that we are still talking about it.  Only twice in my 26 years of fishing in the Gulf of Mexico have I been privileged to see this amazing ocean creature. 

We were anchored on a coral reef catching snappers and groupers on live bait.  Out of the deep blue a giant manta ray swims leisurely up on the surface about 40 feet off the starboard bow.  The angler fishing amidships saw it first and excitedly screamed, “Look, what is that!”  He pointed out to the right with eyes as wide as saucers.  Everyone onboard moved to the starboard gunwale simultaneously, as the boat pitched hard under the weight.  And always when one needs it most, my camera is not onboard.    

We all stood silently and awestruck as the twenty plus foot giant swam slowly behind the boat on the surface.  With its huge, triangular pelvic fins flapping slowly and large, forward protruding cephalic fins, this huge creature looked like some high tech submarine out of a Jacques Cousteau ocean documentary.  It was a spectacular thing to behold, as it cruised by our little boat.  I count it right up there with very rare whale sightings. 

As the fins moved gracefully up and down, we could see large remoras attached to the snow, white underbelly.  Impulsively, I pitched several chunks of cut bait in front of the giant and we watched several of the remoras come out and eat them.  So, I pitched another chunk hooked up on a spinner and whammo.  These were not the little shark remoras we catch on the bottom of a reef, these boys had big shoulders.  They were well fed by their host no doubt. 

The ray left after a short time and no one went back to fishing immediately.  A lengthy discussion ensued about exactly what we all had just seen.  My adrenaline was racing and I had a hard time putting together coherent sentences. 

The giant manta ray is commonly called eagle ray or devil ray. In the oceans of the world it spends a lot of time swimming on the surface around coral reefs.  They have the ability to jump completely clear of the water, a behavior that baffles scientists.  This writer would pay cash money to watch one breach the water.  Twenty footers are average, with the largest ones going to thirty feet and 3000 pounds.  They are filter-feeders with the  capability to assimilate large volumes of water rich in zooplankton.  The only predators are very large sharks and humans.  Divers encounter them at close quarters and they seem indifferent and pose no danger.  Little is known about these behemoths of the sea, so the lack of scientific data does not enable any creditable conservation status. 

Please forgive me for altering my usual fishing report format to talk about a manta sighting.  This big boy returned two more times that day and the experiences were just as intense each time.  I was simply so taken by the experience, I had to share it with you. 

Til next tide, tight lines and solid hookups,

Captain Alex Crawford

www.topknots.com

Proud Member Florida Outdoor Writers Association

For most on the beautiful Gulf coast, life is returning to a relative state of normalcy.  Gone are the bad storms, Frances, Charley, Ivan and Jean are fading memories and in their place the spectacular weather and fishing of autumn.  If one were to be forced to pick only one place and time, there would be no better choice than to be on the fantastic Forgotten Coast.  Oh, to be young again in the fall of Saint George Island! 

These extraordinary fall days pull us outdoors and onto the water to soak in the Indian summer sun and to feel the crisp, humidity-free air.  So put your body in motion, what’s keeping you?  The fish are literally going crazy and, if you listen carefully, they are calling out your name.  The popular T- shirt catch phrase comes to mind, “SHUT UP AND FISH!” 

The Forgotten Coast forecast is 10/10, ten thousand foot ceiling and ten mile visibility, or simply blue bird, gin clear.  If this time of the fishing year does not turn you on, you don’t have a pulse.  All of your favorite species are hard on the bite.  Trout and reds inshore, snappers and groupers offshore, take you pick.  They are all hungry, fattening-up for cold winter waters. 

As we speak, it is possible to catch and release 100 plus trout in a day of fishing.  In the Apalachicola Bay you will see large groups of boats anchored and fishing in close quarters.  They are catching nice spotted seatrout.  The bay is awash in white shrimp and the fish are crowding the buffet table.  Try the area just north of the bridge that connects East Point to Apalach.  Take live shrimp or pinfish.  Or, cast net a few hundred silver-dollar size pogies.  For you artificial connoisseurs, try a 3/8 ounce jig in your confidence color or your favorite top-water trout lure.  You will be rewarded for your patience and persistence. 

Out on the deep blue, kingfish are eating everything that swims and some that don’t like frozen cigar minnows.  Find natural, live bottom and you will find smoker kings chomping mullet on their way south for winter.  Slow-troll a large, live mullet over your favorite reef now and make sure your drag washers are right.  Sky rocket, speed-burner kings will steal 100 yards of line as fast as double triggers.  This is fantastic fun for everyone.  Yesterday, one of my customers hooked up and landed a 16 pound king while trolling for Spanish.  This is not a remarkable feat, except he did it with his eight-pound spinning outfit on a little gold spoon.  He fought the fish with uncommon expertise, not cranking on a hot drag, reeling down and pumping way high to gain line and presenting an exhausted fish at the surface for an easy gaff.  What a thrill these kings!

Red snappers go out of season on October 31, but catch and release is great fun during the winter.  Circle hooks should be used to facilitate a healthy release.  The recreational season reopens in federal waters on April 21, 2005.  No live bait, no problem.  Snappers will scarf artificial jigs and flies.  It does not always have to be about the meat.  My fellow anglers—would it not be a good thing if the fishery was as healthy for future generations of your grandchildren, as it is today? 

Groupers will inhale every live pinfish that you drop right now.  The fish will be moving shallower over the next few months.  That means small recreational boats can target them.  This past weeks’ trips produced some short gags and red groupers, but many riders. (riders get to go for the ride to the hill)  Fried grouper fillets, say no more!

Till next tide, tight lines and solid hookups,

Captain Alex Crawford

Regretfully, there just ain’t much to report.  My sincere apologies for being remiss in updating my fishy info.  Been somewhat pre-occupied lately with matters of personal safety.  All the water and sewer lines under my home were taken by Ivan’s surge and my dock looks like a pressure-treated pine mosaic.  My attitude has been a bit snarky lately.     

We did manage a corporate outing this past Saturday, before the wind and seas became unfishable.  A group of gentlemen from Atlanta came to town for some r&r.  A few of the boys joined me to rock and roll offshore and a few more boarded Capt. Jimmy’s boat for a trout soiree. 

The offshore bite was again outstanding with a nice catch of red and gray snappers and gag groupers.  When we arrived at our waypoint, the sonar showed big fish up off the coral bottom.  This was not a show of triggers dispersed all throughout the water column, it was groupers and snappers holding just off the hard bottom.  With days and days of stiff northeast winds, the seas build and the current rips with the surge.  The fish move up, so they won’t get beat up in the rocks.  The falling barometric pressure ahead of Jeanne had the fish in a survival, eating posture.  For a while, every pinfish and cigar minnow got inhaled on every drop.  This captain/mate was bouncing around the boat like a one-armed wall paper hanger in a wind storm, trying to leader fish with triple hookups.  The crew and guide would sleep well that night from exhaustive pumping and winding, as well as from getting our butts kicked on the return run to the hill.  Fish hard-play hard.  Life’s a breeze having fun catching fish! 

The next weather forecast ( you read it first here) calls for another fabulous day on the unforgettable coast with spectacular scenery, dynamite fishing and fantastic fun for all.  And almost forgot, no more hurricanes please; will everyone join your glasses and toast.  

Till next tide, tight lines and solid hookups,

Captain Alex Crawford

Please indulge me this time.  My reports are normally slanted to offshore exploits.  It is not intentional that I write less about the inshore bite.  So, in my ongoing effort to inform, educate and entertain, this report be all about what’s biting now inshore. 

First, a basic definition of my “inshore waters” is appropriate.  Bay fishing trips out of Apalachicola include all of the barrier island passes, the St. George and St. Vincent sounds, the Apalachicola Bay including the rivers that flow into it and the near shore waters of the Gulf. 

One of the sometimes overlooked target species of summer is the great-eating, hard fighting tripletail.  This true pelagic is found around nav markers, crab traps and wrecks, as well as sargassum weeds offshore.  The most effective bait for tripletails is a big live shrimp.  Approach likely tripletail haunts up wind/up current with the motor off.  From a position high on your vessel, present your bait on the fish’s nose.  Upon hookup, get the fish away from the structure immediately, as they are good at breaking off.  This is a fun summer diversion from other types of fishing.  Tripletail fishing on the fabulous Forgotten Coast includes spectacular scenery and a healthy, fun outdoor experience for everyone.

The fall run of pompano has started.  Although not as widely anticipated as the spring run, fall pompano are still the same delectable table fare.  If you fancy yourself as a fish dining connoisseur, now is your chance to wet a line.  Try the pilings around the SGI bridge on an incoming tide. Fall fish are larger than their spring counterparts. 

Spanish mackerel can be found cutting up glass minnows and pogies outside of the passes.  The water is literally teeming with fish.  One can actually smell the heavy odor of fish oil on the water.  As always, look for terns and gulls working low on the water.  You will get more strikes if you pull your silver Clark spoons on 40# fluorocarbon, rather than wire.  Go with the small spoons to better emulate glass minnows skittering on the surface.  These fish are eating machines and they will continue to gorge on minnows until they regurgitate all over your squeaky clean boat. 

Huge schools of sand trout are here now.  It is loads of fun to catch these smaller cousins of the speckled sea trout.  Small, fresh shrimp are ideal baits.  Or, try one quarter ounce jigs tipped with shrimp.  You may find fish anywhere, but outside of Saint Vincent Island in 20 to 30 feet would be a start.  Drift until you find fish and deploy a marker buoy.  Use minimal lead to reach bottom on an ultralight outfit.  These little fighters make the quintessential trout sandwich.

Keep a sharp eye on Frances, she could be a shameless hussy.  Be smart, stay safe!

Till next tide, tight lines and solid hookups,

Captain Alex Crawford

www.topknots.com