Home again...

After three long days of driving we are back home.  I already miss the keys.  I need to start plans in motion to get back there!

BIG BARRACUDA!

This is the second time we have seen this barracuda in our canal.  It is BIG!  Has to be close to four feet long and 24-28 inches around.  I wish I would have had some thing rigged up to toss at it.  I bet it would have been an amazing fight.

Charter day!

So I decided I needed to tangle with some bigger fish.  I booked a charter with Captain Shane Smith.  Even though I learned just how poor a fly fisherman I am I really had an awesome day out in the back country with Capt. Shane.  He spent a couple hours in the morning poling me around a flat littered with tarpon.  I mean it was just filthy with fish.  I however could not put a fly in front of them.  At one point we had two schools moving toward each other and I still couldn't get the fly in the right place.  Shane was awesome though.  He never gave up trying to get me a shot.  I wish I could have hooked one just to make him feel better.  We moved on to another flat that was holding a couple really skittish permit and some very willing jacks following a ray.  First cast to the back of the ray produced a very fun jack crevalle.

We moved around a bit chasing barracuda, jacks and other hard pullers.  We took a break from sight fishing and tossed some jigs for sea trout.  After slaying a ton of trout the bite turned off and Shane decided to pull anchor and drift for a bit.  We hit a few schools of big ladyfish and scooped up a couple to use as bait.  Anyone who gets upset at catching ladyfish needs to give their head a shake.  These fish are almost too much fun.  The aerial displays are epic and if like me you are able to hook a big one they put up one hell of a fight.

After lunch we headed back to some flats we visited earlier trying to find some sharks or barracuda.  Shane cut up the ladyfish and dropped them over the side.  I waited patiently for a visit from the man in the gray suit.  Well he must have called in sick.  We found some decent sized barracuda at our next stop but none would commit to eating my lure.  So many follows.  Those cuda have some serious commitment issues.

One more move and finally the man in the gray suit shows up, and he brought friends.  I toss a piece of cut ladyfish and miss slightly behind.  The jacks following the shark didn't seem to mind, good thing too.  Once the jacks started on the ladyfish the shark quickly took notice.  It was one of the greatest takes I've ever seen.  The shark was looking right at me and opened wide and bit down hard.  I never would have thought a fish could be so much fun.  Wow those buggers pull hard, run and head shake with the best.  In the end it ended up at about five feet long.  

A picture and a quick release and I had a smile that lasted all the way back to the ramp.

Inshore Mutton

More species that should be offshore in deep water.  This 15+" mutton snapper came up and said hello. Just a bit short of the 16" minimum.

Mr. Goliath, you are next!

That's right I'm coming for you!

Grouper, grouper, grouper!!!

Yes I finally got him!

Eat at Jack's? Eat hat jack? EAT THAT JACK?

Opps I miss typed that. Yes I said it.  Eat that jack.  Most people consider the Jack Crevalle to be an unpalatable trash fish but I read recently that they are good table fare.  I've been catching quite a few of them lately in the evenings and had been tempted to keep one.  I got my chance the other night when I gut hooked one.  Rather than waste the fish I quickly bled it and put it on ice.  Later that evening I filleted it.  I was very impressed with how white and firm the meat was, not to mention how much meat was on this rather small specimen.

I fried it up last night along with some snapper we had caught.  I am very pleased to say it was very good.  White, flaky and mild.  Had I slipped it into the pile of snapper fillets I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to tell you which was which.

When I filleted it I removed most of the darker red meat since this is where the pin bones reside.  I would have no issue keeping another.  I need to find some larger ones now to see if the same holds true of bigger fish.

Next time you catch a Jack think twice before tossing it back.  When bled and iced quickly after catching they really are quite tasty.