Weekend Action!

Saturday finally turned out to be a calm day. But of course that happened to be a day that I had on hold for a day off. Well when the weather is right what do you do but go fishing. I took my wife Cyd out for the afternoon. We hoped for a Sailfish but with the calm conditions they were not feeding.

As we drifted over a wreck catching a few Lane Snapper for dinner King Mackerel started skyrocketing our sailfish baits. I quickly rigged up wire traces and as fast as Cyd could cast a bait she was hooking nice Kings.  We had a nice  Busman's Holiday.

Cyd Nielsen caught this 21lb King Mackerel
on a Permit Trek - Diablo 550 combo

On Sunday Eric Perry and Bill Martin joined me for a day of backcountry fishing. Eric vacations here every year and lives in the UK. Bill was down from Pennsylvania.
We fished an area called First National Bank near Cape Sable. Using Rage Ultralight tackle and Fox Bonefish Trek rods paired with Diablo 350 reels we jigged up Ladyfish, Bluefish and Jack Crevalle. We put some of these on ice and in the livewell as Eric wanted a big fish...

catching Shark bait was a hoot using the
Bonefish Trek - Diablo 350 combos

Our next stop was the Springhole. This is a depression in the limestone bottom which drops off to over 20 feet deep in an area where depths rarely exceed 10 feet. It is one of my favorite spots to find large fish.

It wasn't long before Bill caught and released a Goliath Grouper using the Fox Trek Boatrod XT. This is the tool you need to catch the big ones. We use an EOS reel spooled with Fox Horizon 65lb braid. The beauty of this rod it is a 4 piece and you can take it with you anywhere in your suitcase.

Bill used the  Fox Trek Boatrod XT paired with the
EOS 50 reel to haul in Goliath Groupers

Bill about to release a Goliath Grouper

We jumped off a Tarpon next so I rigged up a Sailfish Trek - Diablo 750 combo with a mono trace hoping to catch another Tarpon but a big Blacktip Shark ate the bait and a half hour battle ensued. Eric enjoyed that.

Eric Perry's Blacktip Shark takes another run under the boat.
The Fox 8 foot Sailfish Trek rod is incredibley tough

Eric landed this Blacktip Shark with a bad
attitude on the Sailfish Trek rod and Diablo 750 reel

In the next hour we spent all our time fighting 2 big Bull Sharks which we saw in the water but both managed to chew through the leaders as they thrashed about.

Bill battles a big Bull Shark that eventually
got away but we got some good looks

Wore out on the big ones I took the boys into East Cape Canal.

Bill admires his first ever Redfish

Bill and Eric with a large Sheepshead  pictured with the
Rage Ultraligjht rod and Diablo 350 spinning reel

Eric Perry is using a Fox Rage Ultralight rod and Diablo 350
spinning reel filled with Fox Horizon 10lb braid
to battle a huge Black Drum

Great catch for Eric Perry this estimated 20lb Black Drum

Bill was hoping to bring home a fish dinner. Eric caught an outstanding Black Drum on a Rage Ultralight - Diablo 350 combo. Sheepshead and Redfish were also caught. Bill did not go hungry.

Captain Skip Nielsen