|
Author Archives: Bob Cohen
7.16.24 OFFSHORE
| Name of Captain; | Mike Spanhel |
| Where were you fishing? | OFFSHORE |
| Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; | No |
| The date you went fishing; | 07-16-2024 |
| Your Name; | Frank Bellizio |
| Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below | Once Capt Mike Spanhel found out that Bob Sherley had never caught a hogfish with hook and line Mike initiated “Mission Hogfish” to get Bob his first hogfish on rod and reel. Mike enlisted help from Bruce Archabault and Frank Bellizio. We left the doc at 7:45am and Capt Mike had us in 40ft of water within an hour. We caught a few hogfish and quite a few grunts. We moved several times to spots within 5 to 6 miles of the original spot picking up hogfish and grunts as we went. We used naked ball jig style setups with frozen shrimp. The fresh shrimp at the bait shop were very small so frozen was the ticket for the day. The frozen shrimp were fairly large and stayed on the hook well. Bob caught his first hogfish about 2 hours into the trip so we all felt good that our mission was a success. We also caught quite a few short red grouper. At about 1pm the clouds started to move in so we headed home and beat the rain by about one hour which gave us just enough time to clean up the boat and the fish we caught. Thanks Capt Mike for a great day of fishing. |
| Type a question | Yes |
6.29.24 OFFSHORE
| Name of Captain; | Stu Johnson |
| Where were you fishing? | OFFSHORE |
| Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; | No |
| The date you went fishing; | 05-29-2024 |
| Your Name; | Frank Bellizio |
| Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below | Mike Spanhel and I joined Stu Johnson and his brother Paul for a week of fishing at the end of June on the Atlantic side of Summerland Key Fl. The weather was great except for the last two days that were windy or rainey. We spent three days reef fishing and two days trolling. We could not find weeds or fish for that matter the two days we trolled so we did some bottom fishing off the reefs for 3 of the days. The first day on the reef was slow with a few yellow tail snapper and grunt. The second day we headed 20 miles south to an area off Key West and got into some good fishing. We were catching 4 to 5lb grunts and really big progies. The third day we found an area on the reef near home and caught yellow tail and grunt that were small non stop all day. The great part was we caugh enough fish for Chef Paul to provide some excellent dinners each night. I have to tell you that plantain breaded snapper was my favorite. Thanks Capt Stu for the great trips. |
| Type a question | Yes |
6.24.24 – OFFSHORE
| Name of Captain; | Jim Thirkill |
| Where were you fishing? | OFFSHORE |
| Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; | No |
| The date you went fishing; | 06-24-2024 |
| Your Name; | Jim Thirkill |
| Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below | Went out to 100 FOW off Dunedin for a last shot at red grouper before the season closed, with crew Mike B, Mark C, and Rick U. We had pretty good action, catching plenty of red grouper and mangrove snapper. Then an intruder showed up and starting eating our snapper. Big mistake on his part, since Rick quickly rigged some wire and was soon hooked up, then after about a 30 minute battle on his spinning rod, we put the gaff in this 62″ wahoo. |
| Type a question | No |
6.24.24 OFFSHORE
| Name of Captain; | Mike Kaplan |
| Where were you fishing? | OFFSHORE |
| Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; | No |
| The date you went fishing; | 06-24-2024 |
| Your Name; | Mike Kaplan |
| If this report includes a tournament entry please state the species and length of the fish caught in this box. | With Red Grouper season ending in a week, We decided to go out 1 more time. Despite the many storms in the area, we headed out to 100 feet for a lot shot at catching some Red Grouper. The crew consisted of Bob S, Terry F and friend Joe. We only stopped at 3 spots and the action was steady at each. We used live Grunts, Squid and Threadfins. By the time we decided to go home, we had caught 4 Red Grouper to 28″, 4 ARS to 20″, 2 Mangos to 20″ and assorted other fish. We were lucky and didn’t run into any storms but it was really hot. By 2:30 we decided we had enough and headed in for the 2 hour ride home. The winds were very light and the water was smooth all the way in. A great way to finish the Red Grouper season. |
| Type a question | Yes |
6.6.24 OFFSHORE
| Name of Captain; | Joe Stand |
| Where were you fishing? | OFFSHORE |
| Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; | No |
| The date you went fishing; | 06-06-2024 |
| Your Name; | Terry Reelitz |
| Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below | Good day on the water with friends…
Shelli, Bobby and I joined Capt. Joe, went out to 130’, seas were calm, bite was early, things slowed down as the day wore on… guess the Grouper and Snapper did a pool day in the afternoon just like us😂 Lots of Tacos on the way…. Biggest for the day was Red Grouper 29″, Shelli came to the rescue and saved the day!!!! A good time was had by all |
6.7.24 OFFSHORE
| Name of Captain; | Stu Johnson |
| Where were you fishing? | OFFSHORE |
| Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; | No |
| The date you went fishing; | 06-07-2024 |
| Your Name; | Frank Bellizio |
| Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below | Stu Johnson, Paul Johnson, Jack Hexter and me spent last week in the Keys fishing, We fished 3 times during the 5 day period and one thing all 5 days had in common was it was really hot. All 5 days were in the mid to upper 90’s. We were staying on Summerland Key and on Sunday after lauching Stu’s boat we headed out to the reef. We fished for about 5 hours and caught a few small yellow tail snapper. I hooked into something that was really big. I faught the fish for about 15 minutes and the fish had my mid weight pole bent in half to the extent that the plastic rings in the eyes popped out. I never got to see the fish as it straightend the #4 0 hook out and got off. The next day we spent trolling for Miah Miah and managed to boat 7 fish. The wind was coming up quickly and we decided to call it a day early. I am glad we did as the ride back was really rough with 3 to 4 ft seas. After a day of rest we went out on a charter out of Key West. We spent the morning trolling for Miah Miah and boated 7 fish. We then moved to the reef and spent the afternoon catching yellow tail snapper. I did manage to hook up with a really good size red grouper, between 28 and 30 inches. Stu hooked up on a shark that ended up being around 6ft long. All and all it was a good day of fishing. After a day off Jack and I drove back to NPR. Stu and Paul remainded in the keys to chase more fish. Thanks Stu for putting us on some great fishing. |
| Type a question | Yes |
6.8.24 OFFSHORE
| Name of Captain; | Bob Sherley |
| Where were you fishing? | OFFSHORE |
| Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; | No |
| The date you went fishing; | 06-08-2024 |
| Your Name; | Tom Saska |
| Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below | The day started off with a rough ride out to 110 foot ARS spot, found a charter boat sitting on the spot we just drove 2.5 hours to get to. Started looking around for other marks and found none so we headed to another area for red grouper. Hit a jackpot on the way there. Stopped the boat and caught way too many red grouper and a few red snapper and one mangrove. Red grouper sizes were 31-3/4, 31, 29, 28-1/2, 27-1/2, 25, 23 & 21. ARS sizes were 31, 28-1/2 & 22-1/2. 19-1/2 Mangrove. |
| Type a question | Yes |
5.29.24 INSHORE
|
5.24.24 OFFSHORE
| Name of Captain; | Mike Spanhel |
| Where were you fishing? | OFFSHORE |
| Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; | No |
| The date you went fishing; | 05-24-2024 |
| Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below | Mike Spanhel invited Frank Bellizio, Stu Johnson and John Grieder for a hogfish trip. We left the dock at 8:15 and went out to around 38 feet.
Fishing stations worked out to be – Stu and John starboard side; Mike and Frank port side. Outcome: Starboard side — grunts. Port side – red grouper, triggerfish, mangrove snapper and hogfish. That’s the way it works sometimes. Frank and Mike eventually released the floodgates and Stu and John finally started catching some hogfish. And there were plenty to go around. By the end of the tour we all caught our fair share. Back at the dock Frank worked his magic with his electric knife and had them filleted in no time. And a great time was had by all – thanks, Mike! And now it’s time for some baconator fish tacos: They are, after all, hogfish, right? |
| Type a question | Yes |
