Author Archives: Bob Cohen

6.24.24 – OFFSHORE

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
Name of Captain; John Grieder
Where were you fishing? INSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; No
The date you went fishing; 05-29-2024
Your Name; John Grieder
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 NOAA said it would be 5-10 increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon.  They were half right:  It was blowing a steady 10+ when we left the dock around 11:00 to see how active the fish would be with water temps at 85+.

Frank Bellizio and I made several drops at a few different haunts and did okay, count wise, but nothing special.  We’d drift for a bit then try a new spot if we didn’t get much activity.

Enroute to our last stop for the day the winds were a steady 15+ with whitecaps all around.  And it was hot!  If it wasn’t for the wind it would have been HOTZ (the Z makes it sizzle).  So the breeze did keep us cool.

The whole point of fishing with friends is to have fun, laugh and enjoy the day on the water.  At the last stop we started with simultaneous hookups (with catfish) which produced some laughs (and groans).

Aside from catching some trout and a few undesirables, we also caught a few pinfish.  The pictures show our catches (not what we were using for bait.  (More laughter here)

So we had another fun day on the water trying to outfox the foxes.

5.24.24 OFFSHORE

Posted on by
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

5.17.24 INSHORE

Posted on by
Name of Captain; Frank Bellizio
Where were you fishing? INSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; No
The date you went fishing; 05-17-2024
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 Yesterday was a bittersweet day of fishing.  First the sweet, I was on the water catching fish with my friend and fellow club member John Grieder.  We caught a few fish but the best fish of the day for me was the keeper redfish in the picture. Now the bitter, my outboard motor started overheating and we had to call Sea Tow to come out and tow us back to the marina.  It was still a great day so I won’t complain too much until I get the bill.  Thanks, Flip’s Marine Service in Tarpon Springs for fitting me in your service lineup quickly.
Type a question Yes

4.24.24 INSHORE

Posted on by
Name of Captain; John Grieder
Where were you fishing? INSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; No
The date you went fishing; 04-24-2024
Your Name; John Grieder
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 In the lee of the spoil islands.

Frank Bellizio and I decided to head south and fish around the spoil islands.  With the wind out of the south and the outgoing tide going south we were able to hang around and circumnavigate one island for quite a while without much maneuvering at all.

We caught a nice menagerie of redfish, trout, black drum, squirrel-fish and dogfish.  The catch was nothing to write home about but it was a beautiful day to be out on the water.
Type a question Yes

04.25.24 OFF SHORE

Posted on by
Where were you fishing? OFFSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; Yes
The date you went fishing; 04-25-2024
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 It was one of those days on the water that you just couldn’t ask for more.  Capt Mike Kaplan invited Mike Spanhel, Bob Sherley and me out for a day of offshore fishing targeting Red Grouper.  Were in the water and leaving the Nick’s Park at quarter to 7am. It took up about 2 hours to reach our first drop at 100ft.  Mike hooked up with the biggest red grouper of the day on his first or second drop. We spend about 2 hours at this spot and boated 3 more grouper and a few Lane snapper and grunts.  We moved a coupe of times to other nearby spots and picked up 4 more keeper red grouper.  The bite was on herring and fish heads.  We had hit our limit a little before 2pm so we headed in.  The seas were calm and the temperature just right.  Thanks Capt Mike for a heck of a day of fishing.
If this report includes a tournament entry please state the species and length of the fish caught in this box. Mike Kaplan  red grouper 28″
Mike Spanhel red grouper 23.5″
Type a question Yes