Personal Best Snapper

[~~Snakeman~~]

More to follow, guys, but I caught an 8 3/4# mutton snapper today. Three of us had muttons that totaled 22 1/4#..for three fish.

~~Greg~~

[Jack Hexter]

Greg You got to fish with me on the Yankee Capts, where an avedrage fish is 15# and there is usually 2 or 3 that break 20 on each trip.

[Zane]

Good for you Snake :D It's always fun to set a new personal best.:D

[~~Snakeman~~]

My math was off. The total was 21 1/4# for the three. I asked Ray to post up some pix for me for the few of you who didn't get them by e-mail. The tackle was a custom made light rod with 20# line, 30# leader, an ounce of lead & a 2/0 red circle hook. My trip went from a probable disappointment to a great trip real quick. Fresh snapper on the grill last night was magnifique.

Y'all didn't know I spoke Frog didja? ~~Greg~~

[SpeckTackler]

Good going Greg! That will be some great table fair.

[PK]

( for some reason the GG page for attachments won't w*rk or let you attach pics to the message.. I've posted the pics using Photobucket for Greg)


The last day of fishing for me this year turned out to be a memorable one. I stopped off at Seven Seas to pick up ice & squid, and went to the marina. Captains Jason & Doug were on board the Mad Son getting ready. I was soon joined by Marty from New Jersey, Jimmy Lee, my brother Tom, Chandler & Rick. Chandler is a young man from one of those landlocked states northwest of here where the weather is miserable & the saltwater fishing is nonexistent. He told my brother before they left the house that he didn't need Dramamine. Famous last words.

The seas were predicted to be two feet or less. They missed it by six feet. It was sloppy, although as the morning went on, the seas got a little more comfortable. By that time, though, the damage had already been done to Chandler. I have to give the young man credit, though. He toughed it out without whining, and even fished a little, managing to catch a couple.

Most of our mutton snapper were release models, as were all of our red groupers. I caught a keeper trigger fish and a little later a porgy, but by ten o'clock, i was thinking this was not gonna be much of a fishing report. About then, after catching a few keeper muttons, Jimmy Lee hooked up with an obvious bruiser of a bottom fish. I told him it was a big mutton. He had his doubts. I was right. It weighed 7 3/4 pounds. I had a good strong hit, & the fish was obviously a nice one, but the hook pulled out. I was convinced by then that I was just not gonna have a good morning. A few minutes later, after loosening the drag a little, I had another big fish on. I succeeded in getting this one to the net. I thought it was a hair smaller than Jimmy Lee's, but at the dock it weighed 8 3/4 pounds. That's a personal best for me. My brother Tom shortly thereafter caught what would normally be the big snapper of the trip, at a tad under 5 pounds. During cleaning, I discovered my mutton snapper had a large amount of fat in it, as well as a whole four inch crab, much like a stone crab.

The three big muttons weighed a total of 21 1/4 pounds. We also caught four other keeper muttons along with a couple of yellowtails & some porgies. Best mutton snapper fishing I have seen in a long time.

Everyone enjoyed the trip. Chandler no doubt would have enjoyed it more if he had taken the Dramamine.

A big thank you goes out to Jason & Doug for a great year of fishing on the Mad Son. We'll start the next year out on the second of January. Happy New Year to everyone.

~~Greg~~

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/madsonjimmygregtom003.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/madsonjimmygregtom006.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/madsonjimmygregtom007.jpg

[Mont]

that's a bunch of nice snapper!