Just got back from Florida.....

[fcfishman]

Man, what a trip. Mostly waded backwater and flats. Caught redfish, snook, speckled trout, pompano, spanish mackeral, flounder, and a bunch of fish I have no idea what they were. Had a ball. Wake you up early though when wading up to your waist and a shark passes between you and the bank!!. Went out in the boat twice and had good trips. Saltwater fishing will spoil you, never know what you have hooked until it surfaces.

[smljaw]

Good thing you didn't watch Shark Week on Discovery before you went fishing down there. Those 8+ foot long bull sharks that hunt in 2-3' of water are spooky and unpredictable.

Sounds like you caught them good and had a great time!

[fcfishman]

Oh believe me, we watched it every night after my little encounter on the flats. On Friday I saw two sharks in the water about 100' from me in one of the passes. All the locals said not to worry, no problem, etc, but it still tightens you up when you see that dorsal fin. If you are keeping fish on a stringer, the local bait shops sell a float and quick release buckle so that if the shark hits your stringer, you can pull loose immediately and let him have it. They all recommend at least 10' between you and your catch.

[JD7.62]

I love SW fishing. The fish are so much stronger pound for pound and it seems they are tastier as well!

Ive spent many many hours fishing around the panhandle and let me tell you, that place is shark city! Ive seen 10ft hammer heads and 8ft bulls cruising just out side the sand bars. Heck, my biggest fish, a 7ft nurse shark, was caught in three feet of water with people swimming all around.

[DJD]

Man, what a trip. Mostly waded backwater and flats. Caught redfish, snook, speckled trout, pompano, spanish mackeral, flounder, and a bunch of fish I have no idea what they were. Had a ball. Wake you up early though when wading up to your waist and a shark passes between you and the bank!!. Went out in the boat twice and had good trips. Saltwater fishing will spoil you, never know what you have hooked until it surfaces.

I agree I cut my teeth catching sharks in KeyWest and then the Indian River. What part of FL were you in?

[JUSTINHALL]

Man, what a trip. Mostly waded backwater and flats. Caught redfish, snook, speckled trout, pompano, spanish mackeral, flounder, and a bunch of fish I have no idea what they were. Had a ball. Wake you up early though when wading up to your waist and a shark passes between you and the bank!!. Went out in the boat twice and had good trips. Saltwater fishing will spoil you, never know what you have hooked until it surfaces.

I agree salt-water fishing is a blast! I go to Florida to fish in the gulf 3-4 times a year and it is a blast, the grouper and amber jack are really strong. They don’t call amber jacks reef donkeys for nothing; those things will rip your arms off. After about 30 amberjack I have to go in closer and catch sea bass to get a break from them.
I often have an open seat or two in the boat if anyone wants to try it some time.
I am flying out to Houston to fish out of Galveston at the end of the month to fish around the oilrigs; I can’t get enough of it.
Glad to hear you had a good time!

[fcfishman]

We stay at Anna Marie Island, in the Gulf, just off the tip of Tampa Bay. Most of my fishing was in the flats off of the Intercoastal Waterway and up around Fort Desoto Park. Also saw several dolphin, including one that swam near me for almost an hour. I really like to catch the big reds on light tackle, man, what a fight. My biggest was 19.5 lb and almost 34". I released everything except for a couple pompano and flounder. The snook are catch and release only until August 15th, and the Reds could only be kept in the 18"-25" slot, limit one per day. The big redfish that I mentioned above was caught off the docks at Paul Azinger's house. My buddy lives down there and we took his boat out and he went straight there, called it his honey hole.