Deep Sea Fishing

[waterdog101]

I have never been deep sea fishing, but I am going in the morning at 8:30 and going out 25 miles. on an all day trip. I don't know what to expect, but hope I get my line stretched. get to keep anything that I catch, and they will clean my catch and pack it on ice for me. it's going to be hard to sleep tonight, waiting on the morning to get here. kinda feel like a kid again. any of you guys done this before?

[LJP]

Hope you don't get seasick.

[fishinfreak]

take dramamean i'm not sure how to spell it. once you feel yourself getting sea sick it's to late. better off preventing it

[HURRICANEBOB]

I have never been deep sea fishing, but I am going in the morning at 8:30 and going out 25 miles. on an all day trip. I don't know what to expect, but hope I get my line stretched. get to keep anything that I catch, and they will clean my catch and pack it on ice for me. it's going to be hard to sleep tonight, waiting on the morning to get here. kinda feel like a kid again. any of you guys done this before?

Where at? FYI, to make ya feel better, it doesn't matter how far you go out, its the weather that counts most. Been off shore Cape Hatteras on a dead calm day water was near glass most of the way out and in. Couple rollers near shore and at the jetties. By contrast, been on Lake Erie, just 2 miles off shore, and flet like it was an episode of Deadliest Catch.

Good luck, hey and share some pics!

[zx150]

Eat a good breakfast it will help.

[sweetwater]

I have never been deep sea fishing, but I am going in the morning at 8:30 and going out 25 miles. on an all day trip. I don't know what to expect, but hope I get my line stretched. get to keep anything that I catch, and they will clean my catch and pack it on ice for me. it's going to be hard to sleep tonight, waiting on the morning to get here. kinda feel like a kid again. any of you guys done this before?

I go out 3 or 4 times a year. If your boat is a party boat it should be large enough to make the trip tolerable for most people. If your in a boat smaller than 40 ft then your kind of at the mercy of nature if you tend to have a weak stomach. You won't be allowed to keep anything you catch either. Red snapper is a no no for sure. Triggers, seabass, vermillion snapper and other party boat fare is still good. That is until the NMFS meets and decides their being overfished too. Sometimes it's hard to get a bait past the "endangered" red snappers to the fish that are legal to keep. If you could reserve a stern spot and make friends with one of the regulars it would be worth the effort. Those guys know what they're doing and will put most newbys to shame. If your doing a private charter you could be chasing most anything that's out there. Those captains know what to do. All you have to do is follow their instructions and you will catch fish 99% of the time. Tight lines and good times to ya.

[sweetwater]

Eat a good breakfast it will help.

Try a BLT on toast and a cup of coffee. Skip the sausage, eggs and donuts for sure.You want to eat some food but not a whole lot.

[Carter1]

I get seasick real easy on salt and Great Lakes. But I was turned on to something that works great. I even go on 7-day cruises with no problem. It is the Transderm-scop patch. I can eat whatever I wish and as much as I want. It has worked on the roughest of waters.

[waterdog101]

Where at? FYI, to make ya feel better, it doesn't matter how far you go out, its the weather that counts most. Been off shore Cape Hatteras on a dead calm day water was near glass most of the way out and in. Couple rollers near shore and at the jetties. By contrast, been on Lake Erie, just 2 miles off shore, and flet like it was an episode of Deadliest Catch.

Good luck, hey and share some pics!

hey man, I went yesterday deep sea fishing, it was out of ft myers, from the getaway marina on captian tonys boat. I met some of the nices guys ever, we went out 24 miles, couldn't see anything but water. they took up 2 dollars each for whoever caught the largest single fish. a 25 inch grouper won the big fish pool. most of the fish that were being caught were grunt fish. I caught 5 fish. it was fun but I thought the fish would be of better size. but over all it was a fun trip. didn't take any pictures the fish were to small.

[TroyRalph502]

Its not bad. My first deep sea fishing charter was right after a bad storm. Waves knocking the boat around and murky water. But they know the spots to go. I never got sick and had a great time. Dont over think it. Enjoy your trip.

[artcarney_agr]

hey man, I went yesterday deep sea fishing, it was out of ft myers, from the getaway marina on captian tonys boat. I met some of the nices guys ever, we went out 24 miles, couldn't see anything but water. they took up 2 dollars each for whoever caught the largest single fish. a 25 inch grouper won the big fish pool. most of the fish that were being caught were grunt fish. I caught 5 fish. it was fun but I thought the fish would be of better size. but over all it was a fun trip. didn't take any pictures the fish were to small.

If you're bottom fishing, the average size tends to be small, but the numbers are usually really good!

I've been offshore of Islamorada several times, and we did well on grouper, grunts, and bluerunner bottom/reef fishing. Grunts are something you can catch from pier near shore - I stayed in a beachfront house while in Islamorada that had a pier/boat dock. In the evenings it was nothing to load up on 50+ grunts in a matter of an hour or so...they are almost like the bluegill of the sea, next to the pinfish. We only had to go maybe 5 or 10 miles, if that, offshore to get to some decent grouper fishing. On one trip, I asked the crew if there was a way to skip the bottom fishing and just cast live bait off the side for some schooling fish...they allowed me to do that and I was able to hook up on some great king mackerel!

On the gulf side, you really do have to go out far to get to good reef fishing - those continental shelves go way out and it takes forever to get to deeper water. I went offshore several times out of Crystal River, FL and we had to go 40 miles out to get to some good reefs...but it was worth it in that the grouper and red snapper were plentiful and huge!

Congrats on the grouper! Those make some of the best fish sandwiches!!!

Any word on the King Mackerel there in Fort Walton? I always enjoyed walking the docks in the late afternoon as guys were coming in to see what the catch of the day was. That also helped me decide who to go out with the next day or what species to try and target.

[RoadToad]

Glad you had an enjoyable trip! I'm from Delaware, and I've done a lot of ocean fishing, but I don't know how much you'd call "deep-sea." Does 75' or so qualify? The charter boats I go on just go after whatever's in season: flounder, tautog, or sea bass mostly. But you never know what someone's going to pull up, like a sand shark, a skate, an oyster cracker, or God knows what else! That's a lot of the fun, trying to identify the strange things people catch sometimes.