I struck first with a nice hit which ended up being a.........
Nurse Shark, not something to bring home but a fun catch!
I was Hot! Just a few moments later I hooked into another nice one, hoping for a big Mangrove Snapper!
It turned out to be a nice, but not huge Red Snapper. If in season, this would have gone home with me. Unfortunately it was not, and therefore released. My day kind of went to crap from here. Lost several large fish including one I could not put the brakes on but the remainder of my catches were either small Silver Grunts or Black Sea Bass (Closed season).
It was about this time that my Nephew Brett began taking me and most of the rest of the boat, to school, first catching this nice Toro Snapper of about 2 lbs.
After losing several large fish, while I was going nowhere fast, he hooked into another nice one....
It turned out to be a nice Mangrove Snapper, one of two he caught along with several yellowtails.
Then Brett caught this Sheepshead, normally caught in the Indian River Lagoon or along the beaches, 20 miles out. By this time I was considering a career in knitting.
Don was scoring on several yellowtail Snapper then hooked up with something more substantial.
Ended up being a Red Snapper, great eating but closed. fish was released.
Don ended up catching some Triggerfish as well, Wierd looking fish but great eating!
Right before the horn blew for lines in (going home) Don hooked up with a mystery fish which peeled off half of his line on a long initial run. Chances are good it was either a Wahoo, Blackfin Tuna, Big Bonita, or some other pelagic gamefish. But we never knew because the luck did not go quite his way.
Don losing mystery fish.
This portion of the video is censored because Space Coast Outdoors TV is a family show.
The catch of the day included Mangrove Snapper, Yellowtail Snapper, one Toro Snapper (courtesy of Brett) Triggerfish, Porgy, and one Squirrelfish.
Released were several nice Red Snapper, and at least one grouper that I saw. All three of us hooked into several large fish lost during the fight. I hooked one early on that I could not even stop from taking line and another on a live pinfish that suddenly took me into the rocks, likely a grouper.
PS. This is a relatively light catch for the Ocean Obsession.
Here's a shot of Brett and Don's cooler with all of the fish they were allowed to keep including Mangrove Snapper, Toro Snapper, Yellowtail Snapper, and Triggerfish. Lots of good eating here!
The Ocean Obsession operates out of Port Canaveral and has a first rate Captain and crew. You can book full day trips,half day trips, moonlight snapper trips, and nighttime shark fishing trips. Click the above image or the banner at the top of this page to go to their website.
