Offshore fishing is da best

[roguerower]

So managed to get with a friend's friend who took me out on his 22' Proline on Saturday. Went 50mi from our put in point and about 30mi offshore. Took about 2 hours but I spent most of it on a bean bag chair facing backwards.

Got to the spot which was a naval tower for navigation. Weather was perfectly clear and the water was a beautiful blue and I could see about 20' down perfectly. Managed to hook up on first cast with a 50" amberjack weighing in at just over 30#. Caught our limit of 6 really quick and started catch and release. Managed to release another 6 and lose about 12 because they would run for the tower and wrap us up and cut us off on it. Saw a 40" barracuda prowling on the surface but it wouldn't touch anything we threw at it because the water was so clear.

Headed back home and got in about 5. Cleaned the fish Sat night and put them in the freezer. 2 45" fish gave me probably 20# worth of fillets which came out to ebe 5 1-gallon ziplocks stuffed. Gave 2 bags to coworkers and cooked one tonight.

All in all was a great first trip offshore for me and can't wait to do it again. Until then I'll just have to deal with red drum in the inlet.

Pics of course...
Me on trip out
Sun and the spray
My host w/ our first fish
Some of the company
Me and one of the jacks I caught
Cleaning fish in the tub...that was fun
Remainders of dinner

 

[iroast]

Good job!

 

[DrPizza]

Sounds like a great time. I spent part of the day 2 or 3 times last week concentrating on bluegills and other sunfish. What a pita it is to filet a couple hundred bluegills. But MMMMMmmmmmm, is it worth it!

How do the amberjacks taste? I can't recall ever having any before.

 

[roguerower]

A lot of people look down on them and say they aren't good but those are the guys catching dolphin and tuna on a regular basis. Then some people say that unless it's fresh it's garbage. That stuff was frozen for 2 days and tasted great to me. The only thing that you've gotta watch out for is that bloodline. If you leave it in and cook the fish it will taste strongly like fish. If it's removed when it's filleted then it's just the meat. I didn't remove it until right before I was going to cook it, but I cancelled out the fish flavor by letting it soak in milk for an hour.

I love red drum, tastes great and puts up a good fight, but nothing compared to the aj. My first one was caught using my own tackle which I bought and outfitted for cobia. 7' ugly stik with a penn 321 gti conventional reel loaded with 50# test. The aj just laughed at it and I cursed for 20min as I fought to bring it in. I was tired as hell after that first battle, so I upgraded tackle to my host's gear which made it much easier.

 

[ponyo]

Looks like fun time! I love saltwater fishing! I go down to Pensacola, FL, area couple times a year to fish. I fish to eat. Nothing better than catching a fish and eating it right away sashimi style. Amberjack is great tasting fish although most consider it "trash fish" because of worms. I've had it both sashimi style and grilled although I stopped eating it raw because of the worm threat. It's sweet and soft tasting fish sort of like yellowtail.

This was my batch last week. Couple of sheepshead, redfish, snapper, flounder, grouper, and fish or two I'm not too sure about. Sheepshead has some scary human like teeth. I ate one of the sheepshead sashimi style and it was excellent. Nice firm texture and slightly chewy which I liked but some might not. My favorite fish to eat raw is the grouper which I promptly filleted and ate with wasabi and soysauce.

I'm going back down in about another week or two. Can't wait to do some more fishing.

 

[SuperSix]

Once you start fishing offshore, you are spoiled fishing lakes/freshwater/etc.
A few trips I have taken:
http://ihadav8.com/gallery/FishingTrip0807
http://ihadav8.com/gallery/FishingTrip0808

grouper and reds - hell yes!

 

[buck]

My cousin charters out of VAB, good fishing and good times from what I hear.

 

[roguerower]

It would be great if I could find someone to let me take my kayak out and fish off of it but that would cost a bit too much I think. Most charters up in Va Beach run between 1600-1800 dollars which is pretty stiff. This trip cost me $100. Looks like I'm gonna be "stuck" in my kayak doing the backwater thing for reds & flounder.

 

[fisheerman]

yeah the fishing in the lower chesaepake bay and offshore is on fire.

catching lots of ambers, spade, trigger, tiles, dolphins and flounder.

 

[BW86]

sounds like a great time!

30mi out in a 22footer? Brave you are.

 

[JDMnAR1]

Nice! Amberjack is quite tasty if done right, and if you play your cards right when you get back to the dock you can get all you want for free from the snobs who think it is beneath their taste buds.

Our catch from our trip out of Destin last month.

 

[roguerower]

Originally posted by: fisheerman
were did you go out of?

Launched out of rudee inlet and ran down to the south tower.

22 footer wasn't that bad. Guy had 2 bean bag chairs where me and the other guest sat for the trip out and it absorbed all the hard knocks.

 

[roguerower]

Originally posted by: JDMnAR1
Nice! Amberjack is quite tasty if done right, and if you play your cards right when you get back to the dock you can get all you want for free from the snobs who think it is beneath their taste buds.

I had a hard enough time doing 2 of them in my tub, 3 would have been crazy...plus that would have been too much meat for me and it would have gone bad eventually and I would have felt really bad.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: JDMnAR1
Nice! Amberjack is quite tasty if done right, and if you play your cards right when you get back to the dock you can get all you want for free from the snobs who think it is beneath their taste buds.

Our catch from our trip out of Destin last month.

That looks like group catch from a party boat. I've gone on those many times in Destin. So how many did you catch?

 

[richardycc]

holy cow, you look just like your avatar.

 

[JohnMarshall12]

Offshore fishing is awesome. You should also try Canyon fishing too as you get to go after some bigger fish. It is unreal what you can catch out there. Stingrays, sharks, all kinds of stuff.

 

[spidey07]

Jacks are fun to catch, real fighters. I assume you guys were fishing that structure? What kind of bait?

Oh, and nice fish.

 

[JDMnAR1]

Originally posted by: Naustica

Originally posted by: JDMnAR1
Nice! Amberjack is quite tasty if done right, and if you play your cards right when you get back to the dock you can get all you want for free from the snobs who think it is beneath their taste buds.

Our catch from our trip out of Destin last month.

That looks like group catch from a party boat. I've gone on those many times in Destin. So how many did you catch?

Not a party boat, private charter with 6 of us fishing. I caught 3 grouper, 7 red snapper, and 6 amberjack. My son caught 2 grouper, 3 red snapper, 2 amberjack and a king mackerel. Due to limits, they weren't all kept.

 

[roguerower]

Want to go out to the canyon but it's a bit far for most of the boats I get on. Since it isn't a charter I'm HO'ing (helping out) for the guy and pretty much just paying for his gas. Charters are at least 2.5-4x as expensive w/ twice as many people.

We would motor up to the structure and wait til we started drifting away, then drop a live croaker down about 20'. You could see the AJ come up and eat it. Too close to the structure tho and the fish would make a beeline for it, wrap us up and snap the line.

richardycc, you talkin to me?

Next time I can I'm gonna launch my kayak from the surf and do some spanish/king mackeral fishing.

 

[MyThirdEye]

Impressive! I have done quite a bit of fishing this summer at small ponds and streams around my area. Usually only catch Bass or Bullhead, nothing really worth eating IMO.

 

[Wag]

Offshore fishing here on the NE is the best. I went with my Dad as a kid and I caught a Fluke and they filleted right there. Delicious!!!

 

[JohnMarshall12]

I caught 3 grouper, 7 red snapper, and 6 amberjack. My son caught 2 grouper, 3 red snapper, 2 amberjack and a king mackerel.

Damn, this is making me hungry. Red snapper is excellent.

Want to go out to the canyon but it's a bit far for most of the boats I get on. Since it isn't a charter I'm HO'ing (helping out) for the guy and pretty much just paying for his gas. Charters are at least 2.5-4x as expensive w/ twice as many people.

This is the rub. The gas does drive up the costs. However, it is worth it to do it at least once IMO. Just have to plan ahead. I think you have the right idea about avoiding the Charters. Allows you to focus more on your fishing and not worry about someone doing something stupid around you too.

 

[roguerower]

Originally posted by: Wag
Offshore fishing here on the NE is the best. I went with my Dad as a kid and I caught a Fluke and they filleted right there. Delicious!!!

I usually go fishing on my kayak in lynnhaven bay and catch red drum. If it's legal we fillet it on the spot and throw it on the grill if we happen to bring it out. From swimming to grillin in 5 minutes. Now that's fresh.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: roguerower

Originally posted by: Wag
Offshore fishing here on the NE is the best. I went with my Dad as a kid and I caught a Fluke and they filleted right there. Delicious!!!

I usually go fishing on my kayak in lynnhaven bay and catch red drum. If it's legal we fillet it on the spot and throw it on the grill if we happen to bring it out. From swimming to grillin in 5 minutes. Now that's fresh.

screw the grill. Just eat it raw.

 

[tyler811]

Originally posted by: BW86
sounds like a great time!

30mi out in a 22footer? Brave you are.

22 miles out in 23 footer in the Atlantic. Freakin boat sank