‘A seafood splatter': Catch 'em all, while you can

When it takes the bait, reel it in.

That was about the size of it on Wednesday for several of the charter boats that had a good mix of fish on the racks.

As Capt. Justin Destin of the Full Draw said while he was hanging up his groups catch, “we got a seafood splatter.”

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The Tennessee group had a little bit of everything.

“We don’t segregate on this boat,” he jokingly said. “We get ’em all.”

And that they did. They had a huge barracuda on the boards as well as an amberjack, Jack Crevalle, a Spanish mackerel, a mahi mahi, five king mackerel and several red snapper.

Capt. Destin said the barracuda was kind of a “have-to” catch. He said the barracuda was trying to get their amberjack.

“We had to distract him,” Destin said.

So they threw a bait at him, which he took and off he went.

“He jumped about three-feet out of the water,” one the Tennessee guys said, noting the fish almost jumped in the boat.

Capt. Bill Williams on the Miss Hazel and his group had a couple of barracuda on the racks. But the biggest thing on their board was three fat king mackerel that weighed 25-pounds or better.

“It was about as pretty as you would want it to be,” Williams said about the day on the Gulf.

In addition to the king, the group from Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas had some big red snapper.

Bernie Schreck of Missouri hauled in a 23.2-pound king mackerel on the Good Times with Capt. David Dewberry. Altogether, the group had a dozen king mackerel and several red snapper.

Atlanta anglers on the Sure Lure with Capt. Don Dineen pulled in a limit of red snapper and king mackerel. They also had a few lane snapper (a snapper with yellow racing stripes) in the mix.

Capt. Allen Staples on the Al-Lin brought in a nice catch of king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, red snapper, black snapper and a big Jack Crevalle.

The Un Reel with Capt. Harold Staples had a good rack of red snapper, black snapper, amberjack and king mackerel.

Georgia anglers on the No Alibi with Capt. Chuck Turbanic reeled in a dozen king mackerel, red snapper and a few bonito.

Capt. Trey Windes and his group from Atlanta backed in with a big haul aboard the Outta Line. They had 10 mackerel, four black snapper and several red snapper.

Capt. Windes said they also had about an 80-pound tarpon on line.

“We fought it about 30 minutes,” he said, noting it jumped about five times.

They got it close to the boat and he pulled the hook out, Windes said.

Missouri anglers on the Extasea with Capt. Shawn Dahnke pulled in a nice rack of amberjack, barracuda, red snapper and king mackerel.

Folks on the Windwalker II with Capt. Bernie LeFebvre landed a couple of king mackerel, red snapper, black snapper and a scamp.

Capt. Eddie Dykes and his group on the Shamrock II had kings over snapper. They had 11 king mackerel on the racks and 18 red snapper.

The Anticipation backed in with a limit of red snapper along with a few white snapper and mingo in the mix.

“We had a great day,” Capt. Tim Adams of the Double Time said as he hung up their catch. The Texas and Virginia angler filled the boards with a cobia, king mackerel, red snapper and one mingo.

Red snapper was the main draw on the Twilight with Capt. Robert Hill. In addition to the snapper, they had four king mackerel and a few triggerfish.

Capt. Rodney Souza on the Mary Lou filled the boards with king mackerel and red snapper.

Capt. Ken Bearid ran the Top Gun on Wednesday. He and his group brought in a couple of grouper, a king mackerel, red snapper, lane snapper and white snapper.

Anglers on the Hired Gun with Capt. Bill Waitzman brought in a nice haul of amberjack, black snapper, red snapper, king mackerel and a small sand shark.

However, the guy who caught the shark was quick to tell me, “It didn’t feel like a small one.”

He landed the shark on 25-pound test line on a spinning reel.

The Silver Lining with Capt. Ed Shields had a good mix on the board. They had six mackerel, a black snapper, 18 red snapper, a rock salmon and a couple of cobia — one which weighed about 45 pounds.

The Gulf Breeze with Capt. Jason Hindeman backed in with a limit of red snapper and eight king mackerel.

Capt. Jim McMahon on the Sea Venture hit the limit. They had the limit on king mackerel and red snapper.

The Anastasia with Capt. Tony Davis came in with a huge group of folks from Trussville, Ala., and just as many fish. They had a pile of red snapper, a big king mackerel, black snapper and some bluefish.

The New Florida Girl’s American Spirit with Capt. Jim Green pulled in with several stringers of red snapper, lane snapper and mingo in the mix.

It looked to me like most everybody lived by the words of Capt. Destin — “we catch’em all.”

See you at the docks.