Anglers heat up on the water

Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like tangling with a fish. And with the temps in the low 40s, it didn’t take long for some of the anglers to warm up on the Gulf of Mexico this week.

As a matter of fact, the crew aboard the Lucky Lina with Capt. Steve Lathi hooked up with some amberjack, otherwise known as a reef donkey because of the stubborn pull on the line.

“We caught and released about four amberjack,” Capt. Lathi said, noting they were about an inch or two to short. Amberjack have to be 34 inches in length to keep.

“I was cold, but I warmed up real fast after fighting that fish,” one of the anglers chimed in.

In addition to releasing the amberjack, they also cut loose about 20 triggerfish.

However, they did manage to bring in plenty of mingo and white snapper.

Capt. Steve Haeusler on the First Light and his group of anglers pulled in several mingo and white snapper. Haeusler’s deckhand, Wyatt, said they threw back about 40 triggerfish.

Triggerfish are off the catch list this year after federal regulators have deemed them overfished.

Tennessee and Mississippi anglers aboard the Game On with Capt. Eric Thrasher backed in with a pile of mingo and white snapper. Captain said they were fishing about 20 miles out of Destin.

Capt. Nathan Putney, running the Reel Deal, came in with a nice catch of sheepshead. He said they were fishing just beyond the jetties. Putney said the water was so clear they could see the fish down in the water, but couldn’t get them all to bite.

The Anastasia with Capt. Tony Davis at the helm came in from a six-hour trip with eight amberjack along with a pile of mingo and white snapper.

Capt. Brady Bowman on the Bow’d Up came in from a five-hour trip with mingo, white snapper and a few scamp. Bowman was pitching in and cleaning fish in order to make a turn around trip.

The Gulf Breeze with Capt. John Gibson at the helm and the Tropical Winds backed in about the same time at Marler Docks. Both had several stringers loaded with mingo and white snapper. Also saw a hogfish and a goggle eye in the mix.

The Miss Nautica with Capt. Jimmy Miles backed in with mingo and white snapper and several bonito. Word is the group of anglers fought a shark for a bit before cutting it loose.

Mississippi anglers on the Un Reel with Capt. Justin Destin brought in four amberjack along with a pile of mingo and some big white snapper.

“In honor of the snow storm we had to catch some great whites,” Destin said. Capt. Destin is always good for some fun comments about the day’s activities.

Capt. Reid Phillips on his new boat, Rewind, with family and friends from Missouri and Texas pulled in some mingo and white snapper, along with an amberjack.

Texas anglers on the 100 Proof with Capt. Ben O’Connor came in with a pair of amberjack, plus mingo, white snapper and lane snapper.

Not long after, the Wahoo with Capt. Paul Dale Wagner backed in with three buckets full of big white snapper, mingo and a few porgy.

Fishing is starting to heat up, let’s just hope the temperature does as well.

See you at the docks.