Fishing through the storm
With the on again, off again storms on Monday, local charters managed to bring in some mighty fine catches, all things considered.
“We ran into storms, storms ran into us,” said first mate Jan-Michael Garcia of the Un Reel.
“We had a little lightning and rain, but you do your best to get around it,” added Capt. Justin Destin of the Un Reel.
The two took a group from Texas out for a six-hour trip Monday morning. When asked if it was stormy out, one of the guys was quick to show me a video he recorded on his phone that showed rain falling and waves kicking up pretty good.
Nevertheless, they braved the storm and fished through it and it paid off with a big amberjack and a pile of mingo.
Anglers from Canada on the Lucky Lina with Capt. Steve Lathi ran into a few rain showers.
“It was rain, water … it’s nature. But we had a great time,” said one of the ladies on the Lucky Lina. Her group brought in a few mackerel and mingo.
Capt. Judah Barbee on the Stelluna and his group from Texas brought in a pretty good catch. They had some big mingo, king mackerel and a mahi mahi.
“The current was running like a river … it was hard to hold up on the fish,” Barbee said. As for rain, he said they ran into a few sprinkles.
Capt. Chip Godwin on the Reel Legend and his group brought in a good mix of mingo and white snapper, while Capt. John Gibson and his anglers on the Gulf Breeze filled several stringers and baskets with mingo and white snapper.
Texas anglers on the Windwalker II with Capt. Bernie LeFebvre hauled in a good catch of mingo, Spanish mackerel, amberine and bonito. The anglers were excited about the catch and were looking forward to eating dinner.
As a matter of fact, one of the young guys was already picking out which fish he wanted to eat first.
Not long after the Sea Fix with Capt. Jason Hallmark at the helm backed in with quite the catch. The anglers from Atlanta and California had five big amberjack and several mingo on the boards.
Hallmark said their six-hour trip almost got turned into a three-hour trip when they ran into some weather. Captain said they held up in the rain for about 30 minutes then got back after it and managed to bring in a great catch.
“We got lucky,” Hallmark said.
And you know, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Either way they got their fish.
See you on the docks.
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