7th Annual Fishing Trip

My Aunt and I went on our 7th Annual Sea Legs offshore fishing trip today, and it was pretty exciting. There was great weather, clear skies and temperature in the 80's. We were eager to catch some fish, hopefully Snapper. We started off at some stops at which some people on the boat were catching fish. Annette, my aunt, and I started off slowly, as we were missing the hits by Triggerfish, who would peck the bait off the hook a bit after it hit the bottom. At the third stop, we decided to slow down the line as it got closer to the bottom, so we could feel the bite better. Sure enough, as soon as a Triggerfish took the bait, I set the hook and felt the tug. The fish fought well, but it was not enough. I brought the first fish on board! We did not catch for the next few stops because the wind would blow us off the reefs. The captain told us that the wind was blowing at 15 knots, and that the best wind speed was 5-10 knots. At the next spot, we caught a few good fish. I caught 2 nice Porgy’s, and we also brought up a Sand Tilefish. We were very happy with these fish, and excited about our new species, but we were ready to catch more. At the last spot, Annette and I reeled in a cool Almaco Jack. Minutes later, I caught a hard fighting Blue Runner, part of the Jack family. We ended up not catching any Snapper, which was kind of disappointing, but we were happy with the fish that we did catch. Besides, only one or two Vermies were caught by the whole boat. I caught 5 fish, and Annette caught two to finish the day. We came away with not only some awesome fish, but also some valuable lessons. The first was the wind speed: it’s best to fish in 5-10 knot wind speeds so that the boat is not drifted off the reef. The second was that the Snapper bite is better later in the Spring, as the last time we went fishing on the boat was in early May, and we caught Snappers left and right. Overall, this was another really fun day out on the water.