sandcasting
08-08-2004, 02:17 PM
on the last full moon three of us decicded that a night snapper trip was in order. we departed from palmetto at 130 in the morning with smooth inshore water. but by the time we had the skyway bridge in sight, the chop had started and while entering the gulf just north of anna maria island our speed had decreased greatly. the 18' whaler was rocking considerably in the confused 3 to 4 foot seas as we headed for he next waypoint. the first plan was to head out 22 miles to a large rockpile and get the snapper, and then go to a nearby spring to tangle with some amber jack. but the seas, and the thunderheads visible in the distance thanks to the blue moon forced a change of plans. the first drop at a rockpile only three miles out in 30 feet, produced nothing and we headed out further after 30 minutes. upon reaching our next rockpile nearly 7 miles out in 40 feet of water the fish were there and they were ready to eat. my first drop produced a 16 inch red grouper, and the same piece of squid enticed another red and a key west grunt before i retired it. the action was virtually non stop until we headed for home at 530. sadly, the first grouper was the largest of the night. although we were each broken off and out-muscled into the rocks by larger fish. never found the mangrove snapper we were looking for, but between all of us we landed at least 2 dozen key westers, 15 red grouper and a black grouper. sunrise on the ride back in was a welcome site. squid was the bait of choice, and frozen sardines produced too. following a long week of work, no pretrip nap and a long night battling fish and the rocking of the small boat, i slept for the next 21 hours.