Spent my black friday out on the gulf with a group of six who preferred to go look for dinner vs spend their time online or in stores shopping. Met up around 630 at pineland and off the dock around 7 after loading up. Forecast said 2 ft or less... not so much. It was more like 2-4, but again had a swell to it which made the ride pretty easy. The upgrade to the 33 World Cat has made the trips so much more enjoyable. Set up shop out in 115 ft and the grouper were there ready to play. Dropped down big hunks of squid, sardines and squirrel fish. The bite was fairly steady with quite a few shorts coming up. Made a quick move. Dropped down lines again and it was a quad hook up with 4 legal Grouper for the box. Picked away thru the day at a few more. Lanes and Vermillion were around, but not much size to them. A couple stud size triggerfish joined in on the party. Moved around a bit more and picked away at legal fish for the box. We had some truly MONSTER hits that got the best of us. The great part was most of our fish were in the "dont need" to measure class, with the smallest we took at just over 22". Our largest was just a hair under 30". Got to see an amazing moonrise as the sun set. The moon was glowing orange, and was HUGE. Probably the nicest moon rise I've ever witnessed. Was a great day out on the water and seas subsided down to 1-2 footers for the ride back. Look forward to fishing with you guys again soon!

Met up with the group of 3 at Pineland Marina for a 7AM departure. Seas were predicted to be bumpy and out of the north. While the wind stayed around 15 mph or so all day, there was more of a swell than heavy chop, and the 3-4 footers were handled with ease. Guys were looking to catch some grouper for their Thanksgiving dinner. SO with Grouper on our mind, Pushed out to 100 ft or so and first lines down. Boxed a couple Red Grouper and lanes. Moved out a bit deeper and deployed the anchor. Was a solid and constant bite. Put out a couple flatlines, one of which was taken within minutes... Fish went airborne, but couldnt tell what it was. Worked fish to the boat and it turned out to be a juvenile Sailfish. Pretty rare and cool for the gulf coast. We worked on some more grouper for a bit and then switched up to lighter gear and spanish sardines. This brought the mangroves out and we boxed a good dozen or so with some fat ones mixed in. Was a fun day to be out on the water! And they had plenty of fish for their thanksgiving feast!

Headed out 3/6 with a group of four for a 3/4 day trip out of bokeelia. We pushed off the dock at 630AM and made the run out to find some grouper and snapper. Our first stop was in 95 ft of water, which produced the first keeper grouper for the box at 24 inches. After a quick drift and only a dozen or so short red grouper, we moved on out a little deeper. Here, we spent the majority of the rest of our fishing time pulling up American Red Snapper and some nice Red grouper. The big girl went a little over 30 inches. The bite was nice and steady until we caught a small Tiger Shark. After this, the bite turned off like a light switch. We moved back in a bit and got on to the some good size lanes and Vermillion snapper. A bunch more grouper we're caught but all shorts. We had a great day out with beautiful weather.

Monday the 26th I headed out with Joe, Jack and Sal for an action packed day on the water. We met up at the bokeelia boat ramp and we're underway by 630AM. We made the run out thru Boca grande pass picking up some live hardtails, pinfish and squirrel fish for bait. We had great weather all day with the waves getting smaller as the day went on. We started off at a spot in roughly 85 ft of water. We managed a couple nice jolthead porgies, a red hind grouper (tried to release but it just wouldn't go down, so in the box it went), a small undersize scamp, and Sal had a nice one on that came unglued part ways up. We made a move in out to 100 ft where we plugged away at the Vermilion and Lane snapper. Joe sent down a hard tail and was shortly greeted by a gorgeous 27inch red grouper. The tide swing a bit and we drifted off the area, so we picked up the anchor and did a few drifts. Sal picked up 2 nice fat mangrove snapper for the box. Jack sent down a live pinfish which was inhaled by a fat 29 inch red grouper. The bite was pretty consistent all day with lots of throwback snapper and grunts. Had a great time and look forward to getting out with you guys again.

Monday the 26th I headed out with Joe, Jack and Sal for an 8-9 hr trip. We met up at the bokeelia boat ramp and we're underway by 630 AM. We made the run out thru Boca grande pass picking up some live hardtails, pinfish and squirrel fish for bait. We had great weather all day with the waves getting smaller as the day went on. We started off at a spot in roughly 85 ft of water. We managed a couple nice jolthead porgies, a red hind grouper (tried to release but it just wouldn't go down, so in the box it went), a small under size scamp, and Sal had a nice one on that came unglued part ways up. We made a move in out to 100 ft where we plugged away at the Vermilion and Lane snapper. Joe sent down a hard tail and was shortly greeted by a gorgeous 27 inch red grouper. The tide swing a bit and we drifted off the area, so we picked up the anchor and did a few drifts. Sal picked up 2 nice fat mangrove snapper for the box. Jack sent down a live pinfish which was inhaled by a fat 29 inch red grouper. The bite was pretty consistent all day with lots of throwback snapper and grunts. Had a great time with you guys and look forward to getting out with you again.

Had a fantastic day of fishing today with two men from Texas. We we're supposed to do a Gladiator Trip, an 18 to 24 hr offshore charter that let's is fish both the afternoon bite, the night bite and the sunrise /morning bite. Unfortunately due to the weather window and the long drive they had, the gladiator was swapped out for a full day 12 hr trip instead.We meet up at the bokeelia boat ramp and headed out Boca grande pass with glass smooth conditions. We picked up some choice bait at the buoys and made the run out in search of some snapper and grouper. We made several drifts which resulted in several gag grouper, 2 of which would have been legal if in season. We caught a bunch of nice Vermillion and Lane snapper, along with a few America red snapper. A nice 22 inch mangrove was added to the mix. After setting up on the anchor for a bit, the tide changed and made the call to go look for some red grouper. Pulled up to another spot and it was lit up. It was inundated with American red snappers. Below them were some big red grouper, a few of which made the ride home with us. A gorgeous 34 inch fat fish, 2 26 inch and a 21 inch grouper rounded out my 2 guys red grouper limit. In the process of the grouper digging, an unknown amount of 16-20 inch American red snapper we're caught and released. I picked up a pretty nice size one that went 25 inches. It too, was safely released. Had a great time with you guys and hope to fish with you again in the future. Tight lines!