OFFSHORE - Hunt for Red Snapper
by Robin

Jack and friends are offshore today, searching deep waters for red snapper. He's not on our boat, but on a friend's. John is an awesome bottom fishermen and he always puts Jack on big fish. One of the other guys also has great locations for bringing home his limit of reds. So between the three guys & 1 wife, they should do well.

It has also been posted that mahi have been spotted 180' depths and cobia closer inshore.

I did not send him w/ the camera, so I will take a pic of whatever makes it to the cooler.

Saying prayers for safe journies & lots of fish.

CLOSED
by Robin

Much like a lot of the bottom fishing in our area, my blog is undergoing regulations, limits & closures. I hope I did not forgot to invite any friends or family.

It was my hope & dream to provide valuable information to other local fishing friends while entertain family & friends with photography of the sea. What has happened is a much different story.

For those unaware of our situation, in October, we received a knock on the door from NOAA-NMFS (Nat'l Marine Fishery Serv) field agents who had been watching my blog for months! It seems that we broke the law, admittedly, by being within 500 yds of a N. Right Whale back in March. Somebody photographed us (& another boat) from the beach, but also, they managed to find my blog and copy my photographs & use my testimony to build a file against us.

We were let off with a warning. The fine is in the tens of thousands. God protected us through that rather quick trial, as I believe He knew in our hearts ut was only to be in awe of such a magestic creature and never to harm it. We had no intentions of drifting so close to Mama & calf. I still believe she was just as curious of us, coming over to us.

Regardless, my sitemeter tells me that folks from all around the world are coming to view my images that have been taken without permission and put onto a google image site. I'm getting rather tired of that too. Once, I was linked to and by CNN for my opinion on the woman who was killed by an airborn stingray down in the keys. Nothing ever came of that, but it kinda freaked me out.

So, with that said, I have decided to close my blog to only people I give permission to view. It's so sad that we live in these times, but that's the way it is.

MONDAY
by Robin


It was in the 60's with some building winds on Monday. But, the sun was out and we wanted to dunk the boat to keep her running smoothly.

We didn't leave the port 'til noon. Waves were rolling over long periods, but the worst part was the wind wave.



We tried to troll for kingfish but before we could get started, the seagulls were all over our live baits. That did not go well. Trolled a short while, gave up because of the wind and headed to the beach for wind-protected waters.

Caught some small whiting, which we threw back. I sent a live bait down and it manage to survive a long time w/ no attacks so he was released when we were done fishing.

Came in and threw some shrimp to the pelicans in order to catch these photos.



Tomorrow, Jack and a bunch of coworkers are heading offshore for some deep-water dropping. They want to come back with some nice red snappers. I am unable to fish right now until a couple body parts get stronger. Snapper fishing closes in a few days. Inshore snapper/grouper fishing closes on Friday.

I think that pretty much leaves us pompano, flounder, kingfish for the rest of winter until the cobia show up in big numbers in March.

Happy Fishing.

WHITING
by Robin


These are from the Monday before Christmas. I kept meaning to post them up, but kept forgetting. They're not really memorable. Two small fish.

But then again, Jesus fed a multitude with two small fish and five loaves of bread. If those little guys could make it into the Bible, I guess mine can make it to the blog.

MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone!!
by Robin

Checked some weather reports and had lots of free time today, so the kids and I headed to the beach.



Ok....... stop that. Just get IT out of your mind. It was NOT HOT.

55 deg with some wind.

BUT, I will saw the water was much warmer than the air. I did not mind putting my feet/legs in it to cast out.

When the sun disappeared behind bizarre clouds, it was downright cool.



I brought 2 poles although only 1 was used. Here is a self-portrait of me surf fishing.



I only caught 2 little fish right after arriving there about 8:30 am. One was a whiting and the other a Crevelle Jack which looks very similar to the Pompano, which I was seeking.



As the sun went up, the waves were building,



tide was coming in,



which would have been a good thing.



However, my holiday truffles, filled with evil dairy, decided to attack my body and my joints started swelling hour by hour. I've never felt an attack come on so quickly.



So, by 11 am, we were back in the car, heading home. The kids were happy. They had done what they set out to do. (Dig a huge pit and sit in it.) They were getting some fast food fries. And I was headed to my recliner with half a muscle relaxer & an anti-inflammatory. Whew....... that was a close call.

I hate taking medicine, but am so thankful it is there for when I really need it. I'm already able to stand up a couple hrs later with minimal pain.

We're watching the weather for some New Year's Eve fishing. Pretty soon, the bottom fishing will be closed down and so Jack is gathering a crew together. I'd like to go too, but we have to see how I'm doing in a few days.

Happy Fishing!!

SURF FISHING
by Robin

We only caught 4 whiting, 2 thrown back to grow up more. Still, it made a nice dinner last night for the guys.

Canaveral National Seashore. Those waves are suppose to be 1-2 ft high. NOT! I love the mist rolling off the top of the wave below.





Here's a self-portrait of myself. I didn't want to scare anybody with a jumbo size photo of me with barely any make-up.



Here's why the fishermen go here for the pompano. See the steepness of this beach? Practically a 30- 45 deg angle. This makes for a nice deep drop-off in the water and lots of bigger fish come in to feed. I really wanted to be back out there today, but it will have to wait since I have some last minute Christmas shopping to do.



I have pictures of the fish, but they're still on the camera. It is rather insignificant when you compare 2 whiting with the big mahi that we've caught.

Merry Christmas!! I may not blog again for the next few/several days.

ONE GOOD TERN DESERVES ANOTHER
by Robin

Yes... I know I spelled "turn" wrong. Meet the Least Terns. They're cousins to the Royal and Caspian Terns, which are much bigger.

We found these beauties while surf fishing on Monday at Canaveral National Seashore. We were in search of pompano in the Lot #2 region. After we were done, we drove up to Lot #10, which is known to have topless sunbathers in the summer. It has been prohibited by law, but people still do it (or are rumored). I've never seen it because I'm too chicken to go up there in warm weather. I digress.........

It was about 50 deg with whipping wind approx 20 knots and only a handful of wool-wearing fishermen were around. I was so happy to catch some photos of these guys. They were adorable.



They're all facing into the wind.


Aren't they cute??


They tuck their beaks in to stay warm. The guy with a black beak is a baby. His beak is turning orange on the tip.


And this is my favorite picture of them. Sharie, did I do good? Not bad considering my batteries died after this shot.


Tomorrow, I'll post up pictures of Jack and I surf fishing. The kids were smart to stay home with watch tv & play video games.

MY FAVORITE PHOTO
by Robin

..... taken from Monday's trip in the Indian River.



The sun had popped out for a short hour or two as we were headed back to the docks. The camera was so entirely confused so it created a starburst out of the sun. Then, I put high contrast to the photo to darken out the edges & the water below. I really like this effect it created. It makes me think of a little town in Bethlehem.

God bless & Merry Christmas!
Robin

SAD NEWS
by Robin

Your right to fish are being taken away from you, species by species.

Sea Bass fishing was voted to be closed, effective TOMORROW, the 20th. This goes for the entire NC to Key West coast until June 1st 2010. This is entirely ridiculous because there are soooo many of them out there, keeper size. Most fishermen don't even keep them when they catch them. They're considered the nuisance while out snapper fishing. Utterly ridiculous.

http://www.safmc.net/Portals/6/Library/FMP/SnapGroup/FBAtlanticBlackSeaBass.pdf

Also, Vermillion snapper season will not be reopened in June.

Shallow-water Snapper & Grouper has a closure Jan 1st 2010 to April 30, 2010. This includes gags, black, red, scamp, rock hind, red hind, coney grasby, yellowfin, yellowmouth and tiger groupers.

As a reminder, Red Snapper is closing Jan 4th until June 2, 2010 - as an interim rule. This is subject to change (i.e. be closed indefinitely)

They're also considering closing & debating kingfish, dolphin and wahoo.

So, pretty much... fishing and eating American-caught fish will be considered extinct in the near future.

If you find this disturbing that the entire S.E. coast of USA is being closed down from any fishing, call or write your local Congressman to get them into the fight against SAFMC.

OR

Write:
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Office:
4055 Faber Place Drive,
Suite 201
North Charleston, SC 29405
phone 843.571.4366
toll free 866.SAFMC-10
fax 843.769.4520
safmc@safmc.net

DO YOU HEAR JIMMY BUFFET?
by Robin

I'm pretty certain I have one of his songs in my head.

"Fins to the left, fins to the right and you're the only bait in town."














You see....... we're the only "bait" in town.


Good thing these are just dolphin and not sharks.

Merry Christmas!

WINTER WHITEOUT - part 2
by Robin

We anchored near the mouth of Haulover canal, catching nibbles from crabs that stole our old shrimp. But better than fish, I captured some awesome wildlife & scenery photos.

This first one was my 2nd favorite of the entire trip. I may just have to put this on next year's family calendar. Believe it or not, it is a color photo but the sky was so gray that it looks black & white.



Offshore had 5 ft waves, but in the canal, it was totally calm. The only movement was from the pod of dolphins that stayed just out of reach of my camera lens. I must have taken dozens of photos, but couldn't capture but a few fin shots.

There were a few folks that motored by in their john boats or kayaks. That was nice.


I captured a few photos of this osprey. The original is stunning. Too bad I have to downsize everything for the blog.


On the way home around 3pm, the sun popped out enough to light up this island covered in birds. (primarily seagulls, pelicans & loons)


Tomorrow, I will share some of the dolphin dorsal fins. You'd think we were surrounded by sharks. ;o)

Merry Christmas!

FLORIDA WINTER WHITEOUT - 12/14/09
by Robin

In Florida, we may never get a day of snow or even frost this far down, but we still get our version of whiteouts. When the dewpoint comes within degrees of the temperatures, we get fog. And, we've gotten a LOT of fog lately.

Our poor boat hasn't been used in weeks (again). We've been watching the weather but the seas were very, very high this week. It looks like we may not be able to make our offshore run for Christmas red snapper before the closure takes effect.

So, out of desperation for a day on the water & a day of relaxation after one of the busiest weeks in years. LOL. It may not be deep or blue, but we were happy for it.

We motored out into the white abyss very slowly. Guessing here, but it was probably 50-70 ft of visibility in some spots.



Thank goodness for technology, gps & navigation chips. Jack knew where we were the entire time.



We passed by a marina/harbour and could see anchored sailboats - barely.


We had only 2 big boats pass us and they were going slow too. They seemingly "popped" out at us. I can totally relate to how the Titanic hit that iceberg in the fog.

At one point, we made the turn northeast toward Haulover canal. Ok........ I have to trust Jack on that one.



Not long after that, we made this dolphin very mad. We were in his territory and he approached the boat with tail slaps. Generally speaking, river dolphins duck down until our boat passes. They fairly shy. But, not this one. He deliberately slapped the water at us.



And then, there was land.........

A pocket of visibility amongst the whiteout.


I'll share more photos with you tomorrow. Must run & start chores now.

Merry Christmas!

RED SNAPPER - interim rule for the next 6 months

As of January 4th, you are not allowed to target or keep Red Snappers off the coasts of N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Georgia, and the Atlantic coast of Florida.
http://www.safmc.net/Portals/6/Library/FMP/SnapGroup/NOAArsnprForImediateRelease.pdf
This news came out Wednesday.

The council hopes to recommend a long-term closure measure in mid-2010.

Coincidentally, I received a letter TODAY from Governor Charlie Crists' office. Here it is in its entirety. I have no idea where this leaves us.

Thank you for contacting Governor Charlie Crist's Office and sharingyour concerns about recent decisions by the South Atlantic FisheryManagement Council ("the Council"). The Governor wants to know how people feel about the many critical issues we face and asked that Irespond on his behalf.Governor Crist supports the Council's efforts to protect our precious natural resources; however, the Governor believes this action will haveserious ramifications for Florida's recreational anglers and our economy. The requirement to establish strict catch limits for all federally managed species that are undergoing "overfishing" by 2010 is affecting Florida in ways that were not anticipated. A closure effectively puts Florida's fishermen out of work in an already challenging economic time and would severely diminish the multi-million dollar annual contribution the South Atlantic fishery makes to Florida'seconomy.Governor Crist has contacted Charles Davis, Chairman of the SouthAtlantic Fishery Management Council to encourage a prompt review of the science used to validate the Council's decisions in the fishery management process. The Governor also contacted U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and asked that the Department do everything possible to lessen the impact on Florida's anglers while still protecting our natural resources. Governor Crist firmly believes that a fishery-wide closure must be a last resort only after all other options have been exhausted. Thank you again for taking the time to contact Governor Crist. Please do not hesitate to write again to share your concerns and ideas about issues that are important to you.

Sincerely,
Warren DavisOffice of Citizen Services

A WORD TO OUR SPONSORS
by Robin

For years, this has been one of the ultimate quick seafood fixes in our house. For approx $1.25 per can, one can eat smoked oysters which is relatively cheap when compared to eating Snow Crab legs or Shrimp (which God loves).

I keep a couple cans handy for the pantry and I even stuff some in our emergency "ditch" bag on the boat. It's protein in a can which is very handy if stranded offshore.

Anyhow, I put up with the original orange packaging for years because it made it easy to find on the shelves. But today.... I must protest. If I had true grit, I'd ban these from my house, but I won't because we have such a weakness for them, topped w/ hot sauce, salt and lemon, while sitting on a Ritz cracker. (Excuse me while I catch the drool.)

This........


This makes no sense. They are cow patches on a seafood item. For all I know, I could mistake this for cream cheese which is about the same size. What has happened to our country? Is this CHANGE we can count on? Change that doesn't make the outer packaging resemble the product inside?

Good grief WALMART executives........ does this make sense to you? Can't you at least make the blue things into fish shapes or shrimp shapes or ......... wait........ are my eyes deceiving me? Are those suppose to be oyster shapes? Oh no...... Am I the only fool who didn't get this the first 20 boxes?

What do you bloggers see?

Wait..... what did you see first? If this were some type of psychology examination, would you say, "Cow patches" or "oysters"?

Now, compare this with the Ritz cracker box in the background. Unmistakably a cracker, not a flower. A Ritz cracker, no doubt. Awesome marketing. Undeniably Ritz.

So, who's the fool now? (Please somebody comment....)