Trolling these for ...

Crappie???

Hope you guys don't mind me posting this here ...

I had plans of crappie fishing Wednesday but a buddy ask if I wanted to chase Kings, Red Snapper or whatever else that were biting down at the coast. I had a need for the "thump" but said ...sure, lets go!

After work on Tuesday, we took the boat and headed south. Conditions could not have been any better ...clear skies, calm wind, and sea. It was absolutely amazing!!! I got to drive the boat out to the 1st spot which was around 20-30 miles offshore ...man, the feeling of being out in the great wide open with nothing around you was exhilarating. The ride alone was worth the long trip down ...definitely a great day to be alive

Got to the 1st spot, drop our baits down ...ZZziiiipppp!!!! Zziipppp!!! I was thinking my gear is totally inappropriate for this type of fishing as I watch the rod bent like an Ugly Stik commercial. I held on tight and got my 1st ever ...Red Snapper into the boat





To be continued ...

The guy at the bait shop in Galveston showed me a picture of a Big Eye Tuna that was brought in Monday that may be the new State record. Fishing in the surf has been as good as it gets, no wind, flat and clear water. I don't remember ever seeing so many shrimp popping the water along the beach with trout in hot pursuit.

Did you get sea sick with the Gulf being so rough? That is crazy flat! You won't find many days with better conditions, the full moon and the stars are lined up just right.

Nice fish, now let's hear the rest of your fishing trip.

Dang Anh, looking at those pics, you're making me wish I hadn't left SoCal. You gotta love those salt water fish. Pound for pound, the strongest pull in the world.

That water sure looks good. Glad you had a nice day to enjoy it. Congrats

Toooo cool!!! WWWWWAAAAYYYY better than those "party boats"!!!! Been a long time!!! Ahn.....I want to go on a flounder trip in the fall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kirk........get after 'em!!!!!!

Wow, why didn't that happen to me when we were down there?

Nice snapper Ahn and about the best eating you can find. WOW, that is flat for the Gulf. I only made one trip where it was that flat when I lived at Sugarland for 7 yrs. That's an awesome fishing day for offshore.

Thanks guys



We worried about getting sea sick & he took something for it.

When I first started fishing for crappie, I was fishing out of a kayak and often would get sea sick. I used the "patch" behind the ear a couple times and the last one made me so sick ...I wanted someone to just put me out of my misery So I decided not to take anything for this trip and it worked out ...especially with the sea being so calmed.

The sun & the moon deal ...man, that was a sight to behold. The sun was rising on one end of the horizon and the moon was on the other ...both reflecting off of the calm sea

My buddy check the condition before we went ...it was predicted 1-2' for Tuesday and calm sea on Wednesday. The predictions were dead on and was actually better on Tuesday.

Fishing was awesome ...catching a variety of snappers, shark, etc.



After getting 2 limits of snappers, we went searching for kings by drifting baits & trolling Rapala deep diving cranks.



See my rinky dink of a pole in the back?

Ahn, I hear you. This morning kayaking trip was almost deadly for me, near miss, mullet to the forehead every couple mins.

Invasion of the mullets by the millions, they seem to have run off game fish. Good news water is still clear and the seas are calm, this evening it may change for the better.

Fishing for Kings proved to be a challenge for me ...of the 1st 10 hits or so, I landed only one.

My friend was saying that I'm setting the hook too fast & too hard. Do you know how frustrating it is to get a good hook set on a fast charging King??? Getting one into the boat was a big relieve after missing so many ...




While trying to land a king, my other pole in the rod holder had a hit and the pole was bending abnormally hard. I asked my friend to grab it but before he got to it, it flew out ...went past me in the back of the boat and into the water. The water was so blue & clear ...I can see the pole zipping away from the boat like Jaw's pulling them buoys I watched helplessly and other boaters going Ooohhh damn!!!



Yep! ripped the rod holder in half

Went to another spot and baits were popping everywhere. We set out several poles and instantly got a double ...bending poles & hard pulling drag. At first I thought it was Cobias but it wasn't ...Kingfish were everywhere.

You are the King!

Wonderful pictures and story! Thanks.

That would be a blast

True dat! Thanks for sharing the story and pics, Anh.

Love that kind of fishing. I used to take my 22 foot Triton to run to the rigs off Port A about a 10 mile run from the end of the jetties. Usually could get some nice snapper and all the kings you want in the summer. I went out one day by myself snapper fishing and hung a huge fish...just had to drift and do a fire drill around the boat pulling the TM out of the water and then raising the outboard, After 20 minutes, I was 200 yards from the rig and saw it was a big king. I started to get ready to reach down to get it and a 4 foot shark came out from under the boat. It left and I finally got the king on board that a good estimate put it over 35 pounds, which is great for an inshore king. Tons of fun solo. Another day I pulled up to one of the rigs and had a school of 20 ling come off. 5 followed me for a long while and I hung 3 an landed two but the biggest was an inch short....mean fish.

Very cool trip and story.

Haha ...I wish! I was along for the ride. My bud did all the work to put us on fish.



Not a problem ...I had such a great time, I had to share my experiences. I will say this though ...if conditions are right and if you "died hard" crappie fishermen ever have a chance to go, definitely don't miss it ...Go!!!

A funny story my friend was telling me ...he said that on one trip, the sea was rough and they threw up on the way out ...fish... and threw up on the way in but it was all worth it

Sure wish I knew you were down there ...would have ask to see if you wanted to join us.



Yep, I'm hooked ...was asking when we can go again on the way home

Talked to one boater & they said that they caught easy limits of Snapper & 3 Lings ...60 miles out. I asked can we go 60 miles out

Awesome post. Thanks for sharing.

60 miles out?

OMG - I can't swim that far!

Wow!! Now that's a trip for the books!