# Offshore Steinhatchee 6/11 and 6/12



## Parker Phoenix (Jun 14, 2010)

A buddy of mine and his son Chris went down to the Gulf this weekend to do some fishing. WE wanted some red snapper so off we went. WE had a 43 mile run in front of us to get to 80 foot, the seas were 1 foot and less so we were able to run 30 knots in and out both days. One thing, it was hot, hot as I can remember it ever being this time of year.

Day 1 we were at the fishing hole by 10:30, the first drop of the day  resulted in a nice red snapper. To make a long story short we limited out on snapper, and brought back 1 red grouper, and 1 gag grouper. We must have caught 20 grouper that were 1/2 inch short. WE vented and released them as you should, and hopefully they are swimming around as we speak. We also caught a mess of grunts, and the sharks were thick also, however I got lucky and didn't catch that 8 foot nurse shark that has been following me around the Gulf lately.

Day 2, back out 43 miles, my close numbers were covered , it looked like a Walmart shopping center parking lot. ( Note to self: I remember why I do not like fishing on weekends.) There looked to  be 20 boats in a small area, so we went back to the middle of no where.   The fishing was good again, we only missed our snapper limit by 1 fish, but we killed the grouper, our largest was a red that filled up the bottom of my cooler, I say she weighed 16 to 18 pounds. We also managed to catch another mess of grunts and a sole lane snapper.

A great trip, with great guest, but it was hot. If you go out drink plenty of water/gator aid, and be sure to keep food on your stomach. The fish are there, but it's a long ride to get to them, but it sure was worth it.

The bait the snappper preferred was a whole squid, while the grouper of all things liked the frozen cigar minnows. However the key to catching the grouper was to put two minnows on the hook, they would not bite one, it had to be 2. Go figure.


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## pottydoc (Jun 14, 2010)

Nice job, PP. One of my buds is supposed to trailer his 28 CC to Steinhatchee pretty soon. Hopefully I can get out to the reds before the season closes.


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## Bighunt37 (Jun 14, 2010)

Sounds like an exciting weekend do you ever run out to the middle grounds out of steinhatchee?  ive never fished that area and have always been curious about it


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## Nugefan (Jun 14, 2010)

when do we eat ???



sounds like a blast , y'all be safe out there Bro ...


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## XTREME HUNTER (Jun 14, 2010)

Good Job Keith, I am missing Steinhatchee especially when I read your reports


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## Parker Phoenix (Jun 14, 2010)

pottydoc said:


> Nice job, PP. One of my buds is supposed to trailer his 28 CC to Steinhatchee pretty soon. Hopefully I can get out to the reds before the season closes.



If you go on the weekend, do not even slow down until 70 foot.....


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## Parker Phoenix (Jun 14, 2010)

Bighunt37 said:


> Sounds like an exciting weekend do you ever run out to the middle grounds out of steinhatchee?  ive never fished that area and have always been curious about it



No, never been there,  the only way to make it worth while is to do an over nighter with 2 captains so you can have a two day limit.


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## Parker Phoenix (Jun 14, 2010)

Nugefan said:


> when do we eat ???
> 
> 
> 
> sounds like a blast , y'all be safe out there Bro ...



Anytime you get down, fried grouper, cheese grits,salad, hush puppies, and lots of sweet tea.

I am always safe, but I crave adventure.


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## Parker Phoenix (Jun 14, 2010)

XTREME HUNTER said:


> Good Job Keith, I am missing Steinhatchee especially when I read your reports



We miss you too Gordy, it's a tight knit community, where if you ain't back at the hill when your supposed to be, folks will come look for you.


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## ddb (Jun 14, 2010)

Nice trip KeithHope to get out with you at some point while snapper season is still on.  Wouldn't mind at all missing the weekend crowds.


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## oldenred (Jun 14, 2010)

yea those weekend crowds stink, but at least you still put a hurtin on em


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## Parker Phoenix (Jun 15, 2010)

ddb said:


> Nice trip KeithHope to get out with you at some point while snapper season is still on.  Wouldn't mind at all missing the weekend crowds.



Thanks, we will try and make it happen. How did you do on the flats?


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## ddb (Jun 15, 2010)

we did well on trout and a couple of redfish.  We tried trolling for mackeral for quite a while with no luck so we went back to our bread and butter.


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## Georgiagator (Jun 15, 2010)

how do you keep the grunts from eating your c-minnows up before the grouper find them   Last time I  went out had to use Northern Mackel hope they were big enough to scare off the grunts but they eat them too


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## Parker Phoenix (Jun 15, 2010)

They didn't have time for the grunts to get them, it was a fast bite.


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## grouper throat (Jun 15, 2010)

We went out on Friday. We limited out on red snapper and gags  Friday along with 3 red grouper, 2 AJs, and 2 dolphin. 

First hole= 6 nice gags and 5 red snaps on live/dead bait. The letdown of the whole trip was at this hole. A buddy hooked a 50-60 lb cobia and we were all pulling fish over so quickly none of us grabbed the gaff in time. I grabbed it after realizing it was a nice cobia and the fish turned away from the boat making another run. He pulled the hook right out of his mouth and we watched him slowly swim back to the bottom. 

Second=  AJs and a few small gags with 3 legal red grouper.  

Third= 3 more hefty gags and 3 red snapper. It was H-O-T and we decided to look for some new spots. An hour of looking and found an old buoy with alot of peanut dolphin holding on it. Caught several and then left them alone to finish out a gag and snapper limit as it was getting late. 

We found a pretty good spot and dropped down. First I yanked up a fat red snapper and then we quickly finished the snapper limit. Then we switched to hand-sized live baits and finished off the gag limit with several nicer fish including the biggest of the day with a 15lb. gag. Sunset was nice as we cruised in.

BTW kings and bonita were everywhere crashing bait on the calm seas. We didn't get offshore until later than usual so I didn't have time to catch one.


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