The Gulfstar had an awesome 3-day trip out to the deep edge off of Pulley ridge. As many anglers know, the waxing and full moon are the best times to fish for queen snappers and more. The Pulley Ridge area has a series of deep water ridges that extend for up to 30 miles that run parallel to the West Florida Escarpment. The ride out was about 13 hours with beautiful weather. The first day started out with a good bite of Queen Snappers for 2 or 3 stops, and the current moved in and put a stop to the Queens. After a change of areas, fishing was slow the rest of the first day. There was a beautiful sunset with the mythical green flash at sea (we caught it on video, so stay tuned for that on our YouTube channel soon), and then we started drifting for Swordfish into the night. Two Swords were swimming around the boat at one point, and after over an hour of fighting to reel in the big one, alas, it turned out to be a shark on the line and was released. The second day out also saw strong current conditions, but the Snowy Grouper bite was great! Fishing was about 200 to 900 feet deep throughout the trip. Overall, anglers pulled in lots of Queen Snappers, Snowy Groupers, Yellowedge Groupers, and Blueline Tilefish. Also a few Bigeye Toro, Blackfin Tuna, Dolphin, Gray Snappers, Great Barracuda, several nice King Mackerels, Mutton Snappers, Red Porgies, Scamp, Spanish Mackerel, and Golden Tilefish. As predicted, the trip was a proven box filler, and we needed all the cooler space and ice that we had. Weather got a little rough during the 13-hour voyage back to Tarpon Springs, but by morning it was all blue skies and smiles at the docks with some epic pictures and weigh-ins! Jaime won the Queen Snapper Jackpot, and Bo won the Snowy Grouper Jackpot. Our next Full Moon Queen Snapper Trip on May 16th is already sold out, but we do still have a few spots left on our May 24th Gulfstar 2-Day Florida Middle Grounds Trip. Give us a call if you have any questions about our trips or want help with booking!
12 May