This report was a compilation of eye witness testimony by Passengers and crew (please give the photo gallery a few moments to load) :

Finally found a break in the weather, 27 hours later than our original scheduled trip time.  At 11:30 pm Saturday we left the dock, although we knew it was going to be a bumpy one.  We steamed north in search of our special permitted Red Snapper and Gag grouper. We did not let the  weather forecast get the best of us. All 13 fisherman and the Gulfstar crew were ready For The Challenge.

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At 4:15am deck tech Ryan was on  wheel watch and  spotted a flashing beacon in the choppy seas.  Capt Mitch quickly investigated what was thought to be a distress signal of some kind. Our other deck tech, Shane netted it out of the water. Turns out it was a flashing light, perhaps off a long line buoy marker.

The entire day consisted of a steady bite and flow of fish being caught. Chief chef Joann was busy in the galley preparing delicious meals for this active bunch. It was a busy day. Gag after Gag were hauled in. Some were whoppers and some too short to keep. The Red Grouper that were caught were very nice in size as well. The Amberjack bite was spot on as well. Lots of bent over rods. The AJ”S were on fire!

After dinner, around 7:00 capt James took the helm and made his first honey hole stop.  Which produced some nice pink porgies, and a whopping  red grouper weighing an estimated 15 lbs. (Pic).  Many beautiful Red Snapper too!

On the second stop, 2 nice keeper red grouper, 1 keeper gag, porgies,  lane snapper and an octopus. Good Job capt. ;)!

We worked up north most of the trip and then worked our way back south Sunday night. We caught up some really large size mangrove snapper.   Boy were they hungry!
Had a pair of barn swallows come aboard for the later part of the trip (pic)
Bob Wood hooked a goliath grouper with a sardine bait. It was brought to the surface, vented and successfully released.

“The grand finale” :The final stop was considered ” an a** beatdown” by Bill Parsons, charter organizer. We had to pull the hook and head home before the bite even stopped. “Mango Mania” as described by passengers. “You didn’t have time to pick your nose, scratch your a**,…nuttin! ”

This was an AWESOME trip!! With a limited out number of Red Snapper and Amberjack. Only a handful of Gag permits remained as well. Everybody had an an enjoyable and satisfying fishing adventure.

 

Capt Joy