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3rd annual Gobies goes to the keys for New Years

6K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  Phil6 
#1 ·
Family and I arrived last night on our 3rd annual trip to Grassy Key in Florida.

Goby Jr. was on the water by 7am this morning armed with frozen shrimp and pilchards while dad was still asleep. Caught 7 different species of fish including a nice cuda, couple keeper snapper that became sashimi breakfast, a hound fish, some blow fish etc. all this just off the dock of our rental.

There is a really cool pod of smallish tarpon hanging around. Last night they were busting on glass minnows right around the dock but we couldn't catch them with lures and frozen bait.

Off to get live shrimp now.

Will post updates and pics later.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
Good day today wade fishing a flat on edge of drop off by a channel.

Fishing was fun enough and fast enough for GB3 to fish 3 hours straight which is rare. A ton of 10" mangrove snapper but we also got into a school of pretty big yellow tail that fought like king salmon. We landed 4 and kept 2 for sashimi / ceviche. Goby jr. had a spa itch mackerel at his feet before it hit him off. Caught some big porgies, a lane snapper, and a nice size mutton snapper. No pictures on site but took this back at our rental before Goby Jr got to cleaning. Rental has nice cleaning station on dock...

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#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
I need to do a better job of photographing the different catches.

The one cool one I do have a picture of is the cow fish. These little things are sooo cute but they are the best bait stealing fish in the world. They make perch look like bull head catfish in the bait stealing department.

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#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
Don't know what to say, we had an epic day out yesterday on a charter trip. The plan was to drift live baits (pilchards) offshore for big fish.

First fish in the boat was close to a 30lb tuna that took every once of strength from Goby jr. to bring in. The fight was unreal.

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2nd fish was a 56" wahoo! This was GB3s fish. Right after he grabbed the rod, it took off across the surface behind the boat from left to right, covering around 50 yards in a blink of an eye, certainly faster than a jet ski. It was an even more amazing fight, we were sure we had lost it multiple times as it swam towards us and there was a ton of slack line to reel in.

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The fish came consistently all day. Final count was 7 tuna, 1 wahoo, 1 shark, 2 big bonito, and a big king fish. Briefly had a sail fish on, a few other sharks, and a few other unknowns.

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#14 ·
Fun fact...that cow fish is in the puffer family. Puffers, despite their size, are extremely aggressive fish...which explains the bait thievery.

Looks like y'all are eating well. Add some Mahi in there and you got some world class cuisine.
 
#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
NYD we chilled at the rental and fished from the dock since the fishing was good and we were tired from the day before.

Highlight was a couple nurse sharks we caught. One was big and put up a good fight for a nurse shark. Anyone with a passing interest in safety shouldn't ask how we got it on the dock.

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#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
*For a life-changing experience, if you havent:

On your way out of town ( or just to go for a ride), take a couple lbs of fresh fillets, those 10" mangrove snappers from around the docks would be perfect! & do the "hook & cook" at Lazy days in Islamorada (mm 80-ish, oceanside immediately north of Bud & Marys marina).

Its (was) about 18$person & you WILL leave with tons of leftovers. Their signature "Lazy days" style is the best fish Ive ever eaten, bar none! Their jalepeno-encrusted is a very close 2nd ( & I dont even like jalepeno peppers!).
Hook & cook Mahi for 4!
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#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
Cletesius,

Lazy Days is a great recommendation. Two years ago we went to the one in Marathon and I had the jalapeño crusted lion fish. Last year we went to the one in Islamorada because I heard it was better and did the bring your catch Lazy Style and it was great. This year we took some wahoo to Island Fish company which is one of our favorites.

The other place I really like on the keys is the Lazy Lobster on Key Largo. They do a big lobster and seafood platter like 20 different styles.

We mostly ate our catch at home though, tons of sashimi, wahoo ceviche, tuna poke, grilled kingfish and blackened wahoo.

I think the best though was when we had a meal from just scooping the wahoo meet up from between the ribs on the dock after the captain had finished getting the big filets.

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#23 ·
Blackened fresh wahoo is about as good as it gets, IMO, & I dont particularly love seafood, either.
Lazy lobster in Largo is awesome, too, but not surprised as its same ownership as Lazy Days. Its basically Lazy days-north.

During peak busy season (May, June, July), usually a couple times a week, I solve dinner by taking customer fillets left behind & hitting lazy days. Im convinced they lace the stuff with crack! :D

Ill also give a thumbs-up to the hook & cook (Thai-chili style) at" The hungry Tarpon" @Robbies marina. The place is kinda gross, but the thai-chili style hook & cook WAS very good! Personally, I use the "to go" option with this place. 8)
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
Last day we returned to our wading spot. It was slower but still caught a nice mixed bag of snapper, some cool looking wrasses, maharas, etc. we ended up spending more time snorkeling and it was really good.

Spent final night all four of us out on the dock eating sashimi, drinking beer (for the adults anyways) and fishing. Caught lots of snapper, some small cuda, and had encounters with a seriously mean and big shark.

Great way to end the trip!

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#25 ·
That sashimi makes me want to book a flight tonight :shock:
 
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