The tarpon school ends just when we can kill red snapper? Boy, I love that. I am in for an offshore slaughtering of any endangered species you guys can out me near. The barbarian in me just pumps with blood at the thought of killing stuff.

We can take pictures and send them to people in Germany. They are not allowed to catch fish, but I think they can still watch stuff die on video.

Can somebody call PEW? Let them know when we get back. I always wanted to throw fish guts on one of them instead of just putting shrimp into the tofu bucket at the council meetings.

The do not like the taste of shrimp tofu for some reason. All I know it it raises my hormone levels and makes my period much hard to deal with.

:)

Come to think of it, we should wait until they allow the murder of the maximum number of different species. I vote for July,

I want to become the antiGaiea of the Mother Earth Crowd.

I think I will buy a tarpon tag just so I can kill one for the school. To dip in plastic and hang it on the wall.

:)

Gary: If July would be better for you, I am all for it. Sunday, July 1, would be the best of the best. Both gags &, as far as we know, red snapper would be open. The proposed 40 day ARS season will close shortly afterwards. However, I do not know why this should be a consideration. NOAA has 'proven' that there are virtually NO ARS left.
PROBLEM: Another private charter has already booked the Florida Fisherman for July 1.
SOLUTION: Gag grouper season opens in July for four long months. Captain Mark has their numbers. It should be great! As soon as I can get in touch with Joey, my contact person at Hubbard's, I will see what Sundays in July are open. Sundays seem to work out better for all concerned. This could be big, really BIG! Bob H.

I am just one of the people. I will make it happen. Tarpon school will be formally over the second week of June. I would imagine the people involved will stay fihing them till September :)

OK! let's look at possible dates:
ARS SEASON: (OPEN DATES)
June 3, Sunday, OPEN (Mon. 6/4 full moon...Fishing tends to slow down the day of the full moon.
June 17, 24 OPEN (No full moon...do not think that makes too much difference for ARS. Last season the Florida Fisherman limited out (4 per person) every weekend. Huge difference for mangrove snapper.)
GAG GROUPER SEASON:
July 1, 8 (Already booked, not available)
July 29 (two full moons in August, 8/1 & 8/31) Would be fishing Monday,
July 30, two days before the full moon...the best of the best!
We would target mangrove snapper @ night, gag/red grouper during
the day. The exact time of the full moon is Wednesday 8/1, 11:27 P.M.
It should be a slaughter!
QUESTON:
Would most people prefer to target American red snapper, or gag/red grouper?
SUGGESTIONS:
June 3: I would tend to stay away. (Possible slow down on the day of the full moon)
June 17, 24: Very good for American red snapper...slower for mangos.
July 29: If we want to target gag/red grouper, this would be the best of the
best. I have been doing this stuff for decades. It just does not get
any better than 2 days before the full of the moon. We have been,
even when not targeting gags, tearing them apart. Should be even
better in July. Many in-sure gags will have migrated off-shore.
Would really be great if we could set this up. The 'Extravaganza' was absolutely outstanding. This could be every bit as good! Bob H.

Red and gags. I want grouper more than snapper. And I can get snapper on another boat on a full day back the same. So I say July 31. You are the master, Harbison.

This sounds like fun! I'm interested in going. Once you pick a date I will see if I can make it work. What about seasickness? Any suggestions, I get it bad. I've used the patchs in the past and did pretty well with them but wouldn't want to spend the trip sick!

:wife-fishin July 31 is a Tuesday. Personally, I have no problem with leaving on a Tuesday. However, since most people are off on Sunday, if we leave 3 P.M. Sunday afternoon, less time off would be required. And, in addition, I will be returning from the Friday 39 hour trip. I could tell our people exactly what to expect. Also, if we leave on Tuesday, July 31, we would be fishing on Wednesday, the day of the full moon. If we leave on Sunday, we would be fishing Tuesday, before the full moon. Last year, on a private Florida Sportsman Forum trip, we left on a Sunday. I had the FS people all pumped up long before we even left the dock. It was one of the best trips I have ever been on. Would love to see the sportsmen/women of TheOnlineFisherman do the same. We heard Captain Mark Hubbard speak at the 'Extravaganza.' This would be a great chance to actually see this Captain in action. Hearing Captain Hubbard speak is one thing, seeing him in action defies the imagination.
Bob Harbison
Captain Hubbard (L) & crew. This picture was featured in the Big Game Fishing Journal:


SEA SICKNESS: The Florida Fisherman is a 72 foot long, 25 foot wide catamaran. Even in rough water those twin hulls provide an excellent platform from which to fish. My last four trips were all rough water trips. I saw few to none sea sick. As a rule, July & August are very calm months, but extremely HOT! The Florida Fisherman bunk & galley areas are heavily air conditioned. A blanket is a must.
TIP: I know nothing of the patch. I do this stuff, during the Summer, virtually every weekend. Patches are too expensive for me. Pills work very well. I start taking them the morning before I leave; that way they are in your system.
Bob Harbison

The gentle, powerful purr from those twin huge Caterpillar diesels, 1,150 HP each, really puts one to sleep.


I cherish my AC bunk. You will too!


Sun coming up over the Florida Middle Grounds. BREATHTAKING!

poyssick wrote:
I could leave the tarpon alone for a couple days for a trip out to the Middle Grounds. :)

FYI,

If a private charter (non-tournament based) is in true form, the more that go, the cheaper the costs!!!

Private Charter = $8625 INCLUDING TAX & TIP, bait, tackle, rod and reel... DOES NOT include live pinfish, food & drinks... *meal ticket is available... **this is what we have been quoted... as Bob said earlier, maybe a discount of sorts could be in order based upon Bob's fine work!!! :/w

20 go = $431.25

25 go = $345 each

30 go = $287.50 each

35 go = $246.43 each

40 go = $215.63 each

45 go = $191.67 each

50 go = $172.50 each

*The Million Dollar question is... how many would go... what do we really want to end up paying... and if we want to go cheap, then we could open the boat up to others to ensure we get to a certain price point...

**Me personally, and based on pure experience... I would say max the capacity out at 35... that would give us a price just under $250... and by the time we added the meal ticket and 2 dozen live bait each we would be right at $300 total... :thumbsup:

:wife-fishin I will be going on the 39 hour Middle Grounds trip this weekend. Will talk to Mark about our trip.
Just to let you know how popular these trips are:
April 20 47 booked...(3 cancellations)
May 04 48 booked
May 18 38 booked
Unfortunately the red grouper tournament trips are just not going over. I thought the possibility of winning big $$$ would be a real incentive, guess not!
Tuesday, July 31, would have a great deal to offer. Unfortunately it would be after ARS season. However, we should load the boat with mangrove snapper at night (just before the full moon), and then, gag & red grouper all day long. As a rule we leave the Grounds around 8 P.M. Dinner is around 6:00 P.M. That leaves plenty of time the knock the living daylights out of mangoes again Wednesday evening.
The Florida Fisherman has three huge fish boxes. Let's fill them! Being able to keep gags, we should.
The Florida can easily handle 40. There will be cancellations. Suggest we cap our trip @ 40. Shoot for 40, plan on 30 would be very appropriate.
Look at the size of those mango & vermilion snapper:




Hope you like to catch Middle Grounds grouper:



One more thing: Remember, we can legally keep a two day possession limit of all in season fish. You could not do this on a private boat even if you stayed out for a month
Bob H. :fishing:

I'm getting more interested each report, What are the possession limits on the mangrove and groupers? The wife might let go if she thinks I'll bring some fish home!!

The last I remember and decoded from the FWC...

Mangrove Snapper 10 per day - 20 total for this trip

Red Grouper 4 per day - 8 total for this trip

Gag Grouper 2 per day - 4 total for this trip

---

June and July = zero Amberjack

Red Snapper will only be opened for about 40 days so say June 1 - July 10 to be safe...

Mangrove snappers...in federal water...you can keep 10 fish per day. Keep in mind, there is a 10 snapper aggregate bag limit (does not include red, vermilion, or lane snappers). So, for a 2 day trip, you can keep 20.

www.gulfcouncil.org/Beta/GMFMCWeb/downlo...Revised%203-9-12.pdf

Thanks, sir! We can indeed keep 20 mangos & 20 vermilion (B liners) on our 39 hour trips. Those alone makes for an outstanding trip. And remember, NO closed season!
Throw in gag & red grouper and we could, will, have one heck of a catch.

Freaky: Sir, you can plan on going. Tell your wife you will bring fish home. Better yet, bring her along.
Bob H.