Just when you think you've seen it all, a headless king pops up.
When the Sea Winder with Capt. Stan Phillips at the helm backed in Monday afternoon, they unloaded the fish that the Texas anglers caught and hung them on the nails. They had a good catch of king mackerel. However, at second glance one of the king mackerel appeared to be missing its head. All that was on the nail was about 3/4 of the body and the tail.
Chris the deckhand said that a barracuda snapped it right off before they got it in the boat. But how do you bring in the tail? Usually it is the bottom half of the fish that is chopped off by a predator.
Capt. Phillips wasn't exactly sure how it all went down either. He just kind of laughed it off and said, "Anybody can catch the head."
The tail thing remains a mystery, but there was no mistaking that the seas were a bit rough on Monday.
"It rocked my world," said Capt. Bernie LeFebvre on the Windwalker II. He and his crew made it just before noon with a nice catch of mingo and white snapper along with a few Spanish mackerel. They caught the Spanish trolling spoons around the pass.
The crew aboard the Fifth Amendment with Capt. Chuck Turbanic came in with a good catch of mingo and white snapper. "It's not unbearable out there, but it's not fun," the deckhand said as he was hanging up the fish.
With the wind out of the north, it was a bit choppy.
"Nothing was hitting hard today," said Wayne McDaniel of Tallahassee who was celebrating his 68th birthday by fishing aboard the Sure Lure with Capt. Donnie Dineen.
"We come down and spend time at the beach every year," he said. "It's been beautiful. I don't know how anybody wouldn't love this."
The McDaniel's did manage to catch a king mackerel, mingo and white snapper.
Mississippi anglers on the First Light with Capt. Steve Hauesler pulled in a good catch of mingo, white snapper and mahi mahi.
Capt. Tony Davis and Texas anglers on the Anastasia were back at the docks by noon with mingo, white snapper and few porgy.
Texas anglers on the Phoenix with Capt. Scott Robson pulled in a pair of king mackerel, amberine and white snapper.
The Gulf Breeze with Capt. John Gibson came in with a pile of mingo and white snapper and one big red grouper.
The New Florida Girl's American Spirit with Capt. Jim Green and his 20 anglers came in from a six-hour trip with mingo, white snapper, amberine and lane snapper.
Capt. Stephen Regan on the Cutting Edge and his anglers pulled in four king mackerel, two grouper and four mahi mahi. Capt. Regan's dad, Mike, was kind enough to offer this hot reporter a bottle of water.
Tennessee and New Jersey anglers on the Rookie with Capt. Matt Woods filled the racks with mingo, white snapper and lane snapper.
Louisiana anglers on the One of a Kind with Capt. Casey Godwin came in with king mackerel, mingo, white snapper and a red grouper. The deckhand said they were fishing about 16 miles out and it was a bit rough.
Whether it's a fish tale, or tail, the captains and crew keep them coming.
See you at the docks.
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Water not too dark for shark
With all the rain in recent weeks — 14.03 inches since the start of July — it has muddied up the Gulf of Mexico.
Capt. Jimmy Miles of the Kelly Girl, who managed to pull in 14 Spanish mackerel on Monday, said the water is still a bit dark and dirty making visibility hard.
As a matter of fact, Miles said he had a hard time seeing a lure they were pulling Monday, which is usually visible in the crystal clear emerald green waters. So much to his surprise, he was amazed when a shark managed to latch on to the lure.
Miles said it should take about a week for the water to clear up.