Capt. Philip Watson
It’s December finally and 2020 is finally ending. For us at Just Kickin Back Charters, the fishing was nothing short of incredible. We caught more grouper and pelagics than any year previous. One piece of advice I will give you going into the new year is to never stop learning. Keep your eyes on your bottom machine and always try new and different tactics. You never know what will stick.
One thing that we did have challenges with this year was some adverse weather. Somebody up stairs turned the fan on and completely forgot to turn it off. One important thing to know when watching the weather is when to risk it and when to call it. There are many different apps and websites around to help you monitor and make your decision. I like to use NOAA, Windfinder, and Windy. It has much better detail than any local meteorologist can offer. Our weather changes very fast and can get very nasty, so make sure to keep safe out on the water.
One great trip from last month was with the crew from Whitetail Fix, an outdoor sportsman tv show. We had a less than ideal day to run our 6-hour offshore trip, but we tested the water out there. The seas started out with 2’-3’ swell with a surface chop just as it started white capping. Definitely a doable trip but in a 28’ center console it can get a little bumpy. We started in 55’ of water with a little bit of a slower bite, but were getting a good mix of grunts and porgy’s. Once I saw that everybody had good sea legs and was comfortable, we pushed out to 90’ where the waves were a little bigger and closer.
The fish were biting way better at our new location, although it was harder for the kids to feel the bite with the way the boat was moving. We caught red grouper, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, and bigger porgy’s. Despite the weather not being in our favor, we were still able to fill the cooler with fish. Right about the time it was time to leave the wind really started cranking, giving us solid 4’ seas to ride back in, which wasn’t predicted by any weather app. All in all, it turned out to be a great trip and can’t wait to get this crew out again.