Winter meat haul

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Prof. Salt
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Winter meat haul

Post by Prof. Salt »

A buddy and I found a lovely winter weather window and went in search of those tasty pink beauties. We found a bunch, and I even added a 16" strawberry as a bonus!

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impulse
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Re: Winter meat haul

Post by impulse »

How far out did you have to paddle for those in CC?

Here in Galveston, that's hours and hours of paddling, each way... I almost took the 'yak out into the surf during a window this week, but decided it would just be boring paddle for no fish, so I explored some of the nearby marshes instead. On one day, I'm glad I did because the wind picked up after an hour and that would have been a loooong upwind paddle had I gone offshore.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Winter meat haul

Post by Ron Mc »

that is major meat

I've caught a trigger offshore, but never eaten one.

Thanks for the turtle photo - awesome photo.
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Prof. Salt
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Re: Winter meat haul

Post by Prof. Salt »

Thanks Ron, the triggers are a pain to clean but very tasty if you can just find a legal one. I rank them right up there with strawberry grouper.

Impulse, it took years of blindly trolling to stumble across some structure nobody else seems to know about. It's within paddling distance, and I know others have also located structures along PINS as well. The problem is if the public finds out about them, they will be fished out within a week and on guides' daily stops to ensure they stay fished out. There is a reef down PINS that used to be pure magic, but since it has been shared with lots of folks, even Mexican fishing boats raid it at night and what used to be a magical spot has become a long drive for mediocre results.
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Endo
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Re: Winter meat haul

Post by Endo »

Prof. Salt wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 9:54 am Thanks Ron, the triggers are a pain to clean but very tasty if you can just find a legal one. I rank them right up there with strawberry grouper.

Impulse, it took years of blindly trolling to stumble across some structure nobody else seems to know about. It's within paddling distance, and I know others have also located structures along PINS as well. The problem is if the public finds out about them, they will be fished out within a week and on guides' daily stops to ensure they stay fished out. There is a reef down PINS that used to be pure magic, but since it has been shared with lots of folks, even Mexican fishing boats raid it at night and what used to be a magical spot has become a long drive for mediocre results.
Yup, sad on that reef. The good news is, if you put in the time out there, there are quite a few rock piles to be found. For the reasons Prof mentioned, folks keep the locations close to their chest though.

.
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Endo
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Re: Winter meat haul

Post by Endo »

Last time i was out there this fall I caught about 15 of those strawberry groupers. Tossed them all back though, as I wasn't sure if there was a size limit and for the most part, they are all small. But I couldn't keep them off my jigs.

Triggers are excellent eating.

.
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TexasJim
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Re: Winter meat haul

Post by TexasJim »

When sailed to the Caribbean to live in the mid-80's, Queen Triggerfish were fairly plentiful. Really tasty, if you could get one of reasonable size. Really pretty, too. The "Guide to Caribbean Fishes" book said they were only "occasionally" toxic from ciguatera poisoning! Everybody ate them, anyway, and by the time I left the Caribbean in 2011, you almost never saw one. The natives way back when used the rough skin as a scouring pad and/or sandpaper! Ciguatera poison gets into fish flesh from reef fish that chew on coral and are eaten by larger predators. The poison accumulates in the biggest predators, like barracudas. As we have almost no coral reefs nearby, triggerfish should be safe to eat here.

If one gets ciguatera poisoning, it stays in your body seven years! People in the Caribbean get it over and over, because they think it's gone. Bad nerve toxin. Not fatal, but does weird things to your sensory organs. Another obscure, almost useless factoid from TexasJim.
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Re: Winter meat haul

Post by Noleader »

Prof. Salt wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 9:54 am Thanks Ron, the triggers are a pain to clean but very tasty if you can just find a legal one. I rank them right up there with strawberry grouper.

Impulse, it took years of blindly trolling to stumble across some structure nobody else seems to know about. It's within paddling distance, and I know others have also located structures along PINS as well. The problem is if the public finds out about them, they will be fished out within a week and on guides' daily stops to ensure they stay fished out. There is a reef down PINS that used to be pure magic, but since it has been shared with lots of folks, even Mexican fishing boats raid it at night and what used to be a magical spot has become a long drive for mediocre results.
Yeah sorry I told some commercial guys in La Pesca a few years back, didn't they would make the trip. Also haven't commented in almost ten years because I moved to WA where the fish swim from offshore to my backyard. Much better than the Mayan Princess rig bumpers. Also actually going to get my BS up here, not like TAMUCC that kept jerking me around. I used to get limits of red snapper year round off the shore, but the Lane snapper dissapeared and then it was the red snapper, then they took down the good rig. I get more meat in the AP harbor, coolers full of nice snapper. But they only hit one really specific bait.
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