A Reeeeeeely Good Time!!!

[Deep C]

We had two of them dinky ones. Way pretty fish. Way rare, at least over my years out there. Caught one like that last year then the last one that size I saw before that was almost 15 years ago...

[hunt4fish]

Great report and pics Deep,Now that I know what boat you guys were on,I saw you guys running that Contender all 3 days I was down there.We were docked over @ Holiday Isle.If I would have known I would have gotten up with you while I was down there.We also caught a little dink sail,coolest fish I've ever caught.

[Jared D]

Dang, great story.

I had a buddy hook a porpoise once while in a king tourney... said that thing came up and started crying, then the whole pod did the same, then slapped their tails... then the hooked one took off. He said it moved faster than any king hes ever caught.

[wauwinet]

Does anyone know who won the ICBA tournament or how many sails they had?

[Deep C]

Catch 22 won with 9... All the top boats were running the sand. Without a tall tower that put us pretty well out of that game. Top Miami boat was "Wound Up" with Dudas and that crowd aboard and they had five...
There were 110 fish caught for 109 anglers...

[Deep C]

Interesting side note... First year they mandated circles there... entries down by a third and last year there were 411 fish caught... The weather being calm might explain some of the reduced catch... but...

[whitey]

Interesting side note... First year they mandated circles there... entries down by a third and last year there were 411 fish caught... The weather being calm might explain some of the reduced catch... but...

Most likely due to the price of fuel. I know alot of boats that didn't head south this year due to the high fuel prices.

[Deep C]

Could be fuel related. Pushing at $4.15 for gas there and $3.90 for diesel. Even though its only a few short miles to the grounds the sand runners that did so well burned a ton sight running that big bar down to the south. Entries to the Kick off though were actually up by a couple boats. Not circle mandated but we used we and did really very well thanks to the knot tying tips we received right here on SFC. The three we missed were human error ... not any fault of the hook. I've come full swing liking them for the sails and will also for the dinks and white baits.
Like green eggs and ham... Takes some persuasion but once you try you may well like em...

[Bay Fishin]

The three we missed were human error ... not any fault of the hook. I've come full swing liking them for the sails and will also for the dinks and white baits.
Like green eggs and ham... Takes some persuasion but once you try you may well like em...

I never thought I would hear that from rantin Deep

[Deep C]

I never thought I would hear that from rantin Deep

Yeah... But did I forget to mention I'm pullin plastic for blues up north!

I've always said I don't object to them in meat. Didn't use em. But didn't see anything wrong. Now I'm a fair and open minded guy. Made some adjustments like em and will run them in the meat slots for numbers.
For money big fish though its still grey area. In a combo they're useless as tits on a bull so not sure what I'll do there may go rubber hoo or all artificial.
My oposition stemmed from losing big sales on a class of lure I was making. That and NMFS pounding a rule up our ass that was based on bad science and took that class of bait along to the dumpster without a single test involving that class. My lure company is closed til further notice thanks to that ruling so damn right I'm bitter.
Still I need to make a living and I have two jobs revolving around fishing the events. Like it or not I gotta follow the rules. Even if it about as stupid as EPA telling nascar to slow below 70mph cause its "enviromentally friendly".

This thread isn't about circles though, its about the start of something good in my life. Couldn't be better. A great boat, great owner, great team...