To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:31 pm
Pinch the tail and it was 40 inches. Unpinched it was 39.. I'm callin it 39 personally, but either way it was FUN!!
Grass has come back NICE!!
Grass has come back NICE!!
Paddle-Fishing.com
Keep Your Paddle In the Water
https://paddle-fishing.com/forum/
To Pinch or not to Pinch
Page 1 of 2
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 6:49 pm
Wow! Do tell!
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:34 pm
Nasty night to fish really.. The wind was far from calm and there was a TON of floating grass from the storms, so the use of topwater lures was next to impossible. The moon was up and two days from being full (last night), so I decided to use my stand by soft plastic rigged weedless and started catching some small trout and Ladyfish around 10 inches long. With some ominous looking clouds way out on the coast and barometer dropping, the fish action dropped off to next to nothing and I decided to do something I haven't done in decades. 
I took my pliers out and pulled the head off a small Ladyfish and cut a chunk out of the shoulder, put it on the red, 2/0 offset hook meant for my Exude and chunked that thing out and THOUGHT I was going to enjoy my Oliveros Hemingway sized Maduro cigar. It only took about a minute to feel a very nice bump on the line, but the fish did not run off. I put some pressure on the line and set the hook and this is what I finally dragged in. I'm not proud of the fact I did not catch this Red on arties, but at least my record Red is one inch bigger than this one and caught on a Spook Jr..... But!,.. My personal best was on the Space Coast and not in Tampa Bay. I don't care what any body says, this is a nice Red for Tampa. AND FAT!! 
I took my pliers out and pulled the head off a small Ladyfish and cut a chunk out of the shoulder, put it on the red, 2/0 offset hook meant for my Exude and chunked that thing out and THOUGHT I was going to enjoy my Oliveros Hemingway sized Maduro cigar. It only took about a minute to feel a very nice bump on the line, but the fish did not run off. I put some pressure on the line and set the hook and this is what I finally dragged in. I'm not proud of the fact I did not catch this Red on arties, but at least my record Red is one inch bigger than this one and caught on a Spook Jr..... But!,.. My personal best was on the Space Coast and not in Tampa Bay. I don't care what any body says, this is a nice Red for Tampa. AND FAT!! To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:46 pm
Embrace the bait!
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 3:26 am
Saw the pic and figured you were in the Goon. Helluva fish for these parts. It was too windy to properly enjoy the smoke anyway!
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 8:44 am
Beautiful feesh!
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:12 am
Nice night time red.
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:44 pm
Nice fish AND nice cigar..
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:05 pm
Thanks all! Yeah, that fish was a good 4 inches bigger than my best Tbay Red. I always wanted to match that Banana River 40 incher on my home turf and I prolly came as close as I'm gonna get. Maybe now I'll try to beat my personal best Snook of 43 inches! 
Maybe now I'll try to beat my personal best Snook of 43 inches! Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:24 pm
Excellent work!
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 1:19 pm
Beautiful red!! Maybe the east shore wouldn't be THAT long of a drive from Carrollwood! 
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 3:53 pm
That Red was caught within 30 minutes of Carrolwood believe or not! 
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:18 pm
Hmm that is a beauty, 30 minutes from Carrollwood, you must be in my neighborhood!
Nice fish mate
Nice fish mate
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:57 pm
I try not to leave Hillsborough County whenever possible. Unless I'm planning a vacation over to the Space Coast!John wrote:Hmm that is a beauty, 30 minutes from Carrollwood, you must be in my neighborhood!
Nice fish mate
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:26 pm
Nice, been a long time no see, I remember your photo from many years ago, with the nice Snook in the rain.
Re: To Pinch or not to Pinch
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:17 pm
LOOOOONNNG Time John!! I remember that pic!! Sittin in that ugly arss Rasta colored Freedom.. Good Times, Good Times.. PM me up sometime and we'll catch up over a Maduro and rather large Reds! 