Florida fourth report - mutton snapper and snorkel fishing
 

Fourth Florida report! I recently bought a diver down flag, and on Saturday I wanted to try it out by snorkeling a wreck just off the beach in Vero Beach. It seemed like a cool way to check out what species of fish are down there that I haven't caught yet. Our launch was the easiest we've done in the surf.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7785f2dd_c.jpg

Early in the morning there wasn't anyone else diving the wreck, so we drifted around it and fished a bit. There wasn't anything biting besides a couple of hairy blennies.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...940f8888_c.jpg

We wanted to troll lures up and down the beach too, so we did that before snorkeling so the sun would be higher when we got in the water. I trolled a pair of Rapalas and got my first kayak mutton snapper.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...aee3bf79_c.jpg

Ally got one as well.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...47f6f76c_c.jpg

We paddled up to a small private pier and saw a school of decent sized jacks, but I didn't get any follows when I cast to them, and pretty soon I lost track of where the school went.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c683f365_c.jpg

Trolling back to the wreck I got a blue runner and another mutton snapper.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...342ec016_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...069b212e_c.jpg

Back at the wreck I dropped my anchor, but I didn't like how close my kayak was to some other people snorkeling, so I pulled it up and towed the kayak forward to a better spot. I was really amused with myself, haha.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8c73c52c_c.jpg

Ally tied her kayak to mine so they'd make a steady platform for climbing back in.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...88184f49_c.jpg

We both have waterproof cameras, but mine has a floating wrist strap, and hers doesn't, so we took turns using mine and left hers safe in her kayak.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...45c0cfcf_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...96e4bbd8_c.jpg

Visibility wasn't the best, but we still got to see a lot of fish. It was a really cool experience. Here's a school of mostly silver porgies and sergeant majors.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...31cec7f3_c.jpg

Juvenile damselfish, probably cocoa.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a70d2e6b_c.jpg

Juvenile yellowtail parrotfish (a species I need) and adult Molly Miller.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f7740dd9_c.jpg

Bar jack flanked by two yellow jacks.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8c4af52d_c.jpg

Molly Miller posing.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...205dd14b_c.jpg

Bluehead wrasse (another species I need) and dusky damselfish.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f1baf735_c.jpg

Found this and a pair of sunglasses.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b63a5fe5_c.jpg

The last thing I wanted to try was snorkel fishing. I've done this in shallow water near shore, but fishing the wreck in deeper water with a bit of current would be more challenging. I saw three fish species I hadn't caught before - yellowtail parrotfish, bluehead wrasse, and some sort of scorpionfish - but I wasn't able to catch any of them. There was always something more aggressive that got to my bait first, even though I actively tried to jerk it away from them. Here's the worst of the worst, a slippery dick.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...319bc9a1_c.jpg

The paddling and the snorkeling and the sun wore us out, so we called it a day even though there were fish that needed to be caught. This was the first time we were able to land on the beach exactly where we wanted. It wasn't as crowded as previous days/beaches.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...20a2aa25_c.jpg

Here's the route. We barely left the beach!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6a7c3a38_c.jpg

Miles: 6.6
Hours: 5:59
Water Temp: 82

looks like a great day out on/in the water and the water temp at 82 had to feel great.

Pretty cool report.

Every time you post a pic of that eddyline it intrigues me. :cheers1:

MMMMMM
 

Mutton Snapper is delicious!

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BvuscYLAxWw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BvuscYLAxWw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BvuscYLAxWw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by iethinker (@iethinker)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

Good job on the UW photos. Using a snorkel to put your bait in front of the desired species is a new level of selective fishing.:D Too bad the other fish kept getting to the bait first. Just South of there is Walton Rocks beach, it is on my list of places to try for access to the power plant outfall, which reportedly attracts a lot of fish during the colder months, including Permit. Permit is still on my bucket list of species to take off the kayak. Snorkel with caution as there are reportedly a lot of sharks in that area.

[QUOTE=iethinker;314982]Mutton Snapper is delicious!



2x -- They are delicious!

Permit would be an exciting target! I'm game.

And sharks I'd do from shore... :reel:

I need to do more recon on this. I have seen successful videos using, a Crab casted on a lead head at breezing schools near the outfall in April.

Mutton snappers are delicious! I just came from the florida keys for a week, windy as hell but still managed a few snapper and groupers

Nice! Hope that Nassau grouper went back in the water quick.