sorry I took so long to respond, life happening. Anyways, it's north in/by new port Richey. also been doing good at the pier in Bayport. been fishing more north to stay out of the red tide stuff

ton of nasty salt catfish but also a fair number of small trout, mangrove snapper, lady fish and Bonnet head sharks. Made for a beautiful morning on the water today.

I got these on a river Saturday with chicken liver. no clue on bass, I think they require more skill than I have yet. I use an extra long leader with liver free floating for bluegills. good luck and keep casting.

ya, I'm doing the same thing but with sheet metal shears down the back. suprisingly good eating. they are cleaned that way cause the guts and eggs are super toxic and will ruin the meat if you try to cut then out and nick the membrane.

I'm only harvesting longnose gar, which has no bag limit here (in that water management area). Alligator gar is a no keep anywhere in Florida ad far as I know. But I do appreciate the reminder that we all need to keep an eye on regulations and how they change in different areas.

This is something new to me but I plan to do more very soon. caught bluegills at one spot by highway then took them deep 4*4 to one of the few holes with deep water right now. filled with good sized gar and 5 gators (one actually ate my best float lol). wasn't prepared to keep any gar that time but I do plan on bringing some home for the smoker now that I know where n how :)

looks like a fun day at the water, the one on the end is definitely a fatty. well done!

if u could read as well as you rant, you would see I don't "eat anything I catch". I took home 1 of 3 fish that day. noticably none of them were my target fish but I never target an animal I don't plan to eat. intentional catch n release just seems cruel but you do you n save the lectures for your kids. Fyi... that smoked bonnet head came out incredibly tasty :). Unashamed meat eaters should be willing to kill what they eat or stick to eating what we feed livestock. Can't say I've seen a shortage of bonnet heads around here but I will def check into it before targeting them.

I did the shore based shark permit and the snook permit with my salt water license. wasn't much to add them and not have to stress as long as your in the right county :).

ya,I was floating a pompano rig with live shrimp over the flats near the drop off. 30pnd braid with 20pound mono on the rig.

ya, I'm thinking half day in brine with a medium temp smoke on my pellet smoker should do the trick. will be my first.

yup. did a bleed out in the water, will fillet n soak the meat over night when I get home. bbq tomorrow night :). got a 30 inch snook and 14 inch trout that had to release but overall a great spot to hang in the water on a hot day.

got this lil bonnet shark out in the surf off fort desotos east beach.

live shrimp and sand fleas. first hr of tide change. should be some Spanish macks running up there also, many people consider them bait fish but I like them slow smoked for about 3hrs if ya get one :). I will be hitting the clearwater causeway bridges in the morning for macks and sheepshead that r supposed to be pooling
along there ;).

usually isn't too hard to find somebody gutting them for dinner (depending where you are), just ask to take a look before it's tossed :). Personally I'm not a fan of causing more pain or stress to an animal than needed to get the meat. I never fish with the intent of catch and release (will sadly release what's not legal or yummy lol) but I'm very glad others do n leave bigger fish for me n my family to eat ;). I wouldn't intentionally shoot a deer in the butt just to watch it hop away, sticking a hook through an animal or stomach pumping just for fun feels the same to me.