2017 Florida March Break
I've been busy with tutoring and volunteer teaching since January. But thankfully, the hardwork paid off as I'll start a new full time teaching position next Monday. Life is still hectic so I'm not sure when the blog posts will be written. But if you like reading my adventures, I will update you later when the posts are completed.
In the meantime, I wanted to share with you the new species I caught and other fish we encountered along the way.
This trip was really last minute so I actually didn't have anything planned. We had three main targets - Bonnethead Shark, Midnight Parrotfish and Blacktip Shark. In addition, we also wanted to explore new spots for Moray and Sharks in the Keys. Let's just say everything exceeded our expectation...but we had to work our butts off to hit all our targets.
OK...without further ado...
Green Moray (Gymnothorax funebris) - aka shark bait
Here I am trying desperately to stop a shark from wrapping around a marker buoy. But unfortunately, that shark pulled too hard to stop and the braid was eventually cut by the buoy cable. From later experiences, we concluded that the shark that I lost must have been a big Bull Shark.
Lemon Shark (Negaprion brevirostris) - Species #708
The Lemon Shark was about 6 feet long. The shark I lost earlier fought multiple times harder than this Lemon Shark.
French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru) - Species #709
Doctorfish (Acanthurus chirurgus) - not a lifer, but a really good pic to upgrade my lifelist photo.
Spotted Scorpionfish (Scorpaena plumieri) - not a lifer, but yet another great photo to update the lifelist.
Rainbow Parrotfish (Scarus guacamaia) - Not a lifer, but always so photogenic.
They don't need to be big to pull serious drag. Either stop them or they will wrap or snap you off under the bridge.
Midnight Parrotfish (Scarus coelestinus) - Species #710
Midnight Parrotfish pulls even harder than Rainbow Parrotfish. I lost two on 20lb fluoro before finally landing this one.
Tidewater Mojarra (Eucinostomus harengulus) - Species #711
Anal fin base vs. SL = 14.5%
Depth vs. SL = 33.6%
Least caudal peduncle depth vs SL = 10.4%
Premaxilliary groove NOT constricted by scales and pigmentation is uniform between nasal nares.
Bonnethead Shark (Sphyrna tiburo) - Species #712
Michael's Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas)
* It was after catching this Bull Shark that convinced us I lost a bigger Bull Shark. My shark simply ran faster and harder than Michael's smaller Bull Shark. Michael also lost a 4-5 feet long Lemon Shark that night and its fight was much more tame compared to the Bull Shark.
** We fished 4 nights for sharks in the Keys. On the first night, we lost two, had one run-and-spit and then finally landed my Lemon Shark. On the second night, we lost one. On the third night, it was really windy and we couldn't get our baits far enough. On the last night, we lost a Lemon Shark, had one run-and-spit, and Michael caught his Bull Shark. We've fished for Sharks every time we were in the Keys (5 trips), but this was by far the most successful. We're looking forward to going back next time to catch more sharks!
Bay Anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) - Species #713
* You wouldn't think I would quit on the micro species, did you? :P
Atlantic Spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber) - not a new lifer, but always cool to catch. We helped George to finally knock this lifer off the list!
Leopard Searobin (Prionotus scitulus) - Species #714
Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) - Species #715!!!
Over two days of fishing, with a total of 16 hours fished and over 12km hiked, I lost three bigger Blacktips to the rocky reefs before finally landing this little 3 feet adolescent. Our flight was at 7:30am the next morning and this was literally the second last bait we can soak for these sharks on our very last evening in Florida.
Little guy got bitten by a larger shark in the recent past. I flip some of my pictures (ie, first photo above)...so the left side was the bitten side.
Ashen
Posts: 1042
Date Joined: 22/03/13
Great report!
Some very nice fish!
A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!
Adam Gallash
Posts: 15641
Date Joined: 29/11/05
Ken
Great pics as usual Ken.
Site Admin - Just ask if you need assistance
uncle
Posts: 9474
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Yep good doogs
Nice report
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
KenTse
Posts: 139
Date Joined: 23/11/10
Thanks guys!I keep hoping for
Thanks guys!
I keep hoping for that day I can return to WA to hunt some species...sharks included! My first big shark experience was off BlueJuice while fishing off Rottnest jigging for sambos. The Bronze Whaler took the jig and managed to stay on until it was at the surface. Just before I can get a good photo, the hook link of the assist hook wore through the the shark swam off. It's my wish that one day I can catch a Bronze Whaler again for a good photo. :)
Chinbald
Posts: 317
Date Joined: 21/02/09
French Angelfish
That's a cool looking fish. Thankyou for posting,
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Good onya Ken!
Always viewing your blogs with keen interest....enlightening to see all the weird and wonderful stuff caught from different parts of the world!
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Thanks for sharing once again Ken
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
KenTse
Posts: 139
Date Joined: 23/11/10
Thanks for the kind words,
Thanks for the kind words, guys! Appreciate the audience. :)
The blog post for this may not come until April...when I can have 4 days off to work on it. It's been really busy the first few days of class.
bod
Posts: 2319
Date Joined: 03/05/06
always interesting
Always enjoy reading your posts Ken and seeing what new fish you have added to your list. Thanks for sharing.