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Chasing mahi, catching reds

A.J. Watson | Special to The News Herald
A.J. Watson shows off the 6-pound red. [CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]

PANAMA CITY — With the number of tournaments and pre-fishing lately, I wanted to do something different. I had received word there was a weed line roughly 8 miles out; Mahi-Mahi has been one of my favorite fish to catch and eat since I was little.

I can remember being 5 years old fishing for mahi with my mom and dad, filling the cooler with chicken dolphin. My plan was to run to the weed line, catch four or five dolphins, depending on size, and then head back to the docks and make fish tacos for dinner.

Ben and I loaded up his 20-foot Key West and headed for the pass. As we left the dock, we both noticed rain all around us and the wind picking up. We decided to make the run anyway, as we both wanted mahi for dinner.

We made it to the pass and it was rough, but we decided to proceed to about the whistle buoy, and then decided it was too rough. We turned to head back in but stopped by the channel markers on the way for triple tail.

Triple tail will hold under the cans by the chain, so we tossed a shrimp or paddle tail by the can and let the current take the bait under the can. We fished three cans and only managed to catch a skipjack and a blue runner.

We talked, and he asked if I could show him some places to catch redfish, since he won Team of the Year amateur division in the Florida Pro, and that qualified him to fish the Florida Pro Championship in November.

We ran to Shell Island across from the Beacon Beach Marina, dropped the trolling motor and fished the flats. I threw a 4-inch paddle tail and Benji threw a 5-inch paddle. First cast, I hung a 17-inch trout out of the grass patches on the sand. We kept working shallow, but we weren’t seeing much and were catching nothing.

We chose to move to about 3 feet deep, so we could work the drop-off as well. As soon as we did, we could see big reds schooled up with blue fish pushing the ledge. Ben threw on them, set hook, and drag pulled. The issue was he caught the blue, not the red, and the blue cut him about 10 feet from the boat.

I was casting shallow and dragging it deep, and I hooked up a big red. I got the red about 20 feet from the boat, the red rolled and cut the liter on its gill plates. We continued to work that flat until we started noticing dead fish floating by and the water had some film in it. We assumed it was red tide and moved to North Bay.

We went to the flat outside the old airport and begun to work the shoreline to the inside of the bayou to the seawall. We started out at the point, dropped the trolling motor and began to beat the banks. We both threw the same baits as earlier, casting deep, shallow, close, far — and nothing.

Ready to call it a day, I threw again and had the bait almost to the boat when I felt a thump. The drag took off, and it was a strong fish. I landed a red at 26 inches and a little over 6 pounds.

We chose to keep pushing that bank. We made it about 50 feet farther down the flat and I saw a V by the shore. I threw at the V, jigged once, and felt a thump. Once I felt the thump, I waited a couple of seconds and set the hook. The drag took off again, another heavy fish. I landed a 25.5-inch red weighing right at 6 pounds. Not only did the fish weigh 6 pounds, but I also counted 32 spots on the red's final third.

That’s the red I need during the Emerald Coast Redfish Circuit (ECRC) for the spot Calcutta. After the second red, we were hot, tired and headed back in. It was nice to take a break from tournament/pre-fishing and to help the youth of tournament fishing.

It is time to focus. We are 5 points from first in the Team of the Year running, with the ECRC championship Saturday, Oct. 6. We have done our research, spent two weekends in Apalachicola, and done everything we could to prepare. Now what is going to happen will happen.

Anthony Watson of the Liquid Dream Fishing Team shares his fishing adventures weekly in the Entertainer.