Fish: It's what's for dinner

The fish on the racks might not be as big as in days past, but they still make for good eating.

With the closure of red snapper last Friday and still no word on the opening of federal waters, captains are forced to fish inside state waters up to nine miles.

Capt. Greg Marler came in from a five-hour trip on Wednesday aboard the Gentle Winds with a nice rack of fish. The anglers from Oklahoma pulled in a couple of red grouper, triggerfish, white snapper, mingo and a small scamp.

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Although Capt. Marler and his group threw back several red snapper, he said, “everyone gets to eat dinner.”

Capt. Craig Mann on the Gulf Winds went out and did a little trolling and pulled in four king mackerel.

Anglers on the Blue Runner II with Capt. Tommy Carter reeled in three triggerfish and a pile of mingo and white snapper.

Cincinnati and Dallas anglers on the Strike Zone with Capt. Phil Hessinius filled the racks with a black snapper, scamp, two lane snapper and nine triggerfish.

“It was nice and calm today,” said Capt. Hessinius. “The water was real pretty.”

In addition to the fish on the racks, the deckhand said, “we caught some studs today,” referring to some big red snapper they had to release.

Capt. Bill Williams on the Miss Hazel and his group pulled in nice catch of triggerfish, mingo and white snapper.

“And I bet we threw back about 50 head of snapper,” the deckhand said.

Atlanta anglers on the Top Gun with Capt. Randy Hanshaw pulled in three triggerfish and a couple of white snapper. Apparently they had to deal with flipper that kept stealing their fish.

Anglers on the JustinTime with Capt. Chip Godwin pulled in a couple of lane snapper and a king mackerel.

“The kings were a little slow today because of the full moon,” Capt. Godwin said. “I think they’re feeding at night and not wanting to bite. But we did have a lot of pretty snapper, just can’t keep ’em.”

The group aboard the Just B Cause with Capt. Ken Bolden pulled in a cobia and a grouper.

Capt. Dennis Kendrick on the Scamp had a nice catch of triggerfish. “We threw back some pretty snapper,” Capt. Kendrick said.

The Kelly Girl with Capt. Jimmy Miles at the helm backed in with a couple of king mackerel and a bonito.

The catches on the racks are missing a bit of red, but the boats are not coming in empty-handed. There is still plenty to catch for dinner.

See you at the docks.