Gulfstarfishing's Blog

56 Hour Iron Man trip to Pulley Ridge

gulfstarfishing — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:58:03 +0000

Captain Jerry headed out of the Anclote River at noon on Friday for Pulley Ridge along with Second Captain Tyler, and mates Allen and Sean. After a lengthy steam south we arrived on Pulley ridge just before first light Saturday Morning. Capt Jerry spent several hours planning this trip using loran coordinates passed down from three generations of Rathey commercial fishing legends. The loran was dusted off as were Jerry’s aging charts of the region.

Sat morning began slow with a mixed bag of Gag, Scamp and Red Grouper along with a showing of Mangrove Snapper and Golden Tile Fish. The current along the ridge was running full steam, making it difficult to maintain a favorable heading while drifting. As the day progressed the bite picked up as we moved north on the ridge. Larger Gag Grouper appeared as did our old friend the American Red Snapper. The American Reds were almost all over 10 pounds, many reaching the 20 pound mark. Due to recent closures it became necessary to depart the area (and our big gags) for an area NOT infested by mammoth American Red Snapper.

After several stops, we finally found areas not swarmed by American Reds. Gag Grouper, Yellow tail and Mutton Snapper continued to chew throughout the day and night. Two Kitty Mitchell Grouper made an appearance, one being returned to the sea by its captor. Early in the morning several Kingfish made a showing and found their way to the ice hold. Overall the bite remained steady, everyone enjoyed a great trip that ended with full coolers and great stories.

Captain Tyler

Iron Man 4 day deep water trip report aboard Viking Gulfstar

gulfstarfishing — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:34:27 +0000

The Gulfstar left last Monday and returned on Thursday afternoon from another fantastic deepwater trip. Capt. Rich did another great job of putting the 10 anglers on a huge variety of deepwater species. Check out the Queen Snapper, Kitty Mitchell, Scamp, Yellow Edge Grouper, Mutton Snapper, Yellow Tail Snapper, Mahi, Gag Grouper, American Red Snapper, porgies and more in the photo gallery.

It was another turn and burn week for Capt. Rich and the Crew. After scrubbing up from the 60 Hour trip, the Gulfstar headed back out to the Middle Grounds. A group from Gainesville, FL chartered the boat for a 44 Hour, due back tomorrow at 4pm. Look for more pics and a report from Capt Rich..

Visit www.GulfstarFishing.com for more info on upcoming trips!

Ironman 4 day Offshore Charter Limted Spaces Available

gulfstarfishing — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:43:42 +0000

We have just ONE space left our famous Ironman charter departing on June 15th, 2009 at 8pm and returning on noon June 18th, 2009. Now is your chance to catch the big boys!!!!
All meals, tackle, rods, bait and amenities included.
Target species will include: deep water Grouper and Snapper, Sharks and the elusive Mutton Snapper.
This is the trip of a lifetime, do not miss this opportunity.

Call Lisa at 888-FL Trips or 727-938-5300 to book your space.

Viking Star 44 Hour Middle Grounds Report 5/8/09

gulfstarfishing — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:41:05 +0000

We started fishing Saturday, 3:30 am at the Elbow. The muttons and Black fins showed up as well as big mangos, yellowtail, bonitos, gags and scamps. Day break brought on slower conditions, yet we managed to pull up some nice size Porgies and B liners, the gags and the scamps were coming up as well.

Saturday night we got on some really nice spots. The Kingfish and Jack bite was on! The mangos and muttons continued to bite and some of our pool winners landed their fish on these stops. The wining grouper was caught by Scott Myers, the snapper by Bob Brown out of Ft Pierce, Fl and Tony Deluca from Jacksonville, Fl won the AJ pool.

All in all it was an excellent trip. Everybody caught well and the weather could not have been better! We are looking forward to our next 44 Hour going out on May 22. Hope to see you on board!

Gulfstar’s Weekend of April 27th, 2009 report

gulfstarfishing — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:58:31 +0000

Entry for April 27, 2009

This past weekend we had decent weather and fishing. The guys from Carrolwood Baptist Church fished with us on Saturday on a half day trip. The catch was Key west snappers, porgies, seabass and a few spanish mackerel. They also caught and released loads of undersized grouper.
Sundays trip gave the anglers even better fishing, the action was for the most part, non stop. The selection of fish was the same as Saturday’s catch with the added bounus of a Hog fish (MMMM-tasty).

Checkout our updated website at www.GulfstarFishing.com

April 18, 2009 14 hr night fishing

gulfstarfishing — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:44:11 +0000

With a full boat of anxious anglers we departed @ 8pm and headed offshore on a 14hr night trip. We steamed a few minuets over 3 hrs to 145 ft of water. The ride out was nice with flat calm seas and the first drop rewarded us with lots of variety, like Gag grouper, lane, mangrove, vermillion, yellowtail snapper, red porgies, key west grunts and a few bar jacks. We also released loads of undersized red grouper and many sharks. Just after 1am the wind came on out of the southeast and changed the whole game for us. The boat swung with the wind moving us off the spot so we picked up anchor and started toward the next spot only about ¾ miles away. It was lock and load fishing, Red snapper after red snapper coming over the rail WOW right!!! Wrong the National Marine Fisheries service and other assorted lobbyist groups have proceeded to shorten the season year after year by saying these fish are being over fished. Anyway the crew and I were very busy venting and releasing the red snapper with care. We stayed there for about 15 minuets waiting for the grouper to start, but the anglers could not get bait past the red snapper so we decide to move on. Just as I blurted lines up, an angler on the bow nailed a fat gag grouper. With the weather getting worse I wanted to hit as many spots as we could before it got too bad so we hauled anchor and went off. The next few spots gave us assorted snapper and porgy action and plenty of sharks. By 6:30am the seas we pretty nasty and it was definitely time to get home. The ride home was not like the ride out it was much bumpier and much longer.

Overall we put a decent catch together and had loads of action. I do believe if the weather had cooperated with us a few more hrs we would have had a slammer trip. The Red snapper season opens June 1st 2009 I can’t wait!!!!

Capt Rich