Thread: Lest we forget

Do any of y'all remember what happened some thirty-five years ago when a Cat one hurricane went in at the Big Bend area where this one is going? It blew a gadzillion black grouper over to us. I filled up my big fish box twice right there in the pass. There were grouper in crab traps and people were catching them off docks in Terry Cove.

Could it happen again? Maybe, but at least this time, there would be limits on how many you can catch. It was a slaughter back then. There were so many caught, you could only get pennies per pound for them at the market. Helluvalotta fun, though.

A prior colleague of mine told me about going out to 3 mile barge in an open 16' boat (like a Stauter) and literally filling the hull with grouper.
They had to come in because the gunwales were almost awash.

Ah, the good old days.....

Yep,remember it well. Labor Day weekend,1985, the year I graduated HS. Elena proved how unpredictable storms can be. She was predicted to come to this area so people evacuated and several of us moved boats up into the creeks. Well,it took a turn to the east and boats were brought back and people returned,then the unthinkable happened. She stalled for almost two days then back tracked and followed the coast line and went in around Biloxi as a cat three. Twice people evacuated and boats were moved in the same week. As for the grouper,it was insane. I was working for Gloyice Ard and Bobby Walker and for the first week we never left the jetties and were bringing in several hundred pounds of fish every day. Once they played out,we started fishing spots within a couple miles of the beach. Then within a month,we had wiped them out for good. The fish came from an area known as the middle grounds, and grouper fishing was stellar there because of the lack of boats that fished the area and because the natural reef area is a couple hundred square miles and the fish were spread out .When the storm tracked west through that shallow water,it took all the fish in tow and they took hold on any structure they could find,which was very little so the fish were stacked up and easy to catch.

Current Track, Tampa is already seeing 30 mph winds. Parts of the Big Bend are going to see 7' of storm surge.

Thanks, John G. Those storm details had slipped my mind. I knew the storm had spent some time over there but had forgotten that it came back this way.

That fishing was truly unbelievable.

What will it do to fishing on pier?

Originally Posted by Johntr21

What will it do to fishing on pier?

Hard to say. Depends on how quick the water clears up after the swells die down tomorrow.
A lot fo times, dingy water after the storm equals a bluefish bonanza.

Eye is forming:

I hope so cause I am on my way down

Fishing the seawall for grouper at Alabama Point was PHEEnominal for me in September thru Thanksgiving that year.
Just fishing weekends I landed almost 500 pounds (my biggest was about 7 pounds), but I lost about a half ton of terminal tackle in the process!
I ended up using the JohnG method of a 3-way rig with a #2 live bait hook with small croakers, spots, finger mullet or bull minnows.
After mid October, practically every fish landed had at least one hook in it's mouth.

That sure was FUN, but I doubt the setup from this storm will produce anything like that.
of course, you never know ;-)