another kid, hooked

[Monty]

on fishin'! We took a couple of teenage boys offshore about 60 miles yesterday and I had the privledge of watching Ben land an 18 pound class Red Snapper. At one point, I had to back the drag down a bit on the reel, to keep Ben in the boat. One thing was for sure, both of us will never forget it. His smile says it all.

http://ttmb.net/pics25/ben.jpg

Mont

[sheila]

Wow. Gorgeous fish. Great pic. Looks like good eating.

;)

-- waves at Ben.

[Jason]

<homer mode>
mmmmmm..... snapper.....
</homer mode>

[gus]

cold and grey in rainy dublin, nice to see a bit of sunshine, a kid in shorts and great big red fish... wahoo!! happy hunting.

[Monty]

It's catch and relase only until May, Sheila. While the big fish are the best fun to catch, it's the ones right about 15" or so that are prime eating. I love them whole, smoked on the pit, with lemon pepper. The big ones are best released as breeders unless you want to have them mounted and even then, a good taxidermist can make a really kewl one from the pics and a few measurements (length and girth, like I used in the python script you helped me with)

The pic below is my 28 pounder from yesterday and the first pic of me at a sub 300 pound weight. I broke the barrier a little while back, but see sawed back and forth over it when the flu bug got me. I am finally over that stuff and still dropping a pound or two a week. I can't wait to get to 275 and the amount of energy I have now is hard to believe. I stand 6'8" just to give you an idea of the size of that snap.

Mont

http://ttmb.net/pics25/mont.jpg

[Deb]

Well when you first posted this image one of our fish had a look of anger and fear on his face!!!!

http://www.picolio.com/Albums/album37/Oscar_01_312003b.jpg

He's all better now knowing that it's catch & release time ;)

You look AWESOME Monty!!!!!! Congrats!!!

Deb
- Nothing beats the smile of a child!

[sheila]

Well, fine. Tempt me but don't offer me food. :P

Hope y'all had fun catching the fishies, even if you can't eat them yet. ;)

[Monty]

wow, Deb, that oscar pic brings back some great memories. Years ago, I had one and we kept minnows around for him to feast on. One batch of minnows I got, sure went fast, so I got some more. When the 2nd batch went fast, I found out the first batch had a Black Bass in it. He was Oscar's best buddy. Those fish have so much personality, it's hard to believe. When my first kiddo was about 4 or so, his billard ball went through the fish tank, and we lost the bass, but Oscar made it just fine. I learned a lot about when to go fishin' by observing the various feeding patterns of the bass and oscar. A couple of folks here in Texas are publishing the data behind the patterns right now, but the moon phase seems to have the biggest effect.

Tell your oscar that photo and release is the wave of the future, in the better fishin' circles.

Mont

[Deb]

Those fish have so much personality, it's hard to believe. I've been shocked by the fact of this statement. Of all of the fish we have (and yes we have ummm a lot!) these Oscars are the wildest to observe and even play with.

They are shockingly human friendly and even enjoy a petting from a friendly finger. They'll jump to snag food from your hands and are always "front and center" when they see the humans coming (food!!!).

I use to think of Oscars as 'just big ugly fish' but that's changed dramatically since we obtained the four we have now. Quite impressive indeed. -Almost- as impressive as the strides you have made with your health!

Deb
- Aota.net Forums -- Ya just never know what the topic will be :P


p.s. we have a great team now so on your next FL run... you best contact us!

[janderk]

Wow, those are huge snappers. That must have been some fight.

Let me show off the fish I caught (using my camera gear) at 30 feet below the sea level at the Great Barrier Reef:

http://www.janderk.com/futurequest/fish.jpg

I estimate them at 0.001 pounds :P

Jan Derk

[Joe]

First of all, Jan, what a brillant picture. If I can ever persuade my boys that the Great Barrier Reef is not just somewhere you go to bring your lunch up to become lunch for the fish, we'll get to see those fish one day!

Monty, is 'Red Snapper' another name for sea bream? They do look magnificent specimens. If they are indeed sea bream, they are eaten at times of celebration here and are VERY expensive!

Joe

[Monty]

Jan, that's a beautiful picture. I used to dive regularly, but have only done so a few times in the last 10 years. Grand Cayman is just about my favorite spot.

Joe, a Red Snapper is a lutjanis campechanus. The were originally discovered in the 1800's here in Texas at Heald Bank. They are bottom fish, but the bigger ones will also be found at mid depths. The ones in by pic were caught in about a 120 feet of water and about 20 feet off the bottom. They are great eating, but in the really big ones, there is a chance of Mercury being in them and aren't considered quite as good as the ones around 15"-16" or so. It's not a problem with the Mercury, unless you eat a lot of fish but relatively little is known about exactly how much is really in these fish. All big fish in the ocean have the same problem, so it's not just a snapper problem.

Mont

[Melissa]

What beautiful fish!! (Well, the oscar's not exactly beautiful, but...;))

Most of all, wanted to say :QTthumb: to you, Monty! You look GREAT. And, it sounds like you're feeling GREAT too. Kudos to you!!! :whistle: