Louisiana State Record Grouper !

medical student lands 359-lb grouper

THIBODAUX , La. --A medical student who blindfolds his friends to keep his favorite offshore fishing spot secret has come up with a record-beating fish -- a warsaw grouper weighing 359.1 pounds. The giant hauled in by J.J. Tabor of Thibodaux is 12 ounces above the previous Louisiana state record, a state biologist confirmed.

It's been cut down to fillets. The first fillet weighed 53 pounds, Tabor said. He caught it near an oil rig 70 miles south of Fourchon, in 400 feet of water. He won't give a more specific description.



'It's J.J.'s secret,' said Joey Rodrigue, a friend from Baton Rouge who joined Tabor and Tabor's father, John, on the record-making trip Saturday. 'I don't even know where I was. He blindfolds us on the way out.' Tabor said he thought at first that his hook with a live hardtail on it had it the bottom 'until I felt the big head shake.'



Rodrigue steered away from the rig. 'I put myself in a harness and just had to lay back and fight,' J.J. Tabor said. 'It was about a 15 or 20 minute fight.'



Tabor cleaned the fish late Monday afternoon outside his father's auto repair shop in Thibodaux. 'We'll split it up,' he said. 'I'll make some phone calls and try to get rid of it fresh. The rest, we'll vacuum pack it and cook it later.' Tabor says he believes the fish is about 33 years old. He plans to send an inner-ear bone called the otolith to a university in Florida where researchers can help determine the age of the fish. He hopes to get the results in about four weeks.



The world record, caught off Florida in 1985, is 436 pounds, 12 ounces.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HOTTEST SAILFISH BITE OF THE SEASON!

2008 ABC/WORLD DIAMOND SOURCE BILLFISH CHALLENGE SETS
NEW RECORD

Total # of Boats – 71 Total
# of Releases – 260

The Sailfish bite in the last
3 years of the ABC/World Diamond Source Billfish Challenge presented by D&D
Welding has been nothing short of astounding.
This past Saturday, February 23rd, the tournament set a new
record as 71 teams posted a total of 260 releases by day’s end.

Whether it’s good timing, the
right weekend, a little bit of luck or a combination of all three, hot
Sailfishing action seems to be the norm in the Billfish Challenge, rather than
the exception. In only three days of
fishing, the tournament boasts a unique one-day format, teams have combined to
release a staggering tally of 694 Sailfish over the past three years. “Evidently the word has spread about our
tournament,” said Jamie Bunn, director of the event. “We were in the company of some of the best
Sailfish teams in the sport and once again the bite was something that our
teams will talk about for a long time to come.”

Within minutes of the 7am
lines in the water announcement, the releases began to pour in to the
tournament radio room. Doubles, triples,
quads, some teams even had 6 fish on at a time.
It was absolute pandemonium on the water. While the fishing appeared to be good up and
down the coastline, the hottest action was in the vicinity of Haulover
Inlet. In the center of it all was the
Miss Costa team, captained by Ray Rosher and his crew - Bill Danko, Rick
Murphy, Alex Castellanos and Charmain Rosher.

By late morning, Rosher’s
team had capitalized on 9 releases and were sitting in 1st
place. However, the leader board was
extremely tight – 4 Aces and Weez in the Keys had also pulled even with Miss
Costa at 9 releases a piece, and several other teams were knocking on the door
with 7 and eight releases as well. By
midday, Rosher elected to pick up and run to the south of the field and
followed the edge they had been fishing all the way into around 80 feet of
water. That proved to be a wise
decision. As quickly as they began
deploying baits, the Sailfish were devouring them behind their boat. “We literally could not even get out a
complete spread,” said Rosher. Within 30
minutes, Rosher’s team had added another 6 releases and secured their 1st
place position with a final tally of 16 releases in the one-day tournament,
earning them nearly $75,000 in prize money.

Second through 5th
place in the tournament were all decided by time. Each team had 10 releases a piece. Captain Joe Turner and his 4 Aces team finished in second earning
$41,100 in prize money, followed by Rock
Star in 3rd, Priceless
in 4th and Weez in the Keys
in 5th. In the funfish
division, Brian Rifkin and his teammates on In
the Box The
tournament paid back over $170,000 in prize money, also a new tournament
record. earned an extra $9,200 for the heaviest funfish weighed in the
tournament – a 43.1 pound Kingfish.

1st Place – Miss Costa – 3200 points - $74,800

2nd Place – 4 Aces – 2000 points – $41,100

3rd Place – Rock Star – 2000 points - $12,640

4th Place – Priceless – 2000 points - $1,250

5th Place – Weez in the Keys – 2000 points - $20,000

The Top Amature team award went to Even Flow by landing 5 sailfish for a total of 1,000 points. Florida Sport Fishings very own Eric Porak reported that they had their first sailfish on after having the baits out for 6 minutes, and were cut off several times by kings as they were only targeting sails.

Team Even Flow consisted of,

Captain - Kevin Crousillat

- Eric Porak

- Brett Porak

- Jim Steel

- Brian Zascavage

- Darrin Penharlow

Keep a Fishing Journal

for more fishing information check out www.FloridaSportFishing.com your one stop site for everything sport fishing!


Many people smirk when I suggest writing in a fishing journal, but think about it for a second... If you are fishing one fall day and you had great success fishing in a particular spot , over certain structure, with certain conditions, with a bait you dont normally use. Two years from now are you going to remember all of those details?

I know i remember a lot of the fish Ive caught and what it was on, and certain aspects of the weather at the time. But that usually lasts for about a year, and generally the more years I go back the less and less of those details i remember until it turns into, "Hey remember when?"

So instead of missing out on opportunities that you have already discovered , write it down for future reference! Also say your trolling spread was right rigger with X bait and was X amount of feet back, while your long line or whiskey was set at X feet back and pulling a X bait. These details are almost impossible to remember if you ever fish more than 5 different spreads in a single day until you found the one that works.

Now think of if you had that information already at your finger tips, its not a sure fire way for you to know what will exactly work on that day but it WILL give you a great starting place to save you valuable fishing time.

An example of what to write in a journal is , who you were with, what you caught, what you caught it on, time of day, weather, water temp, water clarity, and generally ill draw a picture of my boat if I'm trolling and draw out the trolling spread I was using. That makes for a much faster reference guide and will spark your memory much faster or at lest it does for me.

And if you troll severall spreads in one day draw all of the spreads! Even the ones that do not produce so you know which ones to avoid in the future under the same conditions.

Have fun with your fishing journal you will be amazed at what you will read in the future. It always brings a smile to my face when look though mine and remember some of those great moments with friends and family.

Tight Lines!

for more Sport Fishing tips and tricks visit www.FloridaSportFishing.com

Southeast Florida Fishing Report

Southeast Florida Fishing Report for the Jupiter Inlet, Hobe Sound & Juno Beach area (offshore)
Read more fishing reports at ...

http://www.floridasportfishing.com/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=7&Itemid=40

January 16th 2008

Offshore

Action has been steady. The dolphin, sailfish, and kingfish bite offshore has
been consistent. If targeting sails those who use live bait will be much more
successful right now. Goggle eyes have been prefered bait mostly dues to their
longevity. I always found kites to be optional, if you have it use it if you
don't there's no need as long as you have lively bait, and use a slow gear to
gear troll. In about 120'-150 ft just north of Jupiter Inlet there has been
decent current and bait pods. Also in the late afernoons you can find these same
bait pods off lost tree to the pier. Trollers will find dolphin although the big
bulls havent been to consistent, smaller dolphin seems to be the action

Contact Info:
Capt. Colin Hickey
98 Lighthouse Drive
Tequesta, FL
33469
Phone: 561-262-6453
Alt: 561-262-6453
Email: cjhick34@aol.com

Colin Hickey is a licensed, full time captain on a 34' Buddy Davis (private). He
also runs a 34' Venture. He’s been fishing the offshore waters of Jupiter and
the Bahamas his whole life. His specialty is dorado and wahoo.

West Central Florida Fishing Report

West Central Florida Fishing Report as seen on www.FloridaSportFishing.com

you can view more fishing reports by area at http://www.floridasportfishing.com/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=7&Itemid=40 and using the interactive map on the page to search the section you are interested in

______________________________

Fishing Report for West Central Florida

January 8th 2008

A December to remember! December was even warmer than November this
past year and the warmth in this winter month did things to fishing
that many have never seen and might not see again in the future. I
think the fishing is finally going to change a bit, but we will see
what this next month really brings.

Mostly, we have been fishing with live bait, which is very rare for this time of year. There are a few different reasons that fishing with live bait this time of year is rare. Many times we can't find bait in the bay and usually the water temperature is to cold for the fish to chase the shiner. Most of the time we are fishing with Shrimp, which is really good bait when it's cold. A few mornings we have fished with Shrimp, but it's been a bit difficult because Pinfish ate most of the Shrimp. We did have some good luck with Shrimp on a couple of the cooler days. For the most part, we have been using live bait and the live bait fishing has been great.

We've caught many different species of fish lately. On a couple of mornings that were cooler we started off catching Trout, Jacks, and Ladyfish. The Trout we caught last week were some of the biggest Trout we've caught the entire year. We had a number of Trout over 20 inches with the biggest toping out at 28 inches. Twenty-eight inches is a big Trout for the West Coast. I also saw a few swim by the boat that had to be over 30 inches. Fishing for Jack and Ladyfish has been phenomenal. Every time we put bait in the water we had a fish in seconds.

Although we didn't see many Snook or catch many Snook, we didn't do a lot of fishing for them. Most of these fish are up in the river this time of the year. We didn't spend much time in the river because we had the Red fish bite of a life time. We found a big school of Red fish that we got to fish for a couple of days and the bite was unbelievable. It was like fishing for Red fish in the middle of the summer. Every time bait hit the water, we had a fish on or either we needed to pull our bait in because a fish had taken it. Most all the Red fish were slot size, which is 22 inches to 27 inches. With all of the fish that we did catch we had about a dozen that were pushing 30 inches and one that toped out at 32 inches. Take a look the picture of it. This was a great fish and I hope to catch many more like it. I think that this next cold blast of weather will put us back to fishing with Shrimp, but we will just have to wait and see. Please visit http://www.castawaychartersinc.com.




Capt. TJ Stewart

Castaway Charters, Inc.
5616 41 Ave. East
Bradenton, FL 34208
Phone: 941-737-5985
Email: CaptainTJStewart@yahoo.com
Website: http://castawaychartersinc.com/

_________________________

View more Fishing Reports at www.FloridaSportFishing.com and look for the Fishing Reports tab on the top navigation bar. Tight Lines! and Good Fishing!

Top Destination Fishing Report from Florida Sport Fishing, view more at http://www.floridasportfishing.com/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=7&id=94&Itemid=73 in the Top Destination Section.

Also visit www.FloridaSportFishing.com and www.DestinationFish.travel for more information on fishing around the world

______________________________

January 7th, 2008

Fishing Report from Jack Trout with Tons of new pictures

**BELIZE TRIPS START NOW!! GET READY FOR GREAT ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL, AMERICA. **

CHILE SEASON STARTS FEBRUARY 1ST ~

STILL HAVE ROOM IN PATAGONIA IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COME DOWN IN FEBRUARY OR MARCH!!!

TRINITY WILL BE FISHING AGAIN BY JANUARY 10TH, BE THERE WHEN IT STARTS TO COME DOWN AND BE REWARDED INDEED! GUIDES & FREINDS ~ KLAMATH RIVER IS AT 1400 CFS AND FISHING GREAT!!

The winter can be so silently beautiful, the only noise I hear is the breath of warm air that covers my face and this reminds me that winter has settled in. jt

Lee Jester, owner of the Craftsman Home in Berkeley, California, came up to fish again.

http://www.craftsmanhome.com/

He had been out previously in the fall with my guide Aaron Greener, and had successfully hooked up on a monster estimated to be over 10 lbs. Unfortunately the steelie came un-buttoned at the boat and was last seen near Orleans! So Lee called again having a great day with Aaron, and I took him out on the Trinity River on December 27th & 28th.

He hooked a steelhead on his 2nd cast!

It fought hard as usual! 20 minutes folks!!

Success! Not 10 lbs but wow, what a beauty>

Then it poured and the fishing got better!

a Steelhead has the most B.T.U's. They burn hotter than a cord of black oak in a Franklin Stove!(Good ole Ben Franklin, thanks dude!)

That's worth bearing the elements for! Besides we all have heaters, and it's good to keep warm outside, it's good exercise in the winter. Nice steelhead Lee!!! CHECK OUT LEE'S VACATION RENTAL IN MONTANA!!! YOU CAN RENT IT TOO.

FLAT HEAD RIVER, ROCK CREEK, BLACK FOOT & BITTER ROOT RIVER ~ MONTANA VACATION RENTAL 863 River Bend Drive West Glacier, Montana, U.S.A. www.glacierhome.com Reservations: (888) 836-5500 http://www.glacierhome.com/photos/index.html Lee caught enough fish the first day and asked me if we could go see this heard of elk. He had been told by Dave & Sandy from Susie's Bakery, that there was a heard of wild elk located 5 miles outside of town in a farmers pasture. Knowing that there was dangerous conditions out we decided to go back and get exact directions to the location and let people know that we were going for a drive out in the snow. These are two basic things that are so important right now. My customer wanted to change the plans and that was ok, but I checked to see if we had water, food and a shovel. The last thing I ever want to do is inconvenience or put someone else's life at risk looking for my sorry ass because I made a quick decision and just drove out into the wilderness without thinking it out.
I stocked up on delicables from Susies!

We saw up in the distance a cross road and the sign was of course snowed over to aid in getting us lost out there. I couldn't help to think about the countless times I've heard of people getting lost out in storms and little things like guessing which way to go because a road looks bigger or one way appears to be right. (We thought to go right for sure).

Here's the sign we had to decide which way to go from. We weren't wanting to be deerlicks so we stopped to check things out and be safe.

After I got out and cleaned the sign, it was left on the little road. Thinking things out before you head on or head out is key to not making the news and papers for your stupidity or laziness not to research before you charge.

Take it slow. Last week I heard a fly fisherman ask for directions, and ask which was faster way to drive? There's no fast way right now, the slow way is the way to arrive.

We didn't see the heard of elk, but saw a golden eagle attack a coyote out in the field.

See the coyote!

We headed back out and was hooked up by noon!

Had a hot lunch because it was cold. (Chocolate cheesecake was marvelous!)

Thank you so much for this hook-up! I look to the heavens!!

David Diaz with his first steelhead, ladies & gentlemen!

David Diaz~~ YOU'RE MY SIZZLER OF THE WEEK!! CONGRATULATIONS SIZZLER!! JACK TROUT

Senator Tom Harman was a cool dude! This is one Republican Senator that talks about environmental reform within his own party! He is very disapointed with the Republican stand on water, the environment and its direction. He is part of the Republicans for Environmental Protection. I really liked what he had to say, so check out this site.

http://www.repamerica.org/

(Please know my site is Non-Partisan, but I will post information important to the environment and just write the facts. Jack Trout)

He believes global warming is occurring and is researching this issue constantly. He thinks there's is plenty of water up in Northern California for Orange County and Southern California, but the people of Southern California need to preserve the resource more judicially. He doesn't like that Westlands Water District, who bought 10 miles of the Lower McCloud River, and thought like I did, something greasy happened there. (Thank Leighton Hills and his family for that one.... Enjoying that money?)

Nice Catch Senator! Tom Harman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_HarmanI have guided Senator Harman before and I really like him as a fly fisherman and a person. I hope we can all get on the same page before too long, we need to find a balance. Thank you, Jack Trout

Oh my god, it's big!

Travis and Richard Gebhart, and Travis is hooked up with guide Aaron Grabriel! (I have 3 Aaron's that work for me.. Aaron Greener, Grabiel and Martin) When I leave for Belize and Chile, my guides still guide the Trinity and Klamath Rivers.

Cindy Gebhart who went to Belize with me and her family back in April 2007, out on the Trinity River with a nice steelhead.

Cindy Gebhart is a die-hard fishergirl! Way to go Cindy! See you and Richard and the fam in the spring.jt

Is that Jack Grandcolas out there somewhere..?

Jack....Fish on bro! (Don't tase me bro!)

Nice form Jack Grancolas, thanks for coming up and tying one on before all hell broke loose and we had to get out of there, just in the nick of time!

Bobo's first fly fishing trip was a memorable one.

After he hooked up, things became all clear and the fight was on!

Now that's a handful Bobo!

Wow, your first steelhead!! How do you feel?

Need I say anything? Thanks Jack (Chewy) George (Bobo) for coming up and fishing with me !! Many Rivers to You, Jack Trout MY NEXT REPORT IS FROM HOPKINS VILLAGE, BELIZE.

At home now getting ready to leave tomorrow for Belize, Central America. You use a lot different gear there then you do here!

Lloyd, here I come man!! See you soon. JT

That looks great! Belize, what a great place on Earth!

Let me know if you didn't get the 10 pictures I just sent? The Belize trip basically went like this. We went out early the first day we were there. My pops and I in one boat and my sister's boyfriends in another with Clarence. The ride out to Glovers was rough that day but it was all good. We caught bones every spot we went to, all four of us were rookies and we all caught. Glovers reef was unbelievable. Anyway, my pops and I boated probably 6 each, largest around 5lbs according to Lloyd. The next day we went out we chased permit all day, my pops and I got a shot at 5 each, came close on maybe one each and totally blew the rest, spazzing the cast. But Lloyd is an amazing guide, the dude was spotting tailing fish that we wouldn't have seen if you paid us. He was also fully patient when he would put us 10 feet away from a fish and we'd botch the cast. He found a permit or two on every flat we went to in the afternoon. Then we went up in the mangroves late in the afternoon to look for Tarpon but found none. Anyway all I want to do is fish for permit now. I hit up Lloyd a few days later for another half day chasing permit but we didn't find any that morning.

But thanks a ton for hooking it up man. The people down there are amazing. Lloyd shows up out of nowhere on New Years eve with this huge slab of Grouper and gives it to my family for a new years present. It was tasty.

We also went out to Southwater with the whole crew (9 of us) on the Luke with KK, Ken - I think his son's name is - and Robbie, which was awesome. Those little dudes showed us how it was done with the handline off of the docks on Southwater Key.

I can't wait to go back that place is one of a kind. Tell Lloyd thanks a million and that the grouper was awesome.

I'll work on getting you more pics. Lee Kayser

EMAILS FROM YOU:

Jack-

Congratulations on your success as a guide. I'm inquiring on your knowlege or direction for creek or river property that might be available. I'm looking to relocate my family from the bay area. I was most interested in the Metolius River area of Oregon but after years of inquiries and no luck, I'm looking for something here in Northern California. I felt it best to ask someone like you that frequents prime flyfishing areas and may know of a property that may be or becomming available for sale. I have 5 kids and would like to buy a place on a creek or river with some seclusion but access to town for schoold etc. Would appreciate any direction you might have-- happy new year--Brad mailto:bsouzamail@yahoo.com.

Hello Shasta Dam Alliance Members:

I hope that you are all having a wondering holiday!

Our Lobby Day and hearing on AJR 39 are fast approaching. I have attached the latest AJR 39 Fact Sheet. We'd like to include as many of your logos as we can get by Monday of next week (January 7th). Please send us your logo if you would like it included.

You will also find a sample support letter for AJR 39. Please take a moment to put it on your letterhead and send a copy to the committee members. You can find a list of the committee members at:

http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp?committee=9

Please also forward the letter to others who support the Winnemem. It is especially useful to get letters from committee member's districts.

Finally, if you need a hotel room the night of the 8th you may wish to check out the Ramada Plaza Harbor Inn and Conference Center. It is in West Sacramento about 3.5 miles from the Capitol and currently has rooms for as low as $79/night. Please visit www.ramada.com to make a reservation.

More details will follow.

Debbie

On Dec 19, 2007 3:29 PM, Debbie Davis < mailto:debbie@ejcw.org> wrote:

Dear Shasta Dam Alliance members -

I'm sending this email out for Benny, our new Outreach Manager here at EJCW. He will be facilitating the Shasta Dam Alliance from now on. Amy has sadly left EJCW to pursue new opportunities, but will likely continue to be involved in the Shasta Dam work. Please be sure to send your responses to benny at mailto:benny@ejcw.org.

As we discussed at the Nov 27th meeting, we will be having a Shasta Dam Alliance Lobby Day in support of the Assembly Joint Resolution 39 on Winnemem recognition. The details will follow, but please mark your calendars for the following dates:

January 4th, 2pm - Lobby Day Prep Call January 8th - AJR 39 Lobby Day (all day, or please let Benny know what time you will be available to make visits) January 9th, 10am - Shasta Dam Alliance strategy meeting January 9th, 1:30pm - ASM Goverment Organization Hearing (AJR 39 is scheduled to be heard in this committee)

In other news, Mark, EJCW, EWC & NRDC had a very successful meeting with Congressman Miller's office. The staff seemed very receptive to the issues and we will be following up with them.

I have also attached the notes from the last meeting, which are slightly outdated at this point.

Here's an update on our "next steps" from our last conference call: Debbie will try and find info on Committee dates - COMPLETED Once we have that, we will work on scheduling lobby day and an Alliance meeting. COMPLETED We will continue to develop the communications strategy. IN PROGRESS We will try to allocate money to develop a really good press packet, hopefully contracting with PMC. IN PROGRESS Once we have more info on the resolution, we will pick dates in early Jan to go to Washington DC. Maybe target April/May. WILL BE DONE AT JANUARY 9th MEETING Debbie will set up meetings with Miller and Pelosi's staff. MILLER MEETING COMPLETED - STILL WORKING ON PELOSI - ALSO WORKING ON MEETING WITH BOXER'S OFFICE David will get on BoR email notification list. DONE?

We will figure out the process for a joint resolution. DONE

Please don't hesitate to call Benny or me with any questions you may have.

Thanks,

Debbie -- Debbie Davis Legislative Analyst Environmental Justice Coalition for Water 654 13th St. Preservation Park Oakland, CA 94612 (510)286-8400

Appears like based upon the weather - blizzard warning - that we will be looking at another day to hit the river. John Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T Jack,

Just wanted to thank you for the trip of a lifetime. Pops and I had a great experience up in Douglas City breathing the crisp fresh air, away from the crowds, under the snow and landing our FIRST winter Steelhead that has eluded us for so long!

This is one trip I won't soon forget and am glad that I learned more than just how to "improve my cast"!

Next stop, the Klamath!

Dave Diaz

Jack -- Great fishing with you and Tom Harman on the Klamath last Sunday. Here are a couple of pictures of the steelhead Tom landed. Have fun in South America. Be well.

Kris Frank

Hi Jack,

My wife and I will be staying at the Mt. Shasta Resort for four days starting February 4th. We were wondering if you were available to guide us on the upper Sac one of those days, (preferably the 5th, but the 6th or 7th would work as well.) We would like to find some places on the upper Sac where the wading is not brutal, (is there such a place?). I have been fly fishing for over ten years but still need to learn a lot, my wife has been fishing for three years and is a low intermediate. Drop us a line and let us know what you think.

Brad Laue

Nice steelhead on the Chetco caught by Chris Welch on eggs and a big fly rod!

http://www.goldriverguides.com/

Jim Basnmer is a great guide on the North Coast!

Jack FYI...Aaron was a great young guide who did well to put us on fish. I would not hesitate going out with him anytime. Had a great time and my friend Stan these were the largest steelhead he had every caught. Thanks, L. Masula Jack, Sounds like The Klamath is the way to go! We plan to start heading up north about 1 pm on Friday. Where should we stay?

John Gusiff

______________________

To view more reports from Jack Trout visit http://www.floridasportfishing.com/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=7&id=94&Itemid=73 which is the Top Destination area of the Florida Sport Fishing , Fishing Reports

for more info on everything fishing check out www.FloridaSportFishing.com

and for more on Travel Destinations around the world visit www.DestinationFish.travel

______________________

Tight Lines! and good fishing!