First fish caught in the 250 Sportsman.

[jasoncooperpcola]

We took our 250 Sportsman out for the second time today. It was running 45 mph at 3/4 throttle according to our gps. :sun:I dont have any kind of fuel consuption numbers. I caught the first fish which was a 21 inch Red Snapper. :sun::sun::sun::sun:
We caught our limit of 6 in no time once we found a good reef. Once we caught the last one the gulf turned snotty and we headed in. I'll post pics later.

[THEFERMANATOR]

We took our 250 Sportsman out for the second time today. It was running 45 mph at 3/4 throttle according to our gps. :sun:I dont have any kind of fuel consuption numbers. I caught the first fish which was a 21 inch Red Snapper. :sun::sun::sun::sun:
We caught our limit of 6 in no time once we found a good reef. Once we caught the last one the gulf turned snotty and we headed in. I'll post pics later.
Congrats on the catch, down here we don't find many ARS in state waters. And them's some good numbers for speed too for a big boat. I'm currently waiting on some resin to set-up from fiberglassin earlier.

[jasoncooperpcola]

Here are a few pictures:

Almost one years worth of work.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj199/jasoncooperpcola/HPIM0351.jpg

Twin 1986 Yamaha 150's
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj199/jasoncooperpcola/HPIM0352.jpg

My new (to me) 96 GMC 2500 6.5 Diesel
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj199/jasoncooperpcola/HPIM0365.jpg

First fish in the boat
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj199/jasoncooperpcola/HPIM0362.jpg

All of today's catch
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj199/jasoncooperpcola/HPIM0361.jpg

[jasoncooperpcola]

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj199/jasoncooperpcola/HPIM0367.jpg

[willy]

Jason that is sweet, love them boats, how does it handle in a slop ?

[jasoncooperpcola]

Thanks Willy. It handled nicely coming in. We was running about 23 mph and every now and then had to duck some overspray. It didn't hit as hard as our V-20 which really suprised me. I can't get over how nothing moves on the Durabak deck. On the V-20 everything moved backward when we were going. On the 250 Sportsman stuff stays put.

[tsubaki]

Nice, we got to run about 40 miles before getting into any congregations of snapper around here.
That speed is something, never thought about a boat that size going that fast.

[Blue_Runner]

I guess ya'll already heard about the gal that went fishing with 10 guys right?

Yep, she came back with a BIG RED SNAPPER!

Pretty work Jason! Nice snappas!

[randlemanboater]

Nice Boat!!!!! And nice fish too!:clap:

Speaking of big boats going fast, my old Grady White 25 Sailfish would hit 50 mph (Loran) with its twin 200 Evinrudes. I only did it once just to see what top end was, I could heard the gas being sucked out of the tank.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Them are some pretty good numbers man. A friend has a 248 with twin 225 EVINRUDES, the fastest we got it up to was 53 MPH in the intercoastal waterway. He told me to let off as he was about to SH!T himself! It started chine walkin around 52:party:, so he didn't want to go any faster. Although it didn't have much more in it. It sure could go through some fuel though, 200 gallons didn't take it very far:bat:.

[jasoncooperpcola]

I'm not too sure how far we ran total, but we went about 7 miles offshore. I cant remember how far it is from the boat landing to the gulf though. But we have 3/4 of a tank left according to the gas gauge and the tank only had about 100 gallons in it when we left. Did i just say only 100 gallons?

[Monkey Butler]

Nice job on the boat and nice catch. Thanks for the report.

I've got a single Yamaha rated at 220HP on mine and I get about 34 MPH @ 4500RPM. I've never pushed it beyond that but with 1000RPM left I don't think I'd hit 40MPH.

I usually find myself crusing around 23-24 Mph too in decent chop and it's a fairly nice ride. The one complaint I do have is crossing following seas or large wakes at a shallow angle. Every now and then she seems to dig in the chine up forward and gives enough of a roll to catch you off gaurd.

[Stinky_Hooker]

Congrats!


My hopes of snapper are dashed! Our new regs make them not worth fishing for!

I wish Bama had the fishing for snapps in state water lil you guys!

[jasoncooperpcola]

Stinky why you trailer your boat to florida and fish florida? I can give you a couple good coordinates if you need them.

[willy]

Yea Stinkman, good idea, and give me a call when you do:sun:

[Stinky_Hooker]

I prolly will Jason. Thats a great offer and well worth the out of state license and all.

What is the min. size on em? Still 16"

Im assuming its still 4 per person?


I have a buddy that wants me to fish the Cobia/King Mac tourney over there in June or Julyish in his new Cape Horn...cant remember which month it is.


Im just gonna be tight on the $$ though....its 350 per boat I think. Dont know about that one.

[jasoncooperpcola]

Sadly the red snapper limit is two per person. The minimum size is 16". I seriously doubt Outcast will have their king mack tourney this year. Last year they canceled it. I know there is another tourney coming up for king mackeral soon. But this one is for a cape horn boat. Outcasts tourney was for a contender. I think the entry fee is 450. We may fish that tourney but i'm in the same boat as you are when it comes to money. We're planning to fish the orange beach red snapper tourney in august too.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Min size for recreational fishermen is 16", 13" for commercial:bat:. And old CRABTREE's reasoning for the pathetic ARS season is because FLORIDA and TEXAS didn't accept his rules, so he shortened the season even MORE!:cen: Not to mention recs get a 2 month season in federal waters to catch a fish that has become so plentiful it is a nuisance eating up your baits before they can get near the bottom. Yet the commercials can cath them year round until they meet there quota of a public resource that they BOUGHT!


Just wait, CRABTREE wants to do the same thing with GROUPER.

[jasoncooperpcola]

Why dont they just close red snapper season to EVERYONE. Thats :bsflag: that we have to throw back snapper that are 1/2 inch too small most of the time and now they even f:cen:ked up the season even more than it was already f:cen:ked up. We spent alot of money for six red snapper. :bat:

[THEFERMANATOR]

Hang on to your but even tighter. The state of FLORIDA is probably going to reduce the season to match that of the GULF COUNCIL when the JULY updates come out:nut:. CRABTREE said we had to match them or else he will shorten the federal season even more next year.

[jasoncooperpcola]

They just need to leave crap alone in my opinion, all the factors combined together, (gas, limits, bait, etc) are making fishing NOT FUN AND ENJOYABLE! I need to take the V-20 off my signature but really dont want to. :cry:

[Stinky_Hooker]

Yep....its only getting less fun and more expensive.


Thats why I dumped the V20, stuck with the 18 and more inshore fishing.

I can bring home more meat(a mess of specks, flounder and reds) for WAAAAAY less $$ by sticking to inshore.