Finally, found time to fish!!

[phatdaddy]

October, November, and December are my favorite time of year. Great weather, no tourist, my work slacks off and grouper bite is on.

Well, new grandbaby put a screeching halt to that, been watching her 4-5 hours a day. Weather bad on the weekends, holiday stuff, etc.

Had a chance to go this Saturday



Not a giant, but legal & tasty



I like this one. looks bigger on the cooler

[Giorgio]

Now we're talking, nice. The water looked nice and calm and after watching your grand child a few hours a day, I would say, it was a well

deserved day.

[phatdaddy]

Thanks G, was good to get out. It was a beautiful day ,light winds,78 degrees and nobody out.

[scook]

What a great day. I was with you in spirit while caulking siding in near freezing weather. It’s nice to see your pictures and imagine/remember good fishing days.

[Giorgio]

Phat, I don't know if I ever asked this, if I did forgive an old fart, but here it is, how is the Grouper to eat?

[phatdaddy]

Scook, don t know how you guys work outside in cold climates. I was in golf course construction for 25 years. They sent me to Birmingham Ala for a job one winter, when I finished, I told them I would never go north of I-10 again. I was miserable

G, they are excellent table fare, great fried ,grilled, baked, etc. it is a very firm white flaky meat. Never had it, but was told it is similar to cod. Also freezes well, one of the only 2 fish I freeze. The other is flounder. It s around 15-20 dollars a pound at the local markets

[Giorgio]

I don't get Grouper up here at all and if I ever do I would definitely pick up a piece. I only freeze 4 fish, Winter Flounder, Fluke, which you call Flounder, Stripers and Black Fish. Certain fish are too mushy to freeze, like Bluefish and Weakfish, I think you call Sea Trout, they must be kept on ice, so they stay firm and should be eaten the same day. Porgy's and Sea Bass can be frozen, but the Porgy's have way too many pins in it for me, so I don't keep them and I have never caught a keeper Sea Bass, that I kept. I caught one keeper, it was 5 pounds and it was the day before opening day, everyone said keep it, I said no and released it. It was a good thing, about an hour later we were boarded by the DEC to check what we had.

Thanks for the response and sorry for the long story.
G

[SkunkBoat]

nice

[phatdaddy]

Thanks skunk, I m gonna try to get out more

G, I forgot about sea bass, we don t get them very much here, except in the winter. They are not as big as the ones up north. In Florida,it s a 10 inch minimum and no season. They are excellent eating. I haven t caught one in 20 years