I'm new here

[JPage]

Wanted to introduce myself. So i guess this would be the place to do it. I am a fanatical saltwater fisherman and would rather fish than anything. I live in Douglasville, Ga (west side of Atl.). We have a home in Destin i try to get down to as much as possible. We fish out of a twin engine Grady White seafarer and it seems to fit our needs for now. Capt. Cefus don't know if you fish Destin much but you need to come on down sometime and share some of your knowledge. I am always on the hunt to learn as most things in life  conditions are always changing. I would also  like to learn the winter striper bite at Lanier but with the water so low makes me nervous. I guess in time I'll figure it out ..

JPage
Here are couple of catches:





Our battle wagon:

 

[coachb]

Nice UGA hat. lol Welcome and have you fished the SW bottom out of Destin. Lots of live bottom there.

[JPage]

UGA !!!   I'm a Jackets man myself.  The UGA fan in the picture is my brother in-law and we have agreed to disagree on the whole SEC ACC thing...

Yeah we fish the edge alot and fish the timberholes and a few others when we hit the nat. bottom. Hopefully we will get a good bluewater push this year. Last year seems  like the closest it came was 100miles. Want to get some good trolling in this year.. Should be going down in a week or two to see if i can put a cobia or two in the boat if the weather will hold out..

[Capt Cefus]

Them are some Hogs for sure !!!

Coach are Ron Barwick have got a wealth of information about the Destin area.   Ron is the MAN at Half Hitch tackle and he's in touch with the local guides on a daily basis, so he's a great resource.

I'd love to get down there for the cobia run this spring.  Although I must admit, most of my experience is a little further west in the Orange Beach/Mobile Bay area OR further east toward Cape San Blas and Carrabelle on down to Steinhatchee.   Don't know why I've not spent as much time in Destin/PCB.  Maybe because there's a little less boat traffic in the other areas I mentioned.   I've fished Destin/PCB a lot, just not as much as the other places.   And the snapper that come from those deep holes are definitely worth the trip, as you've shown with the pictures above.

Stay in touch and let us know when you're headed that way.   We might just hook up down there.

Glad you're here on the board.   Keep the posts coming.

[Ron Barwick]

Welcome,
  Now this little report is going to get you to want to get down here real quick. Between PC and Destin over 30 cobia have already been weighed-in in the last 2 weeks. This is a little early compared to other years, but we'll take it. I was planning on going today but the wind kicked up with 5ft seas. a little too rough to sight fish.
Again, welcome aboard.
RB

[JPage]

As i sit here and dink my coffee and watch it rain. Yeah i have definitely got the FEVER!! I see cobia in my dreams!! Hopefully should be down the first or second weekend in April. Still have to take the cover off the boat and do some spring maintenance(fuel filters, tune-up. etc.) just haven't had time yet. It is suppose to stop raining Sunday here in Atlanta. So I am gonna get the old girl ready for summer...

Cefus:
Ill let you know we are always looking for some new folks to fish with. We are definitely entertainment even if we don't catch much!!

Ron:
Are you in the Destin Half Hitch  or PC? We bought a used down rigger this winter and I'm  not real sure how to set it up. We have never had one why i don't know we just always used planers. What kind of releases do you recommend to put on it?? What kind of rigging do i need off the cable? It has only a clip on it now. What Ball weight am i gonna need??? Oh yeah if you or Coach got any good numbers you need to keep secret just let me know and ill take good care of them for ya..LOL 

[coachb]

Ron is at thr PC store.
I am in Dalton, just up the road from you.
Come on up and lets put some scales on the floor. lol

[Capt Cefus]

If you guys need help getting your downrigger set up, I'm happy to meet you and help get you operational.

[Ron Barwick]

I'm the Service Manager for all four stores, with my main office in PC.

As far as for your downrigger, most around this area use an eight or ten pound ball, unless you're trolling over 12 knots for Wahoo. As far as a release, either the Cannon or Penn are easy to use (if you look real close they're the same). I personally would use the AFTCO or Black's, totally adjustable release tension and very reliable.
RB

[JPage]

Coach all you have to do is show me the way!!

Capt. C  I might take you up on that once i get all  the terminal parts.  I'm still kind of unsure on how to use it real well too. We mainly wanted one to slow troll for kings. I see all the SKA guys using them on TV  so I know it works. Want to pull some Wahoo baits on it too. Guess there will be a learning curve with this like everyother new toy we get to fish with..

Ron.. We have blacks releses on the outriggers and they have been good so far. Is there a difference between outrigger clips and downrigger clips?? I havent looked at the two side by side so i didn't know. What else do i need some kind of cable between the clip and the ball?? When are you guys gonna go to website sales?  Oh while i was thinking about guess your the guy to ask.. I bought a new spool off ebay for my Penn 8500ss the USA not the new style. Well after i bid and bought it i relized it was for a 7500ss. You know you see it you get all excited .. oh two minuites left gotta bid now!!! It is brand new and it is the USA made one. Do you have any of the 8500ss spools that you could trade me or something. Just a thought.. I hate selling stuff on e-bay i would rather just trade someone for the right one. Ron how much do you fish out in the gulf?? I have some numbers out of PC that need to be checked out. Got them from someone and i never fish out of PC..

[Capt Cefus]

Give me a shout and we'll figure out a good time to get together.

[coachb]

Take I 75 north and exit at 333 and you are a mile and half from my house. I will sweep the floor of scales from the last vivitors

[Ron Barwick]

The Black's clips are a little different, the outrigger clips are made to in-line with your cable, the downrigger clip goes at the end of the cable. so it has a clip to attach to the ball (weight). The adjustment is the same on both style clips so, you know how they work, you might want to stay with the same brand. The only reason you might want to go with the Penn or Cannon is that they can be stacked, running multiple lines off one downrigger. Not too popular in the Gulf, but we do it all the time in the Great Lakes.

As far as the spool situation, I think we can work on something there. For everyone's information, the spools from the new SSM model Penn reels also fit the older SS models.

Ron