Ahh.... Spring in Florida

Once everything is growing, humidity sets in, birds are everywhere, Pelicans diving on the beach....and bay crabs float into Tampa. The last being the most important for this story. When the tide starts carrying crab, those that eat crab are on the prowl. And, for 3 to 4 hours on the outgoing tide of the full and new moons, those that eat crab, eat them voraciously. The exciting part of this fishery is the constant action with boat after boat hooking up and fish dancing across the water. The unfortunate part is when your playing with giants, that 3 hour window gets very short. You don't exactly tell a 130# fish to hurry up and get to the boat to go catch more.
As you can guess, I was lucky enough to experience that event yesterday. We cancelled a couple weeks back, so a spattering tough weather (see pics) was not going to stop me. I made the drive over to Tampa and we were scooping crabs by 1:30. By 2:30 we were on site and by 3:15 we were hooked up. We went 3 for 5 for the day with two fish over 130#s. I caught two, one of the larger brutes and the "little" 80# fish that's jumping in the pics below. My arm still hurts. If there was a downside to the day, we never got the trophy shot. Combination of sloppy water, only two guys on the boat and a camera that takes too long to focus and shoot. None the less, it was a fabulous day and an experience that will have to be repeated. I just need to find these fish on the East Coast!