Shelf Trip to MP281A and more - January 24, 2013© Photos Posted by Mark Miller © Hi-Res Source
Windy weather has plagued us this winter and it finally calmed down on Thursday, January 24. We had only made 2 trips since October and the last was a rough one on December 8 so we were ready.On board were my 3 boys, Ben (19), Paul (17), and Luke (15), as well as Wesley Lyons and Shaun Waltman, both of Ocean Springs, MS. Ron Millet of Sacucier was going to go but I had to reluctantly drop him as our boat was pretty full (So sorry Ron - Raincheck).
We headed to MP281A where my buddy Mark Walker works as a Captain on the St. Ignatius Loyola supply boat. He had been giving us some reports on weather and fish sightings. Last week the Blue Water had moved in and brought the Tuna. Unfortunately, the River water
was back on this day and we got distracted with Amberjack and Diving so we did not even try trolling for Tuna and Wahoo. Also, we did not see any Flying Fish or busting fish on the surface. Anyway, we had a great trip. There were 2 Contenders out there with 2 persons in
each vessel and they were hammering the Amberjack with their Bandit rigs. One boat said he had 33 so far with the largest at 72 pounds. On the way out there, we came across a Sea Turtle on the surface.
He was very buoyant and could not seem to dive down. He also did not seem to mind us pulling up on him and we reached over the side to pet him.
I am not sure of the species but appears closest to a Kemp's Ridley. Weird thing is that we came across another that was similar. That one had a big notch out of his shell, but had the same
buoyancy problem. He dove down as we approached but with great difficulty. My Brother David (Herpetology Master) provided this link showing the Increase Strandings of the Kemp Ridley Turtle. MS is 151 out of 161 from the 2012 Gulf total of 444. The 2011 MS numbers were 265 out of 283 from a Gulf total of 525. Check it out at
NOAA.
Of course we fished things along the way picking up pesky Red Snapper and Sharks. Ben shot a nice Mangrove Snapper. Somehow we did not get any pictures ot the Mangrove, but there is some video in the topside footage.
It was a beautiful funfilled flat as glass day that encompassed 161 nautical miles, 14.4 hours, and 96 gallons of fuel.
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