Capt. Anderson head boats

[spurrs and racks]

I've had good trips and I've had bad trips. That's why they call it fishing not catching.

I have been out with them every summer for the last several years. When the Bee Liners are big (last year) it is really good. But, this year they are on the small size.

ARC are hit and miss, mostly miss this late in the season.

Good luck

 

[jasper181]

I worked on those head boats 20 years ago and still know the owners. It has changed hands a few times and most of the captains a new. I moved about 10 years ago but my dad still lives there, we actually had a boat business there and I originally worked for and then bought our boat/business from Mr. Davis that used to own the head boats. My brother still makes 2-3 trips a month on the 12 hr boats and I go probably twice a year just to to do it. You can still catch some decent fish if you know what you are doing, bring some live bait or catch some while you are out there. I bring my own rod and tackle and soak big baits all day and can usually come back with a decent grouper. For the money and experience, especially for a kid its still a good time. I would pick the Florida Queen on a 5-5 trip if it were me.

 

[Lukikus2]

It's tough being the captain of a head boat trying to keep folks on fish. Once you are on fish the yahoos run up on you and mark the spot and make it public. I was on one trip in the 80's where we anchored up, a dive boat pulls in and anchored up 100' in front of us to spearfish what we were fishing

 

[jasper181]

Just a warning....35-45 years ago is a huge difference compared to how PCB is today...I live 45 miles North of there.

Nowadays from what I understand is they run you out to the same wore out numbers. Regs have really messed up offshore fishing. 30 plus years ago you could load up on red snapper. triggers, AJ's, grouper...etc. Catching these fish is not the problem..keeping them is.

There is no really no secret structure anymore....everybody has pretty much found it.

Not trying to be a downer but see if you can reach out to some other folks and share a charter...more enjoyable and better learning experience for your son.

Don't have their phone numbers handy but Google Justin Leake or Chris Wiwi...yeah weird last names but not sending you down a rabbit hole. I know Chris from church when he frequents....know his wife better from my line of work. Both are good folks.

Get up with them and explain your situation. If you got any more questions just PM me.

We used to build artificle reefs in the Panhandle during the 90's and early 00's, we were about the only boat doing it. We had a few guys that actually put the jobs together as far as proving the structure and our boat as a package. He had a source for thousands of chicken coops from Alabama, the snapper loved the coops. We built 100's of spots during this time with just coops. A ton of the spots were lost during Opal, Earl and Ivan.

 

[jdgator]

Captain Anderson's head boats still put people on good reef fishing.

 

[oops1]

We used to build artificle reefs in the Panhandle during the 90's and early 00's, we were about the only boat doing it. We had a few guys that actually put the jobs together as far as proving the structure and our boat as a package. He had a source for thousands of chicken coops from Alabama, the snapper loved the coops. We built 100's of spots during this time with just coops. A ton of the spots were lost during Opal, Earl and Ivan.

What all loopholes are involved in dropping structures? I’ve often wondered ..I’m sure it’s a pretty big hassle. We actually witnessed them dropping a F16 or some sort of fighter jet just out of the pass in PCB. Also saw them set one of those pyramid structures right off the beach in Grayton one year. Actually thought the jet was a sinking boat when we pulled up on it. Later read in the news what happened.

 

[Lukikus2]

I predate Jasper on this 15 years or so. Great captains and deckhands. Deckhands getting time in for a captains license
Swift currents and tangled lines.

 

[Lukikus2]

Back then most new structure was gutted out cars and dumped.

 

[jollymon]

Well we did the 0hr trip on Friday and it was a success in my book , I don't get much time with my oldest son one on one much anymore, Life and family gets in the way along with a over bearing wife.
I didn't say that , We departed ont time 2 and a half ride to the first spot then lines down , They told us the Red Snapper were hard to come by but we'd give it our best shot .The Capt. kept us on fish , mostly Vermilion Snapper and others. The bout only got 3 Red . After I limited on Vermilion Snapper my Deck Hand asked if he could do a Grouper rig for me ,I said go for it , So he tied up a Grouper rig and gave me one of the few live baits he had . So at the next spot I dropped it and the Deck Hand said make sure you hold on because if a Grouper hits it he'll take off like a Truck, Not 5 minutes pass and something BIG hit it and ran with it it had my rod bowed up in half, Then it turned back at us and went under the boat and broke off. What ever it was was powerful. Wish I could have seen it but thats how it goes. The only complaint was the sorry condition of the rest rooms, I've seen better crappers in bus stations , Capt and Deck Hands were great. BTW we did bring our own rods and reels there stuff is a bit tired slell we say but works .

 

[jdgator]

Well we did the 0hr trip on Friday and it was a success in my book , I don't get much time with my oldest son one on one much anymore, Life and family gets in the way along with a over bearing wife.
I didn't say that , We departed ont time 2 and a half ride to the first spot then lines down , They told us the Red Snapper were hard to come by but we'd give it our best shot .The Capt. kept us on fish , mostly Vermilion Snapper and others. The bout only got 3 Red . After I limited on Vermilion Snapper my Deck Hand asked if he could do a Grouper rig for me ,I said go for it , So he tied up a Grouper rig and gave me one of the few live baits he had . So at the next spot I dropped it and the Deck Hand said make sure you hold on because if a Grouper hits it he'll take off like a Truck, Not 5 minutes pass and something BIG hit it and ran with it it had my rod bowed up in half, Then it turned back at us and went under the boat and broke off. What ever it was was powerful. Wish I could have seen it but thats how it goes. The only complaint was the sorry condition of the rest rooms, I've seen better crappers in bus stations , Capt and Deck Hands were great. BTW we did bring our own rods and reels there stuff is a bit tired slell we say but works .

Did you have Capt. Anderson's Restaurant cook them for you? I know they used to do that.

 

[jollymon]

We took them home and I'll cook them , We did go to my Father in Laws got showers and went out to "Billy's" for crabs and beer than back to the house and it was lights out .

 

[jasper181]

What all loopholes are involved in dropping structures? I’ve often wondered ..I’m sure it’s a pretty big hassle. We actually witnessed them dropping a F16 or some sort of fighter jet just out of the pass in PCB. Also saw them set one of those pyramid structures right off the beach in Grayton one year. Actually thought the jet was a sinking boat when we pulled up on it. Later read in the news what happened.

Ive been out of the loop for quite a few years, the rules and regs starting making it almost impossible as far as doing it commercially. Im not even sure if they will give permits any longer. At the time all liquids , rubber and certain materials had to be removed. The permits werent cheap and then they wanted it all to be done only during daylight hours.

The Grouper ghettos you are talking about were popular as well, we built a ton of spots for Pcola back around 00-03. It was all nover the local news and Florida Sportsman.

 

[jdgator]

The Grouper ghettos

Did you just now come up with that? It sounds a slogan for a t-shirt or line of custom bait rigs.

 

[jasper181]

No, that was actually the name the company making them came up with and marketed them as. There are several companies making similar products but that was the name they used. Basically they were 3 sided concrete pyramids with holes on all sides. They had a peice of rope in the mold at the top used for picking them up. They were offered in 3, 6 and 9ft sizes. When we built all the spots for the city of Pcola we did 180 of them, each one had to be slowly lowered to the bottom, we had a dump hook attached to the loop in the ghetto", once on the bottom Id snatch the heel out of the line until the hok released. The would try to spin and turn so we had to go slow, it was a long job. I never will forget it, it took 37 hours straight with no sleep to get them all done. Florida sportsman did an article about it and all the locals news shows had the pictures and stuff. The numbers were actually made public becuase they were done by the city.