Local angler reels in carbo grouper and more with dad on Father’s Day in Gulf of Mexico

As I’ve gotten older my perspective on the size of the Gulf of Mexico has changed.

We now have the ability to communicate and stay in contact with people on shore despite being tens or hundreds of miles away with new technology. Even more important is the speed and reliability of modern boats and engines. Many people make trips 100 miles offshore or more in a day.

What used to seem so far away isn’t nearly the same in my mind now, and seeing other boats in similar areas is a welcome sight for easing the nerves when hours from land.

Being offshore with my dad on a recent trip made him feel a bit taken aback by the confidence we had running deep. Going 70 miles offshore when leaving at 9 a.m.? That wouldn’t leave too much fishing time in his mind.

He’s a little old school. If he could do away with a phone and computer he probably would. I couldn’t remember the last time he was in the deep waters of the Gulf — maybe more than 10 years ago — and a conversation he had with family friend and boat owner Caleb Grimes brought me back to some of our earlier offshore trips.

“Remember when going out into the Gulf seemed far? And then when we couldn’t see land it was almost crazy,” my dad said as we cruised for a spot in 180 feet of water west of Anna Maria Island.

“You guys spent the night offshore in that Crosthwait at the Mexican Pride. That seemed so far offshore,” Grimes responded.

This trip was a little throwback. It was another rendition of a Father’s Day trip I usually run in June with the Grimes family, but this time my dad was there as well. The two of them ran me offshore many times as an adolescent and crafted my love for bottom fishing.

It was around 11 a.m. when we started fishing in 180 feet of water. The current played a huge problem and the lack of bites caused some looks from the anxious anglers on board. I was at the helm and bouncing around proved slow with only a few red grouper going into the fish box.

“Want to do something crazy?” I asked. “Let’s go get a black grouper.”

A spot I got from an old neighbor lay southwest in 200 feet of water. 200 feet used to seem so deep. When we pulled up, the current was actually less than in shallower and one of the first baits down brought up the biggest red snapper of the day. Kyle Grimes followed up with a beautiful 32-inch scamp grouper, my favorite eating in the Gulf.

Dropping a 1.25-ounce Hogball, I was taken to the rail by something large. On an 8000 spinning reel, I put as much heat as I could but stood no chance as the fish took me into its rocky home. I had a feeling it was a big carbo or black grouper. I grabbed a heavier conventional and, with a squid, it didn’t take long before I was put to the rail again.

However, this time I was more evenly matched and the fish at the other end wasn’t nearly as big. I kept a steady reel as sharks are always lurking. When it came up under the boat I screamed “carbo!” It’s always been a bucket list fish to get a huge one, and while this wasn’t quite that, it was a solid 36 inches.

When the bite slowed we ran back in a mile to a giant bait ball we found that day that produced a limit of some large red grouper. The red snapper bite was slow until going back to 150 feet where we caught a limit of 12 in about 20 minutes. All were 18 to 24 inches and legal sized, allowing us to head home to get cleaned up before dark.

We had a great box of fish to clean and the Father’s Day trip was a success. It was also a reminder of how my perspective has changed. Saying 150 feet feels shallow is a bit odd, but anywhere in the Gulf really does feel at home and being comfortable, but cautious, running into deeper waters is a blessing with modern technology.