I got an invitation from Dom to go out on his boat off of Pompano Beach on a species hunting tour. Ben and Ally would be joining as well. The weather looked sketchy at first, but it ended up being a very nice day.
ALTHeading out!
The first new species for me was a Sand Tilefish (Malacanthus plumieri) which is a fairly common catch in the area and I actually ended up catching a few.
Species #304 Sand Tilefish (Malacanthus plumieri) Photo credit - Dom
Next up was a fairly uncommon species - #305 Striped Grunt (Haemulon striatum). This was about 170 ft of water.
#305 - Striped Grunt (Haemulon striatum)
Almost immediately afterward I pulled in from the same location species #306 a Tobacco Basslet (Serranus tabacarius). This is a very pretty fish and one that was really cool to find.
#306 Tobacco Basslet (Serranus tabacarius)
Right after this happened as we were about to leave to go to another spot we spotted some Mahi zipping around the boat. Dom immediately threw out a goggle-eye and the bull Mahi took it. Dom handed off the rod to me as Ben started trying to get one of the other Mahi on. After a good, long fight I was finally able to get the fish to the boat where Dom netted it. Almost immediately after that happened Ben pulled in one of the females.
Teamwork! Photo credit - Ally
The next species I pulled up was the Yellowcheek Wrasse (Halichoeres cyanocephalus). I was exhausted from fighting the Mahi so I wasn’t paying attention and actually didn’t get a great photo. Will have to catch one more sometime.
Species #307 - Yellowcheek Wrasse (Halichoeres cyanocephalus)
We left the area and went to try a wreck for Amberjack. Ben was first up and within a very short time was hooked into something big.
Ben hooked into something strong. Photo credit - Ally
Turned out to be a nice Almaco Jack!
After striking out on any more hookups at this wreck we headed north to do some deep dropping for species. I managed to pull up two new species from around 500 feet - #308 the Blackline Tilefish (Caulolatilus cyanops) and #309 the Blueline Tilefish (Caulolatilus microps).
#308 the Blackline Tilefish (Caulolatilus cyanops)
#309 the Blueline Tilefish (Caulolatilus microps)
See Part 2 for the remainder of the pictures from the day!
