I was joined this week by Andrew Huynh from the popular Youtube channel NoobAngler, and his friend Oz Sittipon Chanarat. Oz is a Fisherman/TV Host for Discovery Channel. He also has a popular Youtube channel, Bangkokhooker Fishing. He is joining us all the way from Thailand. We had our sights set on tarpon. Hoping to help these guys out with some Florida fishing footage.
They made the staggering 2am wake up and three hour drive over from the east coast. Yea they have tarpon over there, but its nothing is like experiencing the migration in Boca Grande FL. The guys actually beat me to the dock, eager and ready to hook up to some BIG fish. We set out about 5:45am. Another gorgeous sunrise and rolling pods of fish. There are mornings I've sat and tried to count them, just as the sky is lightening but the sun has yet to come up, but they seem endless. A sight I'll never tire of seeing.
We get in a good position and set up, bait hooks and hope these fish are hungry. Toss a live blue crab rigged to a 6/0 trokar circle hook into the school. It only was a few moments before Oz had his fish hooked up! I throughly enjoy guiding anglers to land their very first tarpon. Its such a tenacious fight and feeling of victory when you get that fish boat side for a quick snapshot an release. He will put a video together of his catches to post on his youtube channel. I am excited to watch and relive this moment with him.
Pictured: Captain Andrew and Oz de-hooking & releasing his tarpon. Boca Grande Florida, USA.
We headed off to the next location to try to pull up a few beasts from the deep. Goliath grouper fishing has been a long time favorite of Andrew's. He obviously enjoys the punishment of being taken to the rail by an ocean giant. We caught some live jacks and sent them down to the bottom, Andrew didn't have to wait long for a bite. Hanging in there and using the Deck Gear stool, he was able to keep control and pull this fish out of the wreck. Recently we have started working with FWC to collect fin clippings from these fish. They are using the data to collect DNA and access our population. They have been a protected species since the 90's.
Pictured: Andrew and Captain Andrew with his Goliath Grouper. He was using 600lb Bullbuster Fishing Line
As we released his grouper we had a few surprise visitors hiding under the boat. Barracuda and Cobia! The guys threw a cuda tube and a live bait at the cobia. Oz hooked, up bringing this bonus fish to the boat at record speed using a Penn Slammer. The fish was pretty lively, and I didn't have my fish bat. Oz looks at me and says " Do you want me to punch it?" I replied with something like ... "only if you want to hurt your hand". As those words left my mouth, I watched him knock out a cobia in one punch.
Don't mess with Oz!
Pictured: Oz with his Cobia
These guys were a blast to have aboard! I look forward to seeing their footage of their trip. Subscribe to their youtube & social media channels listed below. You will be notified when our episode is added.
Andrew Huynh
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