st lucie humps

[islandrunner5280]

Has any one ever tried the St Lucie humps ? I have been waiting for the weather to clear. Does any one have any idea or done any good out there? before I make that long run.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Do the majority of my bottom fishing out of the SLI. Are the humps your speaking of possibly P Button hill area. There are two distinct humps there, as well as the P Buttton hole all in fairly close proximity. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 27.10 and 79.57? :?: If so, its a well known deep drop destination with a good shot at tiles, snowys etc....I've never heard them called the SL humps though. Couple other spots I know of that could be the location your speaking of. Gotta give me a few more clues.
Later,
DIRTYFOOT2

[islandrunner5280]

st Lucie humps I'm talking about are 30 miles of SLI 2300ft of water. i have dropped push button hill a lot never caught a damn thing any ideas.

[kyle]

Don't know about deep dropin out there but we have caught some nice yellow fins out there.

kyle

[islandrunner5280]

that's awesome never had good weather to get out there in go yellow fin fishing, or deep drop if there anything out there.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Gotcha,
Never had the opportunity to make it way out there. Will ask around the dock see what I can dig up. Sounds Intriguing. The other area I'd like to make a trek to up that way is Bethel Shoals. An old capt friend of mine
( retired ), gave me some #'s for there that I still haven't had a chance to go check out. His exact words to me about that place were " Boy them there #'s is the promise land. " Well If I dig up anything on those humps I'll let you know.
Later DF2

[islandrunner5280]

thanks DIRTYFOOT2 if i found anything out i will let you know also have a good one...Dave

[poolman]

DF2,I've fished Bethel shoals a few times,so far hasn't been too productive.But I've heard stories of monster Cuberas and Genuines.Still occassionally hit the area,but not as much.Up this way you don't have the traffic you have down south.But the run out is a lot farther too.I run 13 miles to fish the N.E. grounds in 80ft.Bethel is about another 8 north.This winter when the gags start I have a few spots I want to try.Including the east ledge off Bethel.Usually in August and Sept here we have these thermals,which pretty much shut down the bottom jerkin.Come Oct the water starts to change and the bite returns.Still waiting for that though. Guys here still gettin sea bass and sharks,with the occassional mango or gag.Nothin worth braggin bout yet.Got a deep ledge in 190 that I pulled up some nice gags bout a month ago.Dyin to get back there and try again.Up here water clarity is rare,and the key to good fishin.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

That cold water upwelling you speak of is called a polar scist. You'll remember two years ago at the end of august, there was a fish kill ( mostly tropicals: angelfish, lots of eels, and asst.other small tropicals. The bottom temp on one dive I made on the eight mile was 54 degrees. From talking to the oldtimers @ Pirates Cove, it seems that the scist is happening more regularly and with more drastic effects. One good thing we noticed that year, was that the cold water pushed in a batch of GIANT vermillions. We caught a couple over 6lbs, and the fish were averaging 4lbs. The water clarity is definately a challenge. A good current really helps the clarity but makes it more difficult to fish. Thats partially why that new tile & snowy limit frosts my a$$. We really need quite a few variables to come together for the deep fishing to be good. To work at it as hard as we do, when we get one of those magic days where the conditions are working for us, we should be able to take reasonable limits. As a native floridian I feel I have a right to our fishery. The reefs from hillsboro to Ft pierce are the woods I grew up in. The idea of the commercial boys locking us out makes my blood BOIL . Hopefully one of these politicians will listen and act on our behalf. On another note, you do any long leader mutton fishing. When the currents crankin and the water quality is good, its one of my favorite fish to target. Allright enough boolshevit, i better get back to work.
Later,
DF2 :thumleft:

[kyle]

Ya I do alot in Jupiter I use aboout a 40-60ft leader 50-80Lb. Do this mostly when I anchor in 130-250ft. You get alot bigger fish on average with the longer leader. Don't be scared to use a monster gog or decent runner.

[poolman]

Used to stomp the big muttons in 140 from palm beach to jupeeter. Always used 12 to 15 ft leader.biggest was 26.4. Not much up my way in the line of muttons.And guys,if I'm wrong PLEEEEZE correct me.One of the fish I miss the most is the ol pink freight train.Never anchored in those depths kyle,always just drifted the bottom of the ledge.I'm crazy enough to run south for a good mutton bite.Takes me little more than an hour on a decent day to get to jupiter.Years ago"30+" my uncle took me to a spot I think was east of the loran tower and i think it was in about 160.Holee sheeite the pigs we pulled in.Grouper and muttons.Ever since I've wanted to find that spot.Soo..if anyone knows where in the deep they're a hidin'

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Pman,
There is still a good mutton fishery off the loran towers and the backside of the 8 mile in Stuart. LONG LEADERS & PEARLY BAITS are a must. Would love to take a ride w/ you one day and I'll take you to a couple of my mutton holes. Early bird trip. Like kyle said gogs are king, but a live sardine, grunt or small bliner will do the trick as well. Let me know when you want to hit it and we'll split cost and ride. Never caught one over twenty but took a couple over 15 this year, and last easter sunday my partner got one 23lbs off the tower on a baby live grunt 60' leader three way swivel style. I just love that long leader. Set it out put it in the rod holder and wait for it to double over and hang onnn! :shock:
Later,
DF2 irat:

[Catch-All]

Originally Posted by islandrunner5280

Has any one ever tried the St Lucie humps ? I have been waiting for the weather to clear. Does any one have any idea or done any good out there? before I make that long run.

Yes, I have.

Look at the Homeport Charts chart for that area, I think it is called the Northern Swordfishing Chart. Anyway, a few spots on there have my name on 'em. So that means you can never ever fish those spots! They're MINE, all mine! :lol: All kidding aside, I have been out there several times and each time got hookups of YFT and big dolphin. Depending on the crew I had along, sometimes we even BOATED the darn things. I don't see why the Man In The Blue Suit wouldn't make an appearance.

I don't have a sonar setup that lets me get down to 2400 feet but my electric reel will. I have an ElectraMate 940XP on a Penn Senator 12/0, spooled with 1000 yards of 130# FINS braided spectra. I can easily slap on another 1000 feet if I need to. I have talked to several retired commercials who have fished there. You need to use about 17-20 lbs of lead, it takes a LONG time to hit bottom and you need to do at least one practice drop when you get there to figure out how the wind & current speed/ directions are going to affect your accuracy of placing your rig on the right pinnacle stickin' up down there.

Having said that, I asked a friend who was traveling over to Rosie's last summer to stop at the Humps and take a few pics of his high-powered sonar screen for me. He emailed them to me when he got back, foaming at the mouth about how many big fish there were down there. He had the sonar on split screen bottom zoom and even on the full picture side of the screen you could see what looked like pepper grains sprinkled on the screen(!) And that was at 2400 feet. Can you imagine the size of the slobs down there?

I'm told that you should use only a one-hook rig because if one of the 100 pounders jumps all over your sh!t imagine what TWO of them would do to your rod & reel.

Good Luck,
Catch-All

[Gaitor]

Hey guys ...Get ready ... the commies at SAFMC are already plotting to hose us out of another "fishin' hole" via the MPA route. This info was taken from their website:


33 St. Lucie Hump MPA
34 Alternative 1 (Preferred). Establish a Type 2 MPA protecting St. Lucie Hump, in the
35 area bounded by the following coordinates: The northwest corner at
36 27°8'N, 80°W; the northeast corner at 27°8'N, 79°58'W; the southwest
37 corner at 27°4'N, 80°W; and the southeast corner at 27°4'N, 79°58'W

[islandrunner5280]

when are then suppose to be closeing the st lucie humps?

[Gaitor]

The Council is expected to take final action to approve Amendment 14 during its February 27- March 3, 2007 meeting in Jekyll Island, GA.
So it will probably happen in March, 2007.

[Catch-All]

Jim - will there be a local public hearing for SAFMC to get public input or will this be another hand-job where they have one hearing only and it's all the way up in North Carolina or some crap like that?

Failing that, is there a website link or email where we can voice our displeasure about this latest assault on our right to fish?

Mark
Catch-All

[Catch-All]

Originally Posted by Gaitor

Hey guys ...Get ready ... the commies at SAFMC are already plotting to hose us out of another "fishin' hole" via the MPA route. This info was taken from their website:


St. Lucie Hump MPA
Alternative 1 (Preferred). Establish a Type 2 MPA protecting St. Lucie Hump, in the area bounded by the following coordinates: The northwest corner at 27°8'N, 80°W; the northeast corner at 27°8'N, 79°58'W; the southwest
37 corner at 27°4'N, 80°W; and the southeast corner at 27°4'N, 79°58'W

Jim - I happened to re-read your post and compared the coordinates to one of my charts. What the SAFMC likes to call the St Lucie Humps is actually known to everyone else as The Seabass Rocks, about halfway between Jupiter and Stuart Inlets. What the guys are referring to in this thread as the St Lucie Humps are the real St Lucie Humps. They are about 26 nautical miles off Stuart Inlet in about 2000-2400 feet of water, just west of the USA - Bahamian EEZ Boundary Line.

I can only think that the SAFMC is playing a shell game here by switching around the names of their MPAs. They have already rammed down our throats the eventual closure of The Seabass Rocks. But when they next go after a total ban of recreational deepdropping at the real St Lucie Humps, the ill-informed fishing public will say "what's the big deal? They already closed that area and made it into a MPA last year." The fishing public will confuse The Seabass Rocks MPA with a new MPA that will ban all deepdropping in waters 600 feet or more.

Catch-All

[Gaitor]

Looks like we are too late for public input on this one ... they held their last meeting on Sep 18th and will make their final decision in Mar in Jekyll Island, GA. Their info on meetings as posted on their website :
Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meet four times each year, once in each of the four states in the southeast region. Meetings generally last five days and involve meetings of the Council's committees and a Council session involving all members. Advisory panels meetings, public hearings, and public comment sessions may also be scheduled during the week.
Before final action on any management proposal is taken, the Council involves the public through public hearings and input at Council meetings. Proposed management changes are then sent to NOAA's National Marine Fisherie's Service for further review, public comment, and approval before being implemented.
Meeting weeks are consistently held the first week of March (Georgia), the scond week of June (Florida), the third week of September (South Carolina), and the first week of December (North Carolina). The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee meets in conjuction with the June and September meetings. Except for designated closed sessions, the public is invited to attend all meetings.
Click on the meeting date links below for additional information regarding meeting locations, agendas, and briefing book materials.
2007 Meeting Dates
So it looks like we have to be Clairvoyant to be able to provide any input to their "shell game" meetings

[DIRTYFOOT2]

What the hell. I'm tired of scribbling letters to these clowns and getting BS responses. Need to figure out how to put a stop to these closures. At first when they closed part of the Tortugas I thought, after studying the map, its no big deal we don't fish those areas much anyway ( too much cover ). But this slippery slope is turning into a triple diamond downhill aspen run . We need the assistance of somebody with some litigation skillz. Got any ideas?