I normally don't feel sorrow for anything we hook while offshore but yesterday was an exception. Of all the offshore trips I've been on I've never witnessed a sea turtle hooked. Not just any sea turtle but a leather back. My son was bottom fishing and the thing ate a strip of Bonita. We managed to break the line at the swivel and the lead fell off. It will be ok but I didn't like hooking an endangered species. The turtle was several hundred pounds and was a cool looking creature with the ridges on it's back and white spots all over it. We had a good day though catching 18-20" mingos. We also had a guy tangle with a big bull shark also. Trigger fish are EVERYWHERE. You can't drop a line without getting hit by them.

I hooked a regular old box turtle in the back foot while fishing in a swamp one time. One of the toughest fights I ever had freshwater fishing. Thought I had a lively tree stump for awhile.

Glad it worked out for the sea turtle. They are cool creatures.

No pictures???

I caught 3 triggers over 8lbs a few weeks back. One was showing 13 on the boga, which would be pushing the state record. Back they all had to go!!

thinking the same thing. That would have been cool to see one up close.

Dr. B

Good reason to never use stainless hooks.

We snagged a sea turtle not sure what species while trolling out of Ponce Inlet near the steeples. Put up a hell of a fight. We just cut the line but the turtle wasn't mouth hooked so I'm sure he was fine.

I took some pics but he would only surface 100 yards out. We had him near the boat several times but he was 10 feet down.

I checked a spot yesterday that I had named grouper ledge. When we rolled across it I knew it was covered with triggers. My son caught one on a jig and hooked it directly in the butt hole. It was hilarious.

we went out a few weeks ago and had the same experience. it was kinda tough getting to the bottom with bait on the hook

My brother somehow managed to hook a small one with a Sabiki rig off the skyway pier in Tampa a couple months ago. Some kind of sea turtle not real sure what flavor but we pulled it up on the pier and cut a bunch of line and cast net mesh and all kind of stuff off his foot. If i knew how to post pictures anymore I'd send the wad of junk. His foot was already purple but maybe he made it. We called the fwc and the said cut the line they didn't have time to fool with it. This was 10 mins after they checked us making sure we weren't cast netting crabs? I was pissed. Blue crabs I guess mean more than an endangered species.

same here, my kids can't get a bait to the snapper without the triggers either getting hooked or causing tangles or stealing bait. Even with whole pogies and bonito strips.

Just ask National Marine Fisheries and they will tell you ,"There are no trigger fish left in the gulf. They are tremendously overfished. There is a major shortage hence the lastest Federal closing of trigger fish season." I'm convinced they absolutely know less than nothing about what is going on with our Gulf fisheries.

So it's that kind of party?

Hey I appreciate the invite guys. I know who NOT to invite to my dove shoot!

I can take you to catch all the trigger you want, you just have to claim them if we get caught