Bassin'

I received an email from my wife the other day that she had forwarded on from one of our friends:

"J wanted me to ask you all about fishing. G and I did not grow up fishing and have no idea what to do. J has been a couple times with some of his friends and their families. He then bought a fishing rod at Sports Authority with a gift certificate he had and he walks down to our ponds in and fishes (never catches anything of course). He would like to do more, but we do not even know how to help him......so I was wondering if sometime Brian could take J out and show them the ropes? Does he need a license?"

Would I like to take a kid fishing?

Hmm...

Let me think...

Hell yeah!

I met up with J last Thursday, and we went out to one of the several ponds in his gated community. The fish were there--I could see bluegill right at the shore, and little rings throughout the pond that proved that fish were feeding.

He wanted to try artificials, so we tied on Yo-zuri's and commenced casting. After about 15 mintues, I was ready to switch over to live bait, but he was having so much fun casting, I let him go a bit longer.

Eventually, he got bored and I switched the lures out for size 10 long-shank hooks, a light weight and a bobber. The bait of choice was earthworms, dutifully dug from my very own garden.

Side note: You can't go a mile without finding a bait shop in St. Petersburg, but don't count on finding worms there. You can find pinfish, shrimp, squid and every other type of frozen or fresh bait for SALTwater fishing, but not a cricket or meal worm or any other type of FRESHwater bait. I seriously can't think of a single place that sells worms around here.

On J's first cast, my fishing buddy put his bait right in the middle of a bunch of reeds. I told him that he had better hand over the pole so that I could extract the tackle without a hang-up, and he dutifully obliged. Right at that moment, his bobber went under and a I lifted out a 7 or 8 inch bass.

"Did I catch it?! Does that count?" he asked.
"Hell yes, it does!"

He wouldn't touch the fish, nor would he hold the line for a snapshot, so I lipped the bass and shot it with him in the background:

You can see how happy he was. I was pretty happy too.

He caught a couple more fish--both bluegill--before we ran out of worms and had to head back.

My total: 0.

I've had fun in the past helping Reilly catch fish, and it was cool today to help this young guy catch his first bass and bluegill. He's already called asking when I can take him again. If I can just find a worm supplier, he'll be able to go whenever he wants.

Worms, where are you?

Skyway bust

Made it out to the Sunshine Skyway last Saturday for one last shot at a pier grouper with my brother before he moves to Virginia. He had his friend Josh come along for the ride.

We hit the pier around 6:00pm. The tide had just changed over from high and was beginning to flow out, so we had to fish the reef side. Ordinarily, I would be excited about fishing the reef side, but we've had more luck fishing the bridge side lately. Regardless, we deployed four grouper rods with pinfish that Reilly had caught for us in Coffee Pot--two live, two cut.

While we waited for a big bite, we used our light tackle poles to fish for more bait. Steve wasted no time in bringing up a couple of big grunts, and I used the sabiki baited with shrimp to pull up a half-dozen pinfish. Josh couldn't catch a cold. As Steve said, it is hard to fish the pier in a full current with twenty yards of line out. By the time you feel the bite, your bait is gone. It takes either a practiced fisherman or a lucky fisherman to catch fish off the pier under those conditions.

After awhile, Steve and Josh walked off to the bait shop and left me to tend the poles. When they got back, they said there was a several hundred pound Goliath grouper that had been caught off the end of the pier. Steve said it was bigger than him. I was troubled to hear that the guy who had caught it was keeping it hooked up and letting it wallow on the surface. Not only is that illegal, it's a good way to kill a fish that you couldn't eat anyway. By keeping it tied up to the pier, he was just being a show off. I don't like show offs.

The grouper poles were silent for a couple of hours, and things were looking bleak until Josh started using the sabiki to pull up scaled sardines. He was psyched to finally be catching fish, and I was psyched to get some good bait. I pulled all the grouper rods in and started re-baiting with the scaled sardines. The rods started going off right away. Steve had a good fight on and pulled in a ... catfish. Bah.

A bit later he had another nice fish on, which turned out to be a big bluefish. I had 30 pound test on that grouper rod, but the bluefish bit right through it right when Steve got it to the surface. All the other rods had wire leader on, so it was just bad luck for Steve. He was disappointed and I was disappointed, but what can you do? That's fishing.

After about an hour of good bites but no more catches, the crabs started getting to the bait, which meant the tide was going slack. Soon the lines were still, so we packed up and headed home around 11:00pm. Not a bad night on the pier, but a tough night for Steve, who was really hoping for a grouper on his last chance outing at the pier.

Catching up on catching

I haven't reported on my fishing excursions lately because I haven't been fishing lately. With the weather in Florida alternating between searingly hot and extraordinarily rainy, it has been difficult to get on the water.

With that said, I have had a few good trips since my last post in May, so let's get on with the show:

Skyway Pier North, Part I

I made it out to the pier one night with my dad, step-mom and half-sister. The tide was slack when we arrived, which made for great baitfishing. We were reeling up pinfish and grunts on nearly every cast. Over time, the tide picked up significantly and we had to switch to the other side of the pier to keep our bait from being pulled under the bridge.

We had out four grouper reels on my dad's hand-crafted pvc rod holders, and each one of us was fishing for bait and whatever else might come along with light-tackle gear. The grouper reels had a variety of dead, live, and wounded live pinfish as bait. For the light tackle, we were using frozen shrimp.

I think it was sometime near 10pm when our first grouper rod went off, and by went off, I mean it screamed. I ran to grab the rod, but before I could even tighten the drag, the line went limp. When I finally got all the line back on the spool and inspected the break, I could see that the monofilament line was cleanly cut. I'm going to predict a shark on that one.

About twenty minutes later, another grouper rod went off, this time pulling drag a bit more slowly. I was able to grab the pole and feel the weight of a big fish on the line, but the fish was too strong and broke the line off by brushing up against a piling. I am going to predict a grouper or tarpon on that one.

The last grouper rod went off close to midnight, and I had control of this log of a fish for a good thirty seconds before the hook slipped and the bait came up to the surface, still alive. This one felt like a grouper all the way, and of the three fish, it was the only one that disappointed me, in that I actually had a shot to land it.

We packed up a short time later and headed home, still without catching the elusive Skyway grouper.

Father's day fishing trip

On Father's Day this year, I went out with my father-in-law Craig and my brother-in-law Danny for what was supposed to be a half-day of slaying spanish mackerel. Unfortunately, the nearshore water conditions were terrible, and though we faithfully deployed several spoons, we gave up after a few passes. I was about to chum the water with my breakfast.

We turned back inshore, castnetted some bait, and tried our hand at fishing the grass flats. I was able to pick up a 13" seatrout and lizard fish on our first pass fishing a Yozuri with a black top and silver sides. As we motored over to get in position to drift the flat again, I changed over to a 1/4 red jig head and rootbeer shrimp tail, and promptly caught what I had hoped would be a redfish, but turned out to be sail cat. Bah.

On the next drift I put out a live pinfish hooked through the nose on my grouper rod and then worked my jig over the grass beds. It wasn't long before I picked up another 13" sea trout on the jig, and Danny followed-up with a nice trout of about the same size on a DOA shrimp. We drifted past two islands, and then the bite slowed down as the water got deeper and we approached the channel.

Just as we came over the ledge of the channel, the grouper rod with the live pinfish bent over and I ran to grab it. I started reeling right away and was pumped to feel some weight on the other end. A few reels later I pulled up my first grouper of my fishing career. It was only a 15" gag grouper, but I was psyched! It's not every day you can find a grouper inshore in the summer!

Skyway Pier North, Part II

Last Friday, my brother Steve and I drove out to the Skyway for another shot at landing a Skyway grouper.

The tide was flowing in, or toward the Skyway, so we fished the same side I had fished in Skyway Pier North, Part I. Normally I pick up my bait and other gear at a tackle shop off the east side of the Gandy Bridge, but I hadn't made it over in time for our trip, so we had to walk down to the shop on the Skyway. The shop is great--everything you need for pier fishing and nothing you don't--but it is double the price you'll pay on the mainland. Nevertheless, I picked up some frozen shrimp, a few weights and on a whim, a sabiki kit.

Back out our fishing spot, we set up my grouper rod in a pvc holder and each of us fished a light tackle outfit. Steve caught a grunt on his first cast, and we put him on the grouper pole live. Steve caught another grunt on his second cast, so I tossed him in a bait bucked it and dropped it down to the water.

The first hit we got on the grouper rod was a monster, and Steve grabbed the pole and set the hook. The reel on my grouper pole has two drag settings, and unfortunately, I hadn't instructed Steve on how to flick it off. I ran over and was able to turn it off as he was reeling, but the delay gave the fish just enough leeway to shake the hook. As the line went slack, we looked down and saw a keeper-size red grouper self-release at the surface and then lazily swim out of sight.

That one was a heart breaker.

I pulled up the baitbucket, put a piece of cut pinfish on the hook, and tossed it back over to wait for the next bite. Steve sat down for a minute, still in a bit of shock. It was then that I saw my baitbucket drifting away from the pier. I had forgot to tie it to the bridge.

I cast out a laser on my light tackle pole and it arched perfectly over the line of the bucket. However, when I reeled to hook up the line, I missed, and the bucket drifted out to sea. This would be a problem, as a short time later, we lost out bait on the grouper pole to a nice bite, and found ourselves out of live bait.

For the next 45 minutes, we couldn't catch a grunt or pinfish to save our lives. In a moment of desperation, I put the sabiki kit on my rod, baited the tiny hooks with equally tiny pieces of shrimp, and then cast out. BAM! A pinfish. Next cast: BAM! two pinfish. We rebaited the grouper rod and put a piece of cut bait on Steve's lightweight rod too.

Soon after, I sabiki-ed up a scaled sardine, and we put that on my grouper rod. Moments later we had a nice fish on the line, which turned out to be the largest sculpin I've ever seen. It must have been 12-13". It was too bad to waste a sardine on a sculpin, but it felt great to catch something other than a grunt or pinfish.

We had small hits on the live bait rods all night, but couldn't connect with another grouper. We gave up at 1:00am, promising to try again this week. (We're going on Saturday. Stay tuned.)

I've got two more fishing stories for you, both freshwater:

Michigan lake fishing

My family went to visit an old college friend and his family at their house on a small lake in Michigan. I brought along a Yozuri Pin's Minnow in the larger size, thinking I'd have a shot at making a few casts. Unfortunately, a few casts was all I got, as the weather was very poor for boating, but we did get out once. First, we had to make sure our girls got into the action:

After they caught a couple of bluegill, they got bored and we gave them some candy so that we could get a few casts in. I tossed out the Pin's Minnow and worked it exactly like I do the saltwater Yozuri's, and caught a nice bluegill on my first cast. I followed that up a few casts later with a big crappie, the first I've ever caught.

The weather turned at that point and we went back in, but I made a couple casts off the dock and caught a little 9" bass off the same lure. Notably, that was the first bass I've ever caught off an artificial hardbait. That Pin's Minnow earned its keep in catching three species in a little under an hour, and the Yozuri brand proves itself once again!

Crescent Lake

When we lived in New York, we never ate in our own neighborhood. When friends visited, they would ask how we liked the restaurants on our street, and they were always puzzled when we said that we hadn't tried them. With so many restaurants just a short walk away, why eat at the one right off one's doorstep?

The same is true for where I live now in Florida. There is a lake right down the street where I see a healthy population of tilapia, blue gill, and lately, bass. We've lived by this lake for two plus years, and I've never fished it. Motivated by my recent success freshwater fishing in Michigan, I took my rod and reel out of the garage, tied on a Pin's Minnow and walked down to the lake. I started casting from the bank.

I didn't get any bites right away, but on about my 2oth cast I ran the minnow underneath the shade of an oak tree and watched as a bass absolutely clobbered it. To my surprise, my drag sang off my pole, and I hurried to tighten it down before the bass shook the lure. A few exciting moments later, my rod bent double as I hoisted my bass from the water--a fat, 14" prize of a bass--the biggest I've ever caught by far.

I unhooked the fish, took a good look at it and cursed myself for not bringing my camera, then tossed it back in the lake.

Next, I called my dad and told him the good news.

Back to the Skyway

I cut out of work early on Friday and after running a quick errand with Shawn and pressure washing my deck, I met up with my brother and we headed out to the Skyway for a couple hours of fishing.

Steve caught a pinfish right off the bat, and I hooked him through the dorsal fin and put him out on the grouper rod. Even with 3oz of weight, it was hard to keep the bait in place. The tide was outgoing and was pushing pretty hard on account of the full moon.

The tide also made it difficult to fish for bait with our lighter poles, but we managed to catch more than we needed and to occupy our time while we waited for the grouper rod to go off.

A guy down the way pulled in two gag grouper in 10 minutes, so we knew they were out there, but after an hour of our live bait swimming around happily, I reeled him and in and cut him up in to 1 inch by 1 inch cubes. The cubes went on our lighter poles, and I cut a nice steak out of the middle and laced it back on the hook to the grouper pole. We sent all the lines back in and waited.

About ten minutes later, my light tackle pole went off, and I pulled up and set the hook hard. My drag started screaming off the reel, and in the excitement of the moment, I actually loosened the drag when I meant to tighten it. By the time I corrected this rookie mistake, the line had gone limp.

I reeled it in to find that the 30lb test monofilament leader had been cleanly bitten off. Might have been a shark or a mackerel, but either way, I'll never know.

I caught a consolation mangrove snapper a while later, but he was undersized.

It's tough to miss out on the big fish I waited all day for, but hey, it was a great day of fishing with my little brother. Beats the crap out of sitting in the office!

My way or the Skyway

Headed out to the Skyway North fishing pier on Friday night with my brother and a few of his friends.

The tide was incoming for the first hour or so, then went briefly slack before becoming a strong outgoing tide. It was gorgeous out, with a quarter moon.

Our set up consisted of four heavy poles with 2oz weights and 3/0 hooks placed in PVC rod holders and lashed to the pier railing. My dad had made these after seeing a similar set up used by another pier fisherman. Each one of us also held a light rod and reel combo, which brought our total lines in the water to eight.

Our bait was frozen and live shrimp on the light rods, and cut bait on the big rods.

It didn't take us long to start pulling in some nice sized grunts on our light rods. I put a smallish one on one of the big rods, hooked through the back. The next one I cut up into small chunks and put on the three other big rods.

We must have caught over two dozen grunts of various sizes that night, as well as a couple of pinfish. It wasn't the grouper or snapper that we were hoping for, but those little grunts put up a great fight. We did have two significant breakoffs and a big hit on one of the big poles, but without a hookup.

In addition to all the grunts, I also caught a silver trout and a 20" ladyfish that was the largest fish of the night and put up a pretty good fight. My brother also picked up a sculpin on one of the big rods.

There was a lot of baitfish in the water and a few crabs drifted by as well. A cast net might have netted us some better bait, and I'll have to consider bringing one out the next time we hit the pier. I saw a big kingfish working the bait at one point, and just wished that one of our big rods would go off, but it wasn't to be.

We got there at 8:00pm and left at 2:00am, and we might have stayed out all night if responsibilities hadn't sent us packing. Good fishing and good catching--the only thing I forgot was a cigar!

The joy of catching

Looking for the Spanish

Saturday morning I drove over to Dunkin' Donuts, picked up a dozen assorted and three coffees, then drove over to the Bay Pines boat ramp. There I met up with my father-in-law, Craig, and my brother-in-law, Danny. We quickly loaded my gear into the boat, launched it off the trailer, and puttered out into the channel.

We had only gone about 50 yards when I realized I had forgotten the "fish bag," an insulated bag to keep your catch in. We turned around to get it, and I joked that since we were going back for the bag, that would surely mean that we wouldn't catch anything.

We took the channel out to John's Pass, and I was optimistic to see baitfish boiling on the calm water on the way. However, once we got out into the Gulf, the waves picked up a bit. Nothing too bad, just a half-foot of chop, but it was enough to make spotting baitfish impossible. Instead we looked for birds diving for bait, and right away saw some about a quarter mile out.

When we reached the spot, we deployed a few spoons and started trolling at about 5.4 mph. We were in 20 ft of water. As we were trolling around, I saw a huge kingfish launch out of the air nearby. It was as big as a dolphin!

I think it was my rod with a Clark spoon on that got the first hook-up. It was a Spanish Mackerel in the 18" range, and we unhooked him, tossed him in the fish bag, and re-deployed the spoons. A short time later, we had a double hook-up, with Craig reeling in a Spanish Mackerel and Danny reeling in a Pompano. The Pompano fought harder than the Mackerel. They both went into the cold bag and we put the lines back out.

The bite went cold in the area we were fishing, so we switched back over to the other side of the channel. The wind died down for a few minutes, and Craig spotted a dark spot in the water off to the west. We took a slow loop over to what turned out to be a mess of baitfish and picked up another nice Spanish Mack.

The bite got ice cold after that, so we tried some deeper water in the 24-25 foot range. No bites there. We cracked open a few drinks and had a donut to pass the time, which was right when my pole went off again. This time it was another Pompano.

We got back into 20 feet of water and pulled in a few more Macks before calling it a day. All told, we caught eight Macks and two Pompano in the Gulf, and picked up another two inside the pass casting spoons and a Gotcha.

We kept six of the Macks and both Pompano, and back at the marina I took the two small Macks and the two Pompano while Craig and Danny kept the four big Macks. We set free four of the Macks for next time.

I cleaned them up when I got home with a PBR on my left and an ice bath on my right.

I marinated the fillets overnight in terriaki and orange juice, then this afternoon I breaded them with panko and fried them up. Tasty.

Back to the basin

After a productive day of fishing yesterday with Reilly, I decided to head back to the Vinoy basin for some solo fishing.

I didn't have any trouble catching bait with Reilly's little rod baited with a small piece of frozen shrimp. After I had caught a couple of small pinfish, I hooked one through the mouth on a big circle hook with a one ounce weight and tossed it out right underneath the marina dock. The placement was perfect.

I baited my other rod with a full piece of frozen shrimp, cast it out midway between the marina docks and the seawall, set them up on my lawn chair, and waited.

I amused myself in the meantime by catching and releasing a variety of baitfish, including this sculpin. Ugly bastard.

At one point, the pinfish that I had cast under the dock got agitated and started swimming frantically around, so I picked up my rod in anticipation of some fish capturing the bait, but then the line went quiet again and I set it back down.

The rod with the shrimp on didn't get a nibble.

I packed up after about an hour and a half and headed back home. Using live pinfish is a high risk/reward style of fishing, so it didn't pan out this time. I'll be back next weekend and try it again.

Father and Daughter fishing trip, Part II

I woke up at 7:00am and quietly snuck out to get dressed for a morning on the seawall. My daughter woke up and came out and asked me why I was getting dressed, and I told her that I was going fishing.

Naturally, she wanted to come, but I told her that daddy was going by himself. Oh, man the tears came hot and fast and she said, "But daddy, I'll bring my own fishing pole!"

I felt pretty guilty, but left without her. As penance, I didn't catch anything all morning, and to add insult to injury, I lost one of my big Yo-zuri's. (I did get one nice look at a snook, but he didn't take the lure.)

After feeling guilty all day, I asked Reilly this evening if she wanted to go fishing with me. She said yes and was really excited. On the drive over, I asked her if she thought we were going to catch any fish. "Yes," she said, "lots, daddy!"

I chose a spot on the western seawall over in the Vinoy Basin. I had about a dozen frozen shrimp along, and I set up her rod with a small split shot and a tiny hook I use for tying trout flies. After slipping on a little piece of shrimp, I cast out her rod. A few seconds later, she reeled up a small fish. I haven't the slightest idea what kind of fish it was. It looked like a cross between a sculpin and a scorpion fish. Choosing caution, I used my pliers to set it free, and tossed it back in. Reilly was excitedly running all around me the whole time.

On the next cast, she reeled up a little tiny puffer fish. More squeals of excitement.

The bite slowed down a bit after that, and I took a moment to bait up my rod with a full shrimp and cast it about twenty yards out. Reilly took quite an interest in my rod, and wanted to reel it in every time I cast it out. After awhile, I set it up on my tackle box next to her rod so that I could explain to her how to watch for a bite. At that moment, her rod bent double and she reeled up a pinfish as big as my hand. In fact, it was so big that Reilly's little reel couldn't even turn, so I had to hoist it out of the water by hand. A small crowd had gathered, so we dutifully showed off the fish, Reilly gave it a pat, and we tossed it back in.

As I went to re-bait her hook, Reilly excitedly told me I had a bite. I turned around to look at the rod, saw nothing, and told her that there was no bite. I continued to bait her hook, and she insisted there was a fish on the line, so I called over my shoulder to go ahead and reel it in.

When I looked back, she had my seven foot rod in the air, the rod tip bent, and was reeling in a fish. I watched her fight it until she totally ran out of gas, and I took over to find a 15 inch stingray on the line. Reilly was running around me yelling, "A stingray! Look everyone, a stingray!" I had her stand back a safe distance, flipped the stingray on its back to get the hook out, then grabbed the stringray by the tail with my pliers and tossed it back in.

Reilly would follow up this catch with another big pinfish, and by then, it was dark and it was time to head home and wash off the shrimp.

I can't tell you how fun it was to fish with her today. She even helped me pull off the heads and tails of the shrimp to bait her hook. The kid is a natural. Next time I just have to remember to bring my camera!

Like finding a needle in a haystack

Got out to the Hills for what is probably the last time before the summer heat hits, barring any noticeable activity in them there waters.

I continued to try my new straight retrieve with a Yo-zuri, slowly modifying in twitches over time. I had two follow-ups by what might have been ladyfish, but no bites. Both of the follow-ups were off the dock in deep water.

On a shallow cast, I did end up getting a vicious hit and hook-up with what ended up being a needlefish. It was a lot like playing a lizardfish, whith the needlefish slicing back and forth erratically in the water. Not wanting to bring the fish in, I played it until it self-released.

I didn't know needlefish hit lures. The Hills continues to surprise.

By the way, I'm labeling this post with "catching" since I did catch the little sucker. Frankly, I'd count a tail-hooked mullet these days.

Quick shot at the Secret Spot

I ran by the Secret Spot for a few casts this afternoon. I wouldn't normally choose the Secret Spot these days, but it right along my drive to pick up my daughter, so I figured, what the hell.

I fished the space between each dock for two casts, working back the lure in my soon to be patented pop, pop, reel, pop. Nothing doing.

As I was fishing today, I was thinking of two things, both related.

1) On my favorite fishing blog, the author, Brian, catches tons of fish by simply trolling a Yo-zuri Crystal minnow off the back of his kayak.

2) My friend Steve, a master angler in his own right, and the one who recommended Yo-zuri's to me in the first place, said that he likes Yo-zuri's because you can simply retrieve them and catch fish.

Last weekend, we took a little vacation to Flagler Beach, and while there, I had the opportunity to try out some kayak fishing. I don't want to get into the skunking I took on that trip, but it was a good learning opportunity. It also got this bug in my mind about changing my retrieve from the pop, pop, reel, pop to a more straight retrieve.

With about five minutes left to spare, I cast out between two docks and reeled in the Yo-zuri on a slow, steady retrieve, right along the dock pilings. About ten feet from me, a big fish appeared out of nowhere and nailed my bait. As fast as it hit the bait, it pulled free, but in that second, it totally changed my perception of fishing a Crystal Minnow.

I tried several other straight retrieves at different speeds, but found a moderately slow retrieve created the most wobble, and, as it turns out, the most interest. On one of my last casts, three small mangrove snapper surfaced to attack my lure all at the same time. Again, no hook up, but after not catching anything for so many weeks, a couple solid hits can really make a guy's day.

Persistence on a four star day

It was a four star day on the solunar tables on Wednesday, so I took every opportunity I had to fish. I hit the docks on the Hills first. It was a beautiful fishing day, low 70's, very light breeze out of the north, and not a cloud in the sky. It would turn out to not be much of a catching day, but hey--the fishing was great.

I worked the whole seawall and both docks without a bite:




Later that afternoon, I drove over to my mom-in-law's to pick up my daughter. On the way, I tried casting the Gotcha under the Madiera Beach bridge to no avail. The water was very chalky today, which considerably lowers the effectiveness of artificial lures, as those lures depend on sunlight and clear water to be seen by the fish.

When I was under the bridge, a young teenager who was castnetting nearby let out a whoop. He had castnetted a huge sheepshead. His dad ran to the truck, got out the cooler, and came down and threw that keeper sheepie in. He gave his son a congratulatory slap on the back and you could see that kid's smile a mile away. It was a touching father and son moment and I was glad I got to witness it.

On my way back to the car, I saw a fishy spot over near a restaurant:

It was clearly marked no trespassing, so I lined myself up near a structure that would hide my illegal activities:

The sun was directly in my eyes, so on my first cast, I played it careful and tossed the lure out. The cast came up short of the dock, but diligently worked the Yo-zuri back to the seawall. I put a little muscle into my second cast, and dropped the Yo-zuri right under the dock. I let it sit for a three count, then worked it back with my classic, pop, pop, reel, pop. When the lure was less than ten feet away, a snook quickly rose to the surface and yanked the Yo-zuri under.

I was so surprised that I just yanked up on the rod. The snook came to the surface and angrily thrashed it's head about a half dozen times before breaking off my line. The bad news is obvious. The good news is that a few seconds later, my Yo-zuri floated back to the surface.

I tied it back on and casted it out, and was surprised when it got whacked close to shore by a feisty ladyfish. The ladyfish also self-released, and I decided to pack it up.

It was a great day of fishing, and though I am broken-hearted after losing yet another snook, I was glad that I persisted on a tough catching day.

On my way back to my car, I saw a father and daughter team fishing with live shrimp further down the seawall. I told them about my snook and ladyfish adventure, and the father just sort of nodded nonchalantly. However, when I was pulling away, I saw them down by the dock, eagerly casting away.

I hope they caught a big one.

Cold is the secret

There was a big cold front pushing in yesterday, and I thought that the low pressure might get the fish in a feeding mode, so I stopped by the Secret Spot for a dozen or so casts.

I had a Yo-zuri crystal minnow on, green back/gold sides. The wind was blowing at least 20 knots, so I only casted with the wind. The advantage was that my casts were traveling twice as far as usual. The disadvantage was that my casting options were effectively cut in half.

I retrieved my third cast right alongside the dock, bringing the lure past several pilings. About halfway back, I switched my retrieve up and immediately got a strong hit. The fish flashed under the water and just as it started to peel drag, the line went limp and my Yo-zuri floated back to the surface. My best guess from the flash is I had a 15" jack on the line.

Just as I was giving up, I noticed that there was a huge pod of glass minnows holding along the seawall. I positioned myself upwind from them and whipped a cast past the pod, then started my retrieve. To my surprise, I immediately got a big hit and the reel started to scream off drag. The fish stayed low and I dug the butt of my pole into my gut and hung on. Then, the line went limp.

@#$!

Later that night, I was watching the Average Angler on Catch 47 and Glen Pla was fishing for bass. He was doing the whole Bassmaster exaggerated hook-set, and I was surprised, since I always saw this as showboating. But later in the show, he said to the guide on the boat, "For those people at home, explain why I'm setting the hook so hard on these bass." The guide went on to describe how the mouths of bass are like fiberglass, and if you don't set the hook hard, you'll lose the fish after the first five seconds.

Hmm.

This reminded me of a time before this blog when I was fishing Coffee Pot Bayou. I hooked a big snook, it jumped and tossed my lure straight away. I cast back out, hooked him again, and to be sure I wouldn't get jumped again, I double-set the hook. I landed what ended up being the biggest snook of my fishing career.

When I hook a fish now, I simply raise the rod to increase the tension in the line and that, coupled with the momentum of the fish, sets the hook. This is a practice I've developed from fly fishing for mountain trout. If you set the hook too hard or fast on these fish, you'll either pull the fly from their mouths, or rip the hook right out of their very soft jaw.

Snook are not mountain trout. Snook eat fish bigger than mountain trout. Maybe it is time to start driving home the hook.

Meh.

Time to face a few facts:

A) The fish are behaving entirely different now that the weather has changed for the warmer.

B) That means that all the fishing places and the tactics that slayed the fish in those places are now moot.

C) Furthermore, that means that the catching will go down while the fishing stays the same, at least until I figure out how to fish the warm weather.

Yesterday, I tried to match the small baitfish by fishing with a Gotcha. I managed to jump an extremely agressive ladyfish, but other than that, the bite was nonexistent.

This morning, I fished the Gotcha again at the same places in CPB, but couldn't entice a bite. The thing was, it was a gorgeous morning, the water was flat, the weather was cool...life was good, and so was the fishing.

Below is an example of the fish I've been catching lately:

Minnow crashing

Tried the Hills for about twenty casts yesterday, but it is just getting too hot to be fishing in a shirt and tie.

Spent the evening over at the Mayhew's house, and afterthe girls were fed and Dora was on, Kelly and I snuck out for a little fishing at CPB.

The fish were behaving the same as the day before, crashing schools of minnows on the surface of the still water. Since the water was still deep from the high tide, the fishing was easy.

Kelly and I both tied on Yo-zuri Crystal Minnows in the 1/4oz size and started casting. It wasn't long before Kelly hooked up with a feisty ladyfish, which he got within leader length before it self-released.

I managed a good hit in the same spot, but wasn't able to set the hook.

About a half-hour in, Kelly and I were approached by a woman who was "looking for Treasure Island." I'm pretty sure she was looking a paying customer. She bugged Kelly and me for several minutes, and by the time we got back to casting, twilight had turned into darkness, and it was time to pack up the gear.

I did try a topwater plug for a few casts, but it didn't garner any interest.

I'm going to label this one "catching" and "skunked" since both happened, and though I wasn't the one who caught the fish, I will give myself partial "guide credit" for scouting the location.

Back on the board

I met Shawn for a coffee over at Kahwa this afternoon. After downing our macchiatos, Shawn left to pick up Reilly, and I sped off for a bit of fishing.

I tried the Secret Spot first. I was feeling skeptical about catching anything, as the last few times out on the docks haven't produced any bites at all. I was fishing with a 3/8oz blue back/silver sides Yo-zuri, and the tide was very high and moving.

About 15-20 casts later, and without a single bite, I decided to move on. There is no use in casting if the fish aren't there. Since the tide was so high, I knew it would be a perfect chance to fish the shallow water of Coffee Pot Bayou.

I drove over, parked at the mangrove clump near 23rd Avenue North, and got to work. There were tons of glass minnows in the water, and I could see fish aggressively hitting the water where they were grouped together. I thought about tying on a topwater plug, but wanting to make the most out of what time I had remaining, I left the Yo-zuri on.

The spot where I finally settled is where the manatees normally gather. I guess the warm weather has pushed them out to a different location, because they weren't present today. Their absence presented a great opportunity. They normally hang out right at a outflow where the freshwater from Crescent Lake runs into the saltwater bayou. This creates a spot where there is a nice current bringing in a consistent flow of nutrients to the water.

My first cast was dead on, and as I worked the Yo-zuri back, I noted my line was moving toward my left instead of directly back at me. It took me a moment longer than it should have to realize that I had hooked a fish that was swimming toward me, but when I did I pulled up on the rod and a 20 inch plus ladyfish launched itself into the air.

The lady pulled a bit of drag, but I landed her in good time and tossed her back into the water. I checked my knot and then cast out again toward a pod of glass minnows. Nothing there, but then I heard another fish crashing some minnows over to the dock at the right, and cast over there. Then I saw some minnows being crashed to my left. Then my right. Then my left.

This went on for some time, and though I didn't land any more fish, I did have two more strikes. I think if I downsize to a smaller hardbait, I'll have a much higher probability of matching the glass minnows and therefore will increase my strikes. I'm also thinking a small spoon could do the trick.

It was a relief to find a spot where the fish were actually feeding, and to finally get the skunk off my gear. Can't wait to get back over to the bayou.

SKUNKED

I fished just about everywhere I could today, including the secret spot twice: once at 5:30pm and then again with my buddy Kelly at 8:30pm.

I fished mostly with a Yo-zuri, and a bit with a Gotcha.

I don't know if this is how it will be over the warmer months, if the cold weather that was pushing in the fish will have the opposite effect as the cold turns to warm and then to hot.

I mean, not a bite. Not a nibble, not a missed hit, not a fish seen or heard over two and a half total hours of fishing. It was barren. It was frustrating.

Fishing, east coast style

The last two days I was on a business trip in the Palm Beach area of Florida. Knowing I would be around a lot of water, I left my two-piece rod and reel in the car in case a fishing opportunity should arise.

That moment came on Tuesday when I was in-between appointments and had an hour to kill. I was in Juno Beach proper, and decided to take the highway out toward the beach. Along the way, I came across a mangrove lagoon in John D. MacArthur Beach State Park:


The water was about 3 feet deep all the way across, and I could see fish hitting the water all over the place.

I parked my car, pulled out my gear, and walked over to the lagoon. On my first cast, I watched a large trout swim up to my Yo-zuri, take a sniff, then turn away. My heart almost stopped.

Several casts later, I hooked up with a trout, but like always, just as it got close, it came to the surface and threw the hook. I don't know what it is about me and trout, but I can't land a trout to save my life!

I did get one more hard hit from a trout, but couldn't make the connection.

I was a little disappointed at not being able to land the trout, which would have been my first east coast catch in Florida, but getting an hour of fishing in a foreign land was still nothing to complain about.

Wind + Cold = skunked

I started my morning at Demen's Landing. I decided to fish the spot where I had the big hook-up a few weeks back, security guard be dammed.

Overnight, the wind had picked up and had blown in some cold air. The result was some pretty aggravating fishing conditions. Even in the marina, the water was pretty choppy. After about two dozen casts, I gave up and started walking back to my car. I saw the security guard making his rounds, but I was out of his range before he came by.

Since the conditions were poor, I decided to do some scouting. I found two spots that I think will be good producers for me. I fished each one for a bit, but nothing was biting. The closest I got was when a big jack followed up my Gulp white mullet on a 1/8oz chartreuse jig head. He turned away at the last second.

Next stop was the Vinoy, a place where I can always count on a bite. Today: no bites. Not one. Not even a nibble from a pinfish!

I halfheartedly tried Coffee Pot Bayou over by the bridge to Snell Isle, but nothing was biting there, either.

It is still hard to believe that I fished a whole Saturday morning and not only didn't get a fish, didn't get a single bite. Bah.

Catching some rays

Fished the Hillsborough river at lunch today. The river was teeming with fish--mullet were everywhere.

I also saw a few BIG jacks swimming around, so I was hopeful that I might hook up with one if I was persistent enough.

I started down by the docks and didn't get any action, so I started working my way down the seawall towards Kennedy Boulevard. About halfway down the seawall there is a submerged oyster bar. I usually don't fish near it because there is only 6-8 inches of water to work with, so it is snag hell.

I fished it today because the jacks I mentioned before were circling the oyster bar. There is also a tree on the seawall there, so I can cast in the shade for a bit. Still, despite the jacks and a hundred or so mullet, no bites.

The oyster bar:

About 50 yards from the bridge, I cast out and hooked up with a real rod bender, but unfortunately, the giant fish ended up being a cow nosed ray that I had foul hooked through a fin. I was pretty nervous about getting the hook out, as the ray was thrashing its tail and stinger around like mad. Thankfully, just as I began to hoist it out of the water, the hook slipped out and the ray fell harmlessly back to the water.

After that incident, I worked my way all the way down to the bridge, but even there, I couldn't entice any fish to take a bite out of my Yo-zuri.

The bridge over empy waters:

Back to work, but I was feeling better about the trip since there were actually some fish present.

The mystery Yo-zuri test

Had fifteen minutes to spare on the way home, so I stopped by the secret spot to try out the mystery Yo-zuri on the always available ladyfish.

It took about 10 casts, but I did hook up with a small ladyfish, so at least I know the lure works. That said, a true test would have involved me switching over to one of the trusty Yo-zuri colors and seeing if it out-performed the mystery Yo-zuri. Alas, I had no more time.

The Hills is alive

Took my lunch out by the river today. As I walked to my fishing spot, I saw a lot of activity in the water, included a school of needlefish and three schools of mullet. One of the schools of mullet had three or four sheepshead swimming with it, something I've never seen before.

Curious.

I fished my usual spots to no success, so decided to try a more remote spot by the bridge that I hadn't tried in awhile. As I walked over to the bridge, I scanned the water for signs of life and saw a BIG snook hanging behind a little bend in the mangroves.

I walked further downriver of it, quietly got within casting distance, and tossed out my Yo-zuri.

I held my breath as I retrieved the lure.

No bite.

Tossed it out again.

No bite.

Repeat.

I don't know if I spooked the snook on the cast, or if it was the Yo-zuri I was using today. It was the 1/4oz size, in a white/orange/yellow combo. The color was garish, and I was a little skeptical when I tied it on, thinking it might spur a reactionary or defensive strike from a fish, but it didn't appear to be matching any specific real world bait fish.

Now I'm left wondering how it might have gone if I had strapped on my big 3/8oz Yo-zuri that I caught that snook on the other day. Or, it could be that the lure was okay and the snook either wasn't there anymore or wasn't feeding.

I'll have to test out the new Yo-zuri at the secret spot. If it doesn't work there, it won't work anywhere.

Blue Light Special

After my success with the snook yesterday, I decided to try the Hills, fully knowing that I wasn't going to catch jack shit. And while I'd like to use that first line as a way of throwing the reader off a blog that will ultimately be about some giant fish I pulled out of the river, I can't. I really didn't catch jack shit today.

I did have two passersby stop to chat me up, one a fellow staff member named David, and the other a student named Danielle. David talked about how he always saw fish in the river on the other side of this bridge:



Danielle, who actually knew a thing or two about saltwater fishing, said that she didn't see any fish in the river today. Advantage: Danielle.

After work, I ran by the Secret Spot to toss a few casts. The water was teeming with glass minnows, so I was hopeful that I could turn this one star day on the solunar table into a fish fest, but it wasn't to be. I did catch this little ladyfish on my 3/8oz Yo-zuri (the same one that caught the snook yesterday).



I saw a lot of ladyfish and trout following the lure up to the dock, but none of them were biting. My reasoning on this one is that the big Yo-zuri I was using didn't match the small size of the glass minnows in the area.

I made a quick switch out at the end of my twenty minutes and fished a Gulp mullet, which promptly had its tail bitten off, rendering it useless. I switched over to a rootbeer DOA shrimp, which I cast right into the middle of the glass minnows. A ladyfish picked it up and ran, but when it jumped it tossed the DOA out. Still, it felt good to hook a fish on a non-scented plastic lure.

About that time my phone rang. It was my friend Kelly, who was at the local Kmart. He said that the store was closing and that the fishing isle was all 50% off.

I jumped in my car and drove over, and bought six Yo-zuri's (two 3/8oz and four 1/4oz) and some wire leaders (for Spanish mackerel fishing) for a grand total of $28.14 after tax.

Six Yo-zuri's alone would have cost me sixty bucks, so this was a hell of a deal for me. I spread the news to a couple of other fishermen I knew and drove home with a overflowing tackle box.

Luck of the Bri-rish

Today I decided to toss out the ol' fishin' plug on my lunch break.

As I walked down to the seawall, I could see seagulls feeding off bait fish about 200 yards away. Since the tide was flowing toward me, I figured it would only be a matter of time before the bait school (and the fish feeding on it) would reach me.

In the meantime, I casted out into my usual ladyfish spots without a bite. At some point I was so bored waiting for the bait fish that I just stopped fishing and watched the seagulls dive bombing the school.

After about 30 minutes, I realized that the bait fish were not coming toward me. In fact, they seemed to be going the other way. That reminded me of something my father-in-law once told me: bait fish always swim into the wind.

The wind was blowing into my face, which meant the bait fish were going the opposite way.

Bah.

I was about to pack up in disgust when I heard a fish hit the water behind me. I decided to investigate.

I walked along the seawall, looking into the water with my super-spy polarized glasses. I saw a few mullet, and then what I took to be a larger mullet, but which was in fact a snook. Right there. I jolted to a stop and the snook saw me and swam off.

I walked further down the seawall and waited about 3 minutes to see if the snook would come back. I couldn't see any wake in the water or any other obvious signs that he had returned, but decided to cast in anyway.

First cast, nothing.

Second cast, FISH ON!

With the first leap from the water, I saw that I had caught the snook. Three more leaps later, I had it up against the dock and hoisted it toward me. Right as I got it over the dock, the snook thrashed and broke off the line, fell to the planks at my feet, and then froze. I reached down, pinned the snook to the deck, and pulled out the Yo-zuri.

I'm afraid that I don't have any photos to show you, but the snook had an amber tinge to it, perhaps from inhabiting the Hillsborough river. I did have my tape measure along, and the snook came in at exactly 19 inches total length. Yes, I've caught bigger ladyfish, but it felt so great to land my first snook of the year. This catch was especially meaningful to me after losing two big fish in a row. I knew there was a reason I wore my green tie to work today.

I tossed it back, and shook my head. The Hills never ceases to perplex me. I guess this means I'll have to keep fishing it.

For the record, the Yo-zuri I caught the snook on today was the "Blue Tiger" which has a top of blue tiger stripes and silver sides. I was using the 3/8 oz size, which is one size larger than the one I normally use.

One more thing: for comparison's sake, the snook I caught today barely pulled any drag off my reel. That just gives you an idea of how big the fish was that I lost last Saturday, the one that peeled half the line off my reel before I could turn it around.

Yes, it still burns.

The macks are running!

I decided to go over to Demen's landing again this morning for two reasons:

1) Yesterday I only fished a small portion--albeit the best portion--of the landing. I thought it couldn't hurt to try the other 200 yards or so of fishable seawall.

2) The security guard approached me yesterday while I was wrapped up in trying to catch the biggest fish of my life. I wanted to scope out the area a bit more to see if he was doing regular rounds or how in general he patrolled the area, because there is no way in hell I'm not fishing that dock again!

There is a nice channel that runs from the bay to the docks that is deep and has a nice current. I saw a bunch of sheepshead working the area, so I figured there was probably other life around. I tied on a green top/gold sides Yo-zuri and got to work. I think it was about three casts in that I hooked up with a good fight. At first I thought it was a ladyfish, but absent any jumping, I started to think it might be a small jack. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up a Spanish mackeral:



I knew the Spanish macks would be moving in soon, due to the glass minnows I've been seeing in the area, but I had no idea it would be this soon. The only drawback to catching the mackeral is that I need to now reconsider my leader situation. I've been fishing without a leader all winter, but if there are going to be mackeral in the same areas where I'm fishing for trout and ladyfish, I have to put on a leader or I'm going to go through lures far too fast. Those macks have some nasty teeth.

After fishing Demen's landing a bit longer, I packed up and drove over to Coffee Pot. I wanted to toss the Yo-zuri a bit and see if I couldn't find a snook somewhere in the bayou.

After about fifteen minutes and not a bite, I packed up again and drove over to the Secret Spot. I fished the Gotcha first, and was getting several very tentative bites. I don't know if the fish were undersized, or if somehow there were some larger pinfish around, but the lure was getting hammered (though no hook-ups).

At some point I cast out and my Gotcha just kept sailing, and I knew that the line had snapped. I hate it when that happens. Gotta check the line regularly when fishing with that heavy Gotcha!

I switched back over to a gold sides/green top Yo-zuri and on my first cast hooked up with a big trout! It was a keeper for sure, and was fighting me like a champ. I kept the slack out of the line and the drag light and worked it slowly to the dock, taking every possible precaution to no lose the fish.

It didn't matter. He thrashed and spit the lure. My quest to land a keeper trout continues.

I couldn't coax any bites out of any other fish after that, so I decided to go try the shallower water, and hooked up with a big lady right away, so big in fact, that I couldn't get the whole fish in my viewfinder while kneeling down to unhook it. Here is a close up:



Shortly after I hooked up with another lady:




And another:




A manatee cruised right by me:


I landed a small lady after that, then the school must have moved, because the bite turned off.

Not a bad day on the water!

They should have called it Demon's Landing

Got out before first light this morning to try out a spot where I had sighted a few snook swimming around. It wasn't quite light out yet, but there was a bright moon and some dock lights to cast around.

I started casting out my She Dog topwater lure, but as enticing as it looked to me, the fish weren't biting. Oh, and the fish were there. I saw three snook in the 20" range cruse by the dock, and three big jacks working around the dock too. I knew in my heart it was only a matter of time until I hooked up with something.

I walked back to the car and switched out the She Dog for a 1/4oz Yo-zuri (green top/gold sides). I was a little hesitant to put it on since it was the hero of this day. Also, since the lure technically belonged to my dad, I was afraid of losing it. But, seeing the most productive lure in my arsenal just sitting there, I tied it on anyway.

I tossed out a couple of casts, but nothing took it. On the third cast, I dropped the lure right in a little school of glass minnows, and just as the lure hit the water, I got a big hit that immediately went slack. I reeled in the line and there was nothing attached.

While I walked back to my car for a new lure, I snapped this photo.

My lure options were difficult again. I had a larger Yo-zuri that had yet to catch me anything, and one of my most productive lures, a black top/silver sides Yo-zuri from this day. Though the prospect of losing another heroic Yo-zuri was not high on my to-do list, I knew the lure could catch fish, so I tied it on.

I was on my fifth or sixth cast when I tossed the Yo-zuri into a shallower spot by the dock light. I had a quick hit, and I pulled up to set the hook. What happened next shot adrenaline through my body as the fish pulled my lure in a 50 yard bee-line in the opposite direction.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZzzzz.

I finally stopped his run by tightening down the drag and then started the process of pulling what felt like a log back through the water. Pull, reel. Pull, reel. Pull, reel.

As the fish got closer, I looked for a spot lower to the water where I could land the fish. I knew the fish was far too heavy to hoist out of the water using just my rod. As I turned back, I couldn't find my line in the water. By the time I located it, I realized the fish had started swimming toward me and toward a dock off to my left. I reeled back in as fast as I could and started pulling against the fish, but it saw its salvation and took it.

As my line wrapped around the dock piling, I knew it was over. If I was thinking straight, I would have released the bail and waited for the fish to swim out. Instead, I tried to horse him off the piling, and ping! the line snapped.

I cussed my heart out.

When I turned around, there was a uniformed security guard there. "Sorry, bud, but you can't fish here."

%$#*&#

Folornly, I packed up my gear and drove over to the Vinoy basin. I caught a ladyfish on a Gulp mullet, which at least got the skunk off, but my heart just wasn't in it. As you can see in the photo, I didn't even bother taking the photo in focus.

Losing that fish is tough to stomach. Losing the fishing spot is even worse.

The hits keep on coming at the S.I.S.S.

Made a quick 20 minute stop at the Snell Isle Secret spot (on the dock side) on my way home today.

I tied on the 5/8oz Gotcha that was killing them yesterday and got right back to work. The hook issue that I mentioned yesterday was even more apparent today, as I jumped six ladyfish before I could hook one securely enough to land it on the dock.

I ended up bringing in three ladyfish in the 15" range and and a 12" trout before calling it quits. The trout stripped about half of the bucktail off the Gotcha, so I'll be curious if it continues to catch fish tomorrow. I should also note that the trout was the first fish that actually took the J hook at the rear of the lure, so at least I know it is possible.

The only other notable point was that one of the ladies I jumped was in the 20" plus range, and it felt good to have a nice tug on the line after catching all these small fish the last couple of days.

Quick Hit at the S.I.S.S.

I tried the Hills at lunch today, and though the tide was incoming and strong, the bite was absent. I'm going to skip the drawn out explanation of how and why I didn't catch any fish and just say that the highlight of the hour I spent fishing was when I found a slip-bobber floating in the river. I scooped it up and headed back to work.


Yesterday I stopped by my local tackle shop, "Minnows & Monsters" and picked up a couple of rods I had left to be either repaired, respooled with 10lb braid, or both. While I was there, I picked up a couple of 5/8oz Gotcha lures. These were slightly different than the others I've bought in two distinct ways.


1) Instead of two treble hooks, the rear was replaced with a J-hook, and
2) There was a white bucktail tied on to cover the above-referenced J-hook.

See below:

I was chomping at the bit to toss this little sucker out, but my skunking on the Hills got me thinking that perhaps this modified Gotcha was still on the shelf at the tackle shop for a reason.

To further test out the lure, I ran by the Snell Isle Secret Spot for a quick thirty minutes of casting.

On my first cast, I hooked up with a big trout, and from what I could tell, it was going to be my elusive first keeper of the season. In my excitement, I horsed it a bit more than I should have, and the hook slipped when the fish was still 10 yards out from the dock. Damn.

My disappointment didn't last long, though, as my next cast netted a 15 inch ladyfish. There were a couple of guys fishing from the seawall, and the lady caught their attention. When I reeled in another ladyfish on my next cast, they packed up their stuff and left. (Sorry guys, didn't mean to rub it in your face.)

In the next twenty or so minutes, I would land three more ladyfish and another trout, bringing my total landed to six fish.

I worked the Gotcha in a variety of different retrieves, from a fast pop-pop-reel to a slow pop-pause-reel. Both caught fish, and neither seemed to have a particular advantage over the other.

The most interesting thing to come up today with the new Gotcha was that I caught all six fish on the front treble hook. Not one took the J-hook at the back of the lure. I did have several hits without hook-ups, so I wonder if the fish weren't having a hard time latching on to the rear hook. Or, it could be that all the fish were going for the kill shot and hitting the lure in the head, therefore getting the front treble. It's a headscratcher.

The tides of March

Many people don't know that I have a fake tooth. I do. It is connected to my mouth with a "Maryland bridge." This morning, upon having a snack of pretzels, I felt an odd sensation in my mouth. I reached up and my fake tooth fell out into my hand.

Damn.

I called the dentist for an emergency visit, and they were able to fit me in.

Excellent.

By 2:00pm, I was free. I went home, checked my email, and then drove off to the fishing circuit.

I started the circuit at a new spot, which I will not yet reveal, since I didn't catch any fish there. But I did spot four snook cruising the area, so I shall return, armed for bear.

I also spotted a snook at my next stop, at CPB, southwest side near the bridge. I tossed out my Yo-zuri and the snook circled back to the lure, got close enough to sniff it, then turned away.

Damn.

Jumped a ladyfish a few casts later.

Damn.

With the stench of the skunk on me, I headed to my last location: the Snell Isle Secret Spot.

The secret spot...it did not disappoint. With a full moon on the horizon and a high outgoing tide, the secret spot was boiling.

Here are the fish I caught, all on a 1/4oz Yo-zuri Crystal Minnow (gold sides/green back) that I gave my dad for Christmas, and who consequently left it in my car last weekend. Merry Christmas!

I led off with a spotted trout, which is an unusual fish to catch on a hard-body artificial:



Much to my surprise, my second catch was another trout. This one I measured at 12".


Next up, a lady in the 15" range:



Then, another lady:

And another...

And, another:

And another!



Back to the trout:



And another:



My fishing buddy heard all the commotion and showed up for a free snack:

My 10th and final fish was a sea trout, and then I decided to call it quits:



The hero of the day:


$10 well spent.

For the purposes of memory, I was fishing the Yo-zuri very different today than usual. On the retrieve, I had the rod tip low off the dock--almost to the water--and found a pop-pop-pause-pop seemed to bring in the heavy bites. The lower I got the lure into the water column, the higher the probability to picking up a trout. The higher part of the water column belonged to the ladies.

I didn't mention the number of ladyfish that I jumped at the secret spot, but it was at least as many as I caught. This might have been my career best day of saltwater fishing, and proof positive that big days on the solunar table equal big days of catching.

Hoping to get out on the Hills tomorrow, but if not, this trip ought to hold me for a few days.

Can always count on the ladies to get the skunk off

I was home from work today with laryngitis and a general ass-kicking cold. I did make it out for a little vitamin D today, and frankly, when I was fishing, it was the best I felt all day. Nothing like fishing to clear my mind (but not my sinuses).

Today was a top-rated day on the solunar table, but the fish weren't biting at 2:00pm. I worked Coffee Pot over pretty well, but only managed one tentative hit from a ladyfish.

Later, when I went to pick up Reilly, I stopped by the secret spot to make a few casts. The fish were hungry and acting like it was a top-rated day on the solunar table; namely, by rabidly attacking my Yo-zuri.

I jumped three ladyfish on back-to-back casts, and then landed the fourth before running out of time.

I picked up Reilly at school, and after a stop at the playground, we headed home. For dinner tonight: spotted sea trout.

St. Pete seawall fishing circut

Picked up my dad at 6:30 this morning and headed over to the Snell Isle condo dock to start our Saturday morning fishing circuit. The tide was dead low.


Dad tied on a 1/8oz red jig head with a white Gulp in the mullet pattern. I tied on a 7/8oz gold Gotcha. Though it was too heavy, it gave me good casting distance, and besides, after slayin' the fish on Gotcha's yesterday, I couldn't resist tying another one on.


Dad got a couple bumps, but couldn't get the distance necessary to reach the deeper water. On my second cast from the dock, I hooked up with a silver trout.



After that catch, I thought we'd have a shot at pulling a few more fish out, but the boat traffic leaving the canals was very heavy. The boats were so continuous that I couldn't get a cast out before having to reel in to keep my line out of somebody's motor.


We packed up and headed over to the secret spot. It was on my dad's first or second cast that he hooked up with a real rod-bender. He ended up catching a 15.5" spotted sea trout. As you might imagine, I was pretty psyched--the elusive keeper trout had finally been landed.


I ran to the car, grabbed the fish bag, and tossed him in. I think I was more excited than my dad. Shortly after, he was able to hook up again, this time with a ladyfish. I kept casting the Gotcha, and finally came up with my first fish, a nice ladyfish.




The details are a little fuzzy after that. I recall hooking and losing another fish, and I'm pretty sure my dad jumped another ladyfish. There was a ton of seaweed in the water, so eventually we decided to pack up and head over to CPB, but first I walked over to the baitshop at the secret spot and bought a bag of ice for our trout.


The kid working there was nice enough, but also tried to tell me that I wasn't allowed to fish the seawall there. He told my dad the same. We both told him in the nicest way possible that we could give a shit what he thought. That said, I think it is time to cool off on the secret spot again.


Coffee Pot skunked us again. I don't know what happened to the ladyfish that used to hang around there, but they are gone.


We headed over to the Vinoy Basin and started getting bites right away. As we fished the area, a big snook cruised through the water, but spooked when I tried to toss the Gotcha over by him.

My dad ended up pulling a big ladyfish out of the water a few minutes later, and I managed to hook the smallest lizard fish imaginable on my Gotcha.


Dad worked his way around to the channel at the basin and had a big bite that ended with a break off. By then it was 9:00am anyway, so it was time to pack up and move on. I stopped by Kahwa coffee to pick up a cappuccino for Shawn, dropped off Dad, then headed home.

Just one more thing to do:

Got yer Gotcha, part II

My buddy Kelly was able to cut out of work early today, so we battled the traffic and met up at the secret spot to see if we could catch some damn fish.

In short, we slayed 'em.

I started off with a DOA rootbeer shrimp, and got a couple tentative bites, but nothing was cooking there. In the meantime, Kelly was fishing with a 1/4oz Yozuri Crystal minnow (gold sides/green top). This is my go-to lure, but it wasn't getting any bites either.

I switched to a Gotcha lure that I picked up at Monsters & Minnows tackle shop today. It was a 5/8oz silver body with a red head. First cast, I pulled in what Kelly thought was a sheepshead, but it turns out it was a female black sea bass.

Second cast I caught and landed a 20" ladyfish. What was unusual about the lady was that it never once jumped. I can't say that I've ever caught a ladyfish that hasn't jumped. Odd.

Wanting to get Kelly on to the fish, I swapped rods with him. He kept the skunk off with a quick catch of a ladyfish, followed by another lady.

After jumping a couple of ladyfish, he had a nice hit which broke off the line. Gotcha gone. I tied on the other Gotcha I picked up today, also 5/8oz, but this one with a chartreuse head. Kelly quickly picked up a nice Gulf Kingfish and another ladyfish in the 20" range.



Next up he got a powerful hit from what turned out to be a monster lizard fish. It might have been a world record. If they kept records for lizard fish.

It was an angry lizard fish, and wrapped itself up in the line something fierce. It took Kelly and I a few minutes to get him loose.

By that point the sun had gone down and the bite had slowed.

Kelly hooked up with another nice fish that jumped free, and I hooked up with what I think was a nice trout that pulled free. Kelly had the knot give on the second Gotcha, so we packed up our gear and called it a night.

Not bad for an hour of fishing.