Fishyness still does not equal fish

Took my "lunch" by the river again today, and I remembered to bring my camera. Here is the spot I referred to yesterday, which I fished again today. Look at those pilings, look at that swirling water!

I tied on a white 1/4oz jighead (a bit heavier than typical due to the current) and a root beer shrimp tail, and commenced casting.


The only thing I caught was a clump of oysters which claimed my lure.

I walked back up to my car, tied on a 1/8oz red jighead and a grey shrimp tail and went back out to the seawall to fish.

After a few casts I was getting a bit agitated over the utter lack of bites and my inability to properly fish the Hillsborough River. I said to myself, "Maybe I should do something else over my lunch breaks. This is getting ridiculous."

Now, I normally retrieve a jig with a bump, bump, bump followed by a three second pause, then repeat until my jig is back at my feet. I've caught plenty of fish this way. In my irritation, I decided to drastically change my retrieve, and jerked my jig up hard, counted a second, then repeated.

And what do you know, I caught a ladyfish. Unfortunately, I had previously tightened my drag all the way down to break off my line when I got stuck on the oyster bed, so when the ladyfish gave a jump and a pull, it broke my line at the knot.

This whole line breaking thing has got my boxers in a bunch, so it was with great excitement that I read an article in my new Field and Stream magazine about the best fishing knots to use. They all tested above the pound test of the line, which means that the line will break before the knot slips.

We shall see.