Fishing report - July 31, 2011, Afternoon Session

Location: 4^th Street

Tide: Outgoing

After an excellent morning session, Kelly and I decided to push our luck and go tarpon hunting over at 4^th Street. We stopped at the bait shop on 4^th for some shrimp and pinfish. The shrimp were pitifully small, but since we were low on options and time we bought 5 dozen from Brittany the bait hag. Griping aside, while I was in there I noticed a familiar sight – some rootbeer-colored shrimp tails, so I bought a pack, but that is another story for another time.

We were on the water by 5:30pm and the tide was the highest I’ve ever seen it. As we paddled out I noticed some commotion over by the westernmost mangrove line before the Howard Frankland Bridge. There were so many mullet jumping it looked like bombs were going off. I was tempted to investigate, but we paddled on.

Right before the bridge, I saw what I thought was a snook busting bait right at the seawall. It took me three casts, but I finally landed my Spook Jr. right at the wall. I got a hit right away but the fish missed. Subsequent casts were ignored. I paddled on.

Kelly and I fished The Cut first. We each caught a junk fish (Kelly: catfish. Me: Ladyfish) on a shrimp under a popping cork before giving up and paddling over to our tarpon spot.

It took me awhile to catch a pinfish for bait, and meanwhile, Kelly’s shrimp died of lameness, so it put us in a tough spot. Kelly caught a couple more catfish on my remaining shrimp, and then we decided to set up in the tarpon hole with about 45 minutes until dark. The bugs were fierce. I floated a pinfish under a cork while Kelly threw his Spook Jr.

While we fished, a manatee kept flirting with Kelly. It would pop up behind him, go under his yak, pop up on the other side, and then do it all over again.

After only 10 minutes, we saw tarpon rolling along, a big single fish in the 100lb class and three juveniles in the 30lb class. We threw everything we had at them, but they sniffed up their noses and swam away. I might have done better if my second pinfish didn’t flop in the water as I went to hook it on.

Ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be. We were under-prepared, tired as hell, and eaten to distraction by the bugs. We packed it in and paddled back to the launch just as the sun was beginning to set.

You know it's a good day fishing when you see the sun rise and set from your kayak.