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.

Got yer Gotcha

Even though the salinity was low in the Hillsborough today at lunch, I decided to fish it anyway. The day was simply too nice to not be outside.

To my benefit: the incoming tide. To my detriment: the incoming tide was slow and the water was very clear--too clear.

I was fishing with the same 5/8oz Gotcha from yesterday, and it produced a nice hit on my fifth or sixth cast. Unfortunately, the hit broke off my line, and as if to rub it in my face, the ladyfish jumped out of the water and flicked my untethered lure tantalizingly close to where I was standing.

The lure sank out of sight.

I went back to my car, tied on a big Yo-zuri (I can't think of the weight, but it is about twice the size of my usual Yo-zuri's). I figured that the larger Yo-zuri would raise the possibility of a ladyfish biting the lure instead of the line.

I did get two nice hits from very large ladyfish, but each time the ladyfish let loose of the lure before I could set the hook. That is one of the disadvantages of using a larger lure--with the treble hooks further apart, it lowers the possibility of a fish getting hooked on the first bite.

So I was skunked, but it was a great way to spend the early afternoon. The sun was out and for once the wind wasn't howling down the river.

Down on the Bayou

I was watching a fishing show the other night that featured a guide who was willing to go out in any weather to catch fish. He would get a call from a customer on a rainy day who was wondering if they would still go out or if they should cancel. He would tell them that if they were willing to get wet, he would make sure they caught fish.

I think it takes a lot of guts to make that promise, and I think that that is the true test of a fisherman--being able to catch fish in even the worst of conditions.

Today I stopped by Coffee Pot Bayou on the way home to test out my ladyfish spot with my small Gotcha lure.

As I was fishing, a man with a white beard loped up and asked me if I was catching anything. I told him that I hadn't, but that I thought I'd be able to in a few minutes.

He stopped and started to shoot the breeze with me, and at first, I was annoyed. I think of fishing as a solitary activity, something to quiet my mind, so when this old chap was chatting me up, all I could think of was how long it would take for him to move on.

Instead, he stayed. And when I caught my first ladyfish, he told me that it just made his day to see me catch a fish. He was a little emotional about it, then told me about his two tours in Vietnam, and how all he wanted to do was to go fishing, and then he proceeded to tell me four or five fish tales in a row, the last one culminating with him and a friend catching 200 bass and 150 perch.

In one day.

Overall, I caught four ladyfish and a lizard fish over the course of our conversation. Each one he lauded like it was a champion snook.

It was a unique and special moment to share a bit of my fishing with this man, who watched me fish for thirty minutes in the blowing wind, with the water choppy to the point of zero visibility, on a day that even the castnetters stayed home.

I was glad to help him get back to his old memories, to guide him back to happy days of bass and bream.

Big ladies, little ladies--I like 'em all

Took my lunch out by the river today. I tied on a 1/4oz Yo-zuri with silver sides and a green top, went down to the dock, and started casting. On my first cast, I had a tremendous hit, and a large ladyfish burst through the surface, shook its head, and tossed my lure.

Second cast, I got a hit and then the hardest pull of my drag that I've ever put my reel through. I thought it would start smoking. I dug my rod butt into my stomach and held on, wondering what kind of fish I had on, when a huge ladyfish launched itself into the air and--predictably--tossed my lure out of its mouth.

Now, I ask you: What should I have done next?

What I did was cast out again, and hook another monstrous ladyfish, which jumped, shook its head, and snapped my line.

What I should have done before casting out again was check for weakness in my line after that second ladyfish put so much stress on my 10 pound braid.

So, my lunch break ended prematurely.

Later in the afternoon, I stopped by Coffee Pot for a few quick casts. I hesitated to even bring out my gear as it was so windy. I tried casting out with my Yo-zuri, but couldn't fling the lure more than twenty feet, which was not far enough out to reachthe ladies. Second, the water was so rough, it would have been hard for the ladies to see my lure in that chop anyway.

So, I walked back to my car and switched to a Gotcha lure to see if any of the ladies were hiding deeper in the hole. Cue superhero music:

I casted my Gotcha back into the same spot and started slayin' em. I reeled in three small ladyfish and jumped about six others in about 15 minutes. The 5/8 Gotcha is the smallest size they make, and really the only one light enough for my tackle. It was easy to fish and got fierce strikes toward the bottom of the water column.

Thinking about trying it out again tomorrow if the tide is right.