Fishing Report 8/1/2014

I got to go fishing twice today. We went to the beach side of jetty first thing in the morning to bodysurf and surfcast. I caught one spot but let it go without taking a picture thinking I'd catch several. That spot was the only one. In the afternoon, I went with the kids to the jetty near our camper and caught several of the same fish I caught yesterday - some blennies, a few small black sea bass and a decent sized grunt. I am writing this on Saturday and I did go fishing today (didn't catch any fish) - we'll try again first thing in the morning at the beach.

Fishing Report 7/31/2014

Mayport Jetties. It's been over 20 years since I've fished this spot - I used to come here with my parents when I was a kid and a few times when I was back from college with some high school friends (after working the late shift at Putt-Putt Golf and Games). The ferrel cat was eyeing the fish I caught and the kids were fascinated by the ferrel cat - so I had an audience the entire time. Not much size to the fish, but lots of variety - two types of blennies, a grunt and a small black sea bass. It's nice to know some things don't change (but I have and I've learned different tricks to catch bigger fish - we're here for a little over a week so I'll see if the bag of tricks work ;)

Some Weekends are Better than Others

And this one (in terms of fishing) kicked arse!!!

Went on an early dawn patrol to the southern part of the island with Mike.

My Rattling Rapala that has repeatedly caught big fish, met its end at mile marker 14. I got a big hit in the surf and for fear of snapping the line, I loosened the drag and the fish kept taking. It seemed like it was getting tired so I started taking the line back. As the fish was coming in from the drop off, the line went limp - looking at the frayed line at the bitter end, the Trevally (what else out there would pull like that, this close to shore???) cut the line off on a coral head. Smart bugger - it deserves to live another day (so I can fight it again).

With the last of my surface lures swimming in the Indian Ocean, I decided to push the flyline. Last night I switched out the leader for a Blue Sky furled leader. I also paid attention to an experienced flyfisherman yesterday that was fishing with us. His casts were longer on the stroke distance (0930 to 1430) and a lot slower than mine. With the leader swapout, the longer stroke and the slowing of the cast, I was delivering much better.

Before I go further, I need to post a disclaimer. I did not use squid on the fly today, so all catches were legitimate flyfishing hits.

Ok - I started with a brown and white Clouser and I landed the grunt (or sweetlips). This guy put up a good fight and had the distinction of being the biggest fish I caught on conventional flyfishing gear to date. And it was the best fighter (although the parrotfish on the Tenkara Ito was also a great fight).

I wasn't getting any followup hits, so I switched to an orange and red Clouser. Second pitch out and WHAM!!! Another fish and this one was running! I let it take some line to get tired and then started bringing it in. It fought every inch of the way! When I saw it was a Bluefin Trevally, I felt a wave of emotion rush over me - with this fish, my much cleaner casts and the smooth hook up, I transformed from a flyfishing pupae into a flyfishing killer bug!!! That was supposed to be a play on words - flyfishing = bug - in case you didn't catch that one...

I pitched the fly out again and soon after I pulled up this eager grouper (it amazes me the size of things a fish will try to eat - plugs and flies bigger than the mouth and stomach trying to take it down). With this guy I hit a triple on the fly!!! The rain moved in and we called it a fishing trip.

So - this was an awesome weekend (in terms of fishing) - I got a wide variety of fish, I landed a good sized Giant Trevally and Bluefin Trevally on a surface lure, and I made legitimate catches on a fly. I have tons of cuts and prick holes in my hands from hooks, fish spines and worn skin from casting and retrieving. I smell like fish from all the fish I've touched this weekend and I can't wash the smell off. I am sore, and tired from fishing and filleting several big fish. But my belly is full (fish burritos that were exquisite) and I can't wipe the smile off my face...

And my gear and tackle are clean and ready for use (not a good work forecast though - busy with a big crowd coming in this week for business).

This weekend did not suck!!!