Surf and Fishing Report 10/4/2014

We took a drive down to Matanzas Inlet to got shelling, surfing and fishing. The coquina is really fine and can get pretty think at this beach (North side of the inlet). La and the kiddoroosters went out the second sand bar to catch the breaking waves. After a little bit, I saw them paddling back in pretty quickly. They said they saw a shark in the lineup and calmly came back in. The tide was coming in at the same time, so the kids found another, even more fun diversion - what they've named the "Lazy River". It's really the trough of the last sandbar before the high tide line. As the tide comes back in, the waves start to fill it back in and as it drains, you get a steady flow back to the low point. The kids ride their boards on the current and I would say have even more fun than they do when surfing. I had the surf gear and was pounding the trough between the second and third sandbars - but I got nothing. I brought out the cast net and made some casts to see what was running just offshore (inside the waves). I caught a bucket full for finger mullet (and let all but seven small ones back in the water - I kept the seven to use as bait later). I asked Noe if she wanted to cast and she caught one!!! Lastly - I saw some fish that were not mullet hanging right where the water and shore met. They were really small pompano. I hope this means their bigger siblings are on their way back down south. Another great beach day in Florida!!!

Fishing Report 9/28/2014

We went to the beach to fish today. I started out with the surf rod, but after not getting any bites for a while (nobody was, and there were more than a few people out fishing), I switched to the flyrod. I tied on a blue "surf candy" type epoxy head fly that was made using blue yard - I had those needlefish targeted... I had one take the fly and get it's teeth caught up in the yarn - I got it to the beach and just as I was going to pick it up and get the fly out of it's mouth, it let go and swam off (leaving me high and dry without a picture of fish in hand). I know what type of fly to use now, so I'll rectify the issue and get a photo of one taken on the fly. I also know that these are 'needlefish' and that most people think of them as a waste of time. I like to think of them as opportunities when other fish that chase flies are not around. While I was on the rocks, I saw a ton of finger mullet swimming in the surfline. I wasn't going to stop flyfishing for those, but I did stop for the school of large ones I saw bunkered down near the rocks. I went back to where I left my gear, grabbed the cast net (good thing I fixed that net yesterday...) and asked the kids if they wanted to check out what I was about to do. I netted seven good sized mullet in the first (and only) throw to that big mullet school. I gave the net to Marlon and he was able to get two nets full!!! Good day at the beach!!!

Fishing Report 9/27/2014

We spend the afternoon at the jetties fishing. The wind was howling - so much so that the fishing suffered. The mullet were running hard, so I cast a few times and bucketed over 50 finger mullet. I let the kids study them up close and we released them back to swim with the rest of the school that didn't move too far away (again because of the wind). I did see a smaller school of much larger mullet - but I didn't have a clear shot at them. And with the really small net we have, you have to be dead on target and those big mullet were cruising. I did rip the net on an oyster encrusted rock - about a 16" tear - more on that in a second. Marlon was the only one to catch a fish with a hook and line - this is a yellow stripe snapper. Yet another different species we've caught at the jetties. This place has always been pretty cool to fish. After the fishing session, I figured I needed to fix the torn net. It was a lot of trouble, but it's all patched up now.

Fishing Report 8/6/2014

Caught two of these Silver Mullet with Marlon's cast net (harder than it sounds - I bought the net for him to learn with - it's only 3' in diameter... you pretty much have to be right on target).Noe found a bunch of these coquina clams. Oh - this was at the northern side of the Matanzas Inlet - we paid $6 and got to drive on the beach to an uncrowded spot with our own break!!! I didn't break out the surf rod because of the stuff in the next few posts.