Fishing Report 9/25/2014

Caught two of these whiting. I switched back to the "spot/kingfish" rig - seems to work. I also switched to this grappling weight - definitely holds place a lot more than a same sized pyramid.

Fishing Report 9/21/2014

Went out twice yesterday. First stop was at the southern end of Little Talbot Island. I brought the St Croix Tide Master spinning rod, the Cabela CGR 7/8wt Fiberglass Flyrod (with an Orvis Redfish line) and the Orvis Hydros 8wt (with intermediate sink line) to be ready for what was there - which was nothing for me. The surf was bigger than I thought it would be, so I figured the catching would be tough. There were finger mullet swimming in the thousands. I kept an eye out for any predatory fish, but the only follow I had was from a needlefish. I did catch a starfish... The last stop was at the Mayport Beach, closer to the 'Poles' side. Full tide, thick surf and no fish - EXCEPT this lone volunteer that stepped in to ward off the ever-present skunking. Thank you catfish - thank you for ensuring my day ended happily and that even though you lost the game of tug o' war (the surf fishing rig is overkill I'll admit), you still got to gum some tasty bait and you proved that fish still live in the ocean when it's "Victory At Sea". I think I'm going to have to start using shrimp for bait - the formulated stuff is not getting the bites it used to...

Fishing Report 9/16/2014

Walked the beach this morning casting for some whiting, but they weren't there. I thought I had arrived with the incoming High tide, but alas I was wrong and I suffered in lack of fish participants in tug-o-war. I shifted gears and started chucking a jig and caught this Needlefish. This guy was so pissed it wanted blood - even it's own (it's biting it's tail). Checkout these chompers. I had several others hit the jig, but they usually don't get hooked because their jaws are so narrow and bony. Oh well - at least I didn't get skunked!!! The surf is supposed to pick up tomorrow....

Fishing Report 9/14/2014

We ran errands in the morning and hit the beach in the mid afternoon. I brought the St Croix Surf Rod out and used up nearly the last of the Fish Bites (in Orange/Clam) bait. I caught this whiting on the first cast. Then I had a dry spell until I caught this Bonnet Head Shark. This guy didn't offer much of a fight, but it did give the kids a great opportunity to see what a bonnet head is like. We all got to see it swim back to the sea unharmed (save the harassing the kids gave it before I told them to respect all life and to not torment it).

Fishing Report 9/13/2014

I went out three times today. First was with an ultralight weight 3wt flyrod - the Scott JS F2 7234. I did not get the attention of anything - first with a small popper and then a subsurface foam fly... not even a look-see-nibble. I did not even bother taking a picture - let's leave that alone (although casting that rod is fun - the more I cast it though, the more I can feel that it needs a perfect casting stroke - this one gives no mercy. I think I need to appease it with some bluegill... stay tuned for that - I've got just the spot). We shifted gears and spent about four hours hanging out at the beach - just North of the 'Poles' surf spot. I brought the St Croix 10' Surf Rod and caught a couple of whiting. As the tide started coming in I also saw a bunch of other animals coming onto the sand flat. This stingray was one of them, as were a live horseshoe crab, a crap ton of mullet (most of which had scars from predatory fish encounters) and several smaller whiting. And late in the afternoon, Marlon and I hit the jetty to see what we could find. We ended up catching a bunch of blennies, some spottail pinfish and a few black sea bass (mind you these are all smaller fish - we're just there having a good time with some ultralight weight spinning rods). We saw a couple of green sea turtles to top it all off. Tomorrow we have a pretty cool expedition planned -

Fishing Report 9/11/2014 Part 2

We went to the beach in the late afternoon. I caught about fifteen of these Gaffstopsail Catfish - at times at every cast. I also caught about five whiting. Fun day fishing!

Fishing Report 8/27/2014

Not Skunked! First cast and I felt a solid grab - I used a sliding weight rig with a steel leader - just in case I get a shark again ;) Instead of the usual suspects (Spot, Whiting), I was surprised to see this Stargazer on the end of the line. Well - this picture is of the stargazer buried - it was a quick bugger - buried itself in an instant. I poked at it with a shell and it popped back out of the sand. The two black spines on the front part of the dorsal fin are poisonous (if I remember correctly). Eventually we coaxed it back into the water. First time I've caught one of these... Really pretty pattern on it's back. I also caught this whiting. The big change today was switching out the pompano rig for the sliding weight/leader setup. I had way more sensitivity with the new rig and it made fishing with this substantial rod way more enjoyable. Last notable - the kids were playing in the surge for while - until La looked out and saw a lot of splashing about 50 feet away from the kids. And then we both saw a 4' shark jumping around in the surf for a fish, or three. We calmly told the kids to go ahead and come back in - good thing they didn't turn around... The men in grey suits are always out there - you just need to be smart and calm in their backyard.

Fishing Report 8/22/2014

We went to the beach in the late afternoon today. I brought the St Croix Surf Triumph and the Orvis Hydros - no paddleboard today because the afternoon seabreeze had kicked in. I set up the surf rod with a pompano rig and after a few casts, I caught this whiting - no skunk today. I decided that I could catch whiting again, or I could try catching whatever was chasing the smaller baitfish in the water. I broke out the flyrod and opened a huge can of "I can cast like a champ in my mind". I did make some good casts in the 50' range with an intermediate sink line, but I also did flog myself multiple times (the weighted fly hit me at high speed in my back several times and in the head a couple). Talk about humility. I decided to renew my confidence and picked up the surf rod again. I cast and felt a tug - set the hook and the drag started singing!!!! I'll let the pictures do the talking... This rod was AWESOME!!! Sweet bend and perfect backbone!!! I didn't hog all the fun - I let the kids take turns feeling a solid pull. I still can't believe I caught this shark using "Fish Bites" bait (clam flavor) on a $0.95 pompano rig!!!! This shark should have cut me off - but I hooked it right in the lip where it could only chomp on the hook - check this out!!! Proof of fair game (lip hooked) We took a few pictures and I quickly released this guy back in to the sea. I haven't had this much fun catching a fish in a long while!!!!

Fishing Report 8/17/2014 Part 1

One decent sized whiting. I got it on the St Croix 10' Triumph Travel Surf Rod. Still a little too much backbone to give the fish much of a chance, but that's the cost of being able to pitch a 2 ounce pyramid sinker out 100'. I actually went out first thing in the morning to the beach just down the road from this one and was casting a shrimp fly in the surf with my Orvis Hydros 8wt lined with an intermediate sink 300 grain line. I didn't see any fish in the surf so I called it quits after 20 minutes, but with this clean up shot whiting, I wasn't skunked!!!

Fishing Report 8/9/2014

Another day on terminal leave from the Navy... We went to the beach around mid-morning with a dropping tide. I fished the surf rod and pulled in three whiting. The pictures are of the biggest one - nice details on this fish (I was going to gyotaku it, but changed my mind - too much work right now and very limited space to do it in). We're packing up and dragging the camper further down the coast to the legendary Space Coast lagoons (actually I'm hoping to land a job down there so this is research into the homes/schools/amenities of the area, fishing is just bonus points).