Marlon caught: a spot tail pinfish, a sergeant major, another spot tail pinfish, a blenny and a stone crab - yup, a stone crab!!!
I got hooked up with a spot tail pinfish, a couple of blenny, a sergeant major and a mango snapper (mangrove snapper, at least that's what I think it is). I think if I get a job down here, we might setup a large saltwater tank to grow out some of these nice little fish from the jetties. Tons of fun fishing with ultralight gear!!!
Sergeant Major - this was a significant event for us as we have spotted these fish but not been able to catch one for the entire duration that we have been fishing at the jetties. BAM!!!
Juvenile Grouper - really small guy. He's got big shoes to fill as the King of the Reef. I wasn't expecting this at all (I thought it was another black sea bass).
We also caught a bunch of the blennies and Marlon caught something that looked like a juvenile Pompano - but it came off the hook as he almost got it to hand.
Lastly - the mullet are starting to stack up for their annual run. The river is getting thick with them and I even saw a bunch of splashing going on as a predator fish (likely a Jack Crevalle) was taking shots at various schools. La took a walk on the beach and reported the birds were diving in pretty close to shore - I'm going to have some fun very shortly (on the fly and on topwater poppers) - oh boy!!!!
We only had to take out a few birds nest accidents - a good sign she is getting better at casting and retrieving. I caught 15+. She caught 10 and actually removed the hook from a majority of those. I announced at the end of the outing that Noe was the winner (although we both won with the awesome together time)!
Not. The water was high from the runoff and it wasn't too clear either. BUT the Mighty Bluegill came through and delivered action packed adventure. I brought the Barclay out and fished it with the RIO Perception line - I love this setup more and more as I keep on fishing it - and bonus points for me that I've had to improve my casting to get the most out of this rod (and oh how rewarding it is).
Back to the bluegill - I caught 5 or so near the 4MR outfall, then I thought I'd try my luck at the Route 1 bridges. Only 1 bluegill. I also tried using my ultralight St Croix setup and even used Gulp - no takers. Still a great time (casting a sweet rod - love that Barclay Glass)!
What a way to welcome the Winter Solstice - fishing in 75 degree, clear sky weather. I caught tons of sunfish and one large mouth - so I got another 4MR slam (or a Foursome). I used my St Croix UL Triumph (reeled with a Shimano Sahara 1000) for most of the time. I was hoping to hook the big channel cat I've seen the past couple of times, but as luck would have it, when I am prepared with Gulp and the spinning rig - the fish aren't around. I also used the Nissin Fine Mode Nagare rod - I had fixed the flies I used last time (a squirmy wormy that got torn up and a stripped foam popper) and they killed it! I saw tons of gizzard shad - they could care less I was pitching flies to them. But alas, no big channel cats - maybe next time. Sight fishing in winter - you can beat it if you can travel south or have a boat, but I'll take what I can get. Another fun fishing outing (but I can't wait for spring to settle in - the Solstice today is a good marker that we are halfway there!). 
No skunks today - but it was close... I went fishing off the SUP at Algonkian Park. I caught a largish Green Sunfish shortly after paddling out - always good to get the skunk off quick. Then I paddled and fished, paddled and fished, paddled and fished some more but did no catching for nearly two hours. I saw some small mouth and large mouth, some carp and several catfish, but no takers. The seasons are definitely changing and the bite is slowing down. The fish are still pretty active and the water is still warm - they are just behaving different - no longer killing the poppers on top. Finally, as I was on my way back in, I saw some smaller catfish - I tried getting them to take an orange/brown clouser minnow, but they weren't going to be fooled. After fumbling around trying to get a Gulp Cricket on the hook, I finally got a cast out to a sleeping (or lazy) Channel Cat. Despite all my noise, fumbling and general crappy fishing, I got the cricket out on a line that would connect with the fish. I had to pull the bait right in front of it's mouth before it even moved - but move it did, in the right direction and after all the expended energy today - I watched the lazy cat slowly wiggle two inches to put the bait in it's mouth. It woke up after that - and after wrestling with it for a few minutes, I had the cat up on deck. Not a small catfish. I thought that maybe I'd bring this one home - but changed my mind and let it swim away none the worse. Get out there and catch while the fish are still willing.
Taking a cue from Saturday morning, I opted to wait until later in the day to go fishing. I also wanted to use the Hooked SUP board so I went to Accotink Creek. The wind was coming in from the WNW-NW, but not too strong. I paddled out and as I made my way to the weed beds, I saw several largemouth bass swimming away - the board let me sneak up on them well as I was less than five feet away when they bolted. At that point I knew this was going to be a good session. There were minnows swimming freely among the dense weeds - without a care in the world. I set up the ultralight rig with a 1" shad softbait and within the first few casts and I got this big bluegill. The very next cast and I hooked into this Needlefish. While I was reeling it in, it was jumping like a tarpon - pretty much the whole way in. I had a dry spell for a few minutes, then I landed the first large mouth - measured out at just over 11 inches. That fish jumped and tried to throw the hook but the jighead was in the bottom of it's mouth - solid set. I cast again and I got an even bigger one - 14 inches and way rounder. This fish was peeling off drag and had a good bend in the rod - adrenaline pumper!!! When I got it up onto the board, I saw I had just barely lip hooked it - I couldn't have asked for a better fight! I wanted to catch another needlefish, but ended up with a couple more bluegill and I called it a day. The ultralight setup I have has made the last several weeks of fishing an absolute blast! It's not surfing, but I gotta tell you - catching is pretty fun!
The bass action came late in the fishing session. I could see these guys following the sunfish - egging them on to take the bait. Eventually, they joined in the fun themselves. I love watching the small mouth jump to try and shake the hook off - tough fish. These guys were really healthy too. Makes me want to hook up with a really big one to play a good game of tug-o-war. So - no catfish school today - but these two small mouth more than made up for that. That second picture was taken while the large mouth was jumping out of my hand - kinda funny looking to me (like it is floating away...)
I decided to head back to Goose Creek and try my luck at that channel catfish school again. The morning was gorgeous - nippy 58 degrees, no wind, warm water and low humidity set the stage for a gently rising fog vapor from the creek. I looked for the school where I last saw them, but I didn't even see sunfish. I cast for awhile - first with the flyrod, then the ultralight spinning gear, then with Gulp and I wasn't getting any response. The water level was lower than last Monday, so I decided to try a different approach. I headed back up stream and cast softbait into the pools. That wasn't really working either. I kept going upstream and ended up near the trailhead. I saw a fish rolling out of the corner of my eye and I started casting across the narrow-ish part of the creek. I hit paydirt and spent the next hour reeling in fish (mostly green sunfish) cast after cast. I did get a few other types of fish - a Flier (Crappie) and some bass (saving that for the next post). After a few minutes of casting, I took the 5wt out again and the result was the same - tons of fun fish to hand. I'm not sure if it was the location, the terrain, the softbait, or the Sun's position, but it sure did take a while for the creek bite to turn on. Maybe next time I'll sleep in and stall the dawn patrol. Or maybe I'll wait for Marlon's Saturday show to end and then go and bring him too (darn Pokemon...)
