Hi,
This will be my first fishing report. It's March 31, 2015; 11:00 AM. I climbed down the hill from Walton Rd. (which is the nearest spot to my house) on outgoing tide, fished (with waders) 1 hr. 45 min. using 3 different DOA plastic paddletails on 3/8 lead jig-head. Water choppy but clear, wind 10-15 mph out of NE.
When I got there the tide had already gone down some and the shallow side of the sandbar was 3 1/2 feet deep. I was fishing a baitcaster left-handed because I wore out my right hand last week. Some bait and mullet shallow. Fan-casted[1] shallow to the first pier- nothing. Fished the first pier, which is a good pier, nothing. Fan-casted to second good pier, fished 2nd pier- nothing.
Went out on the other side of the sand bar to the 3rd grass flat[2]. Mullets jumping and some bait activity plus a few fish feeding- looks good. I had caught 15 or so trout here in 45 minutes last week so I was expecting good things. On the 4th cast I threw shallow to a feeding fish, tap, tap, I lifted the jig slightly and gently set the hook- the fish came to the surface and shook his head, I pulled in and released a 15 inch trout. This seemed like a good sign! Then I cast for 15 minutes in that area looking for the thicker grass and only had a swirl as I pulled my lure out of the water. I never found the4 thicker grass so I moved deeper- nothing.
I changed colors from pearl white to opaque then started casting into the wind. Bam!! Fish on - this was no dinky trout and it pulled drag twice. After a while I knew it wasn't a big trout, and after a two minute battle I lifted up a 4 lb Jack. This was my 3rd biggest Jack so far. I fished the 3rd grass flat for a total of 45 minutes-- the trout were not there- time to move. My leader was frayed so I changed it out to a new 4ft leader (40 lb. test- that's higher than the standard 20 but I don't like losing snook on piers). There was a boat sitting on my spot on the second grass bed. I decided I'd head there anyway since I didn't have long to fish (it was on the way back).
I fan cast past the deep cut between the grass flats and started moving closer to the boat parked on my next spot. I got a vicious strike and set the hook- a 2 lb Jack. Suddenly there were a few fish feeding in that area and bam!! got a huge strike 15 feet from the end of my rod. Sizzz-- went my drag, couldn't turn the fish- then I did and I lost him. Must of been a big Jack- I thought. The boat saw me catching fish and getting near them- they left before I got a chance to talk to them.
I was now in the second grass flat near where the boat had been. I could see Jack chasing bait. Suddenly I had a great strike and set the hook. Fish on- only 20 feet away and it was pulling my drag. It went shallow and then deep- a 6 lb. Jack with lots of yellow- beautiful fish. I thought briefly about keeping him to get a pic but then I'd have to fillet him and eat him- so I let him go. That was a workout!!
I got another strike but missed the fish and moved to the shallower 1st grass bed. There were lots of bait fish and occasionally a feeding Jack. I made a long cast and as soon as the jig hit I had another Jack on. This one was 1 1/2 pounds which is closer to the normal size I catch.
I headed back but stopped to fish the shallow water on the other side of the sandbar- nothing.
RESULT: No fish shallow in 35 minutes of fishing. Caught 5 fish deep (4 Jack , 1 trout)- lost a big (I think Jack) and missed two. Had two swirls as I pulled lure from the water. Fish were caught in 3-4 foot of water. Used three different DOA baits on a 3/8 jig-head. Retied once. Caught my 2nd biggest Jack today. A beautiful day on the water- saw one bottlenose dolphin, several pelicans feeding and an osprey catch a small fish.
Where are the snook? When the water warmed up the big snook moved out and have not been shallow for two weeks- at least I have not caught them. I have caught about one snook per trip but they have been small males. I guess fishing the bridges or fishing deep in a boat is the way to get them now. They spawn at the inlet in April (so I've been told). I've also been told they feed mostly at night.
1. Fan-casting is casting quickly in front of you in random directions hoping to pick-up a random fish. It's my search pattern.
2. I have arbitrarily divided the grass flats on the Indian River side (deep side) of the sandbar into 6 divisons from North to South which is from Walton Scrub (North) to the Walton Rd. end (South).
No comments:
Post a Comment