Hi,
I got up early and went to the Snook Nook. I found some of my favorite color paddletails- yes!!! I was ready for action.
It was overcast most of the morning and almost cold- crazy for this time of year. I put an old battery in my camera (there are two re-chargeable ones) but I didn't check it before I left- it was dead but I didn't know it. No pics today. There weren't any remarkable fish but there were a lot of them. Everywhere that should have had fish, had fish. So I ended up catching 29 fish in just over 3 hours- a very active day.
Fishing Report: Walton Scrub 6-11-15, 7:30am cloudy after heavy rains the evening before. Tide was lowish and outgoing. Water very clear. Wind: Northeast then Southeast. Fishing 1/8 oz. CAL jig with different DOA paddletails.
The water was calm with a gentle breeze from the Northeast. The sunrise had been obscured by smooth thick gray clouds. I immediately went deep past the sandbar to the edge of the 2nd weed-bed and on the third cast felt a tap, hook-set, a trout burst into the morning air. It was a dandy and I pulled in closer and grabbed my camera- the camera didn't work. I played the fish some and swung it to me - a good 17" and it flipped off as I reached for it.
Next cast in the same place- I felt weight, hook-set, another nice trout on*. It too jumped and skated across the water. I grabbed my camera again- it still didn't work. I pulled the fish up, grabbed my pliers and released it. This one I measured- 18", a nice speckled trout. I fooled with my camera for a couple minutes and figured the battery was dead. I cast back there- nothing. I cast South deep and wham- fish-on. This one was a puller and after a bit I could tell it was a Jack, but a nice one, over 2 lbs.
There were fish feeding shallow by the sand bar. I cast nearby and wham- another nice Jack slammed my jig. Jack are hard fighters and they usually stay down and pull laterally- in circles. I cast deep, nothing then shallow- trout on- this was a small 12"er and it flipped off right as I pulled it up. That's 3 trout, 2 jacks.
I keep throwing deep and finally got a tap, tap, hook-set, my 4th trout came up. I pulled it up and measured it against my rod (which has marks at 15", 20" and 28"), just over 15". Another nice Jack grabbed my lure as I pulled it up- it splashed the surface then pulled drag and I swung it around to me. I caught a small trout deep and decided to move South into the Dead zone, an unproductive area.
The Dead Zone was dead. I got to the third weed-bed and just as the last three days got nothing on the North edge. When I got even with the first pier I got my first strike deep- tap nothing tap, hook-set, miss. I threw back there- tap, hook-set, trout on. When I pulled it up a half-eaten shrimp feel out of his mouth- hungry rascal!!
I went shallow and fished the first pier- nothing- the water was too shallow and calm. The weather and tides haven't been right to fish the piers for two weeks. I went back deep and caught another trout after a dozen casts. Went I moved South the wind changed - now it was blowing from the Southeast- crazy. And-- it was starting to blow hard, 12mph with waves. I saw some bait and felt like there were fish there. I caught a good Jack on the first cast. "That's a good sign," I thought, "he was chasing bait."
Then I started catching trout. In 10 minutes I caught 7 trout: including one very small one and two slots. I thought about going South but instead I headed back to fish a little North of Walton Scrub. On the way I caught a very nice trout in the Dead Zone, number 15.
When I got back to Walton Scrub, the fish now weren't biting so I worked my way North. I caught two trout casting parallel to shore on the 1st weed-bed. I couldn't believe all the activity- everywhere minnows were surfacing and occasionally a fish was chasing them. I saw a splash behind me then turned and cast to the shore. Tap, tap hook-set, miss; tap, hook-set, fish on. A trout plowed along the surface to me. Number 16 was about 14".
On almost every cast in that area I'd get bit or catch a trout. Only two of them were slots (15-20 inches). When I was done I had caught 24 total trout. I headed back to the 2nd weed-bed for a couple casts and caught another Jack, that was 5 Jacks.
As I got off the water I met a friend who wades in that area coming through the shallows. The tide was almost low slack. The sun was out and the wind had calmed down- crazy weather. He told me had caught a redfish in the North shallows yesterday. I got off the water- I was tired and my right arm was worn out.
My totals: 24 trout (none over 20"), 5 Jack (all around 2 lbs). A gr8 day on the water!!!
*Catching a fish excites the fish in the area, the way feeding fish do. If you fish fast, it will keep the bite turned on!!!
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