Gnu Spot- Fishing Report 7-30-15

Hi,

No, this isn't really about a gnu, a stocky ox-like animal or about fishing in Africa. No, a gnu spot is not a type of fish. When you say gnu, the "g" is silent so it's pronounced, "new." So I tried going to a "new" spot in the Lagoon just South of Walton, so I'll call it Walton South. This "gnu" spot is near where Al lives so we met at Walton and I followed him down Indian River Road about 1 1/2 miles. There, I caught the most snook I have caught in a while- even tho they were small --it was fun!!!

Fishing Report Walton South 7-30-15. 6:30am. Tide medium low, incoming. Water clear, breeze out of Southwest, not much wind. Cloudy and overcast. Fishing 1/16 oz Cal jig with paddletail. Al was fishing a hard plastic imitation shad lure about 5" long.

When we got there, I went out on the pier and watched a huge bottlenose dolphin going under the pier in 3 foot of water only 40 feet from the shore!!! What!! I got off the pier and waded out and started fishing the pier. Al headed North, fan casting across the shallow flat. Another bottlenose dolphin, chasing a small school of mullet, swam under the end of the pier where I was casting. There were over a dozen dolphins in the area and some of them were shallow.

We headed North fishing piers and casting as we went- nothing, not much bait, no feeding fish. Nothing, nothing and more nothing. I went deep most of the way up trying to find trout but the dolphins were just out of casting  range and it seemed that they were already having a trout breakfast.

We went around a moored sailboat and I cast out deep- wham!! hard strike and miss. At least something happened. Then we started seeing bait shallow so I went shallow with Al and cast around a bait pod-- wham fish on!!! I wasn't big but it was fighting. After a few seconds I knew what it was, I grabbed my camera and took a pic.


      My first fish, a jack (click pic to enlarge)

At last, some action. I followed the bait schools under the pier and cast along the shallows while Al fished deeper. The next pier was low to the water and old. I said to Al, "This looks like a good pier." On my third cast wham!! fish on!! The snook soared out of the water and took off away from the pier. After I turned it, the snook came right at me faster than I could reel and ended up behind me! I pulled it up to me and it flipped off. Not bad, around 3 lbs.

Al watched then went around the outside of the short pier. I cast to the shore, glass minnows sprayed the top of the water trying to avoid my lure. Wham!! Snook on! Another under slot sized snook crushed my paddletail and leaped almost hitting the pier. This snook was a little bigger and it pulled drag and headed South away from the pier. I turned it and it came to me then leaped again- throwing my paddletail flying in the air. I have to admit that wasn't really a catch, even tho I had him on for a good 15 seconds or so- I couldn't have netted him. Still it was my second snook and I was pumped. I cast shallow to the South away from the pier- I had a bump but nothing took it. Next cast- as soon as it hit- wham- snook on. This one was the smallest so far, it jumped once and I wheeled around and remembered to take a pic:

                                             My 3rd snook (click pic to enlarge)

I looked for Al who was pretty far away. I went under the pier and called out to him, "Three snook!" He kept heading North. The glass minnows were now on the other side of the pier where I was. The water was about 3 1/2 feet where I was standing and the bottom was mucky. I cast under the pier and some minnows popped out when my lure hit. Half-way in wham! fish on! It came up and shook it's head.

                       My first trout

I was surprised to see a small slot-sized trout on the end of my line. I caught it next the pier in shallow water. Must have been the glass minnows!!! I cast back to the same place and wham, another trout came up and jumped:


                 Slot sized trout leaping

This was a nice trout about 17". After jumping again he opened its mouth as I pulled him across the water to me. I caught a small trout then wham another nice trout inhaled my jig and took to the sky:

                                             My fourth trout- all in the same gnu spot!!!

I caught another trout- then I saw something feeding North and cast over- wham snook on!!! My fourth snook came out of the water and pulled drag as it headed for the pier. It was small so I turned it and grabbed my camera:


            My 4th snook, a 2 1/2 lb pre-slot

When I left the pier I had caught 4 snook and 5 trout --most of the trout were slots. They were all in some skinny water around the pier near the shore- go figure!! I guess fishing around bait is king!!

I headed after Al who was a speck in the distance. He was wading North and was near a long pier. I finally caught up to him. I had a couple hits by something small, probably snapper, around the pier, but I couldn't hook them (no catch 'ems!!!). I fished that pier and headed back. Al, who hadn't had a strike was still throwing his shad lure. I was now near where Walton proper starts, and a long way to go to get back.

I fished back to the other spot and hooked a small snook by some bait, very shallow. The snook took off, jumped and turned and went to me. I pulled it up and it jumped and flipped off. It was small like the third one. That's 5 snook. Past the pier in very shallow water I hooked another nice snook. This one was well hooked and I had to release it.

I headed back casting some as I went. There were several manatees in the shallows and I waded within several feet of one of them in 3 foot of water. The sun was starting to come out from behind the clouds and it was getting hot.

My totals: 6 snook (one got off pretty far away) 5 trout and 1 jack. A gr8 day on the water!!!

Here, There & Everywhere; Fishing Report 7-29-15

Hi,

One of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar with my first teacher was Here, There and Everywhere by the Beatles. The trout today were here, then there, and at least one time- they were everywhere. I couldn't even reel in without catching a fish- if one missed you'd get another strike until one grabbed it. One broke my line because I hooked a trout and another trout bit my line in half- it struck the line moving through the water!!!

Fishing Report 7-29-15 Walton proper 6:15am, right before sunrise. In coming tide, moderately high. Water temp in the low 70s, air temp in the upper 70s to mid-80s, overcast. Cal jigs, paddletails.

I met Ken Turner at Walton/Indian River intersection (Walton proper) and my new fishing buddy Al was parked a couple hundred yards South. We went down the hill but I fell because of my bad shoes (that have fallen apart from wading) and slid down the bank a ways before righting myself. I got a slightly skinned knee and that was it. We went out to the sandbar and stopped. There was some bait and a few fish feeding plus a giant manatee was right in our spot! She didn't want to move but eventually did. I didn't know if she scared the fish- but nothing bit- at first.

HERE. I got a strike after 5 minutes and pulled a nice slot trout up. She splashed on the surface and threw my lure, 0 for 1. Ken was throwing a white fork-tail and he started moving- I told him to wait a little while more. I hooked another trout- it came up and threw my lure, 0-2. As I was pulling it up a trout struck right by me- it flipped off, 0-3. I cast to my left, hooked a small trout and brought it to me , it flipped off right by me, 1-4.

Ken got a strike and pulled up the biggest trout of the day, a slot around 18". Nice fish , Ken!! I grabbed my camera, just as I got ready to take a pic, I had a strike, trout on!!! Ken put his fish back in the water. I pulled the small trout around behind me. It came up and flipped off right by me, 2-5. The bite was on.

I lost two more trout after they came up, 2-7 and Ken landed another trout, small this time. I caught two and lost another one, 4-10. I hooked a small slot my biggest so far and stopped to take a pic:


My 5th trout a small slot, Ken is fishing in background (it looks like Ken caught this trout!!! haha!!!) (click pic to enlarge)

I was now 5-11 and lost and other small trout, 5-12, then missed one on the hookset. I pulled another one to me, it flipped off, this one was close (I maybe could have netted it) so I'm 6-13 and they slowed down, I finally got a last strike and it flipped off, 6-14. Ken had switched to a paddletail and we headed South to catch up to Al who was throwing a big plastic shad for snook off the last pier.

THERE. I caught one nice slot near my second spot, now 7-15, but nothing else was biting. We got to where Al was--he wasn't doing much with his big lure. I went and fished around the last pier-- nothing was going on. When I came out from the pier, Ken caught a trout and then another one in the shallow flat out from the last pier. So I went over to where he was.

EVERYWHERE- The trout were everywhere. I caught one on the first cast, then another one on the next cast, which doubled with Ken who also had one. On my third cast, I pulled it up, hit- miss, hit- miss, hit-miss, hit miss, pulled it in faster, hit- trout on!!! I pulled it around and took a pic.

                                                               My 10th trout

On every cast you couldn't pull the lure 10 feet without getting bit. Al didn't bring a jig so he was watching us catch fish. I gave him a jig and he tied it on. I caught number 11, and 12. Then a strange thing happened. Maybe because it was number 13 or maybe because the stars were out of alignment- I cast,  hooked a nice trout and while I was pulling it in another trout bit my line and cut it!!! Woah. That was a first. There were so many trout there, they were biting my white line!!! There were everywhere.

Unfortunately I had to retie and put a new leader on. I didn't have another small jig so I tied on a 3/8 oz jig and caught another trout but as quickly as they started hitting they stopped! You couldn't catch one there, if you tried- and we tried!!!

To recap the fish we had just released in that spot: Ken caught at least 6 and Al caught a couple and I caught about 6 in just 10 minutes of frenetic activity. Here, there and gone.

I went South and caught one more:


Then it got too deep and when I tried to go to the shore- it got deeper!!! I had to go back to the sandbar. I headed back North to the pier where Ken and Al were. We fished back North and nothing was biting. I got a small jig from Ken and put that on.

THERE. We were about back to where we started at Walton proper. Finally I caught another trout in shallow and there was some bait still around. The tide was getting high and it was about time to stop. Ken caught a nice trout with his forktail bait and I caught two more trout after him. Ken's line broke for no reason and he retied. I caught another trout and lost one. Ken fished a bit and got off the water.

Al and I went to the 5th pier. I put on a gold DOA shrimp and cast the posts. Suddenly, hard strike!! Fish on!!! I got a nice fish on and it started heading South. Then-- it came off before I knew what it was. It might have been a redfish, because it didn't jump. We were done there and I put a paddletail on as we fished back. I caught a small ladyfish on my last cast or so.

My totals: 16 trout (lost a bunch too) and 1 ladyfish. Ken caught around a dozen trout (one nice slot) and Al caught a couple trout. A great day on the water!

Two For the Show- Fishing Report 7-27-15

Hi,

Not much to report today. The only amusing incident was trying to get a pic of the manatees swimming around:

                                              Manatees playing (click pic to enlarge)

While I was trying to get a picture they were literally swirling against me. The only pics I got they look so far away:

         Manantee playing

I caught all the fish today withing the first couple minutes and spent some time showing my new fishing buddy Al some spots further North. One for the money- two for the show. . .

Fishing Report Walton proper 7-27-15 6:45am tide almost full then slack high , then outgoing. Windy from the South, Southwest. Water clear, cooler. Throwing Cal jig with paddletail.

It was a rough morning: I couldn't find my shoes, my nose was running, my right eye hurt and was watering. I went down the bank after sunrise and slid about 5 feet. Instead of falling I grabbed a small tree and slowed myself down enough to make it to the bottom without wiping-out.

There was bait all around the sandbar and I caught a small trout on my first cast and took a pic:

                                       My first and only trout about 12" (click pic to enlarge)

When I wheeled it around to me the trout flipped off and I quickly cast back again over a pod of bait. Nothing. Next cast, fish on!!! It jumped and went across the sandbar, it jumped again and I pulled it up and took a pic:

                                                  Small bluefish (click pic to enlarge)

I was surprised to see it was a small bluefish. I pulled it to me and unhooked it. I looked South and saw a wader. I wondered if it was someone I knew. Then I started casting-- the bait was there but nothing was biting. I saw the wader catch a trout and he headed my way so I went over to him-- it was Al. He said he would be fishing with someone this morning but his friend cancelled. We talked for a minute then started fishing the shallow flat. It was almost dead high tide.

There was nothing biting- plenty of bait, tho. We fishing there for 15 minutes then headed South. I fished a couple piers and met Al again out deep. We fished our way back. I was getting bit by small snappers that kept grabbing the tail off my paddletail. They were too small (no catch 'ems) to get hooked.

The tide was outgoing and when we got back the wind was blowing hard in our faces. I got a couple wind knots and stopped to watch the manatees.

A slow day that had a quick start.

My totals: 1 trout and 1 bluefish. (Al caught a couple trout).

More of the same: Fishing Report 7-24-15

Hi,

I yesterday was hit and miss, today was more of the same- mostly miss. At least finding the fish was tricky. I only found fish in one area and I met a new fishing buddy, Al, who has been fishing the lagoon for many years. The only unusual event-- there was a small school of manatees swimming off the last pier. They were just hanging out there. I've included a fishing report from my fishing buddy, Bob Murray at the bottom of the page.

Fishing Report 7-24-15, Walton proper; 6:10am Tide was almost high outgoing, almost no wind, then wind from West. Throwing 1/8 Cal jig with paddletail.

I went out just before sunrise and started casting in shallow water. I hooked a nice slot trout around 17" after 5 minutes and pulled him over, took a pic but the pic missed the fish!!! At that point I took a pic of the sunrise:

                                                          Sunrise at Walton Rd. 6:25am

Today was like yesterday, nothing was biting and I had to find the fish. I looked to the South and I saw another guy wading-- right where I was catching fish yesterday!! As far as I could tell he wasn't catching anything. He started wading South past the last pier where a small school of manatees were swimming around. I headed South behind him to see if there were any fish there today.

The guy wading went out from the last pier and I went over to talk to him. His name was Al (for Allen) and he was fishing a DOA shrimp. Al said he didn't catch much yesterday so I showed him what I was catching them on. He changed to a jig and was fishing deep and I went shallow to see if the fish were still around the last pier. The manatees had moved out from the pier and were swimming around in circles. At end and both sides of the last pier there's a shallow flat with some weeds - that's where trout have been the last three trips.

I cast shallow and on the second cast hooked a wild, jumping lady fish. After three or four jumps she came over and flipped off near me. I went down and fished around the pier for snook- nothing. I cast back to the shallow flat and wham!! trout on!!! I wheeled the small trout around to me and it flipped off. Next cast, trout on!!! I pulled him to me and unhooked him- my 3rd trout, small about 12".  I called to Al who turned and started fishing the shallow flat- he immediately caught a small trout South of the last pier.

I found a spot North of the pier in shallow where their were multiple fish. We both hooked and released several trout in that spot. I took a pic of a small trout that went South in front of the last pier:

                                            My 6th trout, about 12" (click pic to enlarge)

We caught a few more trout and headed out to try a few deeper spots. There was nothing in my favorite spot and I went deep looking for trout but found none. I caught my 10th trout as we waded back north and lost my piers trying to get it unhooked. I sat around talking to Al until after 9:00. He caught a nice Lane Snapper (they're small in the Lagoon, this was around 10") which he kept for lunch.

I headed off the water, I had to go to Orlando.

My totals: 10 trout (one nice slot, the rest small) and 1 ladyfish. Al caught some trout and a nice snapper. A slow fishing day on the water.
_________________________________________

Bonus Fishing Report from Bob Murray: 7-24-15 Fort Pierce- Surf

                                                                  Bob's bonita

I went to Fort Pierce Inlet last Friday morning at first light to fish the beach with my 9 wt. rod, stripping basket and Clear Intermediate Sink Tip Line.  As I was casting along the beach, suddenly there was a big commotion followed by a big splash only 15 feet in front of me.  Fortunately, I had just stripped in my line and was ready to cast.  I quickly lobbed the baitfish fly to where the splash was and stripped it twice.  BAM!!  When I set the hook, the fish took off for the Bahamas like a torpedo and in about 2 seconds I was watching my backing disappear off my reel.  This is the biggest/strongest/fastest fish I've ever fought on a fly rod.  According to my fish identification book it's a Little Tunny.  The book says this fish can swim up to 40 mph.  I believe it. It was a 15 minute Battle Royal that I didn't think I was going to win for a while.  I was just getting ready to break it off so it wouldn't spool me and take my line and backing, when it finally stopped and I was able to start gaining line.  It made three more runs before I finally got my fly line back on the reel.  I didn't know what it was until I beached it.  I thought it might have been a Shark, big Snook or Redfish. I never would have guessed a Little Tunny (also known as a False Albacore and referred to locally as a Bonita).  I'm definitely going to go back to the jetty soon.  This fish was the real deal!

Hit and Miss: Fishing Report 7-23-15

Hey,

It was one of those days when everything you thought you knew was wrong. The places I caught over 30 trout yesterday had no fish- nada-zip-zero!!! But I did find some in one spot. The trout and ladyfish were hitting, but they were missing- so it was hit and miss all day.


       Sunrise, beautiful--- but no fish were biting!!

Fishing Report 7-23-15 Walton Proper, 6:10am before sunrise, water warm, almost no wind, then wind from North-west. Water clear, warm in the mid 70s. Medium high tide, outgoing, Fishing a Cal jig with different paddletails.

I went out from Walton, to the sandbar. There was little activity today. No glass minnows, no mullet flopping around. I cast in all directions for 15 minutes- nothing. I started going out deeper and noticed a few glass minnows but not many- nothing was feeding. Was I going to blank today?!!??

I cast around for 5 more minutes then wham!!! Fish on!!! This was a fairly big fish (4 or 5 lbs) and it came up and splashed, then went south pulling drag. Suddenly it came up out of the water, shook its head and threw the lure. UUUUGGGHHHH. I'm pretty sure it was a big trout but it may have been a snook. I kept casting for 5 minutes- nothing. Where are the fish???

I headed South and tried my second spot out from the spillway- nothing. I was near the last pier and thought about going over there since it was deep enough to fish. I cast South and got a strike- trout on!! It came up and jumped then came over to me. This was dink, and I decided to not take a pic.

I started heading for the pier. I cast shallow, strike, miss, strike, miss. I cast again trout on!!! This was a little bigger but not a slot (15").  Both of them were in 2-3 foot of water near the sandbar. I saw the glass minnows out from the pier and a few trout feeding. I cast to the pier, strike, trout on. this one was about 14" so I grabbed my camera and took a pic:

                                                My third trout (click pic to enlarge)

I was now in 2 foot of water and could reach the end of the pier which was a little deeper. The trout were everywhere-- feeding on glass minnow. I cast toward the pier- strike, miss strike, trout on!!! This one as a small slot and that was the biggest trout I would catch today. After releasing it I cast past the pier, strike, miss, strike, miss, trout on!!! I pulled it up and took a pic;


      My 5th trout (Click pic to enlarge)

I was getting strikes in 2 foot of water and the glass minnows were still around in areas. I caught two more small trout and tried the pier for a big snook. There was nothing biting around the pier but caught another trout when I cast back to the sandbar. I went under the pier, cast toward the sandbar and got a hard strike under some glass minnows only 15 feet away- it struck again and missed.

I went out to the sandbar and caught two more trout. I went deep and nothing was happening deep. I turned and cast back to the sandbar. Wham!!! a lady fish grabbed my lure and took to the air. She jumped several times and I got her in an unhooked her:

                                                                My first ladyfish

I caught two more small trout and then another lady fish. I was getting lots of strikes but few fish. Hit, miss, hit, miss. I cast shallow and wham!! Fish on!!! This was no dink trout and it splashed around then pulled drag and went out. It was a snook, not big, but around 20".


     My only snook, not close to a slot, it still pulled drag!

I stayed shallow and caught 3 more trout, here's a pic of one splashing:

                                                   Last trout, my 14th, splashing

I went deep, nothing. I went shallow, nothing. I had some stuff to do this morning so I got off the water at 8:30am.

My totals: 14 trout (all small, maybe two slots) 2 ladyfish, 1 snook. A beautiful day on the water!!!

Lordy, Lordy, Look who got 40- Fishing Report 7-22-15

Howdy,

I didn't have to move around much today. I never left Walton Proper (area of intersection of Walton and Indian River). I spent the first hour in the same spot - not even moving once!! Yes, I caught 40 trout today! Most of them were dinks, not even slot size but it was still fun- except for the last one- it took almost 30 minutes to catch the last trout and even then it was on my last cast!!! I took a total of 19 pics, and of those, a dozen came out.

Fishing Report Walton Rd. 6:15am 7-22-15 Fairly low tide, outgoing. Just before sunrise, water clear and warm, 75, with gentle breeze out of the West. Lots of bait in the area, glass minnows and mullet. Using 1/8 oz Cal jig yellow with white 4" (and shorter) paddletail. [After 5 or 6 fish the head of the plastic paddletail would start tearing so I'd pull it off and then have a 3" paddletail- I did that twice.]

I went to the shallow sandbar area and stopped. There's not really a sandbar there now, it's been washed out- plus there are weeds on it. About the third cast I hooked a trout, it jumped completely out of the water and threw the hook- oh well. Not a good start.

There were small glass minnows flipping around everywhere. Small schools of mullet were passing by and occasionally a trout or snook would come crashing on the top. I cast to the South shallow and wham! a small snook grabbed my jig and skied in the air. I grabbed my camera and got a shot but it was hard to see the fish:

                                            My first fish, a small snook (click pic to enlarge)

Two casts later I got a hit, miss, then another hit, miss and on the third hit, I lifted a trout up and it splashed on the surface to me. It was small, about 12", in fact all the trout I caught (23) in my first spot were smaller than slot sized (except maybe one)- but they were still fun. I caught another small trout and then, when I hooked my third trout I took a pic:

                                                          Small trout about 12"

I caught two more small trout before a nice small snook slammed my lure and leaped in the air:

                                 My second small snook, a great fighter. (Click pic to enlarge)

The snook pulled drag twice even though he was just around 3 lbs. I went back to catching trout-- no matter what direction I was casting I'd get a strike every other cast. The trout were on a feeding frenzy eating glass minnows, but unfortunately they were all small but one. I caught twenty-three trout in my first spot and only one keeper (which I also threw back!!!). I lost at least 10 fish that I didn't count. I also caught two small snook. The sun started rising in the sky and I moved toward my next spot to the South.

The wind had picked up a bit blowing out of the West.  I wasn't getting bit deep and continued to throw shallow too. I cast toward the last pier and wham!!! fish on!!! It only took one giant leap to know what it was- a ladyfish and she(?) kept on jumping until I wheeled her around to me and unhooked her:


    She ain't no lady (click pic to enlarge) she's a fish!!!

I kept moving South, finally I started casting deep to my spot and nothing- not a bite. Where were they? I saw some glass minnows in shallow- I cast past them- wham- trout on!! This was no dink and I pulled him in and unhooked it- 16", a slot at last. I cast back again and wham!! trout on!! I reeled it almost to me, trout off- then trout on!! Another trout was following it in and grabbed the lure right in front of me!!! I took a pic:


     My 25th trout- a small slot (click pic to enlarge)

There was a school of trout feeding on these minnows and they were mostly all slots. I'd get a hit or even two on every cast!!! I caught two more, one only 10 feet away. Finally, I caught my biggest of the day:


             My biggest trout, 18"


Soon I was over 30 trout and still in my second spot. I need one of those hand counters!!! I was missing quite a few fish too. The trout were hitting it but not getting hooked. When the bite slowed I started lifting the jig to the top and letting it sink- it worked!! I got another one:

                                                    My 34th trout, small slot

The bait moved and the bite stopped. I tried fishing deeper- nothing!! I went back shallow to the North- trout on!!! I caught three more shallow. Here's another pic of the biggest:



           My 37th trout, small slot- thrashing

The bite was slowing, it was after 9:00. I caught two small trout and figured I need one more for 40. So I would catch one more and go home. I cast shallow, I cast deep, I cast North, I cast South, I moved around --nothing!!!! After 20 minutes-not even a bite!!!!

I started to wade North then stopped and thought, "I'll just go in, 39 is still good." I started to go in, I got to the sandbar where I started, it was just 2 1/2 feet deep now, the tide was getting low. I cast one last cast over my shoulder and trolled along with it- fish on!!! It was the 40th trout- what a miracle!!! I reached for my camera as I pulled it near me. I lifted my camera and  . . . it flipped off! I am going to count that one- haha.

I was tired, it was nearly 9:40am and getting hot.

My totals: 40 trout, 2 snook and 1 ladyfish (that was no lady!!) A great day on the water!!!

I'm Back!!! Fishing Report 7-20-15

Hi,

I'm back in the Lagoon after over two weeks- seems like I never left. There were still fish in the same places, and they were feeding even thought the tide was wrong. I went with my buddy Ken Turner, who, as always, provides some comic relief.

Fishing Report 7-20-15 Walton proper; 6:15 am just before sunrise. Warm around 74 degrees heating up to about 82 with a water temp in the mid70s. Wind out of South-West then mostly West. CAL jig 1/8 oz on variety of 4" plastic baits - mostly lime and white.

 We went down the steep bank at the end of Walton Rd. The sun had not risen and it was still hard to see. I didn't know what to expect- I hadn't been wading in over two weeks because I got an infected cut on my right leg.

I got a bump on my first cast, then next cast fish on!!! fish off. I had a trout but it didn't get hooked well. Ken made it over the shallow section and after two or three casts hooked and landed a nice snook (3 lbs). I forgot I had my camera on (it hangs over my shoulder on my chest) or I would have taken a pic.

I hooked a trout and got it part of the way in and it came off. We were standing just over the sandbar in three feet of water casting in a shallow weedbed. There were small glass minnows on the surface and some bigger bait splashing around. Occasionally a trout would feed, crashing through the weeds to the top, disturbing the smooth surface. I cast out, got a hit, it missed --then, fish on!!! My first trout of the day:


    My first trout, a small slot (click pic to enlarge)


The bite was on!!! Next cast I got three hits before I hooked another nice slot and pulled him in. Meanwhile, Ken had put new line on and it was snarling almost every cast. While he was busy re-tying I cast deep- fish on, and pulled a small trout across the water. He flipped off before I could unhook him. Next cast, I lifted the jig, wham!!! fish on!!! This trout jumped completely out of the water and splashing all the way to me. I took a quick pic as it was coming in:

                                               My 3rd trout, almost 17" (Click pic to enlarge)

Ken got his line straightened out and caught a nice trout- then it got snarled again! I was rolling and caught three more before the sun came up. Then I saw a splash on my left cast to it and wham!! Trout on!! This one was only 20 feet away and I wheeled it to me. Ken had got his line straight and caught another trout or so. By the time they had stopped biting I had ten and lost two.

We headed to the next spot which is out from the drainage pipe - in a little deeper water. I cast far and as soon as my jig hit the spot I had a trout on:


                 My 11th trout, a nice slot

I caught three more almost on successive cast before Ken hook another nice trout. It came off, but he soon pulled in another trout and he shortly after caught a jack. I didn't count his fish but that was about 5 trout, a snook and a jack.

I cast deep but as I started to lift my jig out of the water a trout slammed it. I took a pic:


             My 15th trout, caught 10 feet away!

The bite slowed and we waded South. I got a bite set the hook and thought I had one. When I pulled it up it was an 8" brown Lizard fish. Only the second one I'd ever caught. Ken hooked two trout and I also caught two more as we almost went to the last pier. We turned and headed back North.

Nothing much was happening for about 20 minutes then suddenly I saw a fish splash. I cast over it and trout on!!! trout off! Three cast later a got a strike near me and hooked a small one. When I pulled it up it was a 10" snapper, fairly good size! It flipped off before I could get a pic. We decided to head back in - we weren't far away- it was almost dead low tide.

I cast back in shallow to the spot where we first caught fish and wham!! Trout on! I took a quick pic:



       My 19th trout- squint and it will be in focus!

I caught another trout then Ken hook a bigger fish. What was it!!! It was a flounder and I took a quick pic;


Half of Ken's almost 3lb flounder. Is Ken smiling now!!!

I caught one more trout and we headed off the water at about dead-low tide. It was around 9 am and the water was starting to heat up.

Our totals: I caught 21 trout, 1 Lizard fish and 1 snapper. Ken caught around 10 trout, 1 snook, 1 jack and 1 nice flounder. A great day on the water!!

The Ocean: Fishing Report 7-9-15

Hi,

I am not back wading yet (I've got one cut that hasn't healed completely), but I have started fishing again. Jim, my neighbor, was kind enough to take me fishing in the Ocean in his boat. So we went Tuesday and thunderstorms sent us in around noon. Today we went for most of the day.

Jim, free-lines live bait and you drift with wind and current until a fish takes the bait (usually sardines). It's you and the fish- and there are some strong fish in the Ocean.

Fishing Report: Atlantic Ocean 7-9-15. 7:15 am caught bait, started fishing around 9:15. Wind 8-10 mph SE with moderate to rough waves. Outgoing, then incoming tide. Water clear with wind causing ripples. Air temp 90, water temp around 80. Using 30 lb mono with a 40 lb wire leader and #6 circle hooks. Live bait - sardines and blue runners.

We put the boat in at 1st Stuart bridge. After going through the St. Lucie inlet we headed South to Bull Shark Reef to catch some bait. We found a few boats gathered there to catch bait and threw out our Sabiki rigs (4 foot weighted line with 6 small hooks that have a small plastic sliver that represents small minnows). We caught a few 6-9 inch sardines and a couple small blue runners and threw them in the live-well. The blue runners (which get to be a couple lbs) kept breaking off one or two of the six hooks so I only had two hooks left. We didn't have enough bait to fish so we headed North to "the hump" a shallow reef in about 45' of water. I retied another Sabiki Rig and we found a few sardines after making repeated drifts through areas that held some baitfish.

We ended up with two dozen sardines and two small blue runners- enough to start fishing.We headed East to an area that was about 120 feet deep near a sunken wreck. Jim has a few spots on his GPS and we stopped to fish a break line (between currents) on the way. Jim expertly positioned the boat so it drifted through the break area. He stopped the motor and we baited up by hooking a sardine on a circle hook to each pole. We sent one sardine out far and the other we kept in closer to the boat. There's no weight on the sardines so they just swim around as they are pulled by the wind pushing the boat.

The rods are put on rod holders on each side and the reels are set with loose drag so the fish can pull the bait out easily. You just have to watch the line and see if the fish is pulling the line out, then when the fish is on you click the loose drag off and start reeling- the circle hook goes to the corner of the fish's mouth.

Suddenly, a fish grabbed my sardine and my line started going out. I pulled it out of the holder and felt the fish then set the hook, wham fish on!!! The fish started to head North and I applied pressure- snap!!! - my 40 pound wire leader shattered!!! What a fish, broke my line!! Jim reminded me not to set the hook (since I was fishing a circle hook) and we both wondered what it was. 

I retied and re-baited. There were a bunch of bottlenose dolphins circling the boat. Jim had a fish take his bait. He got the pole down, let the fish take some line, clicked it in gear and handed it to me- fish on!!! This was a big fish and it didn't take long for the drag to start whirring. The fish had pulled 100 yards of my line and was still going!! I couldn't turn it!!! Jim started the engine and we followed the fish before I ran out of line. Then finally I started to get it coming in. I wasn't gaining much and after 10 minutes Jim took the pole and gave it a try. He was really pumping the rod. He lifted the tip up, then reeled it down, and started to gain some ground. After 5 minutes he gave the pole back to me and I tried to pull it up. After 5 more minutes we got a glimpse of the powerful fish- it was big bonita.

I pulled it up to the boat and Jim grabbed it's tail and put it on the side deck. He took a quick pic and we released it:

                                        Our first bonita- a whopper (Click pic to enlarge)

The bonita swam slowly down and was followed by a huge bottlenose dolphin and I imagine that the bonita soon became lunch. We were fishing clumps of Sargassum weeds that gathered near the current brakes looking for Mahi-Mahi or Dorado (also called Dolphin).

Jim took us to a wreck in about 120 feet of water. After we drifted by my line started whirring off the spool. I pulled the rod out of its holder and clicked the loose drag off. Fish on!!! I looked up to see a leaping Mahi-Mahi hover over the blue water. It's green and yellow head glistened in the sun. "Mahi," yelled Jim, "don't lose this one- it's going in the cooler!!" I kept the pressure on and it came up again, then went around the side of the boat. Jim gaffed the beautiful fish, pulled it on the deck and put it in the cooler on ice. We took it out a couple minutes later and got a pic:


         My first Mahi-Mahi (click pic to enlarge)

According to Jim, Bonita aren't good eating but Mahi are. So we are thinking about grilling some fillets tomorrow.

We went east another mile and tried a couple current brakes. We ended up catching 5 bonita including two at the same time. The last ones wore us out and we headed back to Stuart and the inlet.

Our totals: 5 bonita and 1 Mahi-mahi. A beautiful day on the water!!!

Temporarily Out of Commission 7-2-15

Hi,

Unfortunately I have two bad cuts on my feet. The small cut above my ankle got infected and the one on my toe was questionable. On orders from my doctor I have been off the water until they start healing.

How long will that be? As long as it takes.

Does this mean I have to stop fishing? No. Just wading in the Lagoon. In the summer, wading with cuts is risky- and wading with an infection is out. I'm taking medication now so things should start improving soon. This is frustrating since I wanted to document fishing (wading) in the Lagoon for a year and especially in one main area- Walton Rd. This is the second time this year I've had to stay off the water-- the first time was at the beginning of April. When I got back on the water after 15 days off, I didn't know where the fish were!!!

I have fished with few results from Ken Turner's pier (one jack, one trout). I fished around the South bridge in Stuart with Ken and had a big fish break my 8 pound test with a hard strike. I've gone to the beach and fished in the surf. Today was exciting because I caught a slot-sized, over 6 pound snook in the surf on a paddletail jig. My neighbor Jim and I fished the Ocean across from Hermann's. The snook hit my lure in about 12 inches of water above the first cut (closest waves breaking) only 8 feet from shore. How shallow can they go?!!???

So I probably won't be doing any posts until after July 5 or so. I'll let you know if anything exciting happens.

Richard