Sunday Fishing Report

[Tarpon4me]

OK, lets try this again. I had a report typed earlier and erased it on accident. [mad] Boy was I mad! LOL Also, keep an eye on this thread, i'm going to post the pictures that go along with this trip later on either this afternoon or tommorrow. []

Anyhoo, the day started out great. The water was calm and the wind was very moderate. After a quick stop by Inlet Conveniance for some bait, we shoved off.

Comming out of the mouth of the jetties, my father in law noticed some birds diving down in the distance, so i decided to head over and see what all the fuss was about. Small mullet minnows were being cut, so I rigged up 2 rods with a #00 clark spoon and 2 with a #01 clark spoon. I put two down on a #1 planer and kept two on top. Each line was rigged with Spro swivels and 3' of 20 lb fluorocarbon. (no steel leader) During the first pass I noticed one of my planer rods standing up. It was a spanish! I was thinking to myself, "A spanish? This time of year?" LOL, it was a pleasant surprise as we caught quite a few nice spanish, a couple breaking the 20" mark. Those will be good in the oven with a little lemon and butter. [cool] We got many of them with in rock throwing distance of the one mile marker, which is a great place to head to if the fishing gets slow. (the bait fish like that thing for some reason [crazy]) LOL

After we got our fill of the little mackies, we turned the boat NE and headed towards paradise reef. I bought some monster mud minnows from Inlet Conveniance and predetermined a drift pattern for some flounder action. I was using a carolina rig w/ a 20 lb mono leader and a 2/0 kahle hook. But, I would come to be disappointed as the flounder just weren't there. I made about 4 or 5 drifts and after not getting a bite (accept for a small shark), I decided to call it quites. That's one way to waste 21 dollars worth of mud minnows, I ended up letting them go. [mad] But, on the bright side, on my last drift I noticed a little hump about 500 yards due east from the reef marker and I anchored over it. I dropped down a bag of menhaden chum and lit up a smoke as I waited for it to do it's work. Using the scraps from the spanish I cleaned earlier, We started in on some great shark fishing action. The sharks were smaller, in the 20-40 pound range, but none the less a great time. I was waiting for a big boy to come out and play, but nothing big showed up. Lucky for them I guess. LOL []

We decided to move up on another spot and dropped anchor over the reef balls. We got a little fishing in before the wind shifted on us, I hate it when that happens. [unimpressed] The seabass aren't hanging around anymore, even though you can still snagg a few little ones here and there. I was surprised that even the pinfish weren't very hungry yesterday. Usually, you can't get help but catch pinheads along the structure. My father in law caught a small whiting and I decided to put it out on a balloon rig to see what was hanging around. Of course, no so much as a sniff.

After catching a few spanish, I gave DR a call and we both agreed that if the spanish were there, the kings might be too. So, before I headed back to the hill, I dropped drone spoons down on my rods rigged with planers, but I didn't get bit. This weather really has things wierd. The kings are still offshore and haven't quite made thier way in yet. Usually the kings make it in before the spanish, since the spanish dig the hotter water. It wasn't long and the wind picked up and we decided to call it a day.

On the way back in I swung over to the mile marker and gave it a couple more passes with just the two planer rods. I scored 2 more spanish, even with the foul conditions, and that was the ending note for the day. I put those guys on ice whole and will use them for shark bait during my next trip.

All in all a pretty good trip. Other than being dog tired after the two hour drive back, I'm ready to do it all over again next weekend. (if the weather every cooperates) [cool]
[signature]

[Dr]

Wish the fishing were better for you but sounds like you made the best of the situation. GOOD weather is what we need and as soon as that happens we will be covered up in fish,I hope.[crazy] Good to hear the Spanish are there,I have trips this week and think that will be the target for the week.[] Thanks for the info Bryan. Shannon
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

I managed to pull a little somethin' somethin' off. The spanish was a real shocker though. I figure another 2 weeks atleast. But a pleasant surprise. []

I just can't believe the flounder turned off just like that. I figured i'd snag atleast one or two. I set up some killer drifts right over the good stuff, and not a bite. I was really surprised.

Anyways, make sure and let us know how you do!! Thanks Shannon!
[signature]

[TooPureToDie]

haha wow, that would be a crazy experience fishing for sharks!!

I hope sometime i can go somewhere and catch a giant grouper, that's what i've always wanted to do[]
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

Grouper are a blast, they're just so strong. The best place to get a "monster" grouper is Florida. The goliath Grouper (Jewfish) is the top of the food chain. There are plenty of guides on the site that would be more than happy to assist in your journey to "throw out" your back. [sly]
[signature]

[TooPureToDie]

Oh, so you've caught one before??
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

You got it boss, i've caught a few you might say. [] They are, in my opinion, the toughest species of bottom dwelling fish. grouper of all species are nasty strong. I use two basic rigs for grouper:



This is a three way swivel rig As you can see, the line attaching the lead is much lighter than the 50-80 pound test main line. When targeting Jewfish, the main line can sometimes be over 200 pound test braid.



This rig is similar to a carolina rig, but the knocker rig actually has the egg sinker on the leader itself. A 5' leader is most common and pound test will be determined just like any other rig by the size fish you are targeting.

Grouper love them some live cigar minnows. But when they are hungry, they'll eat just about anything that's kicking. Live mullet and pinfish also work quite well. []
[signature]

[TooPureToDie]

haha wow, that's really cool. that would be amazing catching one of those [cool] haha but i'll have to stick to bass for a while []
[signature]

[T-bone1]

Way to go on the spanish. Sure wish yu could had hooked up on some flounder to really make you day. Did I understand you to say you seen some mullet. I have a question to anyone. When the cost has a cool snap or bad weather such as here resent. Just how long would it take to warm the water back up to normal? If the water was 55 for an exsample. How long would it take for it to come up to 68-70 if the weather was good? By the way were there any silversides in the water were you got the spanish?
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

I wish I could've gotten a few flounder too. It hurts to throw back all those expensive baits. I decided i'm done buying mud minnows, LOL, I can't afford to throw away 21 bucks with out anything to show for it.

As for the water temp, it really depends. LIke the other week for instance. I went out to the reef and the surface temp was right around 63. A week later, the surface temp was 68. It can jump 5 or 6 degrees in a week if the temp is really hot all day and doesn't drop too low at night. It's just really a toss up. You can get the current water temps off the NOAA website if i'm not mistaken, but I just go by my sonar as it shows me the surface temp.

There weren't any silversides in the water yet. All that was present were small mullet fingerlings in small schools. I know DR has a few trips this week, so i'm sure he'll be sharing his findings soon. I called him the day I went out and let him know about the spanish. I'm sure he'll be going after a few on his trips. [cool]
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

OK guys and gals, here's the pictures I promised. I think I finally have some of the bugs worked out of my 'puter. Notice I said "some." Just click on the picture for a larger sized view.

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6809/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url]

This is me with a nice 20" fork length spanish mackerel I caught. We got a few this size while trolling around the one mile buoy. This is a nice sized spanish for this time of year, but they'll get much bigger as the summer rolls around.


[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6810/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url]

This is my son (sailfish4me) with another nice spanish he caught. We got a total of around 18 spanish for the day. Not bad considering they really shouldn't even be in yet. []

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6811/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url]

This is my father in law with one of the sand sharks he caught. This one was around 38 inches and probably weighed around 25 or 30 pounds. This was average, but we did get a couple that topped the 50 pound mark. There are plenty of sharks in the 100+ pound range around this reef, but they weren't hungry that day. Maybe next time we'll get a few of the bigger ones. [] None the less, they pull very hard and are fun to catch.

It's not looking good for fishing this weekend as the rain is rolling through and it doesn't look like it's going to let up. []
[signature]

[mattscru]

Nice mackeral Bryan! Is that a lemon shark? When you eat those do they already have lemon juice on em?[] I cant wait till july so I can get in on some of that action!
Matt
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

LOL, no lemon shark. That's just an ol' sand shark. But, they are good eatting right around that size, I didn't keep any though. I keep all my spanish, they are quite tastey. []

It won't be long and you'll be in the action. I just hope I can get out this weekend. It looks like it's going to rain. []
[signature]

[mattscru]

I was watching the weather this morning and it looks like yall have a hurricane right off shore the way that system looks. I wished it would bring some rain over this way.
[signature]