Catching has been unreal for a week . The bass for days have the peanuts launching themselves onto dry beach . Popoers and swim baits day hours , night I fished a big mackerel bomber . Every cast they slammed that lure .
Nice! Like the pic with a couple hook ups. We have a lot of small guys around here. There are big shad too which give a good show on light gear. Different fight. Weak mouths and full jumps mean it's all about finesse. I still have hope to hook up with a slot. Spent the holiday weekend bookending some quality family time during daylight with runs to the beach to find action at dawn and dusk. Haven't found anything you would call a blitz, Just looking for quality structure, throwing tin, and lucking into a few fish as the school comes in. Landed a few larger fish with one just under slot this weekend. Lighter gear held up well enough that as long as the fish are close I'll keep using it. Yesterday I got one that was 12". The shad are bigger. Finished up the leftovers so we had Dad caught fish for Sunday dinner. Very simple prep. My special lady kept the clam juice leftover from Thanksgiving day appetizers and just broiled the fish in that, butter, lemon with sprinkled breadcrumbs on top. Laid on a bed of baby spinach and rice mixed with peas. Feels great to put food on the table for your family to enjoy that you caught or grew. Got skunked this morning. The surf is up, the wind has had west in it day and night which is filling in all my good spots. Maybe a chance for a clean up and I might actually get a surf in. Imagine that?
Went spearfishing after work today... nothing. They'll show up one day out of the blue. They always do...
Hey What's happening Dudes? Been scouting and throwing plugs in the back and other side of my island as the migration is under way. Fish are thick west of me but not to into travelling to far when eventually they should pass by me close to home soon enough. Found new spots that I can see producing that isn't too far away but I was early to the party. But low and behold the fish came to town this week. Saw gannets working bunker and I snagged one one day. Saw seals in the mix the next and I spooked a nice bass close to shore but couldn't get any interest. Heard tales of a slow pick of bass the next day but had no luck in the morning of afternoon. Today I broke the ice. Early morning schoolie off a rip on a plug. and a bigger version of a schoolie on a bucktail a little while later. It's pre season so nothing for the table. Just getting warmed up.
Shot my first fish of the season last week... keeper Tog in low viz. No bass... yet. Saw a couple more blackfish that same day but the day prior I dove the same spot and saw NOTHING. Funny how they flip the switch and just show up one day.
Yep, The cool thing about Migrating fish, the eventually they come by. Opening day for bass was Saturday. I had planned to hit it early but overslept. Still early enough but no fish for me and only saw one guy dragging. Sunday I was one of the 1st guys there, it got busy, everyone caught most took one home, but not me. Caught a small guy late and that's it. I did everything everyone else was doing but just skunked. Very humbling and I was not in a good place but a good surf helped. Went back Monday. Foggy and light wind. Only me around. Nothing at 1st, then got one on and broke the leader. Lost a good plug. But kept at and low and behold fish on! Quite a fight but was able to turn out of the rip and beached it. Just at the top of the slot and 17lbs. Felt good to get off the snide! Had some of it that night breaded and baked with corn and seeing beans. Very simple but delicious. I hit the next day with the wind heavy in my face, a couple of dudes got fish but not me just couldn't cast far enough and keep anything where the fish were. Wasn't too depleted as I had one in the freezer. The forecast was similar for the next day so I did a little reading. Showed up yesterday a dawn with A heavier rod to punch through the wind. After no success by anyone really, everyone bagged it but me. I had put some metals in my bag also. I threw a diamond jig and it flew right to where the gannets were working. Nothing taking. Switched to a Hopkins and it flew also just not as far. Waited for the birds to come closer and let fly. Boom! A schoolie put up a good fight in the rip but I got em to the beach. Seemed just shy of slot so a quick release but hey metals work in spring! Kept at it and a little while later I'm on again and it's a good one. The heavy rod and a big 8500 reel had the fish turned quick and instead of racing into the rip it raced into the surf. I thought it would pop off as the lure has a tiny 5 hook but it held and I had another one for the table. Mid slot and 12lbs. Take a look at the hook size! Today I'm taking the morning to have breakfast with family and hit the tackle shop for bigger hooks and get a heavier slimmer no eql hopkins for the bag. I will never go without metal again! Tight lines.
NOTE: Graphic Content. LOL! Well... speak of the devil, and he will appear. Dove my go-to spot again yesterday in 4'-5' viz hoping to bag a few more blackfish. So I had my small gun, which is perfect for getting into tight spots and locking in to wait for fish to come in close. They're starting to spawn, so the clock is ticking on the spring season, which shuts down at the end of the month and doesn't open again until August. So... having seen a few really nice fish the other day, I was going back expecting to clean up. But after missing my first fish, hitting a rock, and bending my spear... the rest of the dive was a struggle. Kept missing fish... and nice ones, too. Then out of nowhere a school of about 25 stripers swims into range. I pick out a nice 30 incher, aim for the stone zone, and shoot. Even though I felt like I hit the spot, the fish was fighting like crazy. I start pulling the shooting line to me and as the fish comes into view the first thing I check for is... did the spear go all the way through... and it didn't. No surprise... this gun isn't the one I use when targeting bass. It just doesn't have the power. So I quickly bear hug him, get him under control, and reach for my stringer. I unclip the stringer, feed it through the gill and out the mouth, then go to clip the stringer closed... and the fish flips right off the stringer, the spear falls out, and off he goes. DAMMIT! Gone. I felt horrible. Chances are he'll live, because the shot wasn't fatal, but damn... I hate to lose game. At all. So back I go to hunting those sneaky chinners. After a few drops, but no shots, along comes ANOTHER school of bass... at least 60 fish, all moving, and all keeper size and OVER. About half the school passes and I see a fish that's definitely keeper size, but not much more than that (my ideal size... barely legal. I'm not into killing the jumbos, and I'm not into killing the spawners in the back bays, either... even though you can. But that's just me.) Knowing my gun doesn't have the power to penetrate bone, I aim (as best I can with a bent spear) low. I figure a shot to the belly would go all the way through and hold long enough for me to get him under control. I pull the trigger and from there things go as planned. One trick a buddy of my told me came in handy... when you hit a fish, but not hard, and you're afraid of losing him, put your fingers in his eyes. Worked like a charm. He calmed right down. I quickly put him on the stringer, and within 30 seconds I was able to spike him with my knife to dispatch him. Not the cleanest kill, but not a total horror show, either. He measured out at 29"
Been hunting with scuba here in Florida just because I can. Looking into freediving courses so that I can go on charter boats in Bahamas
I can spearfish for lobster in da Bahamas and not Florida, damn these bloody rules! I’ve found that the best way to fish internationally is to fish with the locals.
Nothing looked good surf wise the last three days but the fishing sure was. Took a walk Saturday late in the day after soccer games and all. Almost dead low tide. Found a good rip without a crowd. 2oz bucktail was the heaviest I had and it still raced across. I was heaving it out, letting it swing and giving a twitch when it tapped bottom which wasn't often. Got a short then a slot right after. Took a bit to beach em. Had to fight the fish against the current and keep the line taunt when it surged towards me. And let the drag do its thing when they ran away. But 1 more in the box. 8lbs, 29" out Sunday @ 1st light. Same spot a little later in the outgoing tide. Did the same thing with the same bucktail cause it worked. An approaching storm must have kept everyone off the beach cause I was alone for miles on a Sunday. Not sure I threw even a dozen cast before pulling tight and drag pulling. This one pushed into the shallows and the current was ripping through make all kinds of humps and valleys. I felt like I was dragging it over dry sand in some spots. The last 20 yards were challenging. I felt I could just walk out and grab it. It was only a foot deep but if I lost my footing I was going out to sea. Turned out to be a bigger fish fish. 33" and 15lbs. So I went again this morning. Same time, same place, same tide. No one around. The water was a little more stained. Kept with the chartreuse trailer and 2 oz. After some cast and swings I yanked another 29" out. 8lbs. Keeping with the philosophy of you can only keep one, so when you get one you can keep, be done, I headed home. Walked kids to school, cleaned and dumped the guts, and rinsed the gear before work. Got a good amount of meat stored now. Which is good cause my fluke from shore game needs work and I like eating fish dinners outside all summer. And if the surf comes up I can get on it without thinking about the fish I'm not catching. Which is just lunacy.
Thanks LB, I kept fishing all week last week. Took one more fish home Last Wednesday. 12lbs on a darter. Caught a bunch more fish. Most were just big enough to keep so figured we're flush, and did quick releases so no pics. Had a mid morning quickie Thursday and beached two big blues, both released. also took an afternoon run with a couple of bass. One was mid 30's but didn't keep. I kind of wish I did. We had a big blow come through last weekend and it stained the water. Fishing was rough till yesterday. Read that the new slot will be 28" -31". It bummed me out a bit as I've been releasing the lower end slot fish in favor for the bigger. Figure let the little ones grow. Now I'm reading that the reason there are more bigger fish this spring is that they are from the spawn of 2015, which was exceptional. Also read that more fish are being kept recreationally than in recent years. They fishery is hurt as spawning since 2015 hasn't been great so the hope is these 2015 fish will have lots of babies. So I now I feel like a chump for keeping so many. I started fishing again yesterday and watched a bunch a dudes land some good fish and all were released. I blanked myself. Was not in a good frame of mind. Went today and started fishing a quiet spot that can produce, left cause I saw a big group connecting and went over. Couldn't get near the fish and I hate a crowd so blanked there. Turn around and a dude is in the spot I was just fishing and he is tight. Get away from the crowd and work a quiet little rip with the trusty darter. Get a bump but can't connect. Then the next cast and I'm tight with a monster. It was quiet and shallow water so it was just me and the fish in a heck of a back and forth with fish thrashing the surface and everything. It shook the belly hook and the rest of the fight was the tail hook in the shoulder. With no wave action to beach it, the fish just stubbornly hung in a trough not 2 ft away from me for a while. finally finessed it in. Just a rod measurement but I'm saying almost 40". No pics. Just a quick hook removal, gently placed in the wash, revived and released. Can't say I didn't even think about taking it. It crossed my mind. It was the right thing to do. Didn't check the leader though and after one more hit and miss, lost that darter and leader when my line snapped. Picked up 2 more lures on the way home. Shortly after i was suited up and riding waves so there is that! Going to start carrying smaller gear hit the bayside this weekend. Avoid the crowds find new spots and maybe get some fluke. go get em!
You're getting great action... ocean finally calmed down and cleared up just enough to get back to diving as of this morning. Brought my gear, so I hope to get either a couple of fluke or another bass after work. Yea... that slot change is going to be problematic for me as a spearo. I can definitely judge a 24"+ fish by eye... but to judge whether it's 31" or 32" or even 33" is going to be a challenge. I figure if I target the short end of the slot, I can use my bonus tag and feel safe pulling the trigger on an under 30" fish. But at the top of the slot, I'm afraid I'll kill a fish and it will end up being too big to keep. I mean... I'm good, but not that good... to be able to hit a window of only 3". Luckily the bonus tag makes it a 7" window.
Got to be tough to eye a fish in that narrow of a slot. Fish always look bigger in the water to me. Been at it here and there. Started fishing with smaller gear and got a bass in the new slot range last weekend and my in laws were coming for dinner so I kept it. Easy prep. Bread, Bake served with my wives home made mac and cheese. Got a couple more bass and blues since then trying to snap jig some fluke. No fluke though. Was at the beach with the family for mothers day. Took a walk with the 7 ft rod looking for whatever. Found a school of big tackle busting gators. Lost a good piece of metal and after rigging a new set up got into it with a 10lber. Was a battle with the small rod and reel of15lb test. landed the fish and brought it back for my neighbors. Got some home brew and some kick ass bluefish cakes that were mixed with lump crab. A more than fair trade. Couple pics
