10-31-2002, 01:51 AM
Last week provided plenty of rod-bending action. I started the morning trips in the grass flats north of Jensen Causeway, hooking up trout to 3 lbs., and getting into jacks and ladyfish chasing small mullet schools. DOA and live shrimp on 6-lb. test did the damage. Moving under the Jensen Bridge produced several mangrove snapper to 14” along with jacks to 5 lbs. and snook to 24”. The black drum that have been plentiful under the Bridge seem to have vacated for the time being.
Tarpon have been harder to find south to the crossroads but there are still some nice jacks and blue runners hanging out. Three permit to 8 lbs. were caught and released while drifting this area. Near slack tide we focused on bottom fishing and found some gafftop sailcats to 8 lbs. that really tested the light tackle, but resulted in some great excitement and big
s.
The action in the Inlet was pretty slow for several days, but the jetties were holding the normal mangroves, spots, porkfish and a variety of other assorted “grubbers” looking for a hand-out. Just outside the rocks of the Inlet, we found some “decent” jacks and black margate. These guys know how to not only test your patience, but put a strain on the tackle as well. You can’t horse these guys. Patience and constant, steady pressure pays big dividends.
Spanish Mackerel have been an afternoon event lately. Twice during the past week, I ran to Peck’s Lake on a “re-con” mission in the morning only to find a dozen or so boats along the way that were fishing hard but catching few. The afternoons were a complete turn-around with several boats reporting hooking up 50-60 mackerel.
Offshore, weedlines have been forming in the afternoon, from about 44 feet, and holding tons of mackerel feeding on glass minnows. Small jigs or silver spoons seem to be working the best. Most of the “macs” are pretty small and running under 2 lbs. It’s just a matter of time (maybe hours) until these fish push in closer to shore.
Back to the River and to prove it can happen to anyone at anytime, I ran a morning charter today with 6 anglers, departing at 8 a.m. With a full boat I elected to fish deep, staying away from chasing trout in the grass. Usually, with a full boat, it’s counter-productive to attempt to fish shallow since it is tough to be stealthy with 7 people on the boat. By 9 a.m. I headed south for the Inlet. Once arriving at the Inlet and running into a strong southwest wind, the executive decision was to remain inside and drift the crossroads. Just about to hit the “secret” sheephead hole, the steering cable on Catch 22 snapped! To add insult to injury, while using my $80+ retractable landing net to maneuver the engine, I managed to launch it off the boat to a watery death. Finally managing, through great ingenuity and extreme intelligence (?!?), I managed to get the boat back to the Stuart Causeway. Modern science (my cell phone) allowed me to get in touch with my buddy, Hank, who met us at the boat ramp and gallantly chauffeured my clients back to Anchor’s Aweigh. The boat is safely at Lindsey Marine who promised to get me back in the water and running by Friday. Murphy’s Law certainly prevailed today.
Happy Halloween everybody, stay safe and take a kid fishing.
Capt. Bob Bushholz
http://www.catch22fish.com
(772) 225-6436
[signature]
Tarpon have been harder to find south to the crossroads but there are still some nice jacks and blue runners hanging out. Three permit to 8 lbs. were caught and released while drifting this area. Near slack tide we focused on bottom fishing and found some gafftop sailcats to 8 lbs. that really tested the light tackle, but resulted in some great excitement and big
s. The action in the Inlet was pretty slow for several days, but the jetties were holding the normal mangroves, spots, porkfish and a variety of other assorted “grubbers” looking for a hand-out. Just outside the rocks of the Inlet, we found some “decent” jacks and black margate. These guys know how to not only test your patience, but put a strain on the tackle as well. You can’t horse these guys. Patience and constant, steady pressure pays big dividends.
Spanish Mackerel have been an afternoon event lately. Twice during the past week, I ran to Peck’s Lake on a “re-con” mission in the morning only to find a dozen or so boats along the way that were fishing hard but catching few. The afternoons were a complete turn-around with several boats reporting hooking up 50-60 mackerel.
Offshore, weedlines have been forming in the afternoon, from about 44 feet, and holding tons of mackerel feeding on glass minnows. Small jigs or silver spoons seem to be working the best. Most of the “macs” are pretty small and running under 2 lbs. It’s just a matter of time (maybe hours) until these fish push in closer to shore.
Back to the River and to prove it can happen to anyone at anytime, I ran a morning charter today with 6 anglers, departing at 8 a.m. With a full boat I elected to fish deep, staying away from chasing trout in the grass. Usually, with a full boat, it’s counter-productive to attempt to fish shallow since it is tough to be stealthy with 7 people on the boat. By 9 a.m. I headed south for the Inlet. Once arriving at the Inlet and running into a strong southwest wind, the executive decision was to remain inside and drift the crossroads. Just about to hit the “secret” sheephead hole, the steering cable on Catch 22 snapped! To add insult to injury, while using my $80+ retractable landing net to maneuver the engine, I managed to launch it off the boat to a watery death. Finally managing, through great ingenuity and extreme intelligence (?!?), I managed to get the boat back to the Stuart Causeway. Modern science (my cell phone) allowed me to get in touch with my buddy, Hank, who met us at the boat ramp and gallantly chauffeured my clients back to Anchor’s Aweigh. The boat is safely at Lindsey Marine who promised to get me back in the water and running by Friday. Murphy’s Law certainly prevailed today.
Happy Halloween everybody, stay safe and take a kid fishing.
Capt. Bob Bushholz
http://www.catch22fish.com
(772) 225-6436
[signature]