Monday, November 18, 2013

PIER FISHING

by Robin

This is definitely not a "How To"  blog on pier fishing but just an update. I do still owe the blog an update on my Red Snapper 3-Day fishing trip. Life has been very full and so blogging has been on the back burner.

But, Jack and I are both in fishing withdrawls, so we decided to hit the road after church and make a little day trip down to Sebastian Inlet.  They have some beautiful piers in the area AND it was going to be a full moon.  When the weather gets colder, we naturally gravitate towards Sebastian and it's flounder.  It's the best place to be after the first really cold snap, around Thanksgiving.  We're a little early, but the fish were still biting.  So, we grabbed some poles, bought some bait and a bag of ice.  :)

Here are some pictures of our trip.

Wow, the outgoing tide and the wind were not cooperating.  My heart stopped beating a couple times watching the boats trying to power through this inlet opening.  Yikes.  Not for the faint of heart if you're in the boat. I didn't even show you the worst of the waves! (to the right)

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That was looking south-east.  Now, we're looking north. Lots of surfers enjoying the large waves.  Wish I was a surfer but instead, I'm busy looking for sharks around the surfers,... that or bait fish.  LOL.

 photo 2013-11-17040806Beach.jpg

I do have a picture of my black margate somewhere.  It didn't make the file upload with the others.  Use your imagination.

 photo 2013-11-17052235Sheepshead.jpg


Here I am with a sheephead (above).  Just a baby, but it is proof we did catch stuff consistently.  Jack caught a lot of catfish with his double rig.  He was going more for pompano, though.  The folks behind me seem to have a blessing of Spanish Mackerel running through, eating up all their finger mullet.  We also saw a lot of blue fish, decent size, run through, pre-sunset.  Oh... and one small mutton snapper.

   photo 2013-11-17061221Sheepshead.jpg

This is Jack's baby sheepshead. He did not want to be in the picture.
    photo 2013-11-17062910Permit.jpg

Later, we moved into deeper waters further down the pier and saw this freshly-caught permit. I thought it was a pompano, but Jack said permit. Its hard to tell from this angle. They're nearly twin species.  They are both super delicious.

   photo 2013-11-17062842Sunset.jpg

Right after I took this picture, I went back to my pole, sitting on the north side of the pier.  Jack said the guy just down from me hooked into a huge red fish (26 3/4") and fought it perfectly.  Once they got it on the pier, he gave it away to somebody who helped him with a net.  WOW.

Then, the sun began to set and men left in droves. Sebastian Inlet has NO LIGHT at the north pier. Terrible planning on their part.  I don't know if it is because of the turtles or what.

   photo 2013-11-17065546Moonrise.jpg

Not long after the sun set, this beauty peeked over the horizon on the east.

   photo 2013-11-17070846Moon.jpg

Isn't she beautiful?    Here, we are moving back towards the lighted bridge area for the moon-light bite. As we walked, we passed the cleaning tables and there was another big red fish being cleaned there.

   photo 2013-11-17083937MoonBeach.jpg

These last two are out of order, but I'll let them stay like they are.

Jack knows how much I love to photograph and so he took me over the bridge and stopped there so I could get a good moon over beach picture.  Gorgeous and it is so hard to capture with a camera.  This was my best of 4 shots.  That little light in the bottom left is somebody's lantern at the north pier.

 This last shot was one I took while fishing the "under bridge" bridge.  Lovely.  I really had hoped that we'd get us some mangrove snapper by moon light, but it just didn't happen and school/work was the next morning.

 photo 2013-11-17072417DarkMoon.jpg

While on this bridge, I did catch a nice little Jack - released.  Then, I hooked something but we couldn't see for the longest time what it was.  I started bringing it up the 20 ft of water to bridge landing space and we could see it was a STONE CRAB!!  About 10 ft up, he let go and there went our dreams of eating a big fat crab claw.  Oh well.  I'm not even sure they were in season or not, but it sure was fun dreaming.

Last, Jack hooked a big BIG fish.  He fought it a while and then, between fish weight and super-fast current, the line broke.  Certainly, it was a nice keeper something.  Not long after he lost his fish, a boat drifted by and hooked up too.  They were able to land and keep their fish.  Looked a bit like a red fish but it was dark and a bit far away to be certain.

Well, it wasn't about the cooler but rather the good company and fun together.  Jack and I rarely have time to talk through the week days, especially about complex things.  It is always good to have date time and really...... just time together.  I don't want to grow old and one day realize, I don't even know who I'm married to.  I want memories like this.

Tight lines and bring a loved one with you.

Robin