If I lived closer to Manasquan Inlet I would. For the next week or so I'll be sweetwater fishing in Missouri at Truman Reservoir. Gotta make sure I ease up on the hooksets unless I turn a Crappie into an astronaut.
Got an invite for a potential overnight trip to the Middle Grounds next month.... the timing is a bit of a work conflict, but I'm gonna try and make it happen..... and hope it works out better than last time ;-)
Hey Stink, any idea what's running in February? Wifey's next leadership conference is in Orlando in February so looks like I'm gonna get to fish FL next year weather permitting.
Yeah.... 150' bottom fishing... 100 miles offshore in the Gulf. Never got to do it before... went once last year and got shutdown halfway out by weather I've seen my buddies photos before.. http://www.floridasportsman.com/2004/12/01/fishing_florida_middle_ground/ As far as Feb... LOTS of variables to that as FL is a LONG state with radically different weather and water temps in the winter (as opposed to summer where it's just hot everywhere O-town is smack in the middle of the state, so it really depends what you want to do.... Canaveral is obviously the closest straight shot east. I know you like bottom fishing, but grouper and snapper will be closed season... sea bass, should be good (with triggers and porgies).... BUT you may want to drive SE and hire a charter (center console type) get in on the sailfish rodeo off of stuart / palm beach. I've never got to do that, but I'd like to. Billfish within sight of the beach. Weather will be a factor as it can be windy (or sometimes really nice). Gulf Stream is like 10 miles off the beach there.... (it's 70 up here) I'm guessing that king/sailfish video I posted was around then and there https://www.marlinmag.com/winter-sailfish-in-stuart-florida Up by me, weather is much bigger factor as it actually gets cold up here, so we have to run MUCH farther out that time of year as nearshore water could be in the 50s, but 40-60 miles out the fishing is good,.... inshore flats fishing can be good if the weather's nice and sunny..... sight fishing for reds warming up in the shallows
As usual I knew I could depend on you for the skinny on the FL. fishing scene that time of year. Thanks Stinks!
Did some skinny water kayak fishing sunday.... and took to the ocean yesterday. Sunday creeped around my fav backwater spot... got 4 keeper flounder (or Flukes as you guys would say ) Lost a few others.... all in 2' or less of water on rootbeer/chartreuse curly tail DOAs on a 1/8 oz jighead... Spooked a HUGE redfish early that morning, that still haunts me (had to have been well over slot) Threw a WAVE when he panicked. Yesterday headed off the beach as it's been as flat as it gets... trolled for kings. Pulling a Manns Stretch 25 on wire, and a large swimshad on fluro......rt away, got a solid hookup. Thought it was a NICE king. Turned out to be a foul hooked bonito Still got the blood flowing A little while later... same rod /rig... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..... OH SHIT. BIG King, dumped like 50 yards of line instantly..... then gone. Ate through the Fluro. Wind unexpectedly came up pretty solid from the NW and kinda kicked my ass.... There were Spanish Macks jumping all around, but the tackle I had was too big, and the surface chop made it hard to see, and impossible for me to stand and sight cast.... came in after 3 hours. Pretty spent. Wanted to get after em today, as it's FLAT but don't have it in the tank to lug all that gear down the beach and paddle for a few hours.... (went out about a mile+ yest)
went back out yest morn..... started out fast with a nice flounder on my 3rd cast.... inhaled a 6" DOA jerkbait. Then got one smaller one. Kept him only because he inhaled the jighead/grub.... little fucker swallowed a good sized lure. he wouldve been toast anyway. Pretty slow after that.... saw a few put couldnt get them to cooperate
Went out yesterday on a Sea Bass Marathon. Unfortunately, the Sea Bass didn't want to cooperate so we wound up on a Ling Marathon. Cold front and mist came thru and shut everything down. Then the sun came out, burn off the mist and it was almost as if someone flicked the "fish on" button as Ling and Sea Bass starting flying into the boat. Rough day for me but I did manage to pull 2 Sea Bass and 13 Ling in. Torn about next weekend as its Father's Day and every person that owns a fishing rod will find a boat to be on.
LIng as in cod? 13 cod sounds pretty good to me... those things are tasty So were others loading up on Sea Bass? granted I'm used to fishing with 4 lines in the water, no 40, but maybe a way to make your bait stand out? A small glowing bead above the hooks on your dropper rigs... or a small pink/glowing skirt? I'm guessing you were using squid?
July 2019 With air temps in the mid to upper 90's this month it’s a good idea to get on the water as early, or as late as possible as the fish will be on the feed during those times and laying low during the heat of the day. Inshore toss your favorite top-water plug at first light for exciting redfish and trout blowups. Some favorite top-water plugs for our area are the Rapala Skitterwalk or Skitter-V. If you're not an “early bird” check out the dusk bite using the same lures. The fishing right off the beach really comes alive this time of year. Huge sharks, tarpon, kingfish, and many more will be chowin’ down on the giant pods of pogies right behind the breakers. It’s a great time to put your heavier tackle to the test! When looking to catch some redfish be on the lookout for concentrations of finger mullet or pogies on the flats. You can be guaranteed that at least a redfish or two will be hanging nearby a big wad of baitfish this time of year. During the higher tide stages one of my favorite lures to toss this time of year is Saltwater Assassin inline spinner bait as it nicely mimics a finger mullet. The water is murky right now and the bright flash of the spinners blade and the thump it creates while going through the water will be sure to get the fishes attention. On the lower tide stages a lot of the bigger fish will move to slightly deeper water where it’s a little cooler. Any kind of live or chunked bait will work well for reds, trout, and flounder when fishing deeper. A scented soft plastic fished very, very slow will also be a good bet. The flounder bite should be good this month at the St. Augustine and Mantanzas inlets and just about all the regular inshore flatty haunts. Fishing around the slack tides will give you the best chance to get your bait on the bottom where the flounder hide. Small to medium sized finger mullet on a fish finder rig can be deadly... Don’t be afraid to use a decent sized mullet to catch the doormats… just remember to let the flounder chew on the bait a few moments before setting the hook. One of my favorite fish, the tarpon, should be thick along the beach gorging themselves on the bait (pogy) pods just about now. They started to show around the shrimp boats and at the inlets last month and should have pogy's on their mind now. The best bite will be early morning and just before or after the afternoon summer rainstorms. Rig a live pogy on a large 6/0-10/0 circle hook and fish the outside of the bait pods. Sometimes a little weight to help the pogy get down will help. Don’t forget to rig a rod with a plug for the giant jacks and spanish macs that will be on the pods as well. Capt. Tommy Derringer
It was just a tough day for Sea Bass. Capt. was reading them but they just weren't hungry for clam which was the bait. I think high hook had 7 or so. Near the end of the day, I hit 7 straight Sea Bass but except for one, all were shorties. Yes, I'm talking LingCod and I've had them frozen now for two days so I'm going to vacuum seal them today. Of course, some of the gang wants to go out on Saturday so I'm gonna roll again. Sea Bass season ends on the 22nd. until the fall when you can keep 15.
Squid strips for the seabass You can do a double dropper rig with squid on top.... and a clam chunk on the bottom and see what's working . I do that when I surf fish. (but with shrimp and clams or sand fleas) what's the size limit? 15"?
12.5" with a bag limit of 10 until June 22. I have squid I'll bring with me this Saturday. I can't believe I'm going near a headboat on Father's Day weekend! I must be either batshit crazy or just want to get in one last Sea Bass weekend until the bag limit goes back up this fall to 15. Between June and Oct, can only keep 2.
HAHA..... I understand. Here our limit is 13" and I think the bag limit is still 10 (may be less).... no season as we really only catch them in the winter anyway went out with a buddy this morn to do some kingfishing.... water has cooled down a bunch this week, so our shot at a sail went away, and we had to go out to 9mile reef . We Got 3 fish (one decent one pro around 15#) prob lost 3 others.... but 2 on the spinning rod were fun. I lost a new 4oz Spro jig instantly when the 80# mono got sliced like it wasnt there.
Double dropper rig..... squid with a small glow bead on the top hook, and clams (or whatever the cap's suggestion) on the bottom for the cod.... when they're hungry SeaBass will just chow on anything but on a crowded boat maybe clean and cut the squid into white strips that will flutter in the current.
That's pretty close to what I'm fishing now. I have one hook above the swivel snap and 2 droppers below it tied on 50#mono leader. I plan on putting a Gulp chartreuse on the top hook, squid in the middle and clam on the bottom and watch to see which one hits first. Then vary accordingly. I'm using 1 glow bead on the main line as a stopper for the swivel, another on all the droppers. Going with chartreuse top and bottom with white in the middle. Windy forecast and 3-4ft seas so probably an 8oz or even a 10oz to hold bottom. All hooks are Gami 2/0 offset circle snelled by me of course..
Yes.. Its a 3 hook rig. My snap swivel is attached to my main mono topshot which in turn is attached to braid using an FG knot. Roughly 12" above the snap swivel, I tied on a circle hook with 12" mono leader to the main topshot using a Belmar knot. I plan to use that upper most hook as a flag with a Gulp bait or something else that flutters. I did get several hits on that high hook though..
