Fishing Report - Flagler Beach Surf 7-28-11

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Fishing Report - Flagler Beach Surf 7-28-11

July 28, 2011
Weather: partly cloudy
Wind : light winds
Water had a light chop with a 3-4’ swell

The pogies have shown up in force at Flagler Beach, finally. I got a call from my electrician friend, Rick Edwards Wednesday…..”Larry, you need to be over here, you ain’t gona believe the bait pods, they stretch as far as you can see”.

 

......................................                               Just a little corner of the pod trying to get around me.

I took a ride over to do a little recon about noon. It was overcast and there was a light chop on the water that made seeing the bait difficult. I pulled over to do some glassing and could hardly believe my eyes! The bait school was from the back of the breakers, 200-300 yds wide and I could not see the end of them with my 10x32 Nikon’s! U n b e l i e v a b l e! I have never seen them in such mass. The one thing that was missing was any striking action in them. There was not much to be seen but I figured there had to be some fish under them.

                                                                   Tarpon strike!

That was all I needed to see! I had a meeting scheduled for Thursday morning at 9:30 but I made a plan to launch as soon as I got thru with it. Another friend that I fish with regularly, Len Parker was supposed to meet me at the beach after the meeting but poor planning side lined him. It’s not the best idea to fish like this alone but the wheels were already set in motion and there was no turning back.

I scouted the beach from South 26^th street all the way to Beverly beach. The largest school was about N. 15^TH Street. I got all the gear down to the beach and readied for my first surf launch for the in two years. Last year the pogies were just no where to be found. The launch went good but as usual I took a good one right in my lap that swamped the boat. The scuppers relieved it quickly and I kept paddling until I was clear of the ruff stuff.

I paddled right into the middle of the pod and made a cast to snag a pogie. The bait was shoulder to shoulder from the surface down 3-4’. They were so thick I did not even need a treble hook to snag one. Matter of fact, you could snag one with one rip of the rod on every cast.

There was some decent tarpon action but I could not get one to find the pogie with the hook in it among the millions of free swimmers. I did not manage to catch a fish and only ended up with one bite that cut my bait in two just behind the hook. I saw 30-40 tarpon strikes all together  and had one strike so close to me I could have touched it....I had pogies and water blown all into the boat! I came close to walking on water! I promise you that will get your attention.

It was getting late and I had not seen any striking action for a while so I called off the hunt with the idea of a return trip in the morning.

Being in the middle of one of these huge bait pods is like nothing you’ve experienced! You would be surprised just how much noise they make with all the flipping and jumping. It’s a constant clatter that almost sounds like chirping. The hole time their flipping water on you. It’s quite a site to see.

The bait is slowly moving south and it is a little late in the year so there is no telling how long this will last. If you have any intention of going you better take advantage a.s.a.p.

Good Luck,
Larry

Shrimping in the Halifax River 7-16-11

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For the last couple of weeks a limit of shrimp has been pretty easy to come by here in the Halifax river. The limit is 5 gallons with the heads on.

My Dad is a shrimp-oholic and I don't think there is any hope for his recovery. He likes to shrimp like I like to hunt. With stories of a gallon of shrimp in a single throw of the net, dad lured me into a shrimping expedition on Saturday morning. The plan was to launch just before daylight and try to catch a handful of shrimp to fish a couple docks before the shrimp started running and hopefully pick up a trout or red or so.

We could only manage one shrimp and a few croakers so  we eased over to a dock and I immediately had our one and only shrimp stolen right off the hook. I soaked a croaker for a few minutes without any action and it was getting decent light so we headed for the channel to strike on some shrimp.

It didn't take us long and we were on them but we had to work for them at 8-15 a throw with an occasional 25.

Boats were coming from all directions and it was not long before there were 150-200 boats all throwing nets. The shrimp never really bunched up and were scattered between bridges so the boats were strung out as well. That made it a little easier and gave everybody a little breathing room. There are times when the shrimp bunch up and move down the channel and the boats will be so close you could almost jump from one to another....boats bumping each other, nets hitting other boats. It can get a little stressful.

Anyway, we eventually got our 5 gallons along with a few of the other usual creatures that follow the shrimp along.....like the odd looking ribbon fish, sail cats, croakers, blue crabs, trout, menhaden, flounder, jellyfish, etc. The small jellyfish weren't bad but we did net a couple of the big dinner plate size ones that were packin heat.

The shrimp stay a little scattered and we had to keep moving. I think we had a few throws with a hundred or more.

After we had a limit we pulled back over to one of dad's favored docks and I pitched a fresh shrimp in under the walkway. It was stolen immediately. I rigged another and pitched it back in. Within a minute I felt a light thump and the line started leaving. I let it pull the rod down and set the hook. It was a dandy 17" flounder!

That was pretty much the trip. Of course they still had to be headed and packed up for the freezer. All in all, a pile of work but the freezer is packed and they will really eat good!

Now that's a pile of shrimp!

Larry S.

Fishing Report 7/9/11 -PM - Pellicer Flats

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Mon. July 9, 2011
Moon - new moon on Fri.

M.F.= 1:30 pm
Temp.: Low 73, 87 h.
wind: N-NE-laid after 7pm

pressure: 29.99 (Steady)
humidity:82% -62-94%
rain: rain showers afternoon in bunnell but petered out before getting to the beach

fully cloudy and rain

The lack of action this morning at Scottsmoor left me disappointed and fell far short of satisfying my appetite to stretch my line. After fishing at Scottsmoor I went straight to the office to do some work. That was worse than not catching any fish and while working my mind wandered to thoughts of another fishing adventure. I knew the tide was about right to fish up at Pellicer flats but the ominous black Sky's suggested the trip could be a wet adventure. I checked the Doppler radar on line and found some pretty serious rain in a long line, all headed right for where I wanted to fish! However, it seemed to be breaking down just before getting there. It was later than I wanted when I finally made the commitment to leave. It was really bad looking and I was second guessing myself as it started to sprinkle on my windshield before I even got out of town.

When I arrived at the launch I was glad to see the weather had run everyone else off and I had the whole place to myself. The tide was almost full and it made catching any fiddler crabs a little tough but I did managed 12 or 15. I put the yak in the water, loaded up and paddled off.

My plan was to try to catch a few sheepshead off some pilings before heading to the flats for some top water action. I spent about a half hour soaking fiddler crabs along the piles without even a nibble.

The tide was still coming in and the weather seemed to be holding so I headed for the nearest cut to ride the tide in to the flats before it changed. I fished my way in without a strike until I was near the west end of the cut. I had just noticed the tide had started out when I rounded a sharp bend in the cut. Ahead, I could see an oyster bar extended mostly across the cut. I was fishing a yellow Johny Rattler and made a long cast to the far side of the bar and started my retrieve. Shortly after clearing the bar the plug was smashed by a big trout that looked to be 20-22".  In true trout character he wallowed and fanned the surface before diving for deeper water. It was a great fight but the trout finally tore off by partially straightening the forward hook. Damn the luck.

While I was embroiled in the fight I saw another fish strike off a point up ahead. By the time I lost my fish that one had struck two more times. I finished plugging the spot and moved ahead to catch the striker. Three casts to the spot produced nothing. I moved ahead a little and made another cast. It was met with a serious strike. I had him on for just a minute but was able to escape me also.

With less than 30 minutes to fish before dark I decided I had better get across the flat to my little hot spot.

I eased up to a small dot of an oyster bar with a channel between it and the bank. I had seen a nice strike there as I plugged my way over. I made a long cast with the "rattler" and ...wham! Another real aggressive strike but I only felt the fish for a split second, another nice trout lost!

I repositioned to the north side of the bar and plugged a little more. It was about time to leave and I said "self  I'm gona make one more cast back into that channel where I just left. A couple of sloshes from the Johny Rattler and a nice 18" trout blew up on it and the fight was on.....I just can't get enough of that!

I plugged the area a bit longer without much action until it was pretty dark and time to start the mile plus paddle back to the hill. I wanted to paddle out the next cut to the south but had a little trouble finding it in the fading light. I finally recognized a narrow passage to a larger cut that led to the one I was looking for. As I came to a tee with the main cut there was just enough light left for me to see a massive strike up ahead. The fish through water 3' into the air. I hastily  paddled ahead to make a cast. Before I could get there at least 4 more fish struck the surface! They were tearing in up! It was some of the best top water action I had seen in a long time.

I made a cast with the "rattler" and it was immediately met with a strike. A larger than average ladyfish took to the air with some 10-15' charging leaps. I fished the spot for about 30 minutes, well past hard dark. The action was unbelievable but all I could catch was large ladyfish. It was getting late so I paddled off into the dark and left them biting. Still can't believe I couldn't catch a trout out of all that. Typically, trout and ladyfish hang together and your liable to catch either or when the bite is on.

It was 10pm by the time I got back to the launch.

I ended up with (4) nice trout on, loosing (3) of them and about 8-10 large ladyfish. All in all it was a pretty good little trip.. Had the tide been an hour earlier I feel like I could have whooped up on the trout.

Til the next report, good luck,

Larry S.

The odd thing was this trout only had one spot on his body but normal spots on his fins and tail?

Unusual.

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Fishing Report 7/9/11 AM - Indian River Lagoon

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Mon. July 9, 2011
Moon - One day after First Quarter moon

M.F.= 6:35 am
Temp.: Low 75, 89 h.
wind: S-calm to less than 10 mph

pressure: 29.99 (Steady)
humidity:70% -52-83%
rain: 0

Sunny to partly cloudy

I got a tip from one of the guys on the Orlando Kayak Fishing Club so I decided to give it a try this morning. It was S L O W !! I picked up one short trout trolling with my replacement x-rap on the way across the lagoon but the grass was so bad it was almost impossible. In retrospect I should have stopped there and made a few casts as I was seeing a lot of fish on the finder (over 4' in depth). Something told me to keep going however, probably the dreams of all the 30" trout stached up awaiting me.

I don't know why but there are a pile of dead fish floating on the surface. Mostly mullet but also saw pin fish, a couple reds and trout and some puffer fish? I mean a lot of them.....probably a few hundred.

I fished The recommended depth of 3' plus and minus with both xrap and 17mr without a strike....not even a ladyfish?

I trolled back to the west side and picked up a keeper trout just as I was reaching the depth I wanted to start plugging again. Dropped anchor and caught one more short trout and had a few other fish on.

A bunch of pesky dolphins came by and one just would not leave. fished all the way back north of the launch with almost no action. About a 5 mile paddle all together. I did not get up on the flats. I think it was one of the poorest days I can remember but I guess you have to have one of them once in a while to appreciate the good days.

I did talk to another guy there that I had seen there 2 weekends before and he had not caught a trout, only ladyfish.

The water seemed to have cleared up quite a bit from last weekend.

Anyhow, this trip did not pan out but I'll whoop up on em' next time!

Good Luck,
Larry Stephens

Fishing Report 6/4/11 - Indian River Lagoon, Scottsmoor Ramp

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Mon. July 4, 2011
Moon - new moon on Fri.

M.F.= 1:30 pm
Temp.: Low 72, 87 h.
wind: calm winds -0-5 mph max.

pressure: 30.01 (Steady)
humidity:81% -66-94%
rain: 0

Sunny to partly cloudy

notes: water dirty, little bit of grass floating

I haven't been able to  get the trout off my mind that I found over at the NIRL. I got up at 4:00 AM to make the drive to Scottsmoor. I was in the water by 6:30 and headed for deeper water.  I moved out to 30-36" of water and started plugging with my 17mr.

I was surprised how slow it was getting started. I picked up a few ladyfish but could not find a trout. The ladyfish we a little larger than average. I fished about 3/4 of a mile south and then decided to head back north.

I had bought a new X-RAP recently and decided to put it on a spinning rod and see what it can do. I

I started running into more bait activity north of the channel to the launch. About 250yds north I hung a trout on the new x-rap, glass-ghost. I made another cast and hooked another. The third cast back to the spot produced the same result. The only problem was they were a little short. I grabbed the rod with the 17MR and made a fourth cast.....nothing, dang it! I made a 5 th cast with the x-rap and fish on, another trout. I could not catch a trout on the 17mr to save my life. I think it was partly due to the dirty water and the x-rap's deeper running depth.

I picked up a few more lady fish and a couple of trout as I moved north but the bit petered out so I headed back south to where I had found the trout. I made a long cast with the x-rap and I didn't make two cranks on the reel and the plug got smashed. The rod bent over and I started loosing line! I thought "this is gona be a heck of a trout!" When I got the fish near the boat I got to see him boil up and saw the spots on his side...trout! The next time the fish came to the top I saw a much bigger fish with a side that looked 6-7 inched wide but it had no spots?? "What the heck was that?" The next thing I know the fish boils up again beside the boat and I've got about a 10lb. sail cat on the front hook and a 17" trout on the rear!! Unbelievable! I really did not know just what to do....the cat was to big for me to grab and I did not want to loose the trout. About that time the fish solved the problem and broke me off. The last I saw them, they were headed down still hooked to the x-rap. Damn the luck! That was a brand new plug.

It looks like This new X-Rap is going to be a winner!

Since that was my one and only xrap and the bite had slowed to a trickle I decided to head for the hill.

It was pretty much my designated quit time anyhow.

I ended up hooking about 8 trout and 30 or so ladyfish. Only 3 of the trout would measure and I had lost all three of them. $35-40 in fuel to get down there and back and I had nothing for the supper table.

That cat trying to eat my trout and hooking both of them at one time made for quite a memory though.

Tight Lines, Larry S.

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Halifax - Daytona Beach

Fri & Sat. July 1&2, 2011
Moon - new moon on Fri.

M.F.= 11:40 am
Temp.: Low 73, 89 h.
wind: light winds (east on sat)

pressure: 30.03 (Steady)
humidity:83% -65-100%
rain: 0

Sunny

 

 

 

Dad has been working on the trout and redfish in the Halifax the last couple weeks. He has caught up to 8 reds in a trip and another trip close to 20 trout were hooked up.  He's been catching at least a few trout every trip so we made a plan for an after dark trip  Friday and again on Saturday.

 

I really felt like we were going to work them over but it was SLOW! We only caught one 17" +/- trout on Friday night and zero on Saturday night. We were able to supplement the catch with some redfish so we weren't skunked.

 

Firday night we boated (5) reds, (1) trout and a few ladyfish. We kept (2) 19" reds and the trout that trip.

 

Saturday the tide was slow to change and was weak in flow. We finally managed to catch (3) reds well after dark between 9:30-10:30. Two were short but one was a nice 25" fish that got to take a ride in my chevy. We also had 4-5 ladyfish but no trout.

 

 

 

We fished with live shrimp on both trips both under a cork and carolina riged on the bottom around the docks. We had caught some nice crokers and fished them a little but had no takers.

 

One other unusual thing happened when I snagged a stingray in the top of the head with a 17MR-18 MirrOdine. I thought I had something good until I got him near the boat and he stopped and hugged the bottom. I knew something was up when that happened but I sure was not expecting to see a ray on my plug.

 

 

 

Part of our time both nights was wasted waiting on the tide to get going. I really don't prefer to fish the tail end of the outgoing and beginning of the in coming but that's what we had so we made the best of it.

 

I did not take any pictures Friday night  but I did take a few saturday night. Here they are.

 

Crokers, trout love them!

 

 

Larry S.