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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