I ran to the beach yesterday to scout for bait around 6 PM.
I only checked the North end but I did find some flipping bait pretty much all the way up. It appeared to be pretty small schools and not bunched up. I could not see the schools in the water, I could only see them flash when they would flip.
They were a little to far out to see by eye, so as usual, I was glassing for them with my 10x36 Nikon's. Apparently, this type of activity attracts police attention! I was watching some bait to see if a fish would strike in them when something told me to look around. There in my rearview mirror sat a Flagler Beach Police Officer. I should add that I just happened to glassing in the direction of the only person on that part of the beach, a women in a red bikini! Perfect!
So.... the Officer comes up to my window and asks what I'm doing? Officer, I'm looking for pogies!" I explain. Of course he has no idea what the heck I'm talking about, (Guess he missed my Tarpon Quest article) I explain, it's a small bait fish that Tarpon and other fish feed on and I'm scouting for bait schools to fish. Lucky for me, while conducting his investigation he misses the fact I have no fishing poles!
Officer-"what are you looking for, I don't see anything but that girl in the red bikini? I thought you might be stalking her!" Unfortunately, for me, the bait is all of the sudden..... gone!
Me -"well....they were just there but they must have went down. I don't see any just now but what you want to look for is them flipping out of the water" There was nothing but flat surf as far as the eye could see, couldn't buy a flip out of a flippin' pogy!
I had to do some quick talkin'....explained the in's & out's of tarpon fishing, locating bait, etc. and over whelmed him with fishing procedure to the point that no pervert could have made up.
At one point I thought of asking if looking at half naked women on the beach with binoculars is illegal but I thought better of it and figured I better keep my mouth shut and leave well enough alone. That's just the kind of stunt my buddy Steve-O would pull. He' almost got me a full body search by the TSA once on a turkey hunting trip to Illinois. That's a story for another day!
But...... I had finally convinced the Officer I was on the up and up and saved myself from a ride down town in his black & white!
Would have had an even harder time explaining that one to my bride, Tammie!
Moral of the story.........Always have a plausible excuse ready when glassing girls in red bikini's at the beach!
That was a joke...I wouldn't do that!
Be careful out there!
Larry S.
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