Fishing Report - Jack Crevalle, Trout, Sheepshead, Mangrove Snapper 8-25-12

.
Tide: fished last of incoming then beginning of Out-going
Time Fished: 7:00 am - 10:00m
M.F.-6:20 AM
Partly Cloudy
Wind: NE at 8-12 mph

Other Observations: The water was pretty clear coming in but one it started out it turned red brown from the freshwater runoff. It does not seem to be bothering the fish.

Catch:
-(1) Jacks Crevalle
-(0) Trout  (3 Trout short strikes)
-(4) Mangrove Snapper
-(2) Sheepshead, small

Though I got into some pretty good action with dad Friday morning in Ormond, I couldn't stop thinking about the great top water bit that I found up near Marineland the morning before. My plan was to be on the water about daylight and work them over before the bite turned off.

Unfortunately, the fish were not striking bait on top like I had hoped . In fact I saw only a little top water striking action but I managed to get a good bit of attention on my 5M51 MirrOlure. I had three trout strikes where the trout came completely out of the water. I caught a Jack first thing and had one real good fish on that ran for deep water and really pulled, only to tear off 10 feet from the boat.

I had another 4-5 fish on that came off pretty quick and a number of other strikes and follows.

Though I love to fish top water I have to admit that you will not catch nearly as many fish that you will sub-surface. That's just the way it is. Many end up foul hooked outside the mouth and end up tearing off the hook.

I did catch 3-4 Mangrove Snapper and 2 sheepshead on fiddler crabs but all were small and below the legal minimum so they received a stay of execution.

 

 

One more interesting thing was the Ribbon fish were still around and I got to see them chasing bait and leaping completely out of the water. I clipped a photo out of the video of a ribbon fish in mid air. Pretty wild!

There is a ton of bait in the river right now and it looks like there is no shortage of fish feeding on them.

The wind was a pain in the neck but all in all it was a decent trip.

 Trout strike that also missed the plug!

 

 Trout strike, jumped completely over the plug! Never even touched it!

Larry S.

Fishing Report - Sheepshead- Mangrove Snapper 8-21-12

.
Tide: Tail end of Out-going (almost low)
Time Fished: 8:30 am - 11:00m
M.F.-2:55 PM
Sunny
Wind: SW at 2-5 mph

Other Observations: The water still looks like tea from the tanic acid runoff from all the rain we have been having? tide was almost bottomed out when I started fishing and I had to fish through a slack tide so the timing was poor to say the least.

Catch:
-(4) Pinfish?
-(6) sheepshead, all just under legal size at 11".
-(4) small mangrove snapper, one just legal.

Again this morning I started off looking for pogy schools at the beach but came up empty so I headed to try some sheepshead.

The tide was real low so catching fiddler crabs was no problem.

However, it was right at the bottom of the tide and I had to fish through a slack tide hoping the bite would pick up after it changed. The fish never really fed very strong and I only ended up catching 6 sheepshead. that would have been great except they were all just a grunt under sized. They looked like they were all out of the same mold. Don't know where the big one were.

Also caught some small mangrove snappers but that was about it, nothing to get excited about.

It sure was a pretty morning on the water.....slick calm and no wind early. A fish striking some finger mullet along the rocks got me wishing I was plugging in the flats. It will be a few days before the tide is right for that.

Here's some pic.'s of the little scrappers!

Larry S.

Sheepshead trip - Ponce Inlet 11-24-11

.
I have not been able to add to much to the blog lately as it's huntin' season and I'm afraid that takes precedent over fishing for me. However, dad talked me into going sheepshead fishing after he had some pretty good action a few days ago. I think he had caught over 15 off some docks he likes to fish near the inlet at Ponce. He also had one big drum about 8lb.

The only problem on our trip was the tide was extremely high and strong. It was so high it was over the dock at the lighthouse launch. The tide was so strong even a 2oz. lead would not come close to being able to keep your bait alongside the dock pilings. The other issue and probably the real problem was the passing front. It had apparently knocked the bite off to a dribble.

The weather was partly cloudy and pretty windy. forcast was for NNE @ 15-20 mph but it was not quite that strong. The high was about 73 and the pressure was 30.2. Apparently the small front had passed thru late in the afternoon the day before.

We had some crabs and shrimp for bait. Dad had even caught a few on barnacles he scraped off the piles on the last trip.

We caught a total of (4) sheepshead (2) black drum a big pigfish and a pile of bait stealing pinfish. I even caught a spot tail pinfish which Dad nor I had ever seen before.

Spot tail Pinfish!

The sheepshead were all just undersize and we were not able to put a keeper in the boat. Given the poor bite I guess we did o.k..

The drum was the big catch for the day. He was about 7lb. and I caught him under  a dock on a piece of fresh dead shrimp. The other drum I caught was just undersize so he got a reprieve and made it back over board.

7lb. Black Drum!

The only problem with fishing with shrimp is the bait stealing pinfish. If the big fish are feeding the pin fish are not as much of an issue but when the bite is slow, look out. Of course, If you have fished for sheepshead much you know they don't really like shrimp that well. You will catch a few on them but you'll catch 10 to 1 with crabs.  One more tip, keep a tight line and when you feel the first bite you better set the hook hard. Don't give him any slack either.

As soon as this weather settles out a little the bite should pick back up.

Good luck,
Larry S.

Fishing Report 6/25/11 - Marineland

.
Marineland, Florida
Sat.  June 25, 2011
Moon - 2 days past last quarter
M.F.=  7:00 am
Temp.: Low 73,  86 h.
wind: variable@ 5-8mph (it was up and down, it would lay then change directions)
pressure: 29.98

humidity: 83% -66-100%   

rain: 2 1/4" last night and 1 3/4" this afternoon

Partly to mostly cloudy & building into the afternoon

 

After giving my self some time to heal up from the kayak fishing tournament last weekend I decided to try some sheepshead fishing for a change, up around Marineland.

 

The first order of business was to catch some bait. I stopped at the beach on the way to round up some sand fleas. I didn't have any kind of sifter so I just used a shovel and dumped it up on the hard beach to catch the fleas. It took a while but I caught 3 dozen or so and headed north.

 

There were a pile of pelicans diving bait way out but I could not see what kind of bait it was with the cloud cover.

 

I also caught up some fiddler crabs after I launched to go with my fleas.

 

 

The tide was supposed to full about 7 AM so it was about half out by the time I got there. That was not really the plan but it took well over an hour to catch the fleas.

 

My first fish came pretty quick but I was surprised to see a small Gag Grouper when I got him to the boat. I was only in 3 feet of water when I caught him.

 

 

I was getting a few bites starting out but they were all a little short. I finally caught a good sheepshead after a while but he would be the first and last for this day. I did have one other one that was just about 12" but I turned him loose.

 

There is some kind of major construction project going on in the river right now and there are some big barges and dredges anchored everywhere. There are some large pipes on the west side of the river and it looks like they are dredging a pipe line in of some sort. The water is pretty muddy looking and I suspect this did not help my fishing outcome.

 

That's pretty much the report for now. (1) grouper, (5) sheepshead

 

 

Larry S.

Fishing Report 6/9/11 - Pellicer Flats

.
Pellicer Fishing Report
Thurs.  June 9, 2011
Moon - first quarter today
M.F.=  5:30 pm
Temp.:  low 80's
Wind: E @ 10-15
pressure: steady (high)
Humidity:   

Rain: 0

Sunny

(2) redfish

(5) sheepshead

(1) pinfish

(1) ?fish

I checked my tide table today and realized the tide was going to be good this afternoon at Pellicer so I loaded up, put the closed sign on the door and headed for the river.

As soon as I got to the beach I spotted a pogy pod at the back of the mud line in the surf. Their finally here! I did not see any tarpon or other big strikes in them but it won't be long. I probably saw 7-8 pods north of hwy 100. I pulled over to watch one larger bunch and saw something really big strike in the breakers. It put water 3-4ft. in the air! I'm about to be all over this!

Well, my plan was to get to the river before the tide fulled so I could still catch a few fiddler crabs and try to catch a few sheepshead before paddling for the flats for some top water action.

I spent about a half hour to catch 3 dozen or so fiddlers and paddled over to fish some piles. There did not seem to be to many keeper sheepies in the area. I caught 5 but only 2 were decent keepers and guess which two got off right at the boat. I caught an odd fish that I'm not sure the name of and a few pin fish. I did put a short redfish in the boat that put up a good little fight.

By 8:00 I had used the last of my fiddler crabs so I hauled but for the closest cut to get me to the flats.

I really think I messed up staying so long at the sheepshead spot. I should have left there by 7:00 to give me time to fish the flats. As it was, I only had time to fish the cut and it was almost dark by the time I reached the edge of the flats.

There was a pile of bait, mostly finger mullet but I did see some small birds diving glass minnows on the way in over a deep hole. There was several surface strikes on the way in. When I reached a point in the creek where it splits off in several directions I saw a fish strike some bait on the surface just out of casting distance on the opposite bank and across from a point where I caught a decent trout on the last trip. I made sever more casts and then took a couple strokes to nose the yak onto a shallow mud shoal where I could cast to where I saw the strike. My cast was a bit short of where I wanted it but about the third time I sloshed the old 5m18 mirrorlure an explosions erupted from under my plug and the fight was on. The fish dove for the bottom but the cut was narrow and he had little room to run. I really thought I had a big gator trout on but after about 5 minute or so I finally got to see a big blue tail with a spot come boiling up.....Oh man, big red! Well, I got the fish in the boat and he was a beauty to behold as Capt. Ricky would say! 27" of of line stretching mean. There is no fishing more exciting than seeing a big predator strike a top water plug like that. I can not get enough of that!

It was a good thing he was pretty much right at the upper end of the slot as releasing him was not an option.....he had inhaled the plug and the tail treble was in his stomach. His fate was sealed.

I cut the line and quickly tied a white back floater on and keep going. Just before I got to the flat I spotted some action at the edge of an oyster bar just at the end of casting distance. I fired off a long one and just caught the edge of the oysters and couldn't flip it off.....hung! I started to paddle over when a fish struck along the deep side of the cut to my right. I free spooled the hung line, grabbed another rod and flipped a twitch bait to him. He hit it but did not get hooked. I made a second cast but it was long and hung in the mangrove.....now I've got one rod hung up on the left and one on the right! While trying to get the plug out of the bush the spinning rod in the back rod holder got hung up.......!#*!$!*&@! What the hell! How can one man in a kayak get 3 rod all hung up at the same time?

By the time I got all that mess straightened out it was pretty much over. I went ahead and paddled for the long oyster bar I wanted to fish, hoping I might pick off a trout before hard dark. No luck but there was a tremendous amount of bait and I really feel had I been there an hour earlier I would have been on some fish.

The tide will be perfect tomorrow night! I think I'll just have to go back. 

Here's a few little one to look at!

Larry S.

If your looking for a great top water plug that 5m18 Mirrorlure is the ticket! It also works better than the "walk the dog" plugs like the Skitterwalk in a light chop. I can't tell you how many fish I've caught on this thing but I promise you it's considerable. Here's a link for more info. 5m18 Mirrorlure. I always pull the front spinner off myself.

Fishing Report 6/3/11 - Pellicer-intracoastal waterway

.
Pellicer Fishing Report
Sun.  June 3, 2011
Moon - 2 days after new moon
M.F.=  1:05 pm
Temp.:  low 80's
Wind: E @ 5-10
pressure: steady (high)

Humidity:   

Rain: 0

Sunny

 

I made another trip back to the sheepshead hole this afternoon. The tide was dead low by the time I caught bait (fiddler crabs) and got in the water and I fished the slack tide and beginning of the in coming. Less than the ideal time to be there but once it started coming in good I would have thought I would have been able to catch a few more than I did.

 

 

 

I put one nice one in the boat and had another one that felt bigger than this on that got around a pile and cut me off. I hate it when that happens! I missed a bunch of bites but I'm thinking many of them were pin fish. I stuck a couple others that were on for just a second.

 

That pretty much wrapped it up for that little afternoon trip. Not to exciting but I didn't get skunked!

 

 

 

Larry S.

Fishing Report 5/29/11 - Pellicer Sheepshead (Part Two)

.
Pellicer Fishing Report
Sun.  May 29, 2011
Moon - 3 days to new moon
M.F.=  8:55 am
Temp.:  72 L-82 H. (felt hotter to me)
wind: E @ 0-7AM-10-9AM  mph, (light winds early) steady at 10 mph after 9am
pressure: 30.08

Humidity: 73 avg.(60-91)  

Rain: 0

Sunny

I made the mistake of thinking I would go back after some more of that sheepshead action at pellicer this morning. The boat traffic was unbelievable!!! The Palm Coast Navy was out in full force. It was one boat after another, after another, after another.......I've never seen the boat traffic so bad. I decided to leave around 2:30 before they all started back in...best decision I made all day.

Well, I did manage to catch about 8 of those little bait stealer's but it was a struggle and they were smaller than the fish I caught on Friday. I have a little trick I'm gona put on em' next trip....we'll see how that works!

The tide was still comin' up when I got there so I had a little trouble catchin' some crabs but I wrangled up enough to get started. After the tide started out I had to go catch some more and I had one bucket of fine bait. Too bad the fishin' was so slow.

That's fiddler crabs all around the boat!

There has been a bunch of dolphins feeding on mullet here and one of them bastards snuck up behind me and damn near jumped in the boat with me. A little spooky when something moves that much water so close to your plastic boat! I saw another one actually chase a 12" mullet into the air and grab it right out of the air about 30yds in front of my yak as I was paddling back to the hill.

That was pretty much the story....a little slow but I put enough fish in the boat to make a couple messes.

Larry S. 

Fishing Report, Pellicer, 5/27/11

.
Pellicer Fishing Report
Fri.  May 27, 2011
Moon - 3 days past Last Quarter
M.F.=  7:35 am
Temp.:  71 L-88 H.
wind: SSE @ 4/7AM-15/2PM  mph, (light winds early)
pressure: 29.95

Humidity: 79 avg.(61-94)  

Rain: Rain started just after 2:00pm

Sunny

I went back to Pellicer this morning. When I arrived the tide was still coming in and never got very high. I don't know just what time it changed as I was on the flat but I believe it was around 7:30-8:00 AM. I pretty much fished the worst tide conditions, very tail end of the outgoing and the slack tide. On top of that there were no less than 5 boats all trying to fish the small flat. By 8:30 the action was so slow I decided to paddle out.

I knew the tide would not be exactly right but I wanted to fish so fish I did. Pretty much all I did was fish, there was little catching involved! I  did pick up a short red in the cut on the way in to the flats. I noticed a small bait leap out of the water in the middle of the shallow cut. It was not a bait you normally see jump so I new something had chased it to the top! I grabbed my jig rod and made a cast to the spot. About 3 seconds later I had the red on the other end of a tight line. It's important when your fishing shallow water to always be paying attention to what is going on around you, ready to capitalize on any opportunities that may present themselves.

That would have been the end of a rather poor trip but for one thing. I had noticed some fiddler crabs on an exposed mud bank on the way in and I stopped and caught a half dozen or so, without any real plan for them.

There are a few pilings that I typically pass on the way to the flats and one day last year with the sun high in the sky I came paddling by real close to the piles and I could see some sheepshead hanging around them. Well, I had a rod rigged for bait so I put a couple crabs on and dropped them in tight to one of the piles. It instantly drew a bite but I missed him. I re-baited and slipped it back in and caught a big pin fish. I put my last two crabs on and they were stolen immediately....never even felt him.

I thought that was pretty interesting and I might be on to something. I paddled over to a sand beach that was exposed from the falling tide and had an oyster bar beside it. There was an army of fiddler crabs there and I chased down about 3 dozen or so in the oysters. I paid for them in blood however.... I cut the heck out of my fingers flipping oysters.

I paddled back over to the pilings and it was on. It was difficult to keep the yak in position and fish so close to the pile. Who knows how many I ran off when the wind or boat wake pushed me in to close to the piles. However, before it was over I put 8 or 10 stripped bandits and one real nice 24" redfish in the boat. I lost at least 3 real nice ones also.  A couple pulled so hard on my medium action Ugly stick it felt like they were going to break it.

The fiddler crab idea turned a sows ear into a silk purse and I came home with some nice fish. Had I started off fishing like this I feel like I would have had a limit.

My gear today was an Okuma Epixor 30 spinning reel, 6'6" medium action UglyStick rod, 30lb power pro with a 17lb mono leader and 2/0 eagle claw bait hook. I was using a small cork as well due to the kayak and difficulty trying to hold a position. Had I been in a regular boat or maybe if I had brought my anchor I would probably have just free lined straight down, no cork. I think I would like to use a bronze hook but I have to look into what is available. Sheepshead can be shy to bite. A bronze hook would blend in to the crab legs though the shinny silver Eagle Claws did not seem to bother them this day.

The Okuma is a great little reel for the money. Here's a link with more info. : Okuma Epixor, I also like the low stretch of the power pro for this kind of fishing.: Power Pro, The ugle stick stick rod is also one of my favorite rods for the money and has a great warranty: Ugly Stick rod.

Here's some pictures of em'. Even got a couple action shots for ya!

That's a nice sheepshead there! Look at the stickers on his back!

This 24" red fell to a little fiddler crab!

This one was a little short but he sure was pretty!

Another real nice bait steeler!

I found this stone crab flipping oysters while catching fibbler crabs,

Don't let this guy catch your finger!

Mangrove roots, you don't see many grow this way up here.

Another short one.

Man, that one was stretching my line!

 I had fish everywhere... forgot to bring a stringer!

That's a low tide! I made it out just before the rain.