Florida Fishing Reports

AUGUST 27 – JACKS – SNAPPERS – TROUT – SNOOK – FISH APLENTY

Have been fishing in the early morning and late evening and it’s been pretty darn good. As long as you avoid getting electrocuted by the massive thunderstorms there’s a grip of fish out there. I’ve tuned into some hot spots and have caught a whole array of sea life.   I even caught a black drum which I’d never even seen in my local waters prior to this encounter. From dock lights to aimless drifting, once you tune into where the fish are it’s non stop catching. Report forthcoming.

This is not actually a harbor in Maine like it says…In fact, it’s now a big pile of rubble in Sarasota…


They wily black drum. I’d never caught one of these before and was happy to add him to the species list. Now all I need is a whale shark, monkfish and a coelacanth and I can retire from fishing and move on to big game hunting in Africa. This probably will happen in September. That’s when the coelacanths are in the intercoastal…


The elusive Sarasota catfish. A rare and cagey breed highly desired by sportsmen around the globe. I bet you guys in Alaska are dying to come down here and catch some of these beauties. Beware! Their poison spines are second only to their laser vision and spitting venom in terms of anglin’ danger! Truly a fine catch. Accolades to me.


There are SO many trout around right now. They’re everywhere and up to about 18 inches.


Mangrove snappers are the finest eating fish in the sea, besides pompano and steak.


This lure really produced. It doesn’t have much “wiggle” but everything was chewing these up. I had to bite the top off to get the jig to sit in there properly which is pretty nasty but, hey, I’m fishing and therefore things that are normally unacceptably gross are suddenly ok. Like throwing a cast net full of 3 week old greenbacks. Like reaching your hand into a hot bag of gulps. Like running ladyfish slime through your hair and laughing like you’re insane and talking to the fish and… You DON’T do that? Oh. Ok. My bad. Anyhow…biting the tip off really does work.


I’m not sure why this heron was standing on one leg. Maybe he had worked out earlier and was sore. Perhaps some hippies can shed some light on this behavior… He stood there for quite awhile. Fricking goofball heron…


This heron is behaving in a more traditional manner. I really like this shot because its so peaceful. What you can’t see in this picture is the loud fart I’m about to crack. HA! Take that nature boy!


This is primo snook habitat! I’ve caught some really nice fish here.


Wide open jack fishing right now. The lure can barely touch the water before getting exploded on. That is a really fun kind of fishing. Jacks drag you all around the bay. I was fishing in front of a house throwing a cocktail party and you could tell that all the dudes were dying to get out there. It’s my favorite kind of fishing.


Jack at sunset. I was using the strike king jerkbaits in ivory. Those are the ultimate lures for catching tons of fish because they are indestructable. They never snap or lose a tail, they just get kind of fuzzy, which the fish really seem to like. I also think white is the best color, period, end of story, for all conditions. High visability but still looks like a fish, not some chernobyl refugee.


You can see the magic lure hanging out here


This is when the fishing gets really good. This is also about 25 minutes before they alert your next of kin how good the fishing must’ve been.


This is primo jack fishing, right here… Hippies also will have something to keep them busy. Everybody wins here.

 
Are you serious? This is one lucky fish.


So, this story needs to be told. I’m coming back after sunset and catching fish everywhere. I’m catching short snook after snook under the docklights and finally I get to the best docklight in history. I lightly cast out and finally hook a serious gill rattling big snook. We tussle and the hook pulls next to the boat. The lure flies by my ear and completely wraps itself around the other pole, and I mean completely. I’m having the best snook fishing in months and I’ve managed to incapaciate not one rod but both that I’d brought. I seriously had to cut both lines and start over. After I’d stopped crying and pouting I managed to catch a few more fish but the magic had passed. That’s how it’s done. You don’t want to catch em’ all. Conservation minded anglers know it’s important to tangle all your gear into a tight ball right when the fishing gets really good.

Ladyfish were running through the lights too. This is a pretty big ladyfish…


Here’s a snook. These were all over the place after sunset. I had to stay FAR out from the lights to avoid spooking them. It’s easy to ruin a good light by getting too close.


A final hippy shot for you, starbeam! Now go wash your feet. I mean it.

_________________
http://www.hornetbear.com
“When I found the skull in the woods, I called the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns.”
- Jack Handy

AUG 13 – SLAM – WIDE OPEN FISHING – REDS – SNOOK – TROUT

Hey dudes and dudettes. I’ve been night fishing and it’s been pretty amazing. The heat of the day dissipates and the fishing really turns on. Just plain old wide open fishing, non stop. Fish jumping in the boat, monster fish spooked in 8 inches of water, can’t stop catching ladyfish good. The tides have been ripping and when you get to the spots where there’s some flow, lookout. It’s pretty crazy, actually. You start out and the water is completely still. Paddle about a mile to a narrow spot in the intercoastal and…blam. Fish everywhere.

A quick note about dock lights. Dock lights here are tough to fish with lures. In my experience, these snook usually are fat and happy. A little glow in the dark piece of plastic is a hard sell. You’ll get some half hearted strikes but, really, the legend of just pulling snook after snook up from beneath the lights is just that, a fantasy. The reality is the little buggers are easy to spook and surrounded with perfect little shrimp to eat. Hucking and chumming white bait works, of course, but that’s really not very sporting. Chumming for snook is easy. If I ran a charter I'd do it all day long. Fat Jimmy Johnson from Newark needs to catch a fish... However, as a sportsman from Sarasota, I refrain.

I know the snook lights within a mile of my house well and, man, it’s hard work to pull a snook out. You basically get 1-3 chances to present your lures and then its pencils down, they’re on to you, move on.

Headed out at sunset… tide was medium, zipping out, heading to an extreme low @ midnight. Wind was out of the north/variable @ about 10 knots. I headed out and went straight to my spot where the tide moves the fastest. Hooked up right away and there was a ton of surface action. It was mostly ladyfish (I think) but I caught a potpourri of fishes and quickly rang up an inshore slam. The wind and the tide were balanced almost perfectly and I was able to just sit in the same spot without drifting or even changing position. I moved around from boil to boil catching fish everywhere. 

Well. Lets get to it.

Hippy! Front and center! This picture is crazier than that time you were camping in Oregon and found that driftwood that looked like Jerry Garcia riding on a giraffe! Check it out.


This is a hot spot for snook. Don’t paddle under it, though. I predict the whole thing will be just below sea level in about 2 months. A couple weeks ago it didn’t look like this. It’s so decrepit that I don’t like to get close to it. You can watch it slump more and cave in more every day. I’ll start taking pictures of it and we can have a marina collapse pool. I’m predicting hurricane Helene, Sept 25 takes her out. Place your bets!


Redfish! Caught a bunch of these up to about 20 inches. They were hitting right on the surface, shouldering the ladyfish out of the way. It was hard to catch big fish because there were so many small, angry fish.


Terpo! On the davits! You’re for real. Don’t forget your friends. You’d never get this photo because it’s your boat. I love that hull style.


Wouldn't be a fishing report without a catfish...


Mangrove snappers were freaking everywhere too. I caught one that had to be about 3 inches long. I should’ve kept them because there were so many. Cleaning fish at 1:30 AM in the dark with mosquitos is just not worth it.


Hey hippy! The compost pile is doing fine and your ladybugs seem to be controlling the aphids. Now look at this freaking photo! I know. I know. The channel marker is manmade. But otherwise it’s nice, right? Play your pan flute to indicate “yes.”


Mirrolure. I like this little lure. It’s a suspending one and though I like the auditory gratification of night fishing with a topwater, this one really catches fish. Same lure was catching snook under dock lights. Solid.


Hippy shots are where you find them. This ladyfish was crawling with hippy mojo.


Snook on a glow shrimp under a docklight. Imagine, if you will, about 20 slot fish all stacked up and Lil’ Dummy here goes for the lure. The big ones are wayyyy beyond this. That’s how they got big.


This is an awesome snook light. It’s amazing, really. Some lights only have mullet. Some are empty. Some are always teeming with snook. This one makes sense to me but many seem to have no rhyme or reason.


Redfish under the lights. This lure had no tail to speak of and still was catching fish. The puppetmaster doesn’t need no stinkin’ tails.


The ladyfish were everywhere and pretty big. I love catching fish. People say they would fish all day and only want to catch one fish if it's a good one. I disagree. I love steady action. Call me crazy.


Caught a bunch of these too. This was a pretty typical one. Had a couple big ones shake off next to the boat. Trouts have soft mouths. You can’t horse them.


Fun night fishing but I’m ready for fall. That’s the best time to be a fisherman in SW Florida or anywhere (besides Antartcia). Gets cooler and all the fish have been getting big all summer. Bring it on.
_________________
http://www.hornetbear.com
“When I found the skull in the woods, I called the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns.”
- Jack Handy

AUG 4 AND 5 - DOCKLIGHTS - SNOOK - REDFISH

I finally got out to do a little night fishing. I left at sunset and at about an hour after dark, the sealife was unbelievable. Big shrimp were everywhere being chased airborne by ladyfish and snook. Amazingly, I had a shrimp jump into the kayak with me. Bait and mullet were all over the place getting pulverized.

Suffice it to say, the fishing was pretty good.


I started out in the middle of the bay fishing along a long oyster bar. This proved to be good only for ladyfish. The sunset was spectacular and the forecast rain had held off.

Hippies and meat fishermen alike will be pleased with this nature filled report


Moon Rise & sunset


Ladyfish and moon.


Caught a fish right here.


Sweet.


The size of the shrimp that were jumping all around…


I rigged the shrimp up on the jig I was using and caught this…


Hows this picture of a snook crushing a shrimp?


I caught a redfish and a bluefish after that. The snook really weren’t interested in the lures and that ladyfish got the shrimp. Had a few fish release next to the boat. I should’ve brought a dip net for the shrimp.

There were probably 15 snook hanging around.


Look at all the bait…


You know you love it.

Dock lights really draw fish in. I also find that the places with dock lights that are on at night tend to be good fishing during the day as well.

--- ADDENDUM --- THE NEXT EVENING ---

I had a little time to fish and I had to roll up right on the same spot. I had cased it pretty well the night before and I quietly slid up to the light. I really don't think those fish had any idea I was there.

I threw a gulp grub and got nothing. I slipped away pretty bummed. I fished some other lights holding fish and had a few shakeoffs. They might have been oysters... Anyhow, I came back to the light and threw a mirrolure and got a WAY better reaction. It was a suspending one and I watched it come through the light. I was fishing it pretty slow and finally was able to get something going!

Yes! This rules.


Mirrorlure glass minnow. The new one. Outperformed Gulps radically tonight.


I think the biggest difference tonight was stealth. Once you spook them, it doesn't matter what you throw. I was quiet and the wind was offshore, which pushes you away from the fish not into them. On the way back I was paddling over a shallow flat and, just to show how active the bay is right now, a mullet jumps into the kayak with me. Amazing.

Thats 2 suicide attempts! A shrimp (who actually succeeded) and this mullet trying to get into the smoker!


The hard bait really worked tonight. I almost didnt even try to use it. You never know.
_________________
http://www.hornetbear.com
“When I found the skull in the woods, I called the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns.”
- Jack Handy

Last edited by Hornetbear on Sat Aug 05, 2006 10:28 pm; edited 1 time in total