SSSSLLLLOOOOOWWWWWW

5.27.01
Tide: incoming
Water Temp: 81
Warm and humid morning

Went out this morn trying to get some water time before the Memorial Day weekenders hit the water.

I wanted to go out in front of Piney Island and try to get some reds to eat some topwater.

It sure looked promising as I slid the boat into the water at Rock Landing.

I got plenty of casting practice.  Only had one half hearted boil on the bonkadonk.

The wind started picking up, so I decided to finish in the harbor and try to pull a red from one of the docks inside the harbor.  

I pitched up under on of the cat sailboats and my line moved off.

I set the hook on this nice 18" trout.  That was a surprise.  He was gonna go back in the water, but he inhaled the little jig.  So, into the cooler the fish went for a future dining experience.

I pitched about all the docks in the harbor.

This was the only bite and only fish I caught.  

Now that is what I call slow.

It seemed dead out on the water today.  Maybe it is the quickly rising water temps.

Lanark Dock Pitching

5.26.11
Tide: Incoming
Water: Clear, 82 Deg.
Sunny and warm (what else?)

Headed down to Lanark on a solo trip this morning.  Figure I would try the incoming tide for reds.  If I fell out of the boat I could wade to shore.

The water is very clear there, very pretty and lots of weeds.

I started at the FSU marine lab.  While there was a TON of bait there, I couldn't get anything to bite.

So as it got closer to high tide, I figured I would do the ol' Lanier method.
I tied on an 1/8 jig head and a gulp shrimp and started fishing covered docks.  While there aren't many, I did manage to find a few.

I caught three of these guys off one dock.  15-16 inches, not big, but nice fighters.

I caught another one a few docks down the shoreline.

I'm sure there are bigger ones around, but the water temp is now 82 degrees.  Just last week it was 74 degrees.  I didn't see any trout.

I did see two tarpon roll just west of the FSU lab.  I also saw some guides out on bird island polling along.  So, I'm assuming they are targeting the early tarpon.  Might have to get in on that next week after the crazies leave the water after Memorial Day.

Catching Up at Lanark and the OR

5.26-5.28.11
Water 72 degrees
Wind, light

Well we finally got back home after traveling with the Rhode College Lynx baseball team this winter/spring.

Hunter, Charlotte, Nancy and I decided to try Lanark for some new water fishing.  As it usually goes when fishing a new area we had mixed results.

Charlotte had the most luck, whether it was having a fish spool her on the beach at Dog Island or catching dinner on the grass flats a Lanark, she was in the mix most of the time.

We ran from the beach at Dog Island to the barge 5 miles out and back to the flats off 98 and didn't do real well.  We hit a low tide most of the day and the water wasn't moving too well.  So, that's my excuse.  

We hit the water Friday morning and had some decent results here at the OR mouth.

This last picture shows Hunter with the first fish he caught with his new Loomis rod and Stradic reel he got for his graduation.  (Thanks Nick). Well, it's the first fish he caught that he will claim.  It seems I remember some ladyfish and some blue runners in the mix that may have been the first fish caught on the set up.

Doug came up and we put together a nice evening trip on the bars in the river.  They were eating the lead heads with gulp pretty well.

This picture was the last cast.  What a battle in the swift outgoing tide.

Doug and I planned a trip Saturday morning that included a stop at 2 flat, Ochlockonee shoals, 24 marker, and the cobia run. This run was jinxed from the start as a wire came loose from the depthfinder.
As we stopped at 2 flat and as I was fixing the wire all I could hear was Doug saying got him, missed him, got him, $%#&.  Oh, the last quote was mine.

He was banging the spanish on top on the bonkadonk.

Little did we know this would be as good as it got Saturday.
I broke a rod tip, had my good jerkbaits bitten off, and mostly removed the green slime that is growing in the waters near shore to off shore.  What the heck is up with that stuff?  It makes it very difficult to fish about any bait/lure.

Oh well, we got to smoke some filtered Swisher Sweets, what a treat.

Nice to get back out and fish again.  Will be settling in now, and be more consistent on my posts and hopefully on my fishing results.

Graduation Party Quick Pics at Horseshoe Lake

5.19-5.22.11

We came up for Hunter's graduation from Rhodes college.  Had the whole clan in from Texas, Ohio, Florida and Maryland.

It was cool, cloudy and windy during the days at the Shoe, but we managed to wander out on the dock.  We caught quite a few crappie for the conditions, but a couple of good ones were brought in like these below.

Both of these were caught with the ol' tube jig and a chartreuse crappie nibble.  Those things are dynamite.

We did real well as bank trash up on the Shoe.  I can only imagine how well you can load the boat if you had one.  I probably will never fish there again, but the folks in that area should be happy they have such a good lake near a major metropolitan area.

Oh, I saw the alligator picture of the big lizard in the canal on the east side of the lake across from the house we were staying.  Mamas don't let yer babies go swimmin'!

Quick Trip

5.11.2011
Water temp: 79 deg
Tide: high
Air: high 70's

I got out for a quick trip and headed for the flat near the clam bar.
I wanted to try some of the Gambler Big EZ swimbaits that I had used at the Big O this past winter.
I found some big weighted 8/0 swimbait hooks and thought I could lure up some bigger trout is they were out there.
I expected to see the glass minnows out on the flat, but with the chop and the lack of birds I don't think they were there in any abundance.
But, I first picked up my old reliable bait, the XPS jerkbait and on the first pass I nailed this 19 Inch trout.

After determining there were some fish present after this catch, I committed to the Big EZ.  I was fishing it on Suffix 30 lb. braid with a 30 lb. leader in case some spanish wanted to take it from me.

On the first cast I had this beautiful trout just clobber the Big EZ in copperfield color.

This fish had some nice big shoulders and measured 22 inches.  

I had two other fish one and one follower that committed to the bait.  But, being kind of lazy, I tried swinging in the boat the ones I had hooked and the pulled off.

It was a very successful start to an experiment that worked.