mar
03-31-2013, 04:49 PM
I was lucky enough to fish both weekend days this weekend. Went on a morning trip with my good luck charm yesterday. It's been awhile since we spent some time on the water. Nice and cool when we launched at dusk.
Got to our first stop and was greeted my this:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0271b_zps0bc64d9a.jpg
Threw the jumbo poledancer for a bit. Got a couple of swirls and a brief hook-up but no fish to hand. A solid hour of walking the dog with nothing to show for it. By this time, she was giving me hard time about my abilities to catch a fish. :D
Set the topwater stuff aside and fished deep. The tide was starting to go out and got the water moving at a decent speed. Got a couple of dink stripes right off the bat.
Then a decent hit further down and the fight was on:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0279b_zps5ebafd43.jpg
Nice little schoolie to hand:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0293b_zps55cda528.jpg
Three casts later:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0309b_zps7bae4f1c.jpg
And just like that, they were gone. One more dink after a few casts so off to the next spot. Run and gun to a couple of spots with only a few taps. One last stop before heading back to the launch ramp and had some decent action. Started off with a couple of decent schoolies tight to the bank.
Action was prettty steady for an hour or so:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0314b_zpsfff03f32.jpg
Healthy fish:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0344b_zpsc3d75928.jpg
Football-shaped:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0362b_zps3ed458be.jpg
Thanks for the dance:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0364b_zps640ba46c.jpg
A couple of these to top off the day:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0366b_zps2c068461.jpg
Another nice outing with the lovely wife. I don't ever recall a bad catching session whenever she's on board. Gotta take her with me more often.
However, the topwater bite was still in my head. I really needed to sneak out for a couple of hours this morning and get some redemption. Very little wind in the forecast, perfect early morning tide switch and lots of cloud cover. So I gave my wife a tap on the shoulder at 5 am this morning: "You want to fool around for a bit or should I go fishing?" :D
Launched the boat at 6:30 and was at the targeted spot in 20 minutes. The tide was still coming in, and the weatherman was dead on with the forecast.
Chucked the poledancer and within 4 casts, got a swirl and a miss. Looks like a repeat of the past two days. This can't be happening. But I persisted. Don't let it get in your head and just keep casting. Then a little 16-inch stripe charged it and it stuck. Finally! Confidence is high, blood is pumping and the casts are crispier.
Got a good cadence going and soon enough, another slightly bigger fish smacked it.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0396b_zpsaae67164.jpg
Now I'm in full topwater mode. A couple more swirls and another miss. Keep casting and walking the dog. Casted to little opening in the tullie that has a little eddy from the fast current. A huge fish blasted it. Didn't stick. Keep walking the dog....the fish charged it again 15 feet from the boat. This time it stuck. It headed straight to the tullies and broke off. Yowzer... Yelled out a few explitives, took a deep breath and chucked it again.
This time the tide has topped off. Made a cast to a wide flat adjacent to deeper water. One fish swirled and missed, almost immediately another one swirled and missed and within a spit second, the third fish inhaled it. As I was reeling it in, the other two swarmed around the hooked fish right next to the boat. That was cool:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0397b_zps3f15012d.jpg
Next spot was a shallow spot in front of a point. Made a cast, a couple of pops, big swirl and a miss. Kept walking the dog, the fish turned around and slurped it. What a cool take:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0408b_zps8c22451c.jpg
Nothing for the few minutes. Next active area was an almost identical flat spot in front of a point. This fish charged it and missed. Turned around and charged it again, took the poledancer underwater, fly came off, made one strip and fish smacked it again while the fly was still 6 inches underwater. This is fun:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0413b_zpsa14e2756.jpg
Last fish of the session. This time, this fish nailed it the first time, clearing the water, huge tail splash when it landed:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0415b_zps1c51a629.jpg
I was so amp'ed on the way back to the ramp that I barely missed this motor buster. Whew!
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0422b_zps08ffbcb9.jpg
Not a bad topwater session. Didn't even fish the clouser the whole time. :D
Got to our first stop and was greeted my this:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0271b_zps0bc64d9a.jpg
Threw the jumbo poledancer for a bit. Got a couple of swirls and a brief hook-up but no fish to hand. A solid hour of walking the dog with nothing to show for it. By this time, she was giving me hard time about my abilities to catch a fish. :D
Set the topwater stuff aside and fished deep. The tide was starting to go out and got the water moving at a decent speed. Got a couple of dink stripes right off the bat.
Then a decent hit further down and the fight was on:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0279b_zps5ebafd43.jpg
Nice little schoolie to hand:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0293b_zps55cda528.jpg
Three casts later:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0309b_zps7bae4f1c.jpg
And just like that, they were gone. One more dink after a few casts so off to the next spot. Run and gun to a couple of spots with only a few taps. One last stop before heading back to the launch ramp and had some decent action. Started off with a couple of decent schoolies tight to the bank.
Action was prettty steady for an hour or so:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0314b_zpsfff03f32.jpg
Healthy fish:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0344b_zpsc3d75928.jpg
Football-shaped:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0362b_zps3ed458be.jpg
Thanks for the dance:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0364b_zps640ba46c.jpg
A couple of these to top off the day:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0366b_zps2c068461.jpg
Another nice outing with the lovely wife. I don't ever recall a bad catching session whenever she's on board. Gotta take her with me more often.
However, the topwater bite was still in my head. I really needed to sneak out for a couple of hours this morning and get some redemption. Very little wind in the forecast, perfect early morning tide switch and lots of cloud cover. So I gave my wife a tap on the shoulder at 5 am this morning: "You want to fool around for a bit or should I go fishing?" :D
Launched the boat at 6:30 and was at the targeted spot in 20 minutes. The tide was still coming in, and the weatherman was dead on with the forecast.
Chucked the poledancer and within 4 casts, got a swirl and a miss. Looks like a repeat of the past two days. This can't be happening. But I persisted. Don't let it get in your head and just keep casting. Then a little 16-inch stripe charged it and it stuck. Finally! Confidence is high, blood is pumping and the casts are crispier.
Got a good cadence going and soon enough, another slightly bigger fish smacked it.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0396b_zpsaae67164.jpg
Now I'm in full topwater mode. A couple more swirls and another miss. Keep casting and walking the dog. Casted to little opening in the tullie that has a little eddy from the fast current. A huge fish blasted it. Didn't stick. Keep walking the dog....the fish charged it again 15 feet from the boat. This time it stuck. It headed straight to the tullies and broke off. Yowzer... Yelled out a few explitives, took a deep breath and chucked it again.
This time the tide has topped off. Made a cast to a wide flat adjacent to deeper water. One fish swirled and missed, almost immediately another one swirled and missed and within a spit second, the third fish inhaled it. As I was reeling it in, the other two swarmed around the hooked fish right next to the boat. That was cool:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0397b_zps3f15012d.jpg
Next spot was a shallow spot in front of a point. Made a cast, a couple of pops, big swirl and a miss. Kept walking the dog, the fish turned around and slurped it. What a cool take:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0408b_zps8c22451c.jpg
Nothing for the few minutes. Next active area was an almost identical flat spot in front of a point. This fish charged it and missed. Turned around and charged it again, took the poledancer underwater, fly came off, made one strip and fish smacked it again while the fly was still 6 inches underwater. This is fun:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0413b_zpsa14e2756.jpg
Last fish of the session. This time, this fish nailed it the first time, clearing the water, huge tail splash when it landed:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0415b_zps1c51a629.jpg
I was so amp'ed on the way back to the ramp that I barely missed this motor buster. Whew!
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh134/mar224177/DSC_0422b_zps08ffbcb9.jpg
Not a bad topwater session. Didn't even fish the clouser the whole time. :D