Caught The Sunrise -- No Mackerel

Sunrise from the Pier.

Decided to go early enough this morning to see one sunrise while here in Panama City Beach and from the place I have spent most of my time (looking to catch fish).  I wore jeans, hiking shoes, a long sleeve shirt and my rain vest to be sure that I was warm enough for a few hours of fishing -- just about right as the breeze turned out to be more than expected.  I fished until a little after 9:00 a.m. and came back to get some breakfast, a nap and get some things ready for tomorrow's short trip to Navarre Beach to the west of here.  Had no strikes at all during my time on the pier this morning so, thought I needed to go back later in the day around 3:00 p.m. for another couple hours (rather than going to some sports bar to see who would be the last two teams into the Final Four of the NCAA tournament).

Well, the afternoon started better than the morning and after a couple casts I had on probably my biggest Spanish Mackerel but, he got off just as I started to get him from the water and up to the pier.  A few more casts provided more action as small groups of Mackerel chased but, didn't hit the lure -- seems they were too busy fighting with each other to see who could make the hit.  The afternoon continued pretty much the same and one guy next to me had a nice Redfish on and when he attempted to lift it from the water, the treble hook broke off (one third of it).  Later the woman and her two grandsons to my right caught a couple really nice Spanish Mackerels and one of those broke the line too as they attempted to get it up.

A couple people were catching Blues farther to our left and a little later I had another fish on -- this one looked like something other than a Spanish Mackerel but, the Mackerel seemed to be in the attack mode as I attempted to get the fish out of the water but, again lost it as it came off the water -- maybe to the Mackerel's delight.

Parting Shot from the Pier.

During the morning session, I fished off the end of the pier and saw the biggest Spanish Mackerel brought in while I have fished the pier.  This fish looked to be 28 inches or more.  Didn't see any King Mackerel caught during my time on the pier today.  No fish for me and the twins today so I had hot dogs, baked beans, Fritos and some cantalope.