Three Trips to the Pier Friday
For $3 (senior rate), it is well worth it to spend most of a day enjoying the fishing and the beauty of being out over the water and seeing the beautiful beaches or the spectacle of some people at the end of the pier as they dash side to side and fight one of the King Mackerel. Yesterday, I only caught one Spanish Mackerel and that was during my second trip to the pier -- had come home for a lunch break and short nap before heading back in hopes of beating the afternoon storm heading our way.
I watched from a spot in the near corner of the west end of the pier as one young lad fought his first King and his mother ran along with him from side to side at the far railings trying to give him pointers and bring the fish in -- ultimately, they lost it as it was being brought up on a gaff (utter disappointment to both of them). Not many of the Spanish Mackerel or other fish were being caught in the morning so, the break or pause seemed like a good idea and I began to wonder whether the steel leader should go -- maybe a shiny distraction that the fish were hitting instead of the lure.
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As I exited the pier, I stopped occasionally to throw the lure and check with others to see how they had been doing during the day. Seems a small group closer to the beach end of the pier were doing best as they were catching Pompano and a few other fish like Flounder and an occasional Spanish Mackerel or shark -- tucked this info away as I headed for the Jeep. I planned to be back from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. when the tide was supposed to be moving out.
I returned a little later than planned but, well ahead of the approaching storm as the skies were still partially sunny and the temps were still warm enough for shorts and sandals. A few of the group at the near end of the pier were still in position and working the waters for more fish -- Tate from the previous day passed by then on his way out (hoping to get 9 holes of golf in before the storm hit). He said he had caught only 4 Spanish during his time on the pier and that it seemed sporadic at best -- wished me good luck and headed for the golf course. As I passed behind the first group, one of the older guys on the west end suddenly had a fish on but, unfortunately lost it. I decided to stop just beyond them at a comfortable distance (and not too far from the portable restrooms) and threw my lure off the west side -- had an immediate hit and brought in a nice 18" Spanish Mackerel after a bit of a struggle with the fish and getting my drag set just enough to get it up from the water. First fish of the day and first fish on the backup reel I bought yesterday at the shop on the pier. Seemed I would be set for more action but, had no more hits for 20 or 30 minutes so, moved on toward the end of the pier and stopped periodically to try from various places with no results.
When I got to the end, I took up a spot on the same corner where I could throw with the wind (which seemed slightly less than it was in the morning but still from the southeast). A guy and his teenage son were a little to my right at the inside corner, where the pier narrowed down, and they seemed to be fishing the bottom, near the pilings. They brought up a small shark after a short time and a little later, the teenager hooked into a bigger fish and with the assistance of one local (who had been to my left) and his landing net, they brought up a 27 inch Redfish. The boy and his father didn't want to keep the fish so, they took pictures and they gave it to the guy with the landing net -- some nice fillets for that guy (saw him later at the fish cleaning station cleaning the fish). Would love to have had that one myself -- wonder what Tiger and Molly would have thought of that monster.
As I watched the horizon for the storm, I tried many more casts and only had a couple more hits -- no fish so, I decided to work my way back toward the mid-point (and the restrooms) of the pier. There also was a fish cleaning station on the east side of that wider mid section where I could quickly clean my one fish and be close enough to the Jeep, if the storm came too quickly. I kept my eyes on one set of tall buildings to the west and figured once they disappeared into the clouds or rain, that it was time to skidaddle. The pier made announcements over their loudspeakers that the storm was approaching and people made a quick exit (most of them were not fishermen).
I had not planned to return in the evening as the forecasts (and the annoucements from the pier operators) indicated the rain would continue through the evening. Fortunately, the narrow band of storms cleared the area and I decided "why not?" and grabbed the cooler and a couple Coors-lights for a sunset on the pier.
I tried the spot where I caught the 18-incher with no luck and then, the mid-section before settling again on the west side of the end section. However, just before getting there, I stopped briefly at the area where I had caught all those other Spanish a couple days earlier and thought "What the heck? and Why Not?" but, just before I cast out a young guy on the east side and I started to chat and he said he had fished through the storm and not had any luck, unfortunately. Then, I cast my "Got-cha" into the familiar section of water I fished previously and had an immediate hit -- super strong hit this time and the fish starter to peel off line as my drag had been set for that 18 inch fish. I tried to get the drag set just a bit tighter but, just a few seconds after I did so, the fish spit out the lure and was gone to deeper waters to the south. The way it moved, I suspect it was a King Mackerel and I couldn't run to my left in the direction the fish was moving because there was a light pole blocking my way (lesson learned, I hope).
Immediately after the fish got away, the young guy who had been fishing the east side, popped over to my right side and threw in where I had previously cast and he immediately got a hit and his first Spanish Mackerel of the day -- maybe his reward for fishing through the storm.
I did bring two nice fish (both Spanish Mackerels) back to the RV, courtesy of two teenage boys who came and fished the southwest corner to my left. That young guy who fished through the storm also caught another Spanish Mackerel when he fished the end of the pier to the left of the teenage boys -- seemed to be quite happy when he left a little later. I felt content to drink my two Coors and think about the one that got away.
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| Maybe it was 48 minutes too. |
During my morning session of fishing, the wind was a bit stiffer than I expected from checking the weather channel and the radar on WUSA9.com -- I still prefer checking the radar on my old local channel because it seems to load faster and covers the national picture with greater detail and color (easier to manipulate too than Weather.com). There were only two tides yesterday as the moon was up during the day so, I thought to fish around the times tides4fishing.com pointed toward. I only had two good hits but, no fish on. I did enjoy periodically going the end of the pier as a few of the King Mackerel were gaffed and brought up to the pier -- one monster that a guy fought for over a half hour weighed over 48 pounds and dwarfed one of the earlier, smaller Kings.
I watched from a spot in the near corner of the west end of the pier as one young lad fought his first King and his mother ran along with him from side to side at the far railings trying to give him pointers and bring the fish in -- ultimately, they lost it as it was being brought up on a gaff (utter disappointment to both of them). Not many of the Spanish Mackerel or other fish were being caught in the morning so, the break or pause seemed like a good idea and I began to wonder whether the steel leader should go -- maybe a shiny distraction that the fish were hitting instead of the lure.
.JPG)
I returned a little later than planned but, well ahead of the approaching storm as the skies were still partially sunny and the temps were still warm enough for shorts and sandals. A few of the group at the near end of the pier were still in position and working the waters for more fish -- Tate from the previous day passed by then on his way out (hoping to get 9 holes of golf in before the storm hit). He said he had caught only 4 Spanish during his time on the pier and that it seemed sporadic at best -- wished me good luck and headed for the golf course. As I passed behind the first group, one of the older guys on the west end suddenly had a fish on but, unfortunately lost it. I decided to stop just beyond them at a comfortable distance (and not too far from the portable restrooms) and threw my lure off the west side -- had an immediate hit and brought in a nice 18" Spanish Mackerel after a bit of a struggle with the fish and getting my drag set just enough to get it up from the water. First fish of the day and first fish on the backup reel I bought yesterday at the shop on the pier. Seemed I would be set for more action but, had no more hits for 20 or 30 minutes so, moved on toward the end of the pier and stopped periodically to try from various places with no results.
When I got to the end, I took up a spot on the same corner where I could throw with the wind (which seemed slightly less than it was in the morning but still from the southeast). A guy and his teenage son were a little to my right at the inside corner, where the pier narrowed down, and they seemed to be fishing the bottom, near the pilings. They brought up a small shark after a short time and a little later, the teenager hooked into a bigger fish and with the assistance of one local (who had been to my left) and his landing net, they brought up a 27 inch Redfish. The boy and his father didn't want to keep the fish so, they took pictures and they gave it to the guy with the landing net -- some nice fillets for that guy (saw him later at the fish cleaning station cleaning the fish). Would love to have had that one myself -- wonder what Tiger and Molly would have thought of that monster.
As I watched the horizon for the storm, I tried many more casts and only had a couple more hits -- no fish so, I decided to work my way back toward the mid-point (and the restrooms) of the pier. There also was a fish cleaning station on the east side of that wider mid section where I could quickly clean my one fish and be close enough to the Jeep, if the storm came too quickly. I kept my eyes on one set of tall buildings to the west and figured once they disappeared into the clouds or rain, that it was time to skidaddle. The pier made announcements over their loudspeakers that the storm was approaching and people made a quick exit (most of them were not fishermen).
.JPG) |
| The two buildings I watched earlier. |
I tried the spot where I caught the 18-incher with no luck and then, the mid-section before settling again on the west side of the end section. However, just before getting there, I stopped briefly at the area where I had caught all those other Spanish a couple days earlier and thought "What the heck? and Why Not?" but, just before I cast out a young guy on the east side and I started to chat and he said he had fished through the storm and not had any luck, unfortunately. Then, I cast my "Got-cha" into the familiar section of water I fished previously and had an immediate hit -- super strong hit this time and the fish starter to peel off line as my drag had been set for that 18 inch fish. I tried to get the drag set just a bit tighter but, just a few seconds after I did so, the fish spit out the lure and was gone to deeper waters to the south. The way it moved, I suspect it was a King Mackerel and I couldn't run to my left in the direction the fish was moving because there was a light pole blocking my way (lesson learned, I hope).
Immediately after the fish got away, the young guy who had been fishing the east side, popped over to my right side and threw in where I had previously cast and he immediately got a hit and his first Spanish Mackerel of the day -- maybe his reward for fishing through the storm.
I did bring two nice fish (both Spanish Mackerels) back to the RV, courtesy of two teenage boys who came and fished the southwest corner to my left. That young guy who fished through the storm also caught another Spanish Mackerel when he fished the end of the pier to the left of the teenage boys -- seemed to be quite happy when he left a little later. I felt content to drink my two Coors and think about the one that got away.
posted by Ray at
6:14 AM
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