More Frustration -- No Fish
After taking Sunday off from fishing, I returned to the banks of the Amelia river yesterday about an hour before high tide and found that I had to hug the dune line and vegetation there but, still had to drive through the top reaches of the waves lapping onto the shore -- even questioned whether I should attempt it just for some chance of catching some Flounder or other fish. The day before, I had cleaned out the Jeep and vacuumed the mats to get rid of the first week's deposits of sand from the beach. I even put 150 yards of new 50 lb "Power-Pro" line on my large surf casting rod and transferred its line to the smaller reel on my shorter rod -- had noticed both reels were getting low on line as the spools were getting exposed at times when the line was let out substantially. Another $14 invested in tackle and such to keep up the search for the elusive Flounder -- and bigger fish.
I didn't see many if any of the little mullet swimming along the shoreline (after parking high on the dry sand of the beach) and my few casts with the net didn't produce any of the little bait fish -- luckily I had remembered to bring along a little baggie from the freezer with about a dozen of the ones caught during the week. They had died while in my big orange bucket so, I thought it best to take them back and freeze them just in case. I also had stopped at Walmart and bought some of those artificial shrimp made by Berkeley -- "Gulp" they're called. Expensive little guys.
I put the frozen mullet in my little bait bucket with some salty water from the river to add some flavor and to help thaw them out while I made a few futile casts with my net. I had stopped just shy of a family fishing near the pipeline running onto the beach -- a place where one of my fellow campground neighbors had said they had been catching lots of Flounder. Since I had no luck catching any of the live mullet with my casting net, I cut up a couple of the thawed mullet and put two pieces on the hooks of the large surf casting rod (with some left over pieces of those "Fish Bites" I had found in my tackle box the other day). Then, I put one of those fake shrimp on the jig head of my smaller rig and tried casting it shallow and fanned the waters to either side of my large rig -- with no bites.
After nearly two hours, the tide began to turn and I had to periodically move my pole supports down the beach as the waters receded. The current began to drag my bait and sinker on the large rod so, I decided to leave the shallower offering of fake shrimp in its support and started working the bigger rod by throwing it on the upstream side and letting it drift with the current past the smaller rod. The family to my left had departed a little earlier so, I let the drifting rig move to the left into the area they had vacated. After numerous casts with the surf casting rod (during which time I had missed on some smaller bites and had to rebait the hooks more than a few times), I felt another tug and let out some line and let it drift slightly short of the pipeline before I felt another tug and set the hook into something that doubled over my large pole. It felt like a really big fish and I felt it thrashing underwater as I started to reel it in but, like the previous day of fishing, another equipment failure -- all I brought in was a broken hook on the end of the steel leader.
I replaced the hook but, in the meantime, another angler arrived to take up the spot vacated by the family and I had to shorten the drift on my deep throws into the channel. Still no bites on that fake shrimp either so, I decided to gather up my things and head farther along the beach to where the ocean surf was rolling straight into the beach -- beyond the river current too. I only used the surf casting rod there to reach the breakers rolling in and then, I only had those small hits and the little pieces of mullet were quickly taken -- as a rainstorm came rolling down the beach. End to another day of fishing and the big one got away -- Again!
Today will be another day of rest and cleaning of the wounds -- keeping the cats entertained.
I didn't see many if any of the little mullet swimming along the shoreline (after parking high on the dry sand of the beach) and my few casts with the net didn't produce any of the little bait fish -- luckily I had remembered to bring along a little baggie from the freezer with about a dozen of the ones caught during the week. They had died while in my big orange bucket so, I thought it best to take them back and freeze them just in case. I also had stopped at Walmart and bought some of those artificial shrimp made by Berkeley -- "Gulp" they're called. Expensive little guys.
I put the frozen mullet in my little bait bucket with some salty water from the river to add some flavor and to help thaw them out while I made a few futile casts with my net. I had stopped just shy of a family fishing near the pipeline running onto the beach -- a place where one of my fellow campground neighbors had said they had been catching lots of Flounder. Since I had no luck catching any of the live mullet with my casting net, I cut up a couple of the thawed mullet and put two pieces on the hooks of the large surf casting rod (with some left over pieces of those "Fish Bites" I had found in my tackle box the other day). Then, I put one of those fake shrimp on the jig head of my smaller rig and tried casting it shallow and fanned the waters to either side of my large rig -- with no bites.
After nearly two hours, the tide began to turn and I had to periodically move my pole supports down the beach as the waters receded. The current began to drag my bait and sinker on the large rod so, I decided to leave the shallower offering of fake shrimp in its support and started working the bigger rod by throwing it on the upstream side and letting it drift with the current past the smaller rod. The family to my left had departed a little earlier so, I let the drifting rig move to the left into the area they had vacated. After numerous casts with the surf casting rod (during which time I had missed on some smaller bites and had to rebait the hooks more than a few times), I felt another tug and let out some line and let it drift slightly short of the pipeline before I felt another tug and set the hook into something that doubled over my large pole. It felt like a really big fish and I felt it thrashing underwater as I started to reel it in but, like the previous day of fishing, another equipment failure -- all I brought in was a broken hook on the end of the steel leader.
I replaced the hook but, in the meantime, another angler arrived to take up the spot vacated by the family and I had to shorten the drift on my deep throws into the channel. Still no bites on that fake shrimp either so, I decided to gather up my things and head farther along the beach to where the ocean surf was rolling straight into the beach -- beyond the river current too. I only used the surf casting rod there to reach the breakers rolling in and then, I only had those small hits and the little pieces of mullet were quickly taken -- as a rainstorm came rolling down the beach. End to another day of fishing and the big one got away -- Again!
Today will be another day of rest and cleaning of the wounds -- keeping the cats entertained.
posted by Ray at
6:18 AM
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