Back to the Beach -- and Fishing

I decided to take a break yesterday from tending to the cats and their frequently used litter box.  The afternoon skies became less cloudy and the low tide was supposed to be around sunset so, I couldn't resist taking a pack of frozen mullet and a Gatorade over to Nassau Sound (the southern tip of Amelia Island).  I headed out around 2:00 p.m. and got to the same spot I have recently fished where four other anglers were already fishing -- left my spot free thankfully.  I hadn't fished since this past Sunday and then I was preoccupied with thoughts of Tiger and the intestinal problems he was having.  Of course, Molly finally has the same thing going on since late Wednesday evening too.

Once all the clouds pushed off to the east, the sun really warmed things up probably into the 80s or high 70s -- had to dig out the sunglasses too so I could watch the tip of my surf casting rod while I worked my smaller rod in the shallows with it in my hands.  The first couple of finger mullet were stolen almost as soon as they hit in the shallow waters and it took a while before there was any action on the large pole -- and that turned out to be about a 30-inch sand shark.  After getting that shark unhooked and returned to the water, I put some new cut mullet on and cast out farther to the left at the tip of the sand bar.  Soon, I hooked something again on the large rod and could see it splashing about over the sand bar as I started reeling it in -- turned out to be another, slightly larger sand shark -- one I could hardly get my gloved hand around while unhooking it.  It also broke my line as I drug it onto the beach but, I luckily could grab the sinker and the rest of the rig to keep him from wallowing back into the waves with my hooks and sinker still attached to its mouth.

After releasing this latest shark and retying the rig to the line of my surf casting rod with new bait on the hooks, I tried casting and in my mind was thinking of a spot somewhere between the two previous casts.  However, the nearly invisible monofilament line must have twisted around the tip and the rig went flying into the waves -- after snapping the line.  I tossed the big rod into the Jeep and fished on with the smaller rod hoping for another Flounder.  Instead, I caught a nice little spotted Sea Trout but, he was a half-inch too small to keep.  Had to release him -- not risk a fine.

As the sun began to drop to the horizon, I saw lots of little mullet running along the edges of the beach and couldn't resist throwing my net out a few times and did manage to net a few.  I decided to head back and left the other fishermen behind -- drove slowly along the beach and didn't see any other vehicles on the way back to the access point.  I could see lots of little wave action (possibly mullet) at the edge of the river and stopped for a while to cast my net about a dozen times into the water -- managed to catch some of those perfect, finger-sized mullet -- enough to fill five little baggies (about $15 worth of bait fish).  Not a perfect end to the day but, still not bad.  Fifteen degrees chillier today and windy.

The drive back up the Amelia Parkway with the sun already gone was rather spooky with the Spanish Moss hanging from the tunnel like canopy of trees -- made me think of Sleepy Hallow.