Halloween Conch Shell

Today started with rain early in the a.m. and so I slept in a bit later than some other mornings with a dark and dreary feeling staying around almost all day --  until almost 4:30 in the afternoon when the sun finally broke through (after I returned to the campground).  Since the fishing forecast called for the best fishing from 12:30 until 2:30 p.m. with low tide at 2:27 p.m., I decided to get some dishes done and have a late breakfast before heading out to the beach to fish.  Why rush when you're retired?

Early playtime with the kitties and a pot of fresh Chocolate Caramel Drizzle coffee made the dreary morning a little more pleasant (for all of us, I think).  Don't remember exactly when I headed out but, the late breakfast hit the spot and the twins had settled in for the usual time of my departure --  probably heard me emptying the ice from the freezer and triggered their disappearance to sleepyville.

I'm sure that I arrived at the beach earlier than the 12:30 starting time for the best fishing but, at least I didn't have to lotion up since the sun was well hidden by the clouds streaming constantly from the south southwest.  I went directly to the spot where I had caught the nice Flounder  a couple days ago and fished for nearly an hour and a half while getting only a couple bites and nothing on my line.  The tide looked lower than usual and I decided to move farther back upstream to fish -- thought of that sandbar where the Osprey came to get fed but, someone else already had taken that spot so, I moved farther on.

I fished for more than another hour and nearly decided to stop and head for the biker bar up the road from the campground to watch the Florida/Georgia game but, I noticed something in the sand near the waters edge and pulled out this beautiful conch shell with its Halloween colors.  Two days late but, it's still the season, right?  This kept me going and soon I had a bite on my deep rod and reeled in a nasty stingray -- didn't exactly get my hopes up but, I focused on the blue sky on the horizon to the west and kept hoping the clouds would push off to the east and let the sun shine down (perhaps energize the fish to start biting).

Shortly thereafter, I reeled in the smaller rig with the idea of checking its bait and then I hooked something in the shallows -- another nice Flounder (17 inches this time).  After I unhooked the Flounder and took its picture, another angler to my left brought in a nice 30-inch plus Redfish so, I headed over to get a look -- pretty fish and a really happy young guy (he had let out a yell like I had a few weeks back).  A few minutes later, I brought in another Blue and threw him in the cooler.  I put my camera in my pocket and hoped another Osprey might show up but, that didn't happen.

What seemed to be a disappointing day of fishing, suddenly had turned to the good.  I even had a few of those finger mullets left for tomorrow.