DaParson's Fishing Adventures

It was another beautiful day at the Jetty. We caught about 15 Shark right about this size. We fished with cut shad, live croaker, live shrimp. The water had cooled to 78 - with a SSW wind at 10. There was not much tidal movement all day. Final count - 15 shark - 1 Jack Crevalle - few hardhead - and a ling that broke my heart.

This is another one of the Sharks we caught. Notice the little white spots along his body. I am not for sure what kind of shark he is - but we caught several of them.

This was a Jack Crevalle that was a nice break from the sharks. He weighed in at a little under 19 lbs. Shortly after this - I hooked something I fought for about 20 minutes all around the boat - then it went deep - and stayed there. Eventually - we lifted anchor and went to where the fish went down - either it wrapped my line around something - or was a huge Ray that attached himself to the bottom - but after 5 minutes of being unable to move any line - I wrapped and broke the line. Whatever it was - it was quite large. But the story of the day was "The One that Got Away." While we were fishing - a Ling/Cobia saddled up next to the boat. He had to be a good 5 foot long. He was huge. We were so startled to see him - we froze - and he slid away. He appeared again about 15 minutes later - and before we could get any bait at him - he was gone again. The the cut shad line took off - we thought it was a Shark - a big shark - but still - didn't swim high like a Jack - but then...

It was a beautiful day - winds out of the SE about 10 - and the water was as clear and pretty as I have seen it in a long time. We fished the end of the outgoing tide. On the day we caught 1 Shark - about 4 foot long. 3 Reds - all about 32 inches long. And 1 Speckled Trout - 25 inches long. We still haven't been able to find the Bull Reds like we have been able to in the past. But still - a good day fishing. Right at the end of the day - I was fishing with one of my smaller rods and reels - I was freelining Croaker - and was promptly spooled - my guess is that is was a large Jack. Took off like a train - and I had no chance of turning it with that rig.

Believe it or not - I caught something Dewey could take home and eat! I caught a 25" Speckled Trout fishing with a live croaker. Dewey and I were both suprised when this fish came up - it is the first trout we have caught in quite a while. A good suprise! 

Here is a closer look at the Speckled Trout. He was 25" long and a bit short of 6 lbs. 

Here is the Red that Dewey caught - again - it isn't the Big Bulls that we have been catching for the last several months - this one was a tad over the slot - he was about 32" long. Dewey caught him on live Shrimp. Interestingly enough - the fish had a hook deep in him - with line hanging out of his mouth. There was a treble hook deep in his gullet - healing up nicely. Good to know that when you let one loose hooked like that - the do recover - at least this one did. 

We had a wonderful day to fish. Winds of the SE about 10-15 - Incoming time - water at about 77 degrees. We fished with live shrimp, live finger mullet, cut shad, cut mullet and cut whiting. Quite a Smorgasbord - on the day we caught 8 Sharks - 1 large Stingray - 1 Jack Carvelle - but no Bull Reds or Black Drum.

Dewey caught 5 or 6 of this small Hammerhead Sharks. This was the first of the day. All were about the same size. 

This is the first Jack Carvelle I have ever caught. Last year, Dewey caught one - but I think this one is larger than his. (laughing) I caught him on live finger mullet freelined. 

I took this picture with the Jack laying in the boat. The Jack weighed in at about 39 lbs.  

Here is another picture of the Jack Carvelle. Although these fish are not good for eating - they put up a whale of a fight. 

This is another Shark Dewey caught. When lifting the shark into the boat - the hook pulled loose! I thought Dewey was going to jump out of the boat trying to avoid the shark's teeth and it flopped around the boat. 

We had the opportunity to take Brandon Bunch fishing on Tuesday, May 10th. It was a beautiful day - great water - light SE wind - but the Reds didn't cooperate. We caught 2 shark, 1 eel/snake and some humongous (8 lb.) gaftop. All this was caught on cut bait or crab.

Dewey caught this eel - snake - or something. It was between 3 and 3 1/2 foot long. At first, we thought Dewey had hooked a stingray - it seemed lodged on the bottom. This eel - snake - had some ferocious teeth - and did everything he could to lodge them in my hand when we were taking him off. This was the first time we hooked anything like this. 

Here is another picture of the Eel/Snake we caught. It certianly had an attitude.

Here is one of the Sharks that Brandon caught. This one was a small hammerhead - the other shark was about 4 ft long. It put up a great fight! 

Dewey Jr. was in town - so I was able to go fishing with both Deweys. Pretty windy day - but Dewey Jr caught this 40lb Black Drum. On the day we caught 2 Drum and 1 Shark.

Here is the only fish of the day (other than hardheads) for me. It was a Black Drum - about 29lbs. Wind was tough - out of the ENE about 20-25. Water was muddy - and we fished a strong incoming tide. 

Not to be outdone - Dewey Sr. caught this 18" Shark. Notice how brave he is with this small guy. (grin)