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Showing posts from January, 2006

January 31st, 2006

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Dewey and I had a great day fishing at the North Jetty on Tuesday, January 31st, 2005. We were late getting out on the water - it was about 8:45 by the time we dropped anchor. We fished till about 1:30. On the day we caught 17 Black Drum and 9 Bull Reds - oh ... and Dewey did catch one hardhead. This was one of the best days of fishing we have had in several weeks. Click Here to see a 2 minute movie of the day. (You need to use Explorer to view the movie)
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Here was another Red that Dewey caught. The specifics of the day were water was 59.8 degrees - wind was out of the north at 5 early in the day - switching to southeast about 10 later in the day. Pressure was 1.0224 and dropping. It was a wet moon. We fished the end of the outgoing tide and then the beggining of an incoming tide. We fished Tarpon 2 Spot and Honey Hole.
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Here is one of the smaller drum that we caught. He was more slender than most drum - almost looked like a cross between a Red and a Black Drum - he was a pretty golden color.
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This was an interesting fish. A good Red - but he was missing a gill plate on one side. He fought well and seemed totally healthy in every other way.
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Here is a close up of the missing gill plate on the Red. There didn't seem to be any fungus or weird growth on the plate - just the missing plate. He was vented and sent on his way.
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This was the largest Red of the day for Dewey - about 44" long. Most of the Reds were in the 42 - 45 inch range. It was good to finally get into some big fish again.
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This was the last Bull Red of the day. Total for the day - 17 Black Drum - 9 Bull Reds. It was a great day on the water.

January 24th, 2006

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It was cold and blustery when we started the day. We were the only trailer at the Boat Ramp at the end of the Dike. Always a wonderful sign. (grin) The main objective of the day was to test 2 new Shimano Rods I bought for my Kuna Indian Mission trip in Panama. I picked up two Shimano 8ft - Medium Heavy 2-piece rods at Academy. I matched them with a Shimano Thunnus TU-6000 on one rod and the Mitchell Full Runner FRS6500 on the other. Although I am not a big fan of 2 piece rods - it is a neccessity for the flight over. They perfomed well - except the "creak" when under strain from fighting a big fish. I sure they will be well tested in Panama when fishing for Tarpon and Snook in the Bayano River. This was the first Black Drum we caught. Specifics: Water 56.7; Air Temp 48.7; Winds 15 from NNW shifting to 5 from SSE in the afternoon; Baramoter 1024.5 and Rising; Cloudy in the morning - clearing in the afternoon. On the day we caught 4 Black Drum and 1 Bull Red.
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Dewey caught this Black Drum - again, the bite was very very slow. Basically, you would feel or see a bump - and the drum would simply wait. Dewey was reeling in to check his bait only to discover he has this drum on the end!
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This was the only Red of the day - and it really was a team effort. Dewey had picked up a Pflueger rod and reel at Academy - small - 10lb test line. We use those to catch bait - whiting, croaker, etc. It was out and took off. After almost spooling the reel - we got him turned around. About 20 minutes later this red was getting his picture taken. We laughed and remembered how we used to fight these Reds exclusively on light tackle. Using the heavier rigs is better on us and the fish! This Red, as well as all the drum we caught, was vented and sent on his way.
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This was the second Black Drum I caught. These are fun to catch - won't be long before the Black Drum starts.
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This was the last fish of the day. Dewey caught a large drum - about 35lbs. After harrassing him about his picture taking abilities on the last trip - I butchered this pic by forgetting to reset the focus settings on the camera. My fault Dewey! All in all a good day fishing - still slow compared to last year - but better than the last couple of trips.

January 12th, 2006 Red, Whiting and wind that Blew.

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Dewey, Wayne Hamilton and I headed out fishing this morning at the Jetty - and on the way out ran acrossed this boat anchored off to the side of the ship channel. There were 5 or 6 guys in the boat - and they said they had been stranded all night long. We towed them into the boat dock at the end of the Dike - and immediately when they got on dry land - one headed to the blue boxes! When we got to the Jetty - the wind was out of the SSW at about 10. The water temperature was 59.6 and we fished the end of an outgoing tide and the a slack tide. Water quality was fair. We fished with mullet, shad, shrimp, whiting, croaker and sand trout that we caught.
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Well ... for some reason, Dewey took a picture of me and a Bull Red's Fish Head - (laughing) This is the only Bull Red we caught on the day. We did catch probably 20-30 whiting, crokers and sand trout. Used some of them for bait, but still ended up with not much to show for it. 
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Here is the lower half of the picture ... well another picture that had my head cut off. This Red was either severely beat up - or had some sort of skin disease. He was really nasty looking. We didn't let him in the boat - didn't vent him - didn't touch him - we just released him and after a few minutes of belly up floating, he swam away.