DaParson's Fishing Adventures

One of the great things about fishing is that from time to time you get to fish with people whose fishing reports you have admired - and coveted from time to time. Today was such a day. Dewey and I were able to take Jolly Roger - (T.J.) out for a little Jetty action today. T.J. is the best surf fisherman for Bull Reds I know. I learned a great deal fishing with him. IT was great! Water was 88.4 - wind was very manageable - water was nice. We fished the end of the outgoing tide and the start of the incoming. This is a 42-43 inch Red that T.J caught - great fish ... great guy. I will let him tell the story of the "Ling that got away!" His story ... not mine. But all in all a great day fishing!

This is the Bull Red that I caught. He was a tad under 40 inches. On the day - we caught 2 Bull Reds, 1 4 foot black tip shark, several other small sharks, and we lost one 3 /12 foot Ling. Slow day fishing - but great fun! 

It was an incrediby windy day on the Jetty. We were able to find some sheltered water - but it was very sandy and off color. Two days of wind does that. The water has warmed up to 85.2 degrees. Dewey caught an incredible Bull Red. It was 47 inches long and weighed in at an estimate 52lbs. (The boat was bouncing big time when we weighed her.) She was caught on cut whiting. To view the video of Dewey catching his Peronsal Best Bull Red - click here (Caution File is 15 mgs big) Leave a comment about the movie - and Dewey's Fish!

Here is another picture of Dewey's Bull Red. This was Dewey's Personal Best! (Still not a big as mine ... smile) It was the only good fish on a windy windy day at the Jetty. 

And what did I catch? Well ... several of these little sharks - about the same size as the little plastics sharks I played with as a boy in the bathtub! (laughing) 

A great day of fishing - Dewey's Grandson - Dewey Wells III - caught this Bonnethead shark when we fished on Tuesday. It was a slow day of fishing - I lost another nice Ling (a leader I made broke) - we had a Jack fight well - but pull loose at the boat - and a number of Sharks.

This was the first Red we have caught in aquite a while. He was 39" - about 27lbs. And as always - he was released to fight another day.  

Here is a picture of a big ray that Dewey caught. It had to be about 4 foot across. If you want to see a movie of Dewey catching the ray - click here - but the file is 17mgs big !

Here is one of the Sharks we caught on the day. Many were this size. Fun to fight and release. 

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.