My first fishing report.

Naples to West Palm and south, including the Keys
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TRKpoker
Posts: 456
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 2:10 pm
Location: Sunrise, FL

My first fishing report.

Post by TRKpoker »

To start this off I have been stalking these forums for quite awhile. Been looking for the right canoe for along time on Craigs list and just was unable to get the canoe I was looking for. Finally bought what I wanted at BassPro on May 20th. Got a 15'4" canoe with a flat back. With a bad neck paddling all the time is out for me so I have a 55 lb electric motor that is moving the canoe perfectly. This report is really going to be a several day report so it will be a bit long.

5/20/12: Purchased canoe and tested my dad's 30 lb electric motor on it. For this canoe, 15' long and 42" wide, 30 lb thrust is not enough. While on calm water you will get around 30 lb thrust simply is not enough. Anyway took kids, 9 and 4 yrs old, out and went on a short trip. They loved it.

5/21/21: Picked up 55 lb motor and picked up my daughter from school a bit early. Hell with FCATs over they are not teaching anything anymore so meh. We went down to Biscayne Bay and launched from the 79th street Pelican Point launch. This is a nice launch point and drops you right into the grass flats of North Biscayne Bay. Monday-Thurs no one is there to charge for launching, Friday-Sun. canoes and kayaks launch for $5 and $6 on holidays. Regular boats are $10 and $12. With a moderate wind coming from the SE I decide to run north of the launch going under 79th street bridge and fish. This part of the bay gets a bit less wind due to the buildings and islands breaking the wind more than south of 79th street. Got out on the water about 3:30pm and got off the water about 8pm.

Daughter being 9 yrs old still does not have casting with a spinning reel down pat so I decide we would troll and check out the bay. This was also her first time fishing in salt water and my first time fishing the bay in over 15 yrs. Right off the bat she hooked up a 1-1.5 lb jack that gave her an excellent fight. She was quite a sight battling this jack on a rod that might be considered just a tad heavy for bass fishing. After that battle we went on to catch several more fish, jacks and lady fish, on soft body swim baits on 1/4oz jig heads. After visiting several of the islands in the bay, all of which have some tables and barbecue pits if you wish to have a picnic, we started trolling over the grass flats.

After about 1 hr of trolling the tide started to come in and my daughter got a hit. She caught her first trout which we kept for dinner. Trout was 15 3/4" long and she was thrilled. We fished on and caught a few more fish but the battery was getting a bit low with all of our exploring and trolling so we headed back. Was a good day.


Didn't take my 4 yr old with my daughter because I figured he would get tired and hot too easily so figured he would not want to be out long. With 79th street launch at 32 miles from my home (almost all expressway) I just didn't want to chance him wanting to leave right away. Upon getting home I was met by tears and one very upset little man. Promised next trip was going to be all him.......

5/23/12: Got my son from his daycare early and whisked him down to the bay. Lucky he had just had lunch so he slept on the way making the day much easier. Got out on the water about 3pm and got back about 7pm. He lasted the whole time and was quite a trooper. We trolled and fished all over and on both sides of the tide but couldn't get much more than a few short strikes. Visited several islands and spent a good amount of time finding sea life my son had never seen. Sea urchins and crabs kept him having a good time but I really wanted to get him on a fish.

Asked my son if he had enough and wanted to go home and he was ready. Started back and within two min. we had a strike and a good hook up. Had the drag on light so my son wouldn't lose my $200 rod/reel over the side and the fish gave him quite a battle. Finally got the 2+ lb jack to the side of the boat and he was so excited thought he might jump out of the canoe. Fish was finally ready to get off the hook so I told my son to bring the line to me so I could get the fish out of the water. Thankfully my son is the type that doesn't like to make mistakes so he tends to do things slow and deliberately. Slowly he moved the rod tip toward me. I reached out for the line and began to reach out to grab the fish when........thank gawd my son went slowly. A large shark, 6-8' ...not really sure cause it was over in under 2 seconds, swallowed the jack in one shot. Line was cut near instantly, 25 lb flouro, and my son looked at me and said "ah..what just happened..."

What happened is your dad still has his hand. Anyway he is told everyone he has met since then about his shark. So the only fish we caught we really didn't but it was quite a story for him at his day care.

5/25/12: Dad's day to fish alone. No kids, no wife, no phone (well it was with me but off), and nothing but fishing. Hit the water at 79th street at about 11pm and got off the water about 7:30pm. From my readings on this site I was ready for trout fishing. Got out on the water and just about everything that could go wrong did. Backing up a bit first I forgot my camera, lunch (which was made sitting on the counter), sunglasses, battery for trolling motor didn't charge properly (my fault as I found out later) and it was blazzzzzzzing hot. Almost went home but that 32 mile drive just convinced me I could paddle to the closest island (against the wind) and fish anyways. Half way to the island my neck was screaming at me how stupid I was but luckily after being married for 9 yrs I have learned to block out certain sounds.

Got to my fishing spot about 1/2 way through the tide going out. Bait fish was everywhere and the island was covered in nesting birds. Overall it was just a great place to fish. So got to fishing. Tried everything but couldn't get much more than one jack over the next 2 hrs. Wind was giving me hell (no push pole or pole stake so wind was moving me too much) but overall I was just having fun being on the water. At this point I have tried just about all my lures except one.

Mr. Old Reliable is a surface plug I have had for years. Used it bass fishing only up to this point but when nothing else works for bass Mr. Reliable will get a strike. So I tied on Mr. Reliable and got to chugging the surface. Then with all the things that were going wrong it all turned. Mr. Reliable went out far on a cast that was caught by the wind. The long cast was past a large school of bait fish that were flickering the surface. Chug chug chug twitch twitch twitch....chug chug BLAM! Mr. Reliable was knocked 6"+ out of the water and I paused.....big mistake as I have learned. Went back to working Mr. Reliable but nothing. My brain kicked in and I thought about how trout look and eat. Figured they might be like bass and went right back to the same spot with my next cast. This time when the strike came I kept up the chugging and twitching and the fish I still haven't seen smacked old reliable 10+ times with one strike knocking him nearly 2 feet in the air. Then when the lure was about 20 feet from my canoe the strikes stopped and my heart was just pounding.

Next cast on my 2nd chug the lure was gently slurped down. So gentle was the strike it took me off guard a bit until my rod bent over and line went tight. Fish jerked his head back and forth for maybe 5 seconds before he decided to run for the hills. Rod bent over and reel screaming my first trout was on. After a good battle I caught my first trout (used to fish with grandfather and think we used to catch trout but it has been over 25 yrs so not 100% sure). He was 19 3/4" long and just perfect. Now I am not a big fish eater but my mom after hearing about my daughters fish asked me to bring her one so I decided to keep one fish and this was the one.

After letting my heart slow down I figured it was time to get back at it. While I was fighting my first trout pelicans came in and started blasting the bait fish all around me. These large birds were hitting the water at least 2-3 times a min and was quite a sight being that they were all less than 200 feet from me and some crashing the water less than 30 feet from me. So I took my next cast. Saw a bait ball in very shallow water and figured the birds wouldn't be diving in less than 18" of water so took my cast with Mr. Reliable just past the bait ball. Started working the lure when a large fish strike happened just behind me. Turning to look at the strike I continued to work my lure. Then the crash came.

Hearing a splash that sounded like a pelican hit the water in the direction of my lure I turned around as my line went tight. And it was on. A 30 3/4" snook had crashed Mr. Reliable. I have caught many snook but never one this big. Before this my largest snook was 28 1/2". This snook in water less than 18" deep decide she didn't like what was in her mouth. She stood up on her tail and shook her head for 6-8' across the water. Then she just headed for deeper water. Fought her for a few min and it seemed she was coming in rather easily. Got her up to the canoe and that is when it went wrong. Snook are clearly smarter than me she just laid there in the water as if she was beat. As I pulled her over to the canoe and I was reaching down to get her she came alive. She went under the canoe which was in MAYBE 6" of water and took off to the other side. Rod went down in the water try to keep her from cutting off and she cut a hard left and wrapped around the motor and my anchor rope. She quickly went a full circle around the rope and pulled tight. I had already opened the bail but before I could lift the motor the line went limp.

Sat down in the boat and just couldn't believe my luck but I was still smiling. Took me a few min to fully untangle the line and started to reel in the cut line when I reeled down to a heavy weight. She was still on and now really pissed off. Reel went screaming again and she headed for the deep water again. She took so much line I started to reach to pull my anchor when she made a big mistake. She leaped out of the water and did a flip. Well really a half flip and now she was swimming straight at me. Catching up the line got her tight again and she came at the boat. Ready this time I stopped her from going under the boat and she gave up. Laying in 6" of water she looked me straight in the eye and went still. I reached down to grab her and she made one last gasp to get me and leaped up with Mr. Reliable in her mouth and went straight at my face. Treble hooks coming at my face I stood up fast and nearly went out of the canoe falling backward. Hooks were less than a few inches from my face but missed. She nearly came in the boat but slipped back in the water and quit. Took me about 5 min to get her back to being ready to swim off but she left unharmed and she swam strong.

So after all my issues I ended up with my largest trout and snook in just two casts. Was a damn good day!

5/26/12: Decided to do another day on the water on my own. Got to the water at 6 am and fished till about 3 pm. Weather was brilliant. Light breeze and clear sky. Got on the grass flats and fishing by 7 am. Low tide was about 8:45 am. Caught two small trout on Mr. Reliable on the way to the flats. Both small 10-12" trout. Got to the flats and water averaged 6-15". Had many strikes but few hook ups. Tired a popping cork with plastic shrimp below and hooked up between the two lures over the next few hours 10+ trout. Only 2 were legal size but let them all go. Then the bite just stopped. Over 2 hrs only had small barracuda hit. Worked over a flat that seemed to go on forever. Finally got off the flat and with the tide turning got into deeper water, 6-10'. That is when the bite went off. Over the next 2 hours caught 20+ trout with 3 being 19-20". Was a blast.

5/28/12: Memorial Day. I am one of those people that like to stay home away from the crowds and nuts on holidays. I avoid lobster mini season every year because of the people on the water so I had no plans to head out on this day BUT.....I have the trout bug and couldn't help myself. Hit the water about 6:30 am and got in about 4 pm. On this day there was a serious wind coming from the south so I decided to fish the north side of 79th street launch.

Hit all of the calm water close to the causeway and hit several barracudas and jacks with one small snook that came unhooked after a strong jump. Fished on to the flats and with a strong wind blowing decided to anchor up off the flats in deeper water grass flats. Water was 4-10' all day where I fished. Started catching trout right off the bat and it didn't stop till around 2 pm. Caught one 22 1/2" trout and 5 of them over 20". Caught a bunch of jacks and one fish that gave me the best fight of the day truly testing my gear. On one strike the fish decide to head for the other side of the state. Fought this fish thinking I was going to get spooled at one point. Finally worked the fish in and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it was a huge lady fish. This lady fish had to be over 2 feet long. Was just insane and while I was unhappy it was a lady fish it was a great fight. On the way in I almost lost Mr. Reliable. Moving along a seawall I was trying to hook up a snook on my way back to the dock. On one seawall at the corner of a side canal (looked very fishy) I worked Mr. Reliable and the water just exploded. Half the snook came out of the water and she looked bigger than my large snook.

I had my drag set loose for trout and did not tighten it down for snook. The fish swam hard for the seawall and pilings. With no way to stop her she cut my 20 lb braid instantly. Mr. Reliable was gone. Sat down and gathered up my line and started picking up my gear in the boat when up popped Mr. Reliable about 5 feet from the boat. Snook finally shook him out and I got him back. BTW, Mr. Reliable was a discounted lure in a large bin from BassPro for $.99.

Was a damn good day.

Over all I am hooked badly. Trout fishing is just a blast.

Sorry this was so long but yea I am hooked.
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TK
Posts: 1593
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: La La Land

Re: My first fishing report.

Post by TK »

Great couple of days.

Enjoy the adventure.
"I am trying to catch tarpon, but these snook keep getting in the way!"
John
Guv'ner
Posts: 5534
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: In the Harbah

Re: My first fishing report.

Post by John »

Great report, glad you are finding success down there.
"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree." - Michael Crichton
JoeS
Posts: 3721
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: "Over the Hill"

Re: My first fishing report.

Post by JoeS »

Nice Report.....
"I want to help the helpless, but I don't give a damn about the clueless anymore!
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