Dunlawton (Port Orange) - Lady Fish & 15" Sand Trout

My friend Kyle and I were seeking out some night fishing at the New Smyrna causeways Wednesday evening. We arrived at the South bridge first and netted some finger mullet. But with too many other lines in the water there, we didn't even bother getting our rods out. At least we had some bait so we loaded up and took a short drive to the North causeway. After scouting the situation there, it was a nightmare waiting to happen with lines crossing and no room to cast or even retrieve your line. So it was then we decided to try a new spot that we haven't seen before, the Port Orange Causeway. It was only a 15 minute drive from our location so we headed to Port Orange.

More commonly known as the Dunlawton Bridge, it spans the Halifax river and the Intracoastal Waterway. We got there around 2am and it was fishing time, yay! I started with pieces of frozen shrimp on a pompano rig and caught a couple Lady Fish. One of them I used as cut bait since I've heard it's suppose to be really oily and bloody. With that in mind I casted out a chunk of lady fish and waited. I got a nice hit on it for a second, but that was it. Next I setup another rod with a live finger mullet, this is actually my new reel that I haven't used much. It's my first conventional reel and it's definitly a learning experience. I can't really cast that far with it yet, but it works really well for fishing off of causeway piers. Using live mullet on a 3/0 owners light mutu hook, I caught another Lady Fish and then I hooked a nice 15" Sand trout. I capped off the night with a tiny little 5" sailfin catfish using a pieces of shrimp.

Total tally for me was 3 lady fish, 1 sand trout and a baby sailfin catfish.