Daytime NSB and Night Flat Bridge Report 12/19

Knowing there's a major cold front coming this weekend, we probably won't be fishing on Saturday. In fact it's the first Saturday in 6-7 weeks that I won't fish, wow! I want to go but forecast says the daytime high is only 60, with nighttime lows in the 30's. Plus I really don't want to get sick right before Christmas.
Wednesday was one of the last warm days before the cold front hits central Florida. I decided it would be cool to spend the whole day fishing while it's still warm. Thankfully it was an especially early release day at my sons' school too, which is getting ready for their 2-week winter break. So at 1 o'clock I picked him up and went home to get everything loaded up. After a short errand to UPS Store and backtrack to the house because my son forgot his DS....lol....we finially made it out to 38 Live Bait around 3:30. I got some fiddlers and shrimp then headed to the north causeway. I started with fiddlers, no bites. Used some live shrimp, then Cody and I caught a stingray back to back. That was it. A good hour passed with no bites, even on live shrimp. While out there I snagged a seahorse while checking my bait. It was tangled in some seaweed on my hook. Don't worry the seahorse wasn't harmed or poked. Cody was especially excited to see his first seahorse. I let him use the net to put it back in the water.







With the slow bite during the daytime trip, I still had alot of live shrimp and fiddlers leftover. Invited my friend Zack to fish the Flat Bridge after I got Cody to bed. The action out there was a little better. Immediately jigged with gulp swimming mullet and caught small blues like crazy. I had 3 on the bridge in no time. After the third one, my live shrimp rod gets a bite and it's a nice sized whiting. In the cooler it went. Waiting awhile for another bite. Zack jigged with his gulp swimming mullet, and caught a small 12" flounder, barely legal! In the cooler. LOL
Bite slowed again after that, couldn't even get the small blues to bite. Left there with 2 fish in the cooler. Hey I'll take what I can get at this point.

12" Flounder at South Causeway

Started in New Smyrna this morning around 6am. First stop was the South Causeway in where my old friend Dave was already setup on the dock. Dave is the guy I learned all about shad fishing on the St Johns river. It was a very foggy morning but as the sun came up the fog lifted pretty quick. I targeted the shallow area next to the parking lot with a Gulp new penny shrimp. First cast, I landed a 12" flounder!



Nothing else the rest of the day LOL. We moved around to different spots, even tried Sleepy Hollow without any luck. By the way, Sleepy Hollow is infested with ticks. After walking through the woods I checked our cloths, found 1 tick on my pants and 2 ticks on my sons' cloths. Gross!

Finished off our trip by going back to the South Causeway to see how Dave was doing. He was fishing with mussels for sheepshead, I swear it looked like a big booger on his hook. He said he caught 3 big sheeps though, with alot of small ones thrown back. I bought a couple dozen fiddler crabs to try my luck at this, but only caught 2 mangrove snappers. I think I got there too late cause the current was ripping so fast. Dave said when the tide starts going slack, thats when the sheepshead will come in to feed. So with that said, I will just have to try again next week. :)

Flat Bridge / Sleepy Hollow / NSB Report

Been fishing with artificials lately trying to master the art of jigging. The past few Saturdays I've had off work as well, so I've been taking my son Cody out early in the morning and fishing at first light. My favorite soft plastics are the DOA paddletails, gulp swimming mullet and gulp shrimp. We normally start at the flat bridge and then work our way to sleepy hollow, and then finially New Smyrna area. I really haven't caught much to talk about besides some small trout and a few blues. I did catch my first inshore Barracuda near the culvert side of sleepy hollow. It was a small one but still a first species for me.



The trout fishing has been hot as of late even if they are all undersized. I can usually find them chasing bait at night near bridge and pier lights. They seem to strike just about anything you put in front of them too. Small blues are in the mix as well.

However the flounder bite has slowed tremendously in the river. My friend Kyle caught a couple in New Smyrna, but reports from the famous "flattie" bridge in Port Orange have little to show. Next fishing trip I'm going to try a little different approach and go with a tandem rig like I do with the St Johns shad run. I'm also going to jig a live finger mullet pinned to the bottom. I've been reading up on successful flounder fishing and here's a few notes that came out of my research..

Use live bait, finger mullet in the 4-5 inch range. Mud minnows also work.
Don't use such a long leader between the swivel and hook. 12 inches will help keep the bait down and not allow it to get too high in the water column.
Don't just cast into one area as flounder are ambush predaters. fan cast and slowly bring the line in. pick it up a little and let it drop this way your covering ground.
Flounder like to be in the sand, but like to have some structure next to them.
Use smaller hooks- 1/0, 2/0 maybe even a 3/0. Kahle hooks are preferred.

Flat Bridge Monday - Day & Night Report

With Monday off work, I took advantage of the nice weather and headed to the flattie bridge. On the way I realized that I forgot my jigheads at home, so I made a quick pitstop at Gander Mountain in Lake Mary. I grabbed some 1/8th red jigheads and browsed the DOA shad tails. Grabbed a pack of keylime and nite glow. Also grabbed a pack of DOA nite glow 3" shrimp. The nite glow color has been on my wishlist for a few days, I've been reading that it's deadly for snook and trout around dock lights at night. Also there have been good reports of snook being caught in the past week and large numbers of trout in the area.

So I finially arrived late morning after 10am and started tossing the DOA shad tail keylime. No hits. Put on a gulp new penny shrimp and again no hits. Crossed traffic to the other side of the bridge and first cast caught a 13" trout on new penny gulp shrimp. Few nibbles for the rest of the morning but no fish. Headed back home to rest and pickup my son from school.

Fast forward to evening, I head out again to try my luck on the nite glow lures I bought earlier today. I started in my usual spot but no hits. Crossed over to the trout hot spot and immediately noticed large schools of mullet close to the lights. Tossed a DOA nite glow 3" shrimp and caught a 13" trout. I wasn't getting very many hits on the shrimp, so I switched to a DOA nite glow shad tail and caught two more 13" trout back to back. Next cast I caught a spot croaker.









Action slowed on the paddletail so I switched to my topwater Badonk-A-Donk. To my rightside something was busting in the lights and I thought it would be larger trout. Nope, after aiming a few casts I hook into a huge ladyfish. One of the bigger ones I've seen. It was almost 2 ft long, 19" to the fork of tail. It was really fast in the water and it even went under the bridge briefly. I had to turn it around and wear it down a little. Not sure how I initially hooked it because when I pulled it up I realized that one of the treble hooks was just snagged near it's dorsal fin. Regardless it still counts! The ladyfish was chunked up for cutbait and with that I caught 2 small gafftopsail catfish.







Finished the evening with DOA nite glow shad tail again. I caught another ladyfish that was released. Then I hook into another 13" trout. Last fish of the night was a bluefish that was about 12-13" to the fork. All fish were released except for the large ladyfish that was used for cutbait. All together I got 4 undersized seatrout, 2 ladyfish, 1 bluefish, 1 spot croaker and 2 gafftopsail catfish. Nice variety mixed in there which makes for a very good night on the water. Plus now I'm a believer in DOA nite glow!

Windy Halloween at Flat Bridge

It was pretty chilly at the bridge late morning when I arrived around 10:30am. Temps were in the upper 50's and gradually increasing to the 60's, but the wind chill made it feel colder. I focused on just using artificials today, starting with the DOA CAL Shad Tail and caught a small Seatrout about 12" long.



Then I switched to a new penny Gulp shrimp, and caught another small Seatrout about the same size.



I only stayed for an hour and 15 minutes, the wind was getting stronger and too much to handle. The two seatrouts I caught were released.

Flat Bridge Monday - Lady's Night

It was lady's night at the flat bridge Monday evening. Kyle and I fished for a couple hours at night. Alot of busting going on in the water, I thought it was trout so I told Kyle we need to try a freeline first with some live baby mullet. Turns out it wasn't trout, it was just a bunch of ladyfish splashing around. Nothing caught on the big rods, but I did bring my jigging rod this time. Gave it a go with Gulp Swimming Mullet (white) and kept getting alot of bites on retrieve. However something kept chewing the tails off my softbait so I pulled out this bad boy from my tackle box:

Bomber Badonk-A-Donk Saltwater Grade Bait (Silver Flash / Blue Back)



This is a floating topwater lure that rattles like a panicked baitfish. With this lure I landed 2 ladyfish and lost several more during battle. Don't ask me how you shake off a treble hook stuck in your lip, but ladyfish can do it. By the end of the night I took home two ladies with me and put them in the freezer. LOL

Midday at Flat Bridge - 10 LB JACKS!

Another day off work so I dropped my son off at school and headed to the Flat Bridge with hopes of flounder on the menu. Arrived there around 10:00AM and noticed it was incoming high tide with a turnaround coming soon. Last night I rounded up some live baby mullet and kept them on air. I collected about a dozen finger mullet and thats all I needed. I got them from the North Causeway in NSB where I fished with Kyle last night, but we didn't catch anything. The mullet were not that thick either.

Anyway back to the Flat Bridge report... So shortly after getting my first line wet, I had a small nibble with a live baby mullet on the bottom, but the action quickly disappeared. Also my attempt at jigging gulp shrimp today was a failure due to the strong wind and current. I just couldn't hold bottom where I wanted it to. So I cut the jighead off and freelining a live baby mullet for about an hour. Not one bite on the freeline either. I just put that rod aside and grabbed my 10 footer out of the car. LOL Yeah baby! Now I'm rocking two rods with live baby mullet fished on the bottom with a 1 oz pyramid sinker. I'm using 30lb fluorocarbon leader line and a 1/0 Owners Light Mutu circle hook.

Around 11:00am I noticed a few schools of bait running frantically and it looked like something busting them. But the topwater explosions weren't that big, probably just some small jacks I figured. Sure enough a few minutes later they returned and I had my line in the water at the right place at the right time....zoooooooooom. The baitfeeder sang to me for awhile but this fish was small enough to reel in quickly. It was just a little Crevalle Jack, under 12" long but it sure had an appetite as it swallowed a decent sized mullet.

Next cast I had a strong runner that wasn't stopping. It definitly felt like a much bigger Crevalle Jack. The damn thing took my line straight towards the other fishermans lines to my left, I'm thinking to myself "oh great this fish is gonna get me in trouble". Fortunately for the fish it jetted under the bridge and broke me off. It had me in a bad position anyway. Even though I lost that one, it only broke my leader line so I still had my weight attached. Besides now I'm pumped and ready for more.

With a live mullet in the water, I'm tying a new rig on my pole that just broke off. I didn't even get a chance to finish and the baitfeeder goes off. Another big jack! This one went out then raced back towards me. This one I got to fight a little longer than the first one, and I actually got to see it for a glance. But knowing the crevalle's they don't give up that easy. Another dash and it went under the dang bridge again. I held on as much as I could but it just wouldn't turn around. The line rubbed against something sharp and eventually broke the main line. My whole rig including weight was gone. By now the bait were busting all over the place with bigger explosions on the water. In fact you could actually see a few jacks in the water racing each other to the next victim. However, now I had two broken rigs and no lines in the water either.

I raced to tie knots and get both lines in the water again. Then waited, not long though. Heard the bait busting coming from my left, split second later the big 10 foot rod in front of me gets a big hit. Quickly grabbed it and felt the power of another big jack on the end. Seconds into my fight, I hear my other rod going off with what sounds like another big jack. The jacks are still busting fish out in the water too! Not much I can do but handle the 10' rod I grabbed first. It's taking me to the right so thats where I start walking. As I'm walking, I pass my other rod that is still singing but I can't do nothing about it. hahaha. So I get this badass jack tired out eventually and there's absolutely no way I'm bringing it over the bridge rails. It was way too heavy. A guy comes along and notices my other rod. I ask him to go ahead and see if he can reel it in because I'm busy at the moment. He was cool. He grabs the rod and fights it for a short while but the main line breaks. Oh well, by now I'm getting my big jack up the rocks and successfully on the land. Whew!! My personal best Crevalle Jack! 10 LB 6 Oz and 24 inches long to the tail fork.





This trip cost me though, the same Okuma Avenger 65 that was repaired is having the same problem again. Basically the baitfeeder is a secondary drag on these reels which allows you to disengage the spool and main drag. They are ideal for live or cutbait fishing, especially when your working 2-3 rods at once. When a fish picks up the bait and runs, your suppose to hear a clicking sound. Problem now is I don't hear the clicking sound anymore. It still works fine, just without the sound to alert the bite. I've had this reel for 2 years now and it's been through alot. It's been dunked in saltwater at the beach, in the shop for a cleaning after that, then shipped to a warranty service shop to fix the absent "clicking" sound. They fixed it, but at some point during my trip today the clicking has failed again. I think alot of it is just abuse and wear on the reel itself. I have another Avenger 65 that was purchased a year ago, exact same model and it works fine with no issues.

Flat Bridge Late Friday Night

A late trip to the Port Orange bridge turned out to be a fun trip. It was Friday night with a slight chill in the air. First signs of fall/winter, though it will still be awhile. When I think of cool weather, the fall mullet run comes to mind. Thats the time to bring your castnets because schools of mullet are usually everywhere, especially at night around pier lights. Tonight I didn't bring my castnet, instead I decided to go with a frozen ladyfish fillet that we would use for cutbait. Zack came along with me tonight bringing his two rods. So we arrived around midnight and Zack's first cast soaked in the water for no more than 30 seconds when he got a runner. It put up a good fight for sure. Got it out of the water and get this....He just caught a 22" Redfish right off the bat! I was like whoa, what just happened. LOL This red was very beautiful, one side had 3 black spots and the other had 4 spots. It was within legal slot so I kept it in the cooler. When we were done with the redfish, Zack started catching catfish one after another. Then I got in on the action with a catfish too. All together I caught a catfish and a couple whiting on cut ladyfish chunks.

1st Hammerhead! Flat Bridge Thursday Night

Fished the flat bridge Thursday night for a couple hours by myself. The tide was incoming and almost slack tide. I brought some frozen ladyfish for chunking and frozen lightly salted shrimp. The salt definitly helps to keep the shrimp firm so they stay on the hook better. The fish didn't seem to care either.

Casted one rod with a chunk of ladyfish and noticed immediate taps. The taps were like something small had found a chunk that was too big for it's mouth. I waited for something to actually take the bait and bend the rod. It finially looked like something bigger was interested in the bait and possibly already hooked himself, so I grabbed the rod and fish on! I felt the power of a strong fish, this definitly wasn't a catfish. As I'm reeling, it made a couple 2-3 second bursts that took some line out. And after a brief fight, I had caught my first Hammerhead Shark! This one was 28" long too, which makes it the longest shark species I've caught so far. I've caught a few of those Bonnetheads, but it was cool to actually say I caught a hammerhead. All Hammerhead sharks are protected in Florida state waters, effective January 1st, 2012, so possession and harvest is prohibited. With that said it was safely released back in the water, I did take a quick picture though.

Port Canaveral Offshore 7/29/12

My friend Shaun at work invited me on his family boat for an offshore fishing trip this weekend. All together is was Shaun, his sister Tiffany and husband Todd, Shauns dad who owns the boat, and then their friend who is a fishing guide that knows the waters pretty well. Including myself there were six people on the boat. The guide brought all the tackle we needed. Plus we were just trolling, so I didn't have to bring my fishing pole.

We launched at Port Canaveral around 7:30AM and man was the ride out bumpy. I bruised my back, bottom and elbow pretty good trying to brace myself against the impact as we cruised about 35mph for 30 minutes. Our first fishing spot was an artificial reef about 25-30 miles out. The guide setup the trolling lines, each with a mahi rig tipped with frozen ballyho. As soon as we started trolling a line was hit and fish on! Todd grabbed the rod and reeled in the first fish of the day, a big Barracuda.



No more hits for a couple hours, we probably circled that reef at least a dozen times. It was time to switch location, so we reeled in all the rods and headed to deeper water. We stopped about 38-40 miles out as we hit the gulfstream. Let me tell you the water out there is so blue and pretty that you just want to jump right in. Our guide friend put the rods back out in the water and we began trolling again. The only fish caught out there was a Bonito Tuna that Shauns' dad reeled in and released after a quick photo. If it was me, I probably would've kept it for sharks. Bonito is actually at the top of the list for shark bait. It's a really red and bloody meat that sharks can't resist.



Again, several hours and no more hits. The topwater action was really slow today so we slow trolled back towards inland. We returned to the reef where we started and circled several times. Another Barracuda hit a line and this time it was Tiffany's turn to reel it in. This would turn out to be the last fish in the boat for the day.



A closeup of the Barracuda teeth...


Back to trolling the reef and another hit. Guess what it was my turn! This fish was was taking line at will though, tightened the drag as much as we safely could but nothing was stopping it. Finially it stopped and it was time to reel. Unfortunately the reel I was using was very difficult to handle. The reel kept getting stuck as I'm trying to spin the handle. Because of this, there was too much slack in the line and the fish came off. I was disappointed to say the least. Not a good feeling knowing you just lost a big fish. But thats fishing, sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't.

We headed back to the dock around 5:00pm with no fish in the cooler but I still had fun. The fishing was just slow that day, nothing you can do about that. It was my first time offshore and I got to see a few fish I don't normally see. Also I learned alot from the guide just being able to watch how he hooks the ballyho onto those mahi rigs. Hopefully someday I'll get to try it again!

Flat Bridge Friday Night - 1st Black Drum!

Started fishing around 5:30pm and stayed until almost 10:00pm today at the Flat Bridge. I stopped by Donald's Bait and got their 3 dz shrimp. This batch had alot of jumbo sized shrimp which is a plus. I setup in my usual spot and immediately started getting bites but most of the action was coming from those pesky pinfish. They are really thick in the water there, and they will steal your bait very quickly. Live shrimp don't stand a chance no matter how you hook them. Because of this I really didn't catch anything other then a few pinfish for awhile.

I was getting some really strong hits right as I was running out of bait. I was using the jumbo sized shrimp but the hook just wasn't setting. It's probably the 3/0 circle hook so perhaps I need to try a bigger 5/0 on the jumbo shrimp. Finially around 7:30 I used all of the 3 dz shrimp. Back to the bait shop across the street and bought another 3 dz shrimp. Not as many jumbo shrimp in this mix but it did look like alot of medium shrimp which is good.

When I returned the big bites were gone for the time being. A father and son fishing down from me caught a nice 17" (fork length) Bluefish using cut pinfish. He asked if I wanted it, I said sure. I'm going to cut and freeze it for cutbait. Right now I have plenty of ladyfish in the freezer but I want to add some bluefish and jack. Then I'll be ready for shark fishing LOL.



Anyway back to my report. Eventually I caught a nice 13" whiting, Southern Kingfish. Figured there would be more whiting since they usually travel in schools but didn't see anymore. Several more casts later I hook into a nice Black Drum straight down under the bridge. I was using the 2 hook pompano rig which I think has size 2 circle hooks. This is my first Black Drum I've ever caught so I had to check FWC regulations on size limits. (I keep a reference card in my tackle bag). Black Drum have to be at least 14" and no more than 24" total length, maximum 5 per day. You may possess one over 24". With my catch at 14.5", it qualifies as legal slot so in the cooler.





Overall I'm very happy with the drum and whiting, and I finially get to take home something that's edible for once. I also get to add some bluefish to my cutbait stock.

Flat Bridge Tuesday Evening

Got the urge to fish the flat bridge yesterday evening. Bought 4 dozen shrimp at 38 Live Bait, but I'll be honest, I didn't get 4 dozen shrimp in my bucket. Looked like I was short at least a dozen or more. I even asked the girl working there, who I've never seen there before, but she insisted it was 4 dozen. I didn't want to sit there and challenge her on it, I'd rather go fishing. So I left there knowing I was screwed on that deal. Plus I know another bait shop next door to the flat bridge if I needed anything else. The only reason I went to 38 Live is because it's cheaper.

Nobody at the flat bridge when I got there. I started fishing about 6:00PM and first cast caught a couple fish. Immediately I had a sea robin and a catfish.





Not long after that I hooked into a small Crevalle Jack but it popped off as I tried to lift it up the bridge. Then I got a small Spotted Seatrout but it was too short to keep. Seatrout have to be at least 15" long and this one was less than 12".



Things died off for awhile, well the catching did anyway. And as expected I was running out of bait because 38 Live Bait shorted me. It was still before 8:00PM when I packed up my things and drove to Donald's Bait across the street before they closed. I got 3 more dozen shrimp and this time, I got my moneys worth if not more. Returned to the same fishing spot and finially caught two Lady Fish that went into the cooler for cutbait. Witnessed a couple good hits on my rod towards the end of my visit when it was getting dark. My baitfeeder was singing a steady song on one hit but as I grasped the reel the fish was gone. Another good hit was a stop and run, stop and run, stop and run sound. Again as soon as I picked up the rod it was gone. Both sounded pretty strong whatever they were. I ended up leaving near 10:00PM.

Flat Bridge Sunday Evening

Sunday evening I fished the flat bridge with Zack for a few hours from 6-9pm. We picked up 3 dozen live shrimp and caught some undersized fish. Fishing with shrimp is definitly busy work with all the pinfish, spots, croakers stealing the bait off our hooks. If you leave your line in the water for more than a few minutes and don't notice any taps, then it's likely your bait is gone.

A guy fishing down from us caught a couple small blacktip sharks during our time there. It's amazing how many sharks I've seen come up from this bridge from bonnetheads, hammerheads and blacktips.

Sorry no pictures on this trip. The fish weren't that big anyway so everything was thrown back to grow.

Small Crevalle Jack
Small Bluefish
Small Catfish
Lady Fish

Flat Bridge Friday Afternoon - Bonnethead Slam!

When I got off work around 1:30pm today, I decided to try fishing the flat bridge during sun-down hours/early evening. I got on my computer real quick to check the weather forecast, tide chart, and to find a baitshop closer to the flat bridge in Port Orange. The only other baitshop I knew of was 38 Live Bait in New Smyrna. It didn't take long to find one in Port Orange, and it was surprisingly close to the flat bridge. It's called Donald's Bait & Tackle on Dunlawton Avenue. Their live shrimp come in mixed sizes, about a dozen for $3.50. A little expensive but what can ya do. I think the medium shrimp at 38 Live Bait are only $2.50 a dozen.

So I get there around 5PM and setup my two rods. One rig was a 2-hook pompano rig and another was just a single 3/0 hook. After about 20 minutes I catch my first 22" Bonnethead Shark just underneath the bridge. I got a few pinfish during the next 90 minutes or so. It wasn't until after 7PM when I started reeling in the fish, I mean sharks. In about an hour I caught 3 more bonnethead sharks. All were out as far as I could cast with my 7ft rod and a 1 oz weight. A guy fishing down the bridge from me caught a nice 2-3 ft Hammerhead Shark during this timeframe too. All together I got four bonnetheads on live shrimp today.

22" Bonnethead Shark
22" Bonnethead Shark
21" Bonnethead Shark
20" Bonnethead Shark

Port Orange Flat Bridge - Monday Night

Me and two friends Zack and Kyle headed out to do some saltwater fishing Monday night. We arrived at the baitshop 5 minutes before they closed at 9pm. Hey everyone does it! Anyway we got our 3 dozen shrimp and drove 1/4 mile down the road to the North Causeway. Man this place was packed with people. Several cars in the parking lot as well. So immediately we decided this place was a no go. It was then I decided to take the 15-20 minute drive to Port Orange. I've been hearing good reports coming from a flat bridge and tonight would be my first time fishing there. Parked next to the bridge and not surprised to see most of our shrimp have died by now LOL. Oh well fresh dead shrimp works too. We fished with my two hook pompano surf rigs. I just hooked a whole shrimp on each hook and dropped the rig straight down.

Kyle drew first blood tonight when he caught a small sailfin catfish. Then Kyle caught a nice 1.5 to 2 foot Bonnethead Shark. Very cool! Then Kyle hooked into a beast that took him for a ride. The fight looked intense, I could see Kyle struggling to control the fish. It was darting left and right rapidly and also making 3 leaps out of the water. It was really awesome! It all happened so fast I couldn't tell what it was until he got it underneath us. As we're looking down we definitly could see it's a manta ray of some sort. The description and behavior all leads me to think it's a Devil Ray. We didn't raise this one up on the bridge, instead it shook off the hook and got away safely. After that Zack caught a nice size Lady Fish. And then finially I caught something, but it was a smaller lady fish. That was it for the night, we probably fished for another hour without seeing another fish. Great night for the guys and it was cool to see a variety of fish for once.

CNS #3 - First Shark! Surf Grand Slam

Today was Cody's 8th birthday and I had the day off work so I thought it would be nice to take him to the beach. Decided to visit lot #3 at CNS again. Arrived around 11am and caught the incoming tide for a couple hours. The surf was very calm, I think they said 1 ft swells for today. I used 2-hook pompano rigs on 2 poles, baited with fresh dead shrimp.
The first catch of the day was my first shark!! I think I identified it as a juvenile Altantic Sharpnose shark. It was about 16-18" long, never measured it. Doh! Got on a few whiting and croakers after that. Tide was moving up fast so I had to keep pushing my sand spikes back. The last few casts I was getting nothing but small catfish so decided to head home. Everything was released except for the ladyfish which I'm going to freeze for cutbait. Total tally today was 13 fish! Everything caught on shrimp.

1 Atlantic Sharpnose Shark
1 Ladyfish
2 Whiting
2 Pinfish
2 Croakers
2 Sailfin Catfish
2 Hardhead Catfish
1 Spot

CNS #3 - Whiting, Croaker, Spot

Yesterday was an early release day at my son's school, so after picking him up we loaded up the car for a trip to the beach. Can't go to the beach without a couple of fishing poles right! All together I took 3 poles so I can experiment with a variety of baits. We stopped by our favorite baitshop in New Smyrna, 38 Live Bait. There I bought 3 dozen medium shrimp and a pack of frozen clams. I've never used clams before until today. For cutbait I brought some frozen ladyfish from home. The cut ladyfish was going on my 10' rod with an 8/0 circle hook. The shrimp and clams were going on 2-hook pompano rigs with #2 hooks. We arrived at lot 3 and picked a spot away from swimmers. There was no seaweed and the current was manageable. I normally cast from the beach without getting too wet, but today I had to walk through the waistdeep trough to get to the sandbar where it was only ankle deep. From there, I was able to cast where the fishies were. It was a bit of a pain walking back and forth, especially with 3 rods. So I ended up fishing with only 2 rods. With no hits on shrimp or cut ladyfish, I just switched over to clams for the rest of the day. The first fish was a nice big whiting. I hooked it and gave the rod to Cody so he could reel it in. The only other fish we caught were 2 really small whiting, a nice size croaker, and a spot. All on pieces of clam. Overall the fishing was slow but it was still a nice day at the beach. Also took home some leftover shrimp and clam that I'm freezing for another day.

More River Bank Fishing @ Mullet Lake Park

Since my last post I've gone out to the river bank a few more times. Most recently last night when it was just me and Zack. The full moon has already passed this month but it was still about 80% full. I only caught one catfish that was about 2-3 lb. It was a slow night but it was fun to be out again. We also fished out there last week with better luck. Zack caught 2 catfish and a gar, while I just caught a single gar. The bait we're using is still the frozen cut shad that I collected from this years shad run. One of these nights I'd like to try some cut mullet again. We've caught some big channel cats on cut mullet, which leaves a better blood trail if it's freshly cut before you put it on the hook. Plus it stays on the hook better without gar stripping the meat off. I prefer the gut section if I'm using mullet too. Just cut off the head and toss it in the water, I rarely use the head for bait.

Night fishing Mullet Lake again

Fished the river bank at Mullet Lake Park at night for the first time this year. It was a clear night with some breezy winds at first but eventually the wind died down as the night progressed. Zack joined me tonight and he was the only one to catch anything too. He first caught a 4 lb 2 oz catfish, then later caught a smaller catfish about 1 lb. We both used the same bait which was cut shad. At some point something must have stole my bait because I reeled in and saw a bare hook. Who knows how long my pole was sitting in the water with no bait LOL. No wonder I didn't catch anything. We had fun anyways, and it was really nice being back on the river edge.

2 LB 9 OZ Channel Catfish @ Mullet Lake Park

With my new job it's been hard to find time to fish during the day, so I figured I'd try a little catfishing at night. Last night was very foggy though, almost zero visibility in some areas on SR44 in Geneva. I headed out anyway, I never had too much sense! I wasn't planning on staying very long and only fished for maybe an hour. Also I just stayed at the boat launch ramp and casted out far into the river. I was able to cast out pretty far actually.
I got a good bite on my first cast and it was a fighting catfish. Had some fun reeling it in, though it was only 2 lb 9 oz. I'm not complaining at least it's a fish that made the trip worthwhile. The fog was setting in thicker so I figured I'd better head home before there's any road closures. No pictures tonight, I didn't bring my headlamp and the lighting wasn't very bright at the parking lot.

Location: Mullet Lake Park boat ramp, Geneva FL
Tackle: 3/0 Owners Light Mutu hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no-roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 2 LB 9 OZ
Bait: frozen cut shad

Windy Presidents Day @ Sleepy Hollow

Presidents Day was this Monday and my son was out of school. So with his day off I took him to New Smyrna to show him my new favorite fishing spot in Sleepy Hollow. The skies were partly cloudy, with a high in the upper 60's. The North winds were pretty strong around 14-15mph though. We arrived around 10:30am and setup on the far leftside point where I caught my last flounder. The tide was just starting to go out so the water levels were still high. But the winds were a problem today, it was blowing in our face the whole time as we're facing the north. I also brought my castnet which was useless since there were no baitfish, even if there were baitfish it would be difficult to see them in the turned up water.

So instead of jigging for flounder and instead of fishing with live bait, I focused on fishing with dead shrimp on a pompano rig. I know there's no pompano in this river but it's a good rig for bottom fishing. The only thing biting today were the pinfish, those pesky bait stealers. Cody and I managed to catch 1 pinfish each. After we were done fishing I took Cody down to my favorite baitshop, 38 Live Bait in New Smyrna. I asked if they had any live fiddler crabs and they sure did, they had ALOT! I bought a dozen for only $1.30 and gave them to Cody. He wanted to keep them as pets LOL. I would much rather fish for sheepshead with them but Cody really liked them so I said okay, you can keep them. After the baitshop we stopped by the North Causeway to look around. There were two guys out there fishing with live fiddlers and they were catching a few sheepshead. In the few minutes we visited, one guy actually caught a small one that was released. So the sheepshead bite is definitly on right now, especially around the bridges. The lady at 38 Live Bait even said there have been fishermen coming in and out asking for fiddlers, and that they are catching them pretty consistantly right now. I hear sheepshead are difficult to catch and perhaps one day I'll give it a try. But not today, Cody wouldn't let me use his "fiddler pets" for bait so we left to grab some lunch. lol

16" Flounder @ Sleepy Hollow

Took the hour drive to Sleepy Hollow this morning and arrived around 10am. It was low tide and very shallow, I could see all the oyster bars that are usually underwater during high tide. I could also see fiddler crabs everywhere but they were too fast to catch! Next time during low tide, I need to remember to bring a small shovel to dig them out of their burrows.
The fishing was very slow during low tide. I tried several spots with no luck. Fortunately the tide turned and the water started rising. With the higher water levels came the baitfish which were all over. Another thing I need to bring is my castnet so I can fish live bait.
Today I fished with gulp products, 3" white gulp shrimp and 4" white gulp swimming mullet. I tried both, the shrimp didn't catch anything today. I did catch a nice 16" flounder on a white gulp swimming mullet though! It's the only fish today but well worth the trip. The flounder is one of my favorites to eat and I have a great blackened cajun recipe. It's so delicious!

Mix the following and sprinkle on the fish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Chili Powder

Location: Sleepy Hollow, New Smyrna
Tackle: 1/4th oz jighead - 20lb test leader

Species: Flounder
Size: 16"
Bait: 4" white Gulp! Swimming Mullet

Crappie Masters Kids Rodeo - Wooten Park, Tavares, FL

The Crappie Masters tournament returned to Florida in the Harris Chain this year. During each tournament they hold a free Kids Fishing Rodeo, where kids can fish for fun and prizes. This event was held at Wooten Park in Tavares, FL on Lake Dora. First time visiting this area. We arrived shortly after 8am for registration and fished from 9-11am. The fishing was tough though. Strong NW winds and cold weather seemed to effect the bite unfortunately. Not many kids were able to catch anything today, however, one boy did catch 4 fish (2 specks, 1 bass, 1 bream) using grass shrimp for bait. The other kids were using minnows and worms, no fish. Me and Cody used live minnows and cut shad, no fish either. Even with the poor fishing conditions, the kids still had fun and each were rewarded with a goodie bag full of fishing lures. Each kid also received a free prize during a raffle event where the hosts pulled a random ticket, and a kid would come up and choose a prize from the table. They had rod & reel combos, small tackle boxes, shirts, hats. Every kid got to win something so nobody was left out. When it was Cody's turn, he went up to the table and picked a Bass Pro Shop hat. :)





Inside the goodie bag was a very nice selection of artificial lures and fishing gear. Some of the stuff included roadrunner lures, artificial worms, fishing line, sample pack of hooks, and much more. The artificials were good well known name brands too like Blakemore Roadrunner, Gary Yamamoto, & Bobby Garland. Here's a picture showing everything Cody received during the event ceremony. After the ceremony, they also offered free pizza and soda for lunch so it was a great way to spend the day. Both Cody and I look forward to returning to the next event in 2013 :)

17" American Shad, Crappie & Catfish

With the shad run nearing it's end, I wanted to see how they were biting today and possibly catch a few crappie. Alot of clouds in the sky with a chance of rain in the forecast, but all we got was a slight sprinkle for a few minutes. When I arrived I noticed some vultures next to the river bank so I knew something dead was laying there. When I looked it was a BIG fat catfish, it to have been about 20lb. It was really fat and I don't know what happened to it. It's likely someone caught it and didn't release it properly. Such a shame to see a big fish like that fall victim to careless fishermen.

I used 1/8th oz jigheads today for casting distance and to stay near the bottom. A couple boats were trolling back and forth, but only catching small crappie. The bite was slow, which kinda surprises me with the upcoming cold front this weekend. My friend David came out for a little while but didn't have any luck. All my fish today came between 10am-noon, but after noon the bite stopped with no fish.

First fish I hooked into was a small shad but it got off close to the bank so it doesn't count towards my season total. My next fish was a small crappie on a black/chartreuse tail Strike King Slab Hammer grub. It was too small to keep so it was released. Next was a 17" American Shad caught on a pink/chartreuse tail Strike King Slab Hammer grub. This is one of the longer shad I've caught this year but it looked skinny so maybe she already laid her eggs. I already have enough frozen shad in the freezer anyway so this one was released after measuring the length. Next and final fish for the day was a 1-2 lb catfish that I had accidently snagged on the tail. When I first felt the fish on my line I really thought it was a big shad. It pulled hard but I did notice the vigorous "shaking" of the line that catfish normally do when they know they're hooked. I removed the hook from it's tail and let it go. The wound wasn't too bad so the fish should be okay. Catfish are pretty resilient anyway.

Sorry no pictures today. I wasn't trying to keep anymore fish since I already have that flounder from yesterday. But with the 17" shad I caught today, my season total is now 27! I don't know if I'll break the 30-mark since this is usually when the shad fishing really slows down at Mullet Lake. Can't complain though, last year I only caught 10 shad and this year I almost tripled that amount.

17" Flounder (Personal Best) @ Sleepy Hollow

First time in Sleepy Hollow! Needed a break from the St Johns river so decided to switch it up and try a new spot. A cloudy late morning with some north winds made it a little challenging. Spent a few minutes scouting the area first, noticed the park is open from 7:30am-5:30pm. When I arrived around 10:15am, there were a couple of guys walking out on the dirt path on the right side, so I took the left side. First setup was the white gulp shrimp on a 1/4oz chartreuse jighead (tried looking for 1/8th chartreuse jigheads but Walmart didn't have any).
Within the first 30 minutes I caught a 17" flounder! This is my first flounder besides the one I snagged on the belly from the surf at CNS last year. I was jacked up on Mountain Dew and ready for some more! lol Unfortunately I didn't catch anymore flounder but I did a few short strikes. I also got snagged a couple times and lost 2 jigheads.
So I moved to another spot and tried some gulp swimming mullet in chartreuse. Again, several bites but no hookups. Finially caught a huge pinfish on the swimming mullet. It chewed the tail right off! Also out in the water I could see something busting the baitfish but it was too far out to cast.

Location: Sleepy Hollow, New Smyrna
Tackle: 1/4th oz jighead - 20lb test leader

Species: Flounder
Size: 17"
Bait: 3" white Gulp! Shrimp





I came across this Sleepy Hollow area when I started hearing reports on another website. There's a guy who fishes there often and almost always catches flounder/blues/trout. He has the most luck with white gulp shrimp too. So I asked him for some pointers since I was unfamiliar with the area. This is what he replied...

Sleepy Hollow is huge! Where the old bridge was is a good place but has a bunch of snags/rocks right next to the bulkheads. You can fish on either side. If you go in the south side - that's the county park - the gate opens at 7:30am. On either end of the parking lot there is a dirt path out the river. The paths connect. It's a long walk but plenty of fishing places out there. You can also fish just outside the entrance to the park - you'll see a path to the beach. A lot of kayakers launch there. Another spot is either side of US1 at the culvert. You will need boots on either side - the mud is awful! Several spots to fish there. They also catch a lot of sheephead from the culvert. The only bad part about the culvert is the cars and trucks whizzing by right on your back! There's a couple more small spots south of the park entrance on US1. There's another large spot north of the old bridge road. One of the many channels flow through there. Good luck!

A little trivia. Before US1 was four laned from Daytona Beach to NSB in the early 60s, Sleepy Hollow was a large restuarant. US1 went right by the place. The old bridge was wooden back then. When the road was four laned, DOT straightened the curve out and left Sleepy Hollow behind.

3 Crappie and 2 Shad @ Mullet Lake Park

Hit the banks today from 9:45am to around 12:30pm. I noticed alot of boats on the river this morning, they were trolling back and forth catching small shad and crappie. Yesterday morning my buddy David reported he fished for 90 mins and caught 12 crappie and 5 shad all on chartreuse. Once a steady line of boats started moving through the bite suddenly stopped for him.

Today my first catch was a 13.75" american shad on chartreuse metalflake. Next fish was a 10.75" crappie on chartreuse also. Then the bite stopped for awhile. I changed colors but couldn't buy a bite for the longest time. I switched to 1/8th oz jigheads so I could cast further and then caught a small hickory shad around 11" on a white grub tail. My next two fish were crappies, both caught on chartreuse metalflake. Noticed some darker clouds moving into the area so called it a day.

2 Shad (1 american on chartreuse and 1 hickory on white)
3 Crappie (all on chartreuse)

With the two shad I caught today, my season total is now 26!

3 Crappie and 1 Catfish @ Mullet Lake Park

Stepped out to the river bank again this morning at the usual time around 10am. Normally I'm fishing for shad but today I was going for crappie instead. With a slow retrieve and random twitch, I caught a nice 11" crappie. Shortly after I caught another smaller crappie. The last crappie I caught today was the biggest of them all almost 12" long. All crappies were caught on the new Strike King Rage Tail Slab Hammer Crappie Grub in black/chartreuse tail. The tails on these grubs really move! They are so impressive that I plan on buying more color combinations. Each pack contains 10 grubs but the only problem is they are pretty expensive. Fortunately I can order them from Amazon.com where I use gift cards I've earned from online surveys.

Here's the Strike King Rage Tail Slab Hammer Crappie Grub
Black / Chartreuse Tail



And here's the 3 crappies I caught today using the above grub on a chartreuse jighead 1/16th. The two big ones were about 11-12" long! Slab Hammer!



I also fished with live minnows on a crappie rig and caught a catfish. It hit hard and took alot of drag before I could even get to my rod. The fight was fun on my light rod, and for awhile I thought it was a shad the way it raced and didn't stop. I haven't weighed the catfish yet but my guess it's around 1.5 lb

EZ Double Jig Rig - Favorite Shad & Crappie Colors

Here I'll explain the double jig rig I've been using this year. It doesn't require any swivels or snaps and it's super easy to make. All you need is some Spiderwire EZ Mono fishing line in Low-Viz Green. I like to use 10lb test for these rigs.



Pull out about 4-1/2 to 5 ft of line and fold in half. Now with the folded end, loop it around two fingers twice and then pull the tag through the loops you just made around your fingers. Pull the tag tight and now you basically have a loop at the top of the rig with two lines hanging down. Tie on the bottom jig to the end of one line. For the second jig, you want it about 10-12" above the bottom jig so you'll have to trim the other line before you tie on the second jig. Your finished rig should look something like this....



The loop at the top of the rig allows you to change rigs easily. I simply tie a snap-swivel to my mainline and thats all you need to change rigs! I always have pre-tied rigs available in different colors in my tackle bag so I'm ready to change lure colors within seconds. I keep each one in a separate ziplock bag to prevent tangles and to organize them better. Each ziplock bag contains a rig with different color combinations. One bag has a chartreuse grub rig, one has pink grub rig, one has white grub rig, etc.

Choosing the right lure color is very important. There are alot of factors that will determine what color is successful but it all greatly depends on what the fish want. There are a ton of colors and color combinations available on the market, so it doesn't hurt to have a variety of colors available so the fish can tell you what they want.

With shad and crappie, I normally fish these with 2" grub tails on a 1/16th oz jighead. When fishing from the shore, I always use the double jig rig I described in the beginning. It offers you the flexibility of using two different colors and it adds more attraction to your lures. I fish this rig slow with a twitch here and there to make it look like wounded baitfish. Here's the colors I've had the most success with this year on both shad and crappie.

black/chartreuse tail on chartreuse jighead
white/chartreuse tail on pink jighead
bubblegum pink on white jighead
chartreuse metalflake on pink jighead

For crappie, I like to start with the black/chartreuse tail and if I'm not getting any bites I'll switch to either pink or white. For shad, I've busted most of them on chartreuse metalflake but some days they prefer pink or white.

One shad / Two Catfish

Another day another report. The winds today were better but still gusty at times. My morning started with a small shad caught on a black/chartreuse grub tail. So thats number 24 for the year. I also fished with live minnows on a crappie rig and caught a couple catfish. As far as jigging, no luck except for the one shad early in the day. It sure was a slow day fishing so I left around 12:30. I'll probably try again in a few days and hope the bite picks up. I'm predicting this weekend will be good for crappie since Feb 7th is the full moon spawn.

3 More Shad @ Mullet Lake Park

Hit the river knowing it would be windy today. The north winds were very strong around 15mph and probably higher gusts. I started with chartreuse grub tails and didn't get any hits. I was having trouble getting distance with the wind so I decided to focus on crappie that should be in closer. I switched to pink grub tails on white 1/16th oz roadrunner jigheads and caught 3 shad using this setup. The last one hit so hard it busted the spin blade off the roadrunner jighead! I finished around 12:30pm because the winds were just too much. And with the 3 shad caught today, my season total is now 23! I'm still looking for my first 18-incher though. :)

Hickory Shad 11"
Hickory Shad 14.5"
American Shad 14.5"

20th Shad of the Season! with a few small Crappie

Today I received my order from Bass Pro Shop. With some gift cards I earned from online surveys, I was able to purchase some items for shad and crappie fishing.
1/16th oz pink jigheads
1/16th oz white jigheads
Bass Pro Heavy Glitter Squirmin' Grubs - white / chartreuse tail
Strike King Rage Tail Crappie Grubs - black / chartreuse tail

So this late afternoon I took Cody to the river bank at Mullet Lake. We probably got there around 3:30pm so it was a later trip than usual. Cody's setup was live minnows on a bottom rig with two hooks. Unfortunately he didn't get very many bites. He ended up catching 1 small catfish. My setup was the same double jig rig for shad fishing. The bite was slow though, I had a few small nibbles but nothing to play with. I jigged the crap outta that river and couldn't find the fish to bite. It wasn't until after 5pm when I finially caught a couple small crappie on the new white/chartreuse heavy glitter grub. Only one was big enough to keep though. I did hook into 1 shad before it was time to go and this makes my 20th shad of the season!

A Windy Tangled Day / Large Yellow Rat Snake

My day started with a little excitement early on as I was about to walk through the thick tall grass. What I noticed was a very long snake just laying in the grass next to the parking lot. This thing must have been 4-5 ft long no kidding! Just like Indiana Jones, I hate snakes. Can't stand them and to be honest, I don't really know how to identify them. So I took this picture and sent a text msg to my friend David who knows more about this stuff than I do. He said it's a Yellow Rat snake and it won't bother me. Once I knew it wasn't poisonious I was relieved for sure.



Today the weather started out good, nice and sunny with very few clouds. I caught a small shad early on and released it right away without measuring. I hooked up with another small one but it got off the hook before I could land it. As the day went on though the winds picked up and clouds blocked the sun. On top of that, my double rig kept tangling on my mainline in almost every cast making my morning very frustrating. I did catch some fish but I feel my day could've been more productive if I wasn't spending so much time untangling lines. All together I caught 2 shad about 12-13" each, 1 crappie and a catfish using cut shad.

So with the two shad I caught today my running season total is 19 shad this year! Tomorrow the forecast calls for early morning rain then winds 14-15mph, so it's highly doubtful I'll do any shad fishing tomorrow.

Big Mama Jama Shad @ Mullet Lake Park

I just can't get enough shad action, it's very addictive. Went out again today and fished the same spot. First tried a pink grubtail to see if I could get any crappie and only got a few bites. Nothing stayed on the hook though. So I switched over to my tried and true chartreuse with pink jighead. I stuck with this color for the rest of the day. I wasn't getting anything so I moved down to where the boats enter the river and caught two shad pretty much one after another. Moved back to my original spot and David arrived around 11:30. Sure enough the shad were biting again. I caught a small 11" male that was released. Then I caught a big girl was 17.50" to the fork and very fat. She's my biggest of the year so far. After that the bite stopped for awhile and then I caught another small 11" male that was released too.

As soon as I was packing to leave, David hooked into another shad. It didn't put up much of a fight so we didn't think it was as big as the others. However, when we put it on the measuring device, it was 18" to the fork! It surprised both of us. At this time David is in the lead for our division. Pretty cool! He always seems to 1-up me LOL

Today I landed 5 shad all together, only kept 3 of them since the others were pretty small. Plus my freezer is getting full. The goto lure was the same chartreuse grubtail with pink jighead (1/16 oz). I have now caught 17 shad this season!

Here's todays catch measurements and pictures:
17.50" (ties my all time personal best)
16.25"
13.75"
11"
11"

Shad Slam at Mullet Lake Park!

Today was my most productive day fishing at Mullet Lake. I hooked 2 smaller crappies early on pink grub tails. All of the crappies were up close so I tried to catch a few more. I noticed a trail of bubbles in the water up close again and thought it was some more crappie, so I jigged in front of the bubbles and got another bite. It wasn't a crappie though, it my first shad of the day on a pink grub tail on chartreuse jighead.
David showed up shortly after my first shad and this is when the fun began. The shad were biting like crazy in the middle of the river where we were casting our lines. I was in a zone when I caught one, then another, then another. Some bites were soft, and then some bites striked aggressively. David would get a fish on and at the same time I would get a bite. Twice we came really close to reeling in a shad at the same time. The hot lure for me was chartreuse grub tail on a pink jighead (1/16 oz). Soon the bite stopped and that was it for us today.

During the visit David caught 2 nice crappie which he was kind enough to give to me (thank you!). He also landed a big female shad that measured 17.5" to the fork! He is now tied with the leader in the shad derby for our division. Woot Woot!

Today I caught 4 shad and 2 crappie. The big female shad are definitly in the area now and this should be a fun upcoming week. So far this year I've caught 12 shad!

Crappie 10.5"
Crappie 9"
American Shad 14.25"
American Shad 13.75"
American Shad 11.50"
American Shad 11.50"

Here's a picture of the fish I caught today, it doesn't include the 2 crappie that David gave me.

Cody's First Shad of the Derby!

Took another late morning trip with Cody and today the fishing was rather slow. We first tried a slip bobber with a minnow to catch some crappie but nothing took the bait. After awhile I just decided to jig for some shad and see what happens. It wasn't until later in the day when I hooked into the first shad. Then I hooked another one, this time I gave the rod to Cody to reel it in. This is his first time reeling in a shad and it gave him the full experience. It made leaps out of the water and fast runs. Cody sure loved it when landed it and now he's entered into the derby with a 15.5" shad, which ties him with the leader. I hooked another one for him and gave him the rod, but as he was reeling it in the hook popped out. I told him thats what happens when you try to muscle them in LOL.

So today we caught a 15.5" and a 13.5" shad. Here's a picture of Cody holding his first.