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