Personal Best - Big Catch Longnose Gar 20 lb 8 oz

Last night I was at CS Lee Park with a full arsenal. I brought with me some frozen cut bait and nightcrawlers to get started fishing. Once I had lines in the water, it was time to chum up some baitfish. With oatmeal and small pieces of bread, I threw the mix out in the shallow water by the shore. After 15-20 minutes, I grabbed my castnet to see if I can catch some live bait. It only took a few good casts and I had plenty of mud minnows. I used my light action rod to catch a few live bluegills too. Towards the end of the night I switched over to live bait and nightcrawlers. After the switch, I seemed to get alot more bites on live bait. I missed a few big ones too. One almost dragged my rod in the water because my drag wasn't set right.

Well anyways, it was the end of my night and I had another bite. After I made sure the hook was set, this guy was really pulling. I thought my drag was too loose or something, but no, it was just a big fish trying to get away. This one I fought a good couple minutes. I thought it was a big catfish the way it splashed around in the middle of the river but once I got a good look at it, it was a big Longnose Gar. Still a pretty cool catch since I haven't seen one of these in awhile. It's been a long time since I've caught a Longnose Gar, my previous one was about 9 LB almost a year ago. I can catch Florida Gar any given night, but they don't get any bigger than 4-5 LB. The Longnose Gar, though, can be common in the 5-15 lb range and the Florida record is 41 LB.

This Longnose Gar was 54" long and 20 LB 8 Oz, which qualifies for another Big Catch certificate from the FWC. The minimum requirements for the longnose is 20 lb and/or 50" long. Looks like I'll be sending in another application soon. =)

Location: C.S. Lee Park
Tackle: Owners Light Mutu 5/0 hook on carolina rig - 3 oz sinker

Species: Longnose Gar
Weight: 20 LB 8 OZ
Bait: live bluegill

Big Catch Program & Perseid Meteor Shower

Every year in late July and early August you can observe the Perseid Meteor Shower, a fascinating show displayed by rock and dust fragments left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle. As the fragments enter the Earth's atmosphere, they burn up creating a streak of light across the sky. This year, the peak activity is expected on August 13, 2011. A few nights ago while fishing at CS lee park I witnessed several meteors streaking across the sky. The skies were clear and it was a new moon so I could see everything. When there's a full moon, however, it will make meteor observing difficult.

On another topic, a few months ago on May 15th I caught a monster Channel Catfish that weighed about 15 LB. This size qualified for a "Big Catch" recognition by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. So I mailed in my free application and about 2 months later I received this beautiful full-color certificate, personalized with my name and details about the catch. 15 LB is actually the minimum qualifying size for a Channel Catfish and I think the Largemouth Bass minimum size is 8 LB, so earning these certificates isn't easy.

More FWC Big Catch Program details:
http://myfwc.com/fishing/freshwater/fishing-tips/angler-recognition

Personal Best - Channel Catfish 14 LB 6 OZ!

Another monster pulled out of the water at Mullet Lake Park river bank. Last night I fought a monster Channel Catfish that put up more fight than anything I've experienced before. At around 11:25PM, the fish hooked itself on my line. Feeling it tug my line I tried to reel in but it was still pulling my drag out. I let it shake and splash around, then tightened the drag to gain ground on it. I got it about 15 feet from the bank, stopped to turn on my headlight so I could see but then my fish veered to the left. I had it in a bad position and needed to turn it back around towards me. It finially cooperated with this idea and thats when Zack jumped down to snap it's jaw with my Team Catfish Floating Fish-Grip. This yellow Fish-Grip has been a true asset for my tackle bag, it snaps on their jaws and won't let go until you do. It weighs only 4oz and even has a hole on the handle for my Berkley Fish Scale. Doesn't get any easier than this for securing a fish and weighing it. This catfish is my personal best, weighing at 14 LB 6 OZ. Though I'm going to go ahead and round up to 15 LB and claim my first Big Catch certificate. =)

Last night the moon was 98% full, the day before a complete full moon. Night temperature was about 68 degrees. The water levels were much better too since it rained a few days ago. The bait was frozen cut mullet. I fished with a 6/0 and 8/0 octopus circle hook, catching the big one on the 6/0 hook.