Flat Bridge Wednesday Night 10/28/2015

Hit the bridge after 10pm Wednesday night and saw the last 1.5 hours of incoming tide. I was in complete flounder-mode the entire time. The jig was Mission Fishin 1/2oz red and the bait was Gulp swimming mullet pearl white. Worked a few favorite light poles and pulled in 5 flounder. Biggest was about 14" long. Lost a flounder on the surface when it actually jumped out like a ladyfish or snook! Thought that was pretty cool until it spit my hook LOL. I kept the 14" flattie to do a fish print tutorial, which is now posted in the Hobbies section. Go check it out.

Catch Tally: 5 flatties

14" flounder
12.75" flounder
12.5" flounder
11" flounder
10.5" flounder











Flattie fishing is slow and tedious, so I had time to look around and found some tackle treasure along the way :)

Dunlawton Fishing Pier 9/26

Me and my son Cody took another morning trip to Port Orange after stopping by NSB Bait & Tackle for 50 shrimp for $8. Start fishing about 8:30am and it was slowwww. No hits on live shrimp...what! Where are all the fish? Should've went to the flat bridge down the road but my son doesn't like the noise from all the traffic. I don't blame him.

We see a little bobber floating around unattached to anything, so he is intrigued by the idea that he can get it by casting close and reeling in. He still has a live shrimp on his hook while he casts a couple times to catch the bobber. All of a sudden he says he has a fish! So he reels in a 13" flounder just messing around! I can't believe it, I'm actually trying to catch fish and coming up with nothing LOL

I did catch a few small fish before we left, a baby snapper and a small sea robin. Oh well can't get them all. I'd say my son outfished me today coming up with the keeper flounder though. Caught on live shrimp with a 1 oz egg sinker to maintain depth.

Flat Bridge Slam! Night Fishing 9/17

Scooped up my friend Zack on the way to New Smyrna where we castnet the finger mullet for bait on boating docks. Some nice schools of mullet were hanging around and we were able to get about 2 dozen in about 30 minutes or less. Nothing like free bait!

Ran down to the flat bridge and found my favorite hole was open. The current was near slack when we got there, and upon walking to the spot I noticed a flounder just kinda floating on topwater. Curious if it was even still alive, I dropped a finger mullet next to him which spooked it as it dove to the bottom. Oh well. So I rigged our poles to fish the live mullet on the bottom. Hooked two small trout that got a release, biggest was 13" long. Also caught some ladyfish for shark fishing, counted 3 in the cooler when we were done. I felt like I missed a few flounder as I was fishing, but finially brought over a fat 13" flounder! Zack also got a 13" fat flounder! Ended the night catching a barely legal mangrove snapper that got a release. Four different species caught tonight and we used every single one of the live mullet in our bucket. One of our better nights for sure with a lot of action.







The next day I did my first fish print which is called Gyotaku. Gyotaku is a traditional Japanese method of printing fish, a practice which dates back to the mid-1800s. The process sounds simple: cleaning and drying the fish, painting with sumi ink and then pressing rice paper to create a print. Think of it as a thumbprint, pretty much the exact same thing. Sounds easy but it actually involves some skill believe it or not. There are some YouTube videos online, but I recommend the videos created by Rob Choi. He's actually the person that inspired me to do this through his own fishing blog. Here's a fish print from the 13" flounder above.

Trout and Flattie Bridge Report 10/21

Tried the flat bridge Tuesday night. Used only watermelon gulp swimming mullet, managed to find the fish hanging at one of the lights. Hooked and caught the same rockfish twice, lol. Also think I had a few flounder on briefly but they got off before I could see them. Then instead of fishing the bottom slowly, I tossed the jig by the bridge and started reeling in a little faster. Caught a 16" trout, then two short 13" trouts. I don't know if they got smart but they stopped hitting the lure after that. Fished the bottom again and caught a small flounder shown in the photo below. That was it, everything released to grow.

Personal Best 19.75" FLOUNDER @ Sleepy Hollow 10/18

Started out at 7:00am leaving the house with my son. Weather was cool outside, low 60's. Sunrise was at 7:30am so it would warm up pretty quick. Arrived at New Smyrna around 8:00am and first stop is the new ramp, Swoope ramp. We started at the little cove near the dumpster but no luck. Moved down to the actual boat ramp and no luck again. Wanted to checkout Sleepy Hollow so that's where we headed next. Realized we were pretty much the only ones there, very surprising for a Saturday. Loaded the cart and walked down to spot #1. After a few casts I feel the flounder tap and hook into a nice one. Worked it on the shore and saw it was a big one but I didn't realize how big until I measured it. It taped at 19.75" long! The one I've been waiting on for some time now, I always wanted a 20-incher doormat. This one destroyed my previous record of 17" which was actually caught at the same place, Sleepy Hollow. Caught him on a pearl white Gulp swimming mullet with 1/4oz Mission Fishin' chartreuse jighead.



Couldn't get another hit after that so moved to spot #2. While there we came across a sea turtle that was swimming really close to shore.



Didn't get anymore hits at Sleepy Hollow so we took a lunch break at McDonalds. After lunch we went back to the new ramp. Tried fishing the cove again but no luck. Put the fishing poles away and decided to just throw the castnet and see what we can find for our home aquarium. With a couple throws of the castnet we found a few perfect specimens. Collected a juvenile gray snapper and juvenile crevalle jack, along with several tiny 1/4" hermit crabs. Took me awhile to ID the baby fish when I got home. Had a great day on the water! My dad took this photo of my son and I sporting our catch of the day.

Two Flounders from Flat Bridge 10/12 Night Fishing

Well it's been awhile since I've successfully caught a flounder. With the fall mullet run, I've been using the live bait around me but haven't had much luck with the flounder. There's just an abundance of mullet around so what makes my little mullet on a hook stand out from the rest...nothing. Decided to go back to artificial fishing, where I've had the most success with flounder this year. Tied on my 1/2oz Mission Fishin jighead and went back to old faithful, watermelon color Gulp Swimming Mullet. Worked most of the northside flat bridge and pulled two flounder, 12" and 13". Test results are in, flounder just love the gulp!

Flat Bridge Snook & Flounder 9/3

Left my house around 10:00PM for a quick trip by myself to New Smyrna. I brought two fishing poles, one castnet and my tackle. Thats how I travel light. Usually I have 3 poles, two castnets, and a couple extra buckets for live bait, along with 2-3 air pumps. So I started at Swoope ramp to find bait and had the whole place to myself. It was low tide but I was delighted to find finger mullet on the ramp. After a few throws I had about 8 mullet. I planned to visit the Top Secret Bridge tonight but after scouting the spot I saw two guys were already fishing it. Plan B, fish the flat bridge. I get to the flat bridge around 12:30am, man already almost time to go home. I wasn't planning on fishing very long but once I setup on my spot I noticed something hitting bait in the water. I freelined a live mullet and caught a nice 16.5" Snook! Caught another Snook that was 16" long. Both were released. Then I hook into a beast that was definitly a much bigger snook but it was able to shake off the hook after giving me a few hard runs. I set a rod down on the bottom and finially caught a 12" flounder on live mullet! After an hour I was out of bait and unfortuately it was time to head home. Man I wish I didn't have to work! Not a bad night with 2 snook and a keeper flounder!

Friday Night Slam! 8/1

We get there around 8:00pm and see the bridge isn't as crowded as I expected. There were two groups of people fishing but they were not in my favorite spots. Parked in Aunt Catfishes overflow parking lot and walked to the 2nd southsite light pole. Current was still outgoing and just like yesterday, we had the wind in our faces again. With three fishing poles and a mud minnow on each one, we couldn't get a hit for like an hour. Crossed over to the northside and it was the same story. I finially caught a tiny flounder that got a release. That was it for the bridge, pretty slow action there last couple of days.
Still had alot of live mud minnows leftover, so decided to try Swoope boat ramp. We get there after 10PM and setup on the rightside dock. It was a high tide and still incoming. Around 11pm Cody caught his first fish and its his personal best keeper Flounder at 12.5" long! Shortly after that, I catch my personal best Mangrove Snapper at 12.75" long. We just kept taking turns catching fish after that. Cody caught his first Mangrove Snapper that was 10" long, then I get a big Hardhead Catfish, then Cody gets a bigger Mangrove Snapper thats 11" long and then I end the night with a big ladyfish that put on an amazing show. It made several jumps right in front of us while I was reeling it in. Got it over the rails and it snapped my 20lb leader line. Took the hook out and threw him back. Had a great night on the water with my boy!

Cody's Fish Count: 3
12.5" Flounder (personal best)
10" Mangrove Snapper
11" Mangrove Snapper

Brad's Fish Count: 4
small Flounder
12.75" Mangrove Snapper (personal best)
large catfish
large lady fish

Slow Flat Bridge 2-Day Report 7/30 & 7/31

Wednesday night (7/30)
Objective tonight was to refresh the water bucket holding leftover mudminnows, possibly find finger mullet, and fish the flat bridge. Started at New Smyrna to refresh the bait water, it was about 2 days old and starting to foul. Found some finger mullet sitting on one of the ramps and netted about 6. Took off to the flat bridge to fish for a little bit. I didn't want to use all the bait since I was planning a trip the next day with my son Cody. So I ended up using 2 mud minnows and 2 finger mullet in about an hour. The bite was kinda slow, only caught one tiny flounder that got a release. Left the bridge around midnight to rest up for tomorrow.

Thursday night (7/31)
Cody and I left the house to fish the flat bridge with finger mullet and mud minnows. We get there around 7:30pm. I picked the southeast corner since one of my other holes was already taken. Current was outgoing and we had a steady wind in our face. Saw some dark clouds but looked like they would avoid us. We fished there for a little while but really nothing to write about. Finially gave up on that spot and moved over to the northside where we fished last time. Fished there for about 30 minutes and then it started sprinkling. Packed up and headed for the car. Checked my phone and saw a nice storm that came out of no where and was headed towards Port Orange and New Smyrna. Ended up calling it a night when we saw lightning in the sky. Weather app said 0% chance of rain when we left our house :(

Father & Son Flat Bridge Monday Night 7/28

My son Cody is starting to like fishing since we've switched to using live baitfish instead of Gulp!. He had fun last night when he caught his first butterfly ray so he wanted to go again tonight. I wasn't planning on going but since he asked, I got everything ready for another night trip. Cody and I arrived in New Smyrna around 7:30pm and we needed live bait, only two baitshops would be open til 9PM and thats Thirty Eight Live Bait and NSB Bait & Tackle. I stopped by Thirty Eight Live first, an employee was already outside turning people around because they were out of everything live. So I went to NSB Bait & Tackle and I was in luck. They had plenty and plenty more of nice mud minnows. At $6 a dozen I got three dozen. A bit of overkill but I wanted leftover bait that I could keep alive for another day. With live bait acquired, we made our way to the flat bridge. It's now 8PM and the beginning of incoming tide. My favorite incoming tide spot was open thankfully. First thing I do is baitup Cody's rod with a live mud minnow. His first cast he catches a 10.5" flounder right off the bat! This is his first flounder, he's been working so hard for it. So happy for him!
Got into some ladyfish, landed a couple for the bucket. Then I get a 12" flounder to add to it. I also hooked and released a tiny flounder and a catfish. Cody then gets another tiny flounder which was smaller than the one I just caught. I end the trip catching another 12" flounder for the bucket and an 11" flounder that got a release.
Cody had an exceptional night catching his first 2 flounder. And even though he didn't catch one, he also enjoyed playing with the ladyfish. My own tally was 4 flounder, 2 ladyfish and a catfish. The bite was steady so it kept us both entertained.

Flat Bridge Sunday Night 7/27

Wanted to take my boy fishing and I knew live bait would be key to putting fish over the rails. Left our house around 7:30PM and made a stop to pickup my friend Zack too. Fast forward we get to New Smyrna around 8:40PM, and find the baitshop that had mud minnows had closed shop early for some reason. They were suppose to stay open until 9PM. So we ended up going to Thirty Eight Live and they only had live fiddler crabs. It's a good thing I saved about 7 baitfish that I netted the night before! I had a few mud minnows, 2 finger mullet and some pinfish. With limited bait we still caught some fish. Cody caught the first fish which was a butterfly ray. Then I get a 12" flounder on a mud minnow. That was it for the night. Zack got skunked as usual LOL.

Friday Night Flat Bridge 7/25

Hit the New Smyrna ramps around 10pm to net some live bait. It was high tide so I figured plenty of bait. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, I only netted some herring, 2 mojarras and a single mullet. About 10 live baits all together.
Fast forward to the bridge, it was slack high tide when I arrived. I tried the SE corner first but couldn't get a hit. This is where I caught my big flattie a few nights ago. Move down two more light poles to another favorite spot on the southside. First cast put on a mojarra and immediately caught a 12" flounder. About 30 minutes pass and I get a small trout on one of the live herring. Ran out of bait and that was it for the night.

Tied Personal Best Flattie at Flat Bridge 7/22

Just got back awhile ago from the flat bridge. It was a slow night to start and I wasn't too impressed for several hours. First I got to the ramps and starting looking for bait. I got mostly mojarras and some nice pinfish, only one finger mullet. Had about a dozen live bait so I headed to the bridge. It was an outgoing tide with some nice current, and nobody was on the bridge. Started on the north side but didn't have any luck. Switched to the southside honey hole and got into a mess of ladyfish, landed one and kept it for frozen shark bait. Got tired of wasting my bait on ladyfish, and was about to end the night. But then I looked over and noticed the city finially fixed the famous light pole on the southeast end. Haven't fished that spot in months because the light was out. I had about 4 live baits left, including the finger mullet. Figure save the best for last. Hooked up the mullet and dropped it to the bottom on my okuma baitfeeder reel. Activated the baitfeeder switch and set the rod down. Few minutes pass and the mullet gets hit. Baitfeeder allows line to release with less tension so rod & reel don't go into the water. All I gotta do is pickup the rod, disengage the baitfeeder drag and now the main drag is engaged. It's a big one and when I look down I see a big flounder. Holy cow I'm like please don't drop this one. Got it in position for liftoff out of the water and hopefully over the rails. The rod I'm using is pretty stiff so I was able to toss it up on the bridge pretty easy. Knew it was a big one and it was. Measured a hair under 17" but it's pretty dang close. It ties my personaly best and it's definitly my best at the bridge. There you go, get yourself some live mullet.

Wednesday Night Flat Bridge 7/16

Hit the bridge with my buddy Zack. We first stopped at some boat ramps and netted alot of big mojarras and some pinfish. We had plenty of bait, so we went to the bridge. Tide was still outgoing but nearing slacktide. We fished the northside of the bridge. I first caught a huge butterfly ray, that was cool. Zack was slaying the ladyfish on live bait, he ended the night catching 3 ladyfish and donated them to be sharkbait. I finially caught a flounder but it was only 11.5" so it was released. The bite was slower than it usually is, but we still caught some fish. When I put on a fresh lively baitfish I usually got a hit pretty quick. That was it for the night, came home with 3 ladyfish. Oh yeah, I also hooked into a nice sized bluecrab. It actually stayed on my line as I brought it over the rails and into a bucket. It was a big male. I cooked him as soon as I got home and had bluecrab for the first time. It was awesome! I measured the crabs shell and it was 5.5" from side to side, so with the legs the crab is much bigger.

Tuesday Night Flat Bridge 7/15

Kept about a dozen live mullet for 2 whole days with only 1 death (it was the one that got stuck in the net). I had to use them ASAP though because the water was starting to stink. It was a wet evening in central Florida though, but I had a feeling the storms would die off around 10pm as they have recently. So I drive out there, knowing it's raining and taking a chance on whether it would clear up or not. I get to New Smyrna first around 10:30pm, it's just a sprinkle here but enough to get wet. I quickly refresh the water for my live mullet and get back in the car to decide my next move. Now the radar shows the storm is clearly dying off so I head straight to the flat bridge. I get there and see nobody on the bridge because it had just stopped raining. Perfect timing.
I fish two spots with live mullet. Only one spot produced a steady bite. It's my new honey hole where I'm catching flounder, snapper, trout, ladyfish, butterfly ray. Tonight I would catch 3 flounder all 12" but very fat. Check out the photo of the first flounder. I caught it on a finger mullet and when I got it on the bridge it spitup a whole mojarra as well. I also caught 3 small butterfly rays and a huge ladyfish that is 21" long! This new honey spot is best on an incoming tide with some current. I tried moving down but couldn't get a hit, so I went back to my favorite spot and started catching fish again. My last mullet of the night produced my last flounder, nice way to end the fishing trip. Very good night on the bridge!

Sunday Night Flat Bridge 7/13

Started around 10:30pm in New Smyrna after renewing my fishing license at Walmart. The plan was to find nice 3" finger mullet along shorelines. Hard to find sometimes but it's worth it. Netted about 10 and took them for a ride to the flat bridge. Parked at the bridge around 11:30 and found the tide still incoming. Fished two spots with no luck. May have lost a flounder on the bottom. Next spot was the hot spot. Slowly dragging a mullet along the bottom I got a 15.5" flounder, 11.5" mangrove snapper, and a 12" seatrout. Also lost a ladyfish as I tried to lift it over the rails. Gotta love the old bridge at night :)

Tuesday Night Flat Bridge 7/8

Arrived about an hour after the storms passed, so I was almost sure to have the bridge to myself. Sure enough that was the case around 10:00PM. I had already netted my bait the night before so I was ready to go. I had a small selection of live mullet, mojarra, pinfish and mud minnows. About a dozen baitfish all together.
Current was outgoing and not moving very fast, so I started on the southside of the bridge. Couldn't get a hit though, so I crossed over to the north side. Lost something after it hit my bait on the bottom. Dropped it down where I lost it, and it hit my bait again. It just would slowly move along the bottom. I waited a few seconds before trying to cross it's eyes but again, it came unbuttoned. Couldn't get another hit after that, and now the current was starting to roll faster. Crossed back over to the southside and caught 2 flounder that were 12" each. One flounder was on mud minnow and the other on finger mullet. Also caught a couple butterfly rays. They always fool me into thinking it's a big flounder on my line!

Sunday Night Flat Bridge 7/6

Went to the bridge last night but first I had to net some bait. Went to a couple boatramps in New Smyrna that typically hold baitfish. Got a couple mojarra, about half dozen small mullet, a greenie and a pinfish. Finially around midnight on the flat bridge and immediately caught a 12" flounder on the live greenie. Good start! Continued to fish for about an 1.5 hours, got a small ladyfish on a mojarra, 3 butterfly rays that kept taking the mullet, a FAT 12.5" football on a live pinfish, and then a 13.5" flattie on the last mojarra.
Live bait is now the key to catching numbers of fish. I use two rods, each tied with 20lb fluorocarbon leader and a size 2 Owners K Hook. Usually I drop one down next to the light pole, while I slowly walk the other rod trying to find a bite.