NSB and Dunlawton Report - Lady Fish

The no name tropical storm last weekend is still having an effect on fishing. The intracoastal waterway seems to be shutdown for the most part with all the freshwater draining into the water system. Flooding is still a major problem on the St Johns River too. It will be awhile before things settle down, but that won't stop me from fishing in the meantime.

Last night I made another trip to NSB for some night fishing. Stopped by the North Causeway in NSB first, but the lights were still out on the pier. I jigged for awhile with gulp shrimp but didn't get any bites.

Next I visited the South Causeway and the report from there was more trash fish. Both the causeways had people in just about every corner, so I took the 15 minute drive to Port Orange to fish the Dunlawton pier. When I arrived at Dunlawton, several people were leaving and the reports again, nothing but catfish.

I stayed for awhile anyways, but didn't catch anything on live mullet. In fact I didn't get any good hits on mullet. Nobody was. The only thing that was working was fresh dead shrimp. Using the shrimp on a pompano rig I caught 4 Lady Fish. I was hooking into them one after another. I finially had enough and headed home when I concluded it wasn't going to be a good night. I'm hoping things get back to normal soon. Been wanting to try my luck around the jetties at the Ponce Inlet. There's a state park on both the north side and south side, but there's also a $5 fee.

Severe Flooding on St Johns River

Wednesday night on a full moon I headed out to do some catfishing on the river. First stop was CS Lee Park, and when I got there I was stunned. Like most boating dock/ramps, there's a floating metal dock at the end of the ramp. This section is now a floating island in the middle of the river at CS Lee Park. The water levels were so high, the entire wooden dock was completely submerged under water. I fished there for about an hour or so but didn't catch anything. The current was very strong too, even my 3oz no roll sinkers were cruising down current.

I left CS Lee to checkout the damage at Mullet Lake Park. I love Mullet Lake Park, it's pretty much where I started catfishing. Out on the bank, a friend caught the biggest Channel Catfish we've seen so far (17 LB). It's also where I battled with my first American Shad. Just alot of cool memories there. The water levels at Mullet Lake Park were right up to the top of the dock with alot of floating vegetation washed in. At least you could still see the dock here. I've never seen this before, and it's very strange to see. I don't think those wooden docks were built to withstand being submerged under water either. Really sucks for boaters since the river is pretty dangerious for them right now. There could be anything underneath you and you probably won't even recognize your favorite fishing spots LOL. Here's a couple pictures of Mullet Lake Park.

Lights Out at North Causeway NSB

Tried my luck again last night at the North Causeway but upon arrival I saw the pier lights were out. Fortunately the bridge lights were on and bright enough to see what I'm doing at least. My first task was to castnet some bait but because the pier lights were out, it was hard to see anything. So I made a quick trip to the South bridge and in literally one cast, I had at least 25 finger mullet.

So back to the North bridge and since I was the only one there, it was nice to have the freedom to cast anywhere. Tried some cut ladyfish and caught a small hardhead catfish. I had two other rods rigged with live finger mullet next to the bridge. Only had a couple hits on live mullet, the first hit was a slow tug on the rod and when I checked my bait the mullet was bit in half. My first thought...bluefish. They always do that! The second hit was hooked and had some fun reeling it in. It was a 2-3 lb sail catfish. For a catfish, the sail cat is pretty good at making some runs and getting your heart racing. Its a fun fish to catch, and according to some people, it's good to eat. I haven't tried yet, I'll stick to channel catfish for now. :0)

Dunlawton Bridge - 4 lb Sail Catfish

Stopped by Dunlawton Bridge last night for a few hours. The sustained winds were strong, at least 15-20mph. I was going to jig for flounder but didn't even rig the pole since it was so gusty. There were schools of mullet under every light almost, literally one castnet toss and I was ready to fish.
Using pieces of dead shrimp on 1/0 owner light mutu hooks, I caught a few small catfish and a pigfish. Those pigfish make a funny croaking sound thats pretty loud, I've always heard they are good live bait. I don't know if the croaking sound has anything to do with it, but anyways I let it go since it was too big.
On the bigger 10' rod with a 5/0 owner light mutu hook, I tried cut bait and live mullet. With a piece of cut herring, I almost caught a sail cat but the hook popped out when I got him close to the pier. With live finger mullet, I was able to catch a bigger sail cat. This one I got on the dock and weighed it at 4 LB 2 OZ. That is my personal best Sail Cat (Gafftopsail Catfish) so far. All fish were released.

Location: Dunlawton Bridge, Port Orange
Tackle: 5/0 circle hook on carolina rig - 4 oz pyramid sinker

Species: Gafftopsail Catfish
Weight: 4 LB 2 OZ
Bait: live finger mullet

CNS and North Causeway Report for Saturday

Tried fishing at CNS during the early afternoon but the waves were rough and current was moving. I couldn't keep lines in the water for more than a minute without it drifting to my right. So, I didn't fish much on the surf today. Cody and I just played in the water and had some fun. Cody was having a blast on a boogie board that a couple of locals let him borrow. I met these guys before and they're really nice. Angela and Keith are their names, and they come out on Saturdays often like I do. We're probably going to meet out there next weekend as well, they said they have a smaller boogie board that they're going to give Cody. Very nice!

So Saturday night I went to Kyle and Tara's house, and we went to Walmart to get them a bigger rod. They ended up buying a new 8' rod and reel combo for $30, not bad! Except the reel may end up getting replaced with something else one day. Here's why....
We went to the North Causeway together and Tara hooked into something big and strong. She was using live finger mullet and as soon as the fish hit it, it didn't stop. Her drag was racing and started to head towards the bridge. If it wraps around the bridge, the fish is gone along with several yards of her line. So we had to do something, but the reel's drag wouldn't stop the fish. Her drag was set as tight as it would go, and the fish was still spooling line off. Kyle tried to turn the fish around away from the bridge, but I saw a splash on topwater then snap the line broke. We don't know what it was but it broke 65 lb test Power Pro. Unfortunately, I think the reel may have been the weak link in the fight. If it had a better drag system, the outcome could've turned out differently. These days, you get what you pay for and on a $30 rod & reel combo, thats exactly what happened.

During our stay at the North bridge I caught a couple catfish on fresh cut mullet. My first one was a 2 lb 12 oz Gafftopsail Catfish. Thats the biggest sail cat I've caught so far btw. I ended the night with a small Hardhead Catfish. Schools of mullet are everywhere now that the Fall migration is underway. I think as the month progresses we'll see even more schools of baitfish, especially mullet.

Location: North Causeway, New Smyrna Beach
Tackle: 5/0 circle hook on carolina rig - 4 oz pyramid sinker

Species: Gafftopsail Catfish
Weight: 2 LB 12 OZ
Bait: fresh cut mullet

4 FT 36 LB Redfish caught at NSB North Causeway!!

Last night I drove out to the North Causeway with Kyle for some night fishing. We arrived after midnight and baitfish were everywhere. We had live mullet in no time and were ready to fish. Nothing caught on live bait the whole night though. Fresh cut mullet was the ticket, my first catch was a nice 1-2lb Sail Catfish. Then it was after 2:00AM when I hooked into something big. At first it felt like it was a stingray. It made long drag racing runs and a couple times it felt like it was suctioned to the bottom similar to what a stingray does. You think your snagged but it's really the suction the stingray creates as it can hug the bottom. Anyway, I was watching this fish spool line off my reel like it was nothing. I was trying to get a good drag set tight but not too tight that it would snag my line. At first I was thinking I had 40 lb test leader so I was being careful with tension but then I remembered Kyle hooked me up with 60 lb test leader, so I thought lets try to muscle this bad mama jama in. Set my drag a little tighter, and started gaining ground on it.

The fish was about 30 feet from the pier when it barely surfaced the water for a second and I saw the first image of what's on the hook. I couldn't see much, all I could see was a long fish-like shape so it definitly wasn't a stingray. The visual only lasted a second too. As soon as I saw it, it went back down dragging several yards of line with it. All I could do was hang on to the pole and wait for it to stop.

So I'm muscling it back up to the surface and we got a visual again as it almost surfaced again next to the pier. Then my buddy Kyle calls out, "It's a shark!". I started to get all excited because I've never caught a shark before, it's been one of my missions this year. The fish gave a last effort to swim away again but by this time it was worn down and tired. It stayed close, but we still didn't know for sure what kind of fish it was. I maneuvered it closer to the pier and finially got a good look at it's head. This is when I realized it wasn't a shark, it was an oversized MONSTER Redfish! Never have I seen a fish this size before, and I didn't even know Redfish get that big. It took both of us to get it up and dehooked for a quick release. I did my best to get good pictures but I was full of adrenaline and excitement. So I apologize if my pictures seem somewhat blurry.

The fight was intense and lasted for about 10-15 minutes. And best of all, I caught the bull on my new 10' Okuma Tundra surf rod paired with a new Okuma ABF-65 reel. I have 300 yards of power pro on this reel too, so I wasn't worried about being spooled during the long runs. I can also thank Kyle for lending me the 60 LB test leader line. Kyle actually tried this rod earlier but accidently lost the rig on a snag. Being the good guy he is, he wanted to fix the mistake by rigging up my pole with some of his tackle to make up for it. He had some stronger 60 LB test leader compared to my 40 LB, which probably was the difference in catching the bull red. It's the biggest fish I've caught so far, and probably the biggest redfish I'll ever catch. Have you ever caught a 4 foot Redfish before? It's totally exhilerating!! =)

Location: North Causeway, New Smyrna Beach
Tackle: 5/0 circle hook on carolina rig - 4 oz pyramid sinker
40 LB test Hi-Viz Yellow Power Pro braided mainline
60 LB test Berkley Big Game mono leader

Species: Redfish
Weight: 36 LB - 48" long
Bait: fresh cut mullet







I understand it's hard to see the actual size of my redfish with the pictures above so here's an example of what a 35 LB Redfish looks like being held by a fisherman. So the following picture is not my fish nor my picture, it's just an example to show size and girth.

MAN HOLDING 35 LB REDFISH

CS Lee Park - 3lb Channel Catfish

A Tuesday night with a new moon. Every star in the sky was visible. It was almost 1:00am when I was about to packup to go. Then I noticed a large gator swimming in the river, which I have to admit I was a little intimidated. It was a big gator. I watched it swim slowly towards my honey hole, and I figured nothing would be biting after this gator passes by. The gator was about 20-30 feet from my line when my rod was getting some bite taps. Reeled in the slack and felt a fish on, this one I could feel the head shaking and it was trying to shake loose the whole time I was reeling him in. I was worried the big gator would notice the disturbance in the water and try to eat my catch but fortunately it didn't phase him. The catch was a 3 lb Channel Catfish.

Location: C.S. Lee Park
Tackle: Owners Light Mutu 5/0 hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 3 LB
Bait: cut frozen mullet

Surf Report CNS #3

I made a quick trip to Canaveral National Seashore this late morning from about 10:00am to noon. Arrived at low tide with sunny/partly cloudy skies and the surf was about 2 feet. There was a strong current to the north. Using two rods I just used the pompano rig today with fresh dead shrimp, and caught nothing. I fished for 2 hours and all I was catching was seaweed. Not sure why the whiting aren't biting right now. Read some reports about yesterday morning, and between two guys all they caught was 1 ladyfish. Surf fishing is really slow at CNS right now, hopefully it'll pickup.

CS Lee Park - 4lb 13oz Channel Catfish

Sunday night I saw a break in the weather to do some catfishing over at CS Lee Park. The rain looked like it was coming after midnight so I only had a couple hours to fish. Using cut mullet, I caught a nice 4 lb 13 oz channel catfish. I had another bite later on but when I reeled in the slack, the hook popped out. The sprinkles started around midnight and as soon as I got in my car to leave, it was pouring rain.

Surf Report CNS #3 - Whiting / Ladyfish / Catfish

Thursday I ordered a 10' Okuma Tundra surf rod on Amazon.com and paired it with another Okuma Avenger 65 reel. My other Okuma ABF-65 is still in the shop getting cleaned. Both the new rod and reel arrived Friday and today I got to try them out for the first time. The 10' rod definitly increases casting distance a little bit, but I need something to protect my index finger when I cast with braided line. Braid line can leave a nasty cut, especially if your hands are wet. I had to use a leather glove to really launch my bait out. There's a rod addon called the Breakaway Cannon, but it's a little expensive at $29.99 and I can only get it at Cabelas.com. When I get some extra money, I may purchase this later on down the road but for now, I just bought some Johnson & Johnson waterproof medical tape. I'll get a chance to use the tape next time and see how well it stays on my finger.

Today at CNS the waves were about 2.5 ft and I was able to get away with 3oz pyramid sinker. I arrived right at the peak of high tide. First fish I caught was a big whiting. I was actually going to keep this one but when I tried washing the sand off it, it flipped it's body out of my hands and swished back into the ocean. Lucky for him. lol
I was catching average size whiting the rest of the time and some small ladyfish which I keep for cutbait. Also caught a couple hardhead catfish on cutbait too. The last fish I caught was a much bigger ladyfish caught on a piece of dead shrimp.

Total Tally:

5 whiting
4 ladyfish
2 catfish