Slow Morning @ CNS LOT 4

Invited my buddy Zack and neighbor Dave to join me Saturday morning at CNS. Woke up early before 5am and called up Dave to see if he was about ready. On the way I scooped up Zack and headed to the coast. Quick pitstop to the baitshop to load up on shrimp and ice. We finially parked at Lot 4 around 6:45am and hauled our gear to the beach. It's not so bad with my foldable beach cart that has balloon tires. It really floats on sand while hauling my cooler and tackle bag.
Upon arrival it was almost low tide and the waves were not big at all. We started with 4 rods with a mix of frozen sand flea and fresh dead shrimp. We quickly noticed the current was very strong which made it hard to fan out. The only weight that held were my 4oz spider weights, but I really don't like them. They hold good, but they make retrieval very difficult. Several times I picked up my rod after a bite and I felt the weight literally STUCK in the sand. I had to hold the drag and pull the weight out of the sand before reeling in. I kept switching back from pyramid to spider weights and back to pyramid, trying to find something that would work for us. I thought the current would slow down as the tide slacked, but I don't that even happened. Seemed like the current kept rolling the whole time. I think we only caught a couple croakers and catfish the whole day. It was pretty bad.
Towards the end of the trip after 9am, Zacks rod goes bizerk. The fight would continue to take line, just a constant drag singing. The drag was tightened down to try to turn the fish back towards us, because it was headed straight towards where several other surf fishermen were posted up. The fish was still really far out and I'm still not sure what the hell it was. But after several minutes, the rig popped. My pompano rigs are only 25lb test and the whole rig was gone. All that was left was the top barrel swivel of the rig. One of those fish you can't stop I guess. I don't think we would've had enough drag on my reel to pull it in anyway. Could've been a big stingray pulling away, but we like to presume otherwise. LOL
My friends said they had fun, even with the slow fishing day. I had fun too but definitly disappointed in the fishing. It could've been worse I guess, we could've got skunked completely. With no fish in the cooler after a long morning, we packed up and left after 10am.

CNS #4 - 3 Pompano, Small Sharks and a BENT HOOK!

Monday morning I woke up and headed out to the usual spot at CNS. First stopped by End of the Line baitshop for the shrimp and ice. Arrived at Lot 4 around 6:00am and found nobody else in the parking lot. In fact, I was the only one fishing lot 4 for a good 4 hours! So I setup my two rods and immediately noticed a strong North current which made my day that much longer. I basically fished my longest 12' pole for most of the time until the tide had moved all the way up. At least the 12' was holding better than the 10'. Once the current slowed, I was able to hold with 4oz pyramid weights on both rods.
The morning started off slow because of the current troubles, I managed a small whiting and some catfish. Then I got my first pompano at 11" to the fork using a piece of shrimp.
I brought my sand flea rake and found 6 usable sand fleas the entire time. I caught another 11" pompano on shrimp and then baited with sand fleas, next cast got another 11" pompano. I had to find a couple more sand fleas so I used shrimp in the meantime, thats when I caught some baby sharks and other small fish. I caught 2 baby sharpnose and a croaker. Found a couple more sand fleas and caught another small bonnethead. Finished the morning with shrimp and had a massive run. I picked up my rod and the drag was rolling off really fast. It made a few stops and I thought I was gaining ground but it continued to take line at will. So I tightened the drag a little and this mistake cost me the fish. I noticed the fish pop off shortly after the drag adjustment, and I reeled in a BENT HOOK! My first bent hook actually, this has never happened to me before. The hook was an Owners Light Mutu #2. I'm not sure if I would've landed it anyway since I had small light hooks with 25lb test leader line. Ended the day at about 10:00am after catching a small bonnethead on shrimp.

Another good day on the water considering the variety of fish and numbers. I caught about 15 fish and only took home the 3 pompano which are now one of my favorite surf fish to eat.
3 Pompano (all 11" to the fork)
3 small Whiting
2 small Bonnethead sharks
2 small Sharpnose sharks
4 Catfish
Croaker

CNS 4 GRAND SLAM - Pompano, Personal Best 17" Whiting, more!

Planned an early morning to CNS on Saturday since I had the day off work and it paid off in a big way. I arrived about 6:15am and fished for about 3 hours. The tide was high and the waves were calm, no more than 1.5' surf. Only one other fisherman until about 7:30 then people started filing in. I saw a couple of guys fishing with 6 rods between the two of them. I was like, whoa, bit of an overkill!
I only fished two rods with fresh dead shrimp and I caught fish after fish for the first 2 hours between 6am and 8am. With several dolphin out in the distance, I knew there were fish around. Rule of thumb: where there's dolphin, there's fish.

For starters, I caught 2 Pompano (13" and 11"). Good to see the pompano still hanging around! The whiting also showed up today and I'm glad they did. I caught 5 whiting all together and kept 3 of the bigger ones. In fact, I caught my personal best whiting today that measured 17.25" long!

Hooked a small Bonnethead that I released back. Also hooked into a stingray that gave me a rush, the fight on that was pretty fun. I caught a few small Crevalle Jacks that I'm keeping for shark bait. Also caught a few Blue Runners which is rare for me. I kept them for bait too. I just put each one into quart size freezer bags. I freeze them whole to keep in all the blood and guts.

Today was an EPIC day on the surf, probably one of the best mornings I've experienced at CNS. I caught 15 fish of 7 different species! You can't beat that.

1 Bonnethead Shark
1 Stingray
2 Pompano (13" and 11")
2 small Crevalle Jacks
2 Blue Runners
2 Sail Catfish
5 Whiting

Night Shark Fishing - 3 FT Shark and NESTING SEA TURTLE

Hit the beach for some night surf fishing last night, same spot near Bethune Beach park. My friend Zack joined me on the trip. At arrival it was a low tide with no wind. The no-see-ums were really bad though. Unfortunately I had only worn a short sleeve shirt and my boardshorts, so I had alot of exposed skin for the no-see-ums to bite. And that they did. Only a few bites on my arms but most of the bites came near my feet for some reason. 40% DEET wouldn't even keep those buggers off me. As long as I kept moving or walking, the bugs wouldn't bother me. As soon as I sat down or stood still, you'd notice the bugs swarming around you. It was annoying for sure. But on to the fishing report !

So we started off with cut ladyfish again and soaked two rods. We used my standard single strand wire leaders with an 8/0 Owners circle hook. Zack was in charge of my white 10' tundra surf rod and I claimed my black 12' beefstick. After a good soak, my 12' rod goes off. I grab it and battle the fish to the shore. It wasn't a great fight but it wasn't bad either. The battle only lasted a few minutes before I got the shark on the beach, it was a 37.5" Atlantic Sharpnose Shark! My first 3 footer that I've caught from the beach. It was a pretty exhilerating moment for me.

Then not long after we catch this shark, we notice something out in the distance along the shoreline. Since it was dark, all we could see was a big shadow and it looked like something had washed up on the beach. We walked closer to investigate and confirmed it was a nesting sea turtle that was coming up on the beach to lay her eggs. So Awesome! I've never witnessed this before, but I also knew we couldn't bother her. So after a quick picture from a distance, we turned around and headed back to camp. From our fishing spot, I could still see the sea turtle continue to slowly move up on the beach.

Saturday Morning CNS - Personal Best Pompano!

I didn't have to be in at work until 11am so I seized the opportunity to fish the early morning at the beach. I left my house about 5:15am and picked up some dozen shrimp and a bag of ice from End of the Line baitshop in New Smyrna. Arrived to CNS about 6:30 and parked in lot 4. For a Saturday, I was surprised to find I was the only person fishing, but it was still early. I set my gear and immediately started fishing. Whole shrimp wasn't getting any hits so I pretty much used clams. I caught about 8 whiting, 4 of which I kept in the cooler. The bite slowed and I couldn't even get a hit on clam. I decided to switch it up and instead of using a whole shrimp on each hook, I took 1 shrimp and ripped the head off. Baited the top hook with a shrimp head and the bottom hook with a shrimp body, this idea seemed to work!
I caught a small Bonnethead shark and then I caught my personal best Pompano. It measured 14.5" to the fork, my previous best was only 13" to the fork. That was it for the day, I took home the big pompano and the 4 whiting for dinner. Very good!

Bethune Beach Night Sharking - 37" Atlantic Sharpnose

Lately I've been studying night shark fishing more thorough, especially on the surf zone. I learned though without a kayak, we won't be able to deploy our baits very far. It basically comes down to how far we can cast, which isn't easy with bigger heavier baits. I purchased a new 12' surf rod to help with distance a little bit.
For lighting, I have some old headlamps that I used to wear on the St Johns River while catfishing at night. I also have some glow rod tips for bite detection. The glowsticks are definitly something I'll bring on every night surf fishing trip. They make it easy to see the rod tip action while the bait is soaking in the water.

Overall I'm still learning the ropes on night shark fishing. I've been to the beach at night twice before and didn't have any luck. Last night I took my neighbor, Steve, out to the same spot for a third attempt. I actually fished this spot twice before with my friend Zack but we didn't have any luck. Probably due to lack of propper bait deployment, I was using really long 4' mono leaders that were more difficult to cast. I've since changed back to using about a 14-16" sections of single strand wire. It paid off because we got two hits tonight using wire rigs. The first hit was on a ladyfish head. I felt the fish running and it actually pulled a little drag but then all of a sudden it was gone. After retrieving the line I noticed my hook was bare. My best guess is the bait wasn't all the way in the mouth and I just pulled the hook out.
The second hit was on Steve's side, he was using my 10' Okuma Tundra rod. The bait was the tail section of a ladyfish. The fish was on and Steve reeled it in pretty good. Once he got them to the shoreline and I could see it was a shark. It was actually a 37" Atlantic Sharpnose shark, the biggest shark I've seen landed so far from me and my fishing buddies. Steve wanted to keep the shark to give the meat to his boss. As a nice gesture, he let me keep the jaws from the shark. Here's the finished shark jaws, they are about 4.5" long! I didn't get a picture of the shark because my iphone completely died while we were fishing on the beach.

Sunrise CNS lot #4 - Small Sharks and Pompano

Decided to try surf fishing at sunrise this morning. I've never fished the beach this early in the morning before so I was curious to see how the fish bite at first light. Arrived at Lot 4 around 6:30am and found nobody at lot 4. Good sign! The surf was 1-2 ft with a moderate current to the north. Winds were not an issue today at all. I'm thinking so far everything is adding up to a good day fishing. Even though nobody was in the parking lot, I still rushed to get out on the beach, almost running with my beach cart. I claimed my spot right in front of the boardwalk and proceeded to anchor my two sand spikes. My two rods are the 10' Okuma ABF-65 and my newest addition a 12' beefstick with an Okuma Trio-BF-65 reel. I had an arsenal of bait this morning with frozen sandfleas I bought earlier this year and fresh dead shrimp from End of the Line baitshop.

The first hit didn't take long and it came on the 12' with shrimp. I reeled in a double actually, a croaker and a small pompano. Both got a release back in the water. Next hit came on the 12' again this time with sandfleas. It was a small bonnethead shark, another safe release. Switched back to shrimp because I wasn't getting anything else on sandfleas. The shrimp worked much better. I ended up catching 4 small Atlantic Sharpnose sharks, 2 small catfish, 1 sail catfish, a just legal pompano, and another small croaker.

Everything got a release except for the slot pompano which went home on ice. The fishing was steady early then died off as 9:00am rolled around. Very happy with the results and variety of fish. Overall I caught 12 fish of 6 different species! It was also cool to catch 5 little baby sharks, thats a first for me.

Flat Bridge Slam! Small Hammerhead Shark!

Hit the flat bridge at night again. Used some frozen ladyfish as cutbait and caught a nice variety. First fish of the night was a small Hammerhead shark that was no bigger than 15" long. Gave him a quick release back in the water so one day this little guy will hopefully grow to be a 12' tarpon eating machine.
Next fish was a small hardhead catfish. Then 15 minutes later I got another good hit and came to be a bluefish. All fish were caught within 45 minutes.

Personal Best 6 LB Gafftopsail Catfish - Flat Bridge

Hit the flat bridge with Zack Wednesday night. A little bit of a late start since we arrived at 11:30pm. Tide was slack when we arrived and just starting to move out. Tonight I also got to bring my new pier drop net that was purchased at Gander Mountain. It's a 36" diameter steel ring basket with a 100' of rope. I was definitly hoping to use it for the first time.
The bite was slow tonight for jigging. So nothing to talk about on the jig report. So we cut the ladyfish up and waited. My first cast I got a good run but the fish dropped the bait before I could even grab the rod. Then I get a nice hit and the fish is on. My first instinct tells me it's a shark with the sudden long runs during the fight. Then the moment of truth, I get a look and it's a big sail catfish. My personal best in fact, 6 lb 2 oz! Picture below shows him laying in my 36" drop net.
Before we left, I noticed we still had a whole ladyfish leftover for bait. So I told Zack we're both going to use a 5-6" filet off this thing and see if we can catch a monster on our last cast. I had two nice hits but the hook didn't set, so no fish. I'm starting to question the 8/0 j-hook with all the missed hookups tonight, and next time I'm switching back to circle hooks to see if that makes a difference in my hookup ratio.

Gafftopsail Catfish
Location: Flat Bridge (Port Orange)
Bait: cut ladyfish
Tackle: single strand wire leader - 8/0 Owners SSW Cutting Point Bait Hook

31" Atlantic Sharpnose Shark @ Flat Bridge Monday Night

Had the day off work on Monday as always, so after taking my son Cody to school I headed out to Sleepy Hollow. Tried my favorite spot with no hits. Then decided to leave the holler early and try the flat bridge instead. I think I was just lucky last week with the sleepy hollow flounder because recent reports have been skunky from others in the area. Flat bridge has been HOT though...

First cast on the flat bridge I hook into a small jack but it came off before I could get it over the rails. Using the same white gulp swimming mullet, I kept casting and jigging looking for the school of jacks. Several minutes passed and I finially get another small jack. After trying a couple other spots on the bridge that was it for the day trip.

Suddenly on the way home I get the urge to stop by Gander Mountain and stockup on some shark rigging. You see the last couple weeks I've seen 3 sharks hooked but unable to land. To prevent cutoffs I grabbed some 80lb steel wire leader. I also found an awesome drop net that was only $30 so I picked that up as well. With the new drop net and the wire, I'm not losing anymore sharks!

Night time comes and I get to the flat bridge around 10pm. I made wire leaders earlier in the day so I was ready. First spot I had a good hit on cut jack but somehow the hook popped off during fight. Now I'm not certain but I thought I saw the tail of a shark as it approached the shallow shoreline. But as the fish turned the hook just came out. Ahh! Not cool!
I jigged a white gulp swimming mullet for awhile and caught a few ladyfish. I even caught a 11.75" flounder that was thrown back.

I waited a long time for another hit but nothing. I decided to cut the ladyfish I brought and try dropping it a little past where the ladyfish were steadily feeding. This plan turned out to be very smart. I got a couple nice licks then finially...another fish on and it's pulling very good. I knew it wasn't a stupid catfish. I see my victim and thank god, it's a shark! Now since I'm fishing alone tonight, I didn't bring my new drop net. That would be extremely difficult with one person. But I did have my wire leader. My first attempt to hoist the shark up on the bridge didn't go so well. It didnt make it over the rail and luckily the shark was still on the hook. Second attempt was much better and successfully landed the shark. It came out to be a 31" Atlantic Sharpnose shark. I was going to eat the meat on top of keeping the jaws, but I didn't know you had to clean the fish immediatly after catch. I read that sharks get a really bad smell and taste in the meat if you don't bleed, gut, and filet the shark as quickly as possible. So the meat will probably be used as bait someday, and I'm currently in process of cleaning my first set of shark jaws. I'll post a photo when it's complete.

31" Atlantic Sharpnose Shark
Location: Flat Bridge (Port Orange)
Bait: cut ladyfish
Tackle: single strand wire leader - 8/0 Owners SSW Cutting Point Bait Hook