Offshore Ponce Inlet Sunday - 7/20

Was invited by my friend Sam on his boat to target some big Red Snapper. We arrived at the ramp around 4am and headed to our first bait stop. Seas were 3-4 ft so it took longer to get out, but we managed to get live bait at first light. We fished the live bait but could not find the red snapper. Instead we were getting sharks. Even at some of his favorite snapper holes, nobody was home. So we backtracked back towards the inlet and stopped at a few favorite reefs for smaller stuff. I fished a chicken rig with chunks of frozen mullet. I was pulling in black sea bass left and right. As soon as the rig dropped to bottom, they'd all hit at once. I pulled one, two, three at a time. Probably caught about 10 black sea bass. Took home the 3 biggest that were 14-15". All in all it was a great day on the water.

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!

5 FT Sandbar Shark! Personal Best on my Birthday!

Yesterday (July 7th) was my birthday, so for my birthday I wanted to catch a shark! Accompanied by my buddy Zack, we left early and arrived just before dark. It was lowtide with a SW breeze, surf was less than 1.5 feet. We got lines in the water by 9PM. Sat down for 5 minutes I'd say, and BAM BAM, something had taken my bait already. It wasn't running just yet, I saw the bite and picked up the rod. I felt a shake shake motion so I reeled in the slack and set the hook. As soon as I set that hook it took several yards out for the first time. My drag is still loose at this point, so I'm figuring out the best drag pressure to fight this thing. I tighten tighten and now I start gaining some ground. It starts coming towards me and I'm pulling it in with the waves. It's pretty tired I think cause it wasn't swimming as hard anymore. Got the shark on the beach and immediately began the process of hook removal. Hook was deep into the jaw, couldn't get it out without ripping it's jaw off with pliers. So I called out for my bolt cutters. With ease I had the hook chopped in two pieces and the shark was free from the line. Measured it and it was exactly 5 feet long, my personal best and longest shark! I'm assuming it's another sandbar shark. My buddy was taking photos on his iphone while I released the shark. Pics came out a little blurry but thats okay. I have a short video that Zack recorded when I first beached the shark.

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.

Grand Slam Flat Bridge! Early Morn 4th of July

Had a bunch of live bait leftover from previous nights so I went back to the bridge Thursday night to finish off the livewell. Armed with a dozen small pinfish and a few small mud minnows, I arrived around 10PM. Since the tide was still outgoing, I first worked the southside of the bridge with gulp swimming mullet but without a hit. I then crossed over and tried the northside without a hit. It's almost 11PM now the tide change is running late. Seeing how the bridge isn't producing, I decided to leave for the new ramp to shake off the skunk. Pulled into the new ramp parking lot and started working the honey hole. After the third cast I heard the sound of a manatee surfacing for air. Party pooper! So much for that, I left that spot since it was dark and I didn't want to snag a manatee. I had my castnet with me so I walked down to the actual ramp to see if I could find any mullet or mud minnows. Threw my net and got some mud minnows right on the ramp. I was getting ready to leave to try another boat ramp when I looked over and saw the candy shop was open, it was 30-40 small 2.5" to 3" finger mullets swimming in a few inches of water. Only problem is they were down by the rocks and trees. I was willing to risk it at this point, so I climbed down and creeped up on them so my shadow wouldn't scare them. One quick toss and I got about 15-20 finger mullet in the net. Woo! Change of plans, going back to the flat bridge....
So now I'm back at the bridge and it's past midnight, happy 4th of July! The tide is now incoming and there's one spot open on the northside. Hooked a mullet threw the eyes and dropped it to the bottom, as soon as it hit bottom I get a hit and it's a 14.5" trout! I was able to get two rods baited with live mullet on the bottom, one on each side of the light pole. Got another hit from a strong fighter and my personal best 12" mangrove snapper! Then I get another 9" mangrove. By now I noticed one rod hasn't moved in about 15 minutes so I go to check the bait, when I pull up I noticed something heavy and it's a fat 13.5" flounder on the hook! I catch alot of flounder that way actually, sometimes they just don't move after taking the bait. I continue fishing and catch another 10.5" mangrove, another 13" flounder, then a 11.5" mangrove, and then another 11" flounder. It's now 2am and I only have a few mullet leftover, they were just chewing them left and right. I ended the night catching a 13.5" trout and a small ladyfish.
EPIC night on the bridge. Total tally last night was 10 fish of 4 different species. All trout were released, only kept the 2 bigger flounder and 3 of the keeper mangroves.
2 trout
3 flounder
4 mangrove snappers
1 ladyfish

Wednesday Night Flat Bridge / New Ramp 7/2

Hit the bridge and started with gulp swimming mullet in pearl white but no hits. I switched spots and no hits. Crossed over the bridge to try the "honey hole" but again no hits. Switched bait to a watermelon gulp swimming mullet. Crossed back over to the northside and pulled two 12" flounder at the light! Left the bridge to visit the new ramp and pulled another 12" flounder from the bay. All on watermelon gulp swimming mullet.

First flattie of July! Tuesday Night 7/1

Drove out to New Smyrna from Altamonte Springs last night. Left around 9pm. The main objective was just to get some live bait that I could keep alive for a couple days at home, mud minnows and little pinfish were the target. Finger mullet would be nice but it's so hard to keep them alive for more than 24 hours. So I get off the SR-44 exit from I-4 and realize I forgot my castnet. CRAP! Luckily there's a walmart on the way. I bought the cheap $20 nylon 4' net. Horrible decision. I should've just went with the mono. That nylon net was so inefficient and frustrating to work with.
Anyway I first stop by the new ramp and hide a minnow trap baited with bread balls and catfood. While I was there I decided to cast a few times. Second cast I get a 11" flounder on the bank. Did a few more casts and left to try the flat bridge. Got to the bridge and the current was already moving in. I fished there for about an hour at three different light poles without a hit. Went back to the new ramp to retrieve the minnow trap, unfortunately, it didn't work or there's no mud minnows in the area. Nothing was in the trap after an hour soak. Its the Frabill Minnow Trap, was only about $8 at walmart.
So I left the new ramp and headed to some boat ramps along North Causeway road. This is where I tried throwing the nylon net a few times but little success. I saw mud minnows laying right there in front of me too. I didn't get very much, 2 mud minnows and a mullet....stupid net. :(
Last throw of the net and it porkchops, so I called it a night lol