23" RED! Friday Night Swoope Ramp 8/22

Left our house after dinner around 7PM. We get to the NSB Bait & Tackle shop to acquire 2 dozen mud minnows. The guy there hooked me up with more than 2 dozen...awesome. Arrived to the ramp around 9PM. It was a new moon and tide was up high. Water was super clear, you could see every detail on the bottom. Quickly setup a rod and got a hit along the mangrove trees. It was probably a snapper but I couldn't get it to connect on the hook. Cody caught a 9" mangrove snapper all by himself using a live mud minnow. It got a release back in the water without a photo. OOPS!
The blue crabs were in the area, caught a small one that released itself on the lift. And then caught a huge male bluecrab. It let go on the lift but luckily the water was so clear I could still see it. Dropped the bait down, the crab grabbed it again, and used our landing net to catch it. The shell was 6" from point to point, so the crab was overall much bigger. Boiled him up when I got home, here's a picture of him sitting in our sink.



Then 10:30pm rolls around and I hook into a nice fight using a live mud minnow. As I'm fighting it, I had to move down to the floating dock so Cody could try to get the landing net in the water. Secured the fish on the dock and realized I just caught a 23" redfish! Other people were around to witness my catch so I was feeling good. :)





My son Cody was more interested in the hermit crabs. We found three new hermit crabs. One had a really bad broken shell, so I took it home and put a new empty shell of similar size in with it. Sure enough it swapped shells and is now in a safe home. Here's a few pictures of our new tank mates.

NEW SPOT - Top Secret Bridge - Inshore SLAM! 8/12

So I was fishing the Swoope ramp all by myself when my friend BJ stopped by to see if any mullet were around. He came over and we chatted, I wasn't catching anything I told him. So he talks about a hot spot that he's willing to show me. He said when the tide is right and with the right bait (finger mullet), you can catch snook and tarpon like no where else. We netted some finger mullet at the ramp and I followed him to the new spot. After a U-turn, right, left and right again we were there. :)
He showed me around there and gave me some advice on how he catches fish. On his first cast pretty much he caught a nice snook! I finially get in on the action and catch a small snook. It's actually only my second snook every caught lol. I didn't measure it but I'd say it was around 14-15" long. Gave it a release.



After that I snag a catfish on its side, so I operated some outpatient surgery and gave it a release. Things slowed down and it was about 2am at this point. I had to leave soon. Finially I hook into a redfish that was also released since it was only about 14-15".



Called it a great night after that. I'll definitly revisit this spot again and I thanked BJ for showing me. He asked me not to tell alot of people about it though, so per our confidentiality agreement, I will name this spot "Top Secret Bridge" on this website. :)

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.

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.