Flat Bridge Friday Afternoon - Bonnethead Slam!

When I got off work around 1:30pm today, I decided to try fishing the flat bridge during sun-down hours/early evening. I got on my computer real quick to check the weather forecast, tide chart, and to find a baitshop closer to the flat bridge in Port Orange. The only other baitshop I knew of was 38 Live Bait in New Smyrna. It didn't take long to find one in Port Orange, and it was surprisingly close to the flat bridge. It's called Donald's Bait & Tackle on Dunlawton Avenue. Their live shrimp come in mixed sizes, about a dozen for $3.50. A little expensive but what can ya do. I think the medium shrimp at 38 Live Bait are only $2.50 a dozen.

So I get there around 5PM and setup my two rods. One rig was a 2-hook pompano rig and another was just a single 3/0 hook. After about 20 minutes I catch my first 22" Bonnethead Shark just underneath the bridge. I got a few pinfish during the next 90 minutes or so. It wasn't until after 7PM when I started reeling in the fish, I mean sharks. In about an hour I caught 3 more bonnethead sharks. All were out as far as I could cast with my 7ft rod and a 1 oz weight. A guy fishing down the bridge from me caught a nice 2-3 ft Hammerhead Shark during this timeframe too. All together I got four bonnetheads on live shrimp today.

22" Bonnethead Shark
22" Bonnethead Shark
21" Bonnethead Shark
20" Bonnethead Shark

Port Orange Flat Bridge - Monday Night

Me and two friends Zack and Kyle headed out to do some saltwater fishing Monday night. We arrived at the baitshop 5 minutes before they closed at 9pm. Hey everyone does it! Anyway we got our 3 dozen shrimp and drove 1/4 mile down the road to the North Causeway. Man this place was packed with people. Several cars in the parking lot as well. So immediately we decided this place was a no go. It was then I decided to take the 15-20 minute drive to Port Orange. I've been hearing good reports coming from a flat bridge and tonight would be my first time fishing there. Parked next to the bridge and not surprised to see most of our shrimp have died by now LOL. Oh well fresh dead shrimp works too. We fished with my two hook pompano surf rigs. I just hooked a whole shrimp on each hook and dropped the rig straight down.

Kyle drew first blood tonight when he caught a small sailfin catfish. Then Kyle caught a nice 1.5 to 2 foot Bonnethead Shark. Very cool! Then Kyle hooked into a beast that took him for a ride. The fight looked intense, I could see Kyle struggling to control the fish. It was darting left and right rapidly and also making 3 leaps out of the water. It was really awesome! It all happened so fast I couldn't tell what it was until he got it underneath us. As we're looking down we definitly could see it's a manta ray of some sort. The description and behavior all leads me to think it's a Devil Ray. We didn't raise this one up on the bridge, instead it shook off the hook and got away safely. After that Zack caught a nice size Lady Fish. And then finially I caught something, but it was a smaller lady fish. That was it for the night, we probably fished for another hour without seeing another fish. Great night for the guys and it was cool to see a variety of fish for once.

CNS #3 - First Shark! Surf Grand Slam

Today was Cody's 8th birthday and I had the day off work so I thought it would be nice to take him to the beach. Decided to visit lot #3 at CNS again. Arrived around 11am and caught the incoming tide for a couple hours. The surf was very calm, I think they said 1 ft swells for today. I used 2-hook pompano rigs on 2 poles, baited with fresh dead shrimp.
The first catch of the day was my first shark!! I think I identified it as a juvenile Altantic Sharpnose shark. It was about 16-18" long, never measured it. Doh! Got on a few whiting and croakers after that. Tide was moving up fast so I had to keep pushing my sand spikes back. The last few casts I was getting nothing but small catfish so decided to head home. Everything was released except for the ladyfish which I'm going to freeze for cutbait. Total tally today was 13 fish! Everything caught on shrimp.

1 Atlantic Sharpnose Shark
1 Ladyfish
2 Whiting
2 Pinfish
2 Croakers
2 Sailfin Catfish
2 Hardhead Catfish
1 Spot

CNS #3 - Whiting, Croaker, Spot

Yesterday was an early release day at my son's school, so after picking him up we loaded up the car for a trip to the beach. Can't go to the beach without a couple of fishing poles right! All together I took 3 poles so I can experiment with a variety of baits. We stopped by our favorite baitshop in New Smyrna, 38 Live Bait. There I bought 3 dozen medium shrimp and a pack of frozen clams. I've never used clams before until today. For cutbait I brought some frozen ladyfish from home. The cut ladyfish was going on my 10' rod with an 8/0 circle hook. The shrimp and clams were going on 2-hook pompano rigs with #2 hooks. We arrived at lot 3 and picked a spot away from swimmers. There was no seaweed and the current was manageable. I normally cast from the beach without getting too wet, but today I had to walk through the waistdeep trough to get to the sandbar where it was only ankle deep. From there, I was able to cast where the fishies were. It was a bit of a pain walking back and forth, especially with 3 rods. So I ended up fishing with only 2 rods. With no hits on shrimp or cut ladyfish, I just switched over to clams for the rest of the day. The first fish was a nice big whiting. I hooked it and gave the rod to Cody so he could reel it in. The only other fish we caught were 2 really small whiting, a nice size croaker, and a spot. All on pieces of clam. Overall the fishing was slow but it was still a nice day at the beach. Also took home some leftover shrimp and clam that I'm freezing for another day.

More River Bank Fishing @ Mullet Lake Park

Since my last post I've gone out to the river bank a few more times. Most recently last night when it was just me and Zack. The full moon has already passed this month but it was still about 80% full. I only caught one catfish that was about 2-3 lb. It was a slow night but it was fun to be out again. We also fished out there last week with better luck. Zack caught 2 catfish and a gar, while I just caught a single gar. The bait we're using is still the frozen cut shad that I collected from this years shad run. One of these nights I'd like to try some cut mullet again. We've caught some big channel cats on cut mullet, which leaves a better blood trail if it's freshly cut before you put it on the hook. Plus it stays on the hook better without gar stripping the meat off. I prefer the gut section if I'm using mullet too. Just cut off the head and toss it in the water, I rarely use the head for bait.

Night fishing Mullet Lake again

Fished the river bank at Mullet Lake Park at night for the first time this year. It was a clear night with some breezy winds at first but eventually the wind died down as the night progressed. Zack joined me tonight and he was the only one to catch anything too. He first caught a 4 lb 2 oz catfish, then later caught a smaller catfish about 1 lb. We both used the same bait which was cut shad. At some point something must have stole my bait because I reeled in and saw a bare hook. Who knows how long my pole was sitting in the water with no bait LOL. No wonder I didn't catch anything. We had fun anyways, and it was really nice being back on the river edge.

2 LB 9 OZ Channel Catfish @ Mullet Lake Park

With my new job it's been hard to find time to fish during the day, so I figured I'd try a little catfishing at night. Last night was very foggy though, almost zero visibility in some areas on SR44 in Geneva. I headed out anyway, I never had too much sense! I wasn't planning on staying very long and only fished for maybe an hour. Also I just stayed at the boat launch ramp and casted out far into the river. I was able to cast out pretty far actually.
I got a good bite on my first cast and it was a fighting catfish. Had some fun reeling it in, though it was only 2 lb 9 oz. I'm not complaining at least it's a fish that made the trip worthwhile. The fog was setting in thicker so I figured I'd better head home before there's any road closures. No pictures tonight, I didn't bring my headlamp and the lighting wasn't very bright at the parking lot.

Location: Mullet Lake Park boat ramp, Geneva FL
Tackle: 3/0 Owners Light Mutu hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no-roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 2 LB 9 OZ
Bait: frozen cut shad

Windy Presidents Day @ Sleepy Hollow

Presidents Day was this Monday and my son was out of school. So with his day off I took him to New Smyrna to show him my new favorite fishing spot in Sleepy Hollow. The skies were partly cloudy, with a high in the upper 60's. The North winds were pretty strong around 14-15mph though. We arrived around 10:30am and setup on the far leftside point where I caught my last flounder. The tide was just starting to go out so the water levels were still high. But the winds were a problem today, it was blowing in our face the whole time as we're facing the north. I also brought my castnet which was useless since there were no baitfish, even if there were baitfish it would be difficult to see them in the turned up water.

So instead of jigging for flounder and instead of fishing with live bait, I focused on fishing with dead shrimp on a pompano rig. I know there's no pompano in this river but it's a good rig for bottom fishing. The only thing biting today were the pinfish, those pesky bait stealers. Cody and I managed to catch 1 pinfish each. After we were done fishing I took Cody down to my favorite baitshop, 38 Live Bait in New Smyrna. I asked if they had any live fiddler crabs and they sure did, they had ALOT! I bought a dozen for only $1.30 and gave them to Cody. He wanted to keep them as pets LOL. I would much rather fish for sheepshead with them but Cody really liked them so I said okay, you can keep them. After the baitshop we stopped by the North Causeway to look around. There were two guys out there fishing with live fiddlers and they were catching a few sheepshead. In the few minutes we visited, one guy actually caught a small one that was released. So the sheepshead bite is definitly on right now, especially around the bridges. The lady at 38 Live Bait even said there have been fishermen coming in and out asking for fiddlers, and that they are catching them pretty consistantly right now. I hear sheepshead are difficult to catch and perhaps one day I'll give it a try. But not today, Cody wouldn't let me use his "fiddler pets" for bait so we left to grab some lunch. lol

16" Flounder @ Sleepy Hollow

Took the hour drive to Sleepy Hollow this morning and arrived around 10am. It was low tide and very shallow, I could see all the oyster bars that are usually underwater during high tide. I could also see fiddler crabs everywhere but they were too fast to catch! Next time during low tide, I need to remember to bring a small shovel to dig them out of their burrows.
The fishing was very slow during low tide. I tried several spots with no luck. Fortunately the tide turned and the water started rising. With the higher water levels came the baitfish which were all over. Another thing I need to bring is my castnet so I can fish live bait.
Today I fished with gulp products, 3" white gulp shrimp and 4" white gulp swimming mullet. I tried both, the shrimp didn't catch anything today. I did catch a nice 16" flounder on a white gulp swimming mullet though! It's the only fish today but well worth the trip. The flounder is one of my favorites to eat and I have a great blackened cajun recipe. It's so delicious!

Mix the following and sprinkle on the fish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Chili Powder

Location: Sleepy Hollow, New Smyrna
Tackle: 1/4th oz jighead - 20lb test leader

Species: Flounder
Size: 16"
Bait: 4" white Gulp! Swimming Mullet

Crappie Masters Kids Rodeo - Wooten Park, Tavares, FL

The Crappie Masters tournament returned to Florida in the Harris Chain this year. During each tournament they hold a free Kids Fishing Rodeo, where kids can fish for fun and prizes. This event was held at Wooten Park in Tavares, FL on Lake Dora. First time visiting this area. We arrived shortly after 8am for registration and fished from 9-11am. The fishing was tough though. Strong NW winds and cold weather seemed to effect the bite unfortunately. Not many kids were able to catch anything today, however, one boy did catch 4 fish (2 specks, 1 bass, 1 bream) using grass shrimp for bait. The other kids were using minnows and worms, no fish. Me and Cody used live minnows and cut shad, no fish either. Even with the poor fishing conditions, the kids still had fun and each were rewarded with a goodie bag full of fishing lures. Each kid also received a free prize during a raffle event where the hosts pulled a random ticket, and a kid would come up and choose a prize from the table. They had rod & reel combos, small tackle boxes, shirts, hats. Every kid got to win something so nobody was left out. When it was Cody's turn, he went up to the table and picked a Bass Pro Shop hat. :)





Inside the goodie bag was a very nice selection of artificial lures and fishing gear. Some of the stuff included roadrunner lures, artificial worms, fishing line, sample pack of hooks, and much more. The artificials were good well known name brands too like Blakemore Roadrunner, Gary Yamamoto, & Bobby Garland. Here's a picture showing everything Cody received during the event ceremony. After the ceremony, they also offered free pizza and soda for lunch so it was a great way to spend the day. Both Cody and I look forward to returning to the next event in 2013 :)