Dude it was so nuts I wasn't really processing. I saw them coming, and had a bottom rig way out on an 12' rod. Was throwing an artificial on my 8'6. Hooked up on the artificial, saw the other rig get blasted, was lucky I remembered to lower the drag way down. Land one, get to bottom rig which had been cut off. Ran back to house and grabbed my box. Put a big Kastmaster spoon on the big rod, caught one, then that got broken off. Back to small rig with a 6" floating minnow. Landed one, then THAT one got cut. Collected my wits put a couple wire leaders on, and maybe caught another on a replacement lure? This was all in 5-10 minutes I think. Dad was on the top deck watching and drinking coffee. Told him he should have come down. Maybe tomorrow. Wife and our 2 year old are here, and it would be amazing if he could be on the beach for it and let her catch one. Awesome day.
Hell yeah. I was obsessed with surf (and pier/jetty) fishing growing up, and to this day it’s still my preferred methods of saltwater fishing largely due to my grandfather who was an obsessive pompano and cobia fisherman and never had the resources to buy a boat or go on guided trips. I bought a copy of this book way back when and read it cover to cover dozens of times. With as much information online, it’s certainly not the requisite it once was but I’ve still got a lot of fond memories of it and it holds up well. Check it out if you aren’t familiar. Hmm, not sure why the Amazon link isn’t working but it’s Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast by Eric B. Burnley.
I'll add that I've been surf fishing for 30 years or so and while I've seen mini versions of this event before, today was on a whole other level. Just fucking chaos.
You ever run into false albies in the surf? That’s a whole new level of chaos in the best way possible.
Don't some people eat blue fish? I feel like I've heard of people keeping them. Also , I think they will fuck you up if you get on their business end. We don't catch them a ton here but they are around
I used to fish perdido pass for Spanish and Bluefish when I was a kid. There were always a couple Vietnamese guys there asking for the bluefish you would catch. So I guess some people do. They're the bloodiest fish I´ve ever seen.
yah skipjack is tasty, atlantic bonito is tasty, but false albacore is fucking gross but awesome bait for blackfin/yellowfin and all sorts of other stuff
As a kid if we got into the bluefish my dad would smoke them and make dip out of them. Lot of work goes into making them palatable.
I've heard they can be cleaned enough to eat but haven't tried myself. Yes on caution handling them. Very sharp teeth and the rear edge of their gill plate will cut you very badly. Broke or cut off my 80# braid several times yesterday.
Pretty sure it’s extremely confusing as they look similar and are caught together - bonito but pronounced “Bonita” and related to mackerel. Don’t think people eat them little tunny are Bonita aka false albacore and a type of tuna and people sometimes attempt to eat them. We get these in the fall and people go after them on fly i might have even confused this
so funny how names change. This is a skipjack to me and will mess your day up castnetting and not paying attention. Sting is worse than a cat
Bluefish are pretty good smoked or broiled. Oily fish, definitely need to bleed them and remove the bloodline. Too much work in the Gulf where you’ve got much tastier fare but I get why the eat them in the mid-Atlantic and northeast.
Have not fished since August 10. Was cut off from fishing when the kid was coming. Kid was born 10/2/2024. Boat is in the shop getting a few random things done right now. Trying to arrange a weekend where the wife takes the kids to the in laws and I can fish all weekend. They are catching a ton of big yellowfin tuna in the northern gulf right now . Will likely target tuna when I get back out there.
Wife and I went and helped DNR clip fins for rainbow trout destined for a tail water in Columbia. No idea how many. They get dumped into a bin with a sedative to calm them down before we clip a dorsal fin. A hatchery special. It's like a rainbow trout had sex with a brim And he was hoping we'd drop one
When they do shock surveys they can tell the age class of the fish. Each year they clip a different fin.
Wife and I are attending a wedding in Tamarindo, CR this December. Never done much salt water fishing. Anyone have thoughts on that stuff? Looks like $1500 for a day to target marlin and sailfish. $1000 for a more tuna and jack-focused day. I haven't seen any fly fishing deals. I'm a trout angler, but I've thrown some spin rods and so on.
Forget the billfish, tuna, and other pelagics and start researching roosterfish opportunities down there. If you can double-haul competently and handle a 10-11 wt rod throwing chicken feathers, chase them on fly. Odds are obviously much lower than with traditional tackle, but imo, you can’t pass up that opportunity.
What am I dealing with here? I know there is filamentous algae because I'm taking it off my hook/baits at times. Not pictured today, but I feel like I've seen the scum/spit referred in the picture below Spoiler
I understand that. There is a golf course a couple hundred yards that way. Didn't know the specific type algae I was mostly dealing with. Or if it's a mix. I guess it could be many types. You're the expert. Making sure it wasn't HAB or whatnot. Stones River
It’s definitely a cyano outbreak. Likely considered a HAB due to choking out oxygen within the pound thereby suffocating aquatic life.
Do you know how deep the pond is? My guess is it likely needs to be dredged as sediment runoff has filled it in, creating shallower habitat that cyano thrives in.
Figured some of yall may hunt also. Finally getting a few cooler mornings to work the dogs. 9 months old last week.
Im in Campeche for a few days working and doing some tarpon fishing on the backend. Hooked up with 7 today and got 4 in the boat. Incredibly fun. Fished a 9wt
Had me running up and down the river tripping on things to keep him away from the rocks and weeds. The fight would’ve been worth it even if it wasn’t a big fella. Skipped out of the easy walks to go chase cutthroats at about 9000 feet. Sight fished this cutthroat for 20-25 minutes with my buddy before we got it figured out. Alternating different flies, different lines and drifts while the other guy tied on the next offering based on how he reacted. Only got a few like that but totally worth it.
I did not sun screen my feet yesterday. I’m a completely fucked, but going back on the water this morning