We finally get another weather window and decide to rock down
the beach for a few days. We knew the weed was bad but wanted to take a chance
anyway. By Saturday evening we were nearly packed, and finished making the
remaining leaders and weights. Get to sleep around 3am and wake up about
5am. Curtis was to meet up with us therefore Kip and I rolled out early.
The wind was calm, the skies were clear and this would be a
good day. To top that, the 5:30am breakfast tacos from Stripes rank up on
the finer pleasures in life. At 6:00am the sun is about to come up and we
are on the beach heading south. Weed thick and coming in hard. Driving sucks.
We continue on.
4 Hours later we are down in the 40's. Weed still super thick
but water looking great. Long rod fishing looks impossible. With Kip towing
the zodiac, he is a few minutes behind. I decide to stop and throw topwaters
in a deep wadegut hopefully looking for some Trout. After a few minutes I
see bait get destroyed just feet in front of me and then a Jack smashes the
surface and hammers the lure. About 10 minutes pass and I have the Jack 10
or so feet in front of me and the hook finally straightens. Doh! Meanwhile,
Kip catches up and throws Spoon'rs into the gut and immediately hooks up
as well. Not long and his hook gets straightened too. We try a few more minutes
and then continue on south on pure hope.
I get to the jetties and find a nice couple who are camping
out overnight. They manage a couple Jack and I happily confiscate them for
bait :twisted: Water is very clear and you can see the abundance of bait
(and pesky stingrays) everywhere. I actually ended up landing one around
10lbs fairly quickly. Kip is still up the beach a couple miles playing with
the Jacks. He comes and gets me and we head back up the beach chasing them.
I get a decent Jack to the beach and another victim for the Rockstar Deepfreeze.
We find a good place and decide to camp. Weed is present but the current
is light and we think we have a chance to keep some big baits out overnight.
We get 5 big baits rigged up and ready for deployment. The new
moon was a couple days earlier and with the water being clear with bait,
we are quite hopeful.
Right before sundown we get baits out. While leaning over the
zodiac to hand Kip a bait, I rub up on some jellies that somehow accumulated
on the side. Immediately my chest was en fuego and stinging. I continue to
work. By the end of the deployments, I was very sore, chest was red, and
in a lot of pain. But we had 5 killer baits out and awaiting.
It seem the pain was spreading and seemed to get serious for
a couple hours. I laid low and relaxed for a while and after about 3 or 4
hours the pain was relieving. Been stung and tagged from various Jellies
and Rays before but this kicked my butt. Fortunately the pain went away to
next to nothing later that evening.
After dark the weed was showing back up. Then it was getting
progressively worse. The Sargassum found our camp and was trying to wipe
us out one by one. But we're soldiers dammit! Anyhow, mother nature wins.
Kips 16/0 comes loose and and thinking it is weed, he reels it in. Not much
weed but was certainly the center of attention for some toothy critter that
got a free meal.
Curtis and Repo and now at camp with us cooking up and jamming
out. They do some recon missions down at the jetties with mixed results.
We end up leaving the 2 remaining rods out and then bring them back in after
we wake up. The morning was looking good, a bit of fog but should burn off.
Day has potential. Kip and I decide to pack it up and head to the rocks and
put the shark gear away to fish offshore. Curtis and Repo are already awake
and have added a fresh Jack to the ice chest before heading to the rocks
themselves.
We get to the rocks to meet up with the guys and Curtis ask
for a gig... thinking he was going to wipe out a few of the rays for us,
he does exactly as predicted.
Repo and Kip soon join in on the fun. After performing genocide
on the rays in a 50' radius, Kip gets his boat ready and I get the yak down
and rigged out. Kip and Repo jump in the zodiac and fish for hungry creatures
and get a chance to take a few snapshots of some of natures finest cooperative
hunters.
Once out there we see a ton of life. As with near the beach,
there is an abundance of bait and predators. Both Kip and I get into the
Jacks.
Curtis decides to go on a shark mission of the rocks. He gets
a few baits out but the shark scene remains surprisingly relatively quite.
Not long and after throwing lures for Reds I get hooked into
something decent that tows me around for a while. A stubborn fish using its
body to its advantage... its got to be a Jack.
Sure enough, first glimpse its a Jack... grander. After what
I would say was 30+min I finally get a mongo Jack to the yak... topping out
at close to 30lbs on the scale.
We stay out trying for Kings but are invaded by hundreds of
Mega Spanish. Today, have yet to see a King. We continue on and lose more
Jacks on lures. We duke it out for a while longer and head in for a short
break. I get in and unload a few of my fish.. the first is a solid Spanish.
And another Rockstar Bait..
After eating for a bit and resting, Kip goes back out for the
Kings once again, while I hit the channel hoping for some Snook. Curtis is
on the Rocks throwing lures and Repo is on the beach slaying Reds. We stay
out to sunset. I land some fish but no Snook like hoping for. Kip gets in
and has reached his goal for the day... he landed a King.
Make that two..
Repo is still hard at it hammering slot Reds.
Curtis meanwhile is also getting into the Redfish off the rocks.
Notice the tail on the upper specimen.
A long full day of fishing has concluded. We don't have the
energy to fish the evening and are left to eat brisket some damn tasty brisket
courtesy of Kip. For the first time in a long time we all decide to crash
fairly early on the beach. It wasn't planned that way, it's just the way
it happened.
Everyone goes asleep. I crash in the truck and around midnight
I hear something in the bed of the truck. I get out and sure enough a raccoon
has zoned in on my bait chest. I shoe him off and get back in the truck.
A few minutes later the persistent creature is at it again. I fend him off
once more and go back to sleep. Several minutes later he is at it once again.
Thats it... I place my gear bag full of weights on top of the ice chest so
he won't open it anymore. I also secure the two other chests in the back
of the truck. I finally get back in and go to sleep. The coon jumps back
in and finds the not so friendly surprise. After a few minutes of letting
him roam around in the back allowing him to come to the conclusion my truck
is no longer a target, he moves on. Now curiosity prevents me from sleeping..
I have to see what he's up to. He is now roaming through Curtis' truck and
goodies. Nothing accessible there, he moves on again. This time to Kips.
Uh oh, he found the fish chest. Big Uh Oh, he knows how to release the latches!
I eventually stop the coon before he gets into and damages the
livelihood of the Rockstar Bait Horde. I throw out a few Mullet next to the
water and looks like it pleases him and leaves rest of our goodies alone.
Come morning the winds are lighter than predicted. Things look
interesting and there is bait getting blasted everywhere. I decide to duke
it out one more time in the yak in pursuit of my first King of the year.
Rigged and loaded up, I deploy the yak in the channel for easy access out
and not to get hammered by the waves nailing the rocks on the surf side.
I get out about an hour before Kip. I already land a grander
Spanish as he works his way out. I try anchoring but the tide and swells
make it hard. I begin drifting. It finally pays off! I get a fish smoke a
bait... knowing exactly what it is, I get it to the yak and stick him with
the gaff. A cool 44" and the first King of the season from the plastic.
I paddle over to Kip for a quick picture..
"Just one bite... for good luck!"
The wind is picking up pretty good now after being on the water
just a couple hours. But persistence pays off. I get hooked up once again.
A little better fish this time and after a few minutes I get him up to the
yak and stick'em. This time a 47" silver bullet.
I get back over to Kip for another picture..
Another hour or so pass and the tide is changing. We both decide
to anchor up and float baits out. I get nailed by Spanish and just can't
win. Out of decent looking bait, I begin tossing lures. I immediately hang
into another solid fish, but is evident its a Jack. Oh well, not a King,
but more bait for future Tiger trips. At the same time I look over and Kip
is hooked up and getting worked. His fish ends up being a Jack as well. I
land mine and continue throwing lures. I finally get a King to hit a lure
and is on briefly.. then the hook pulls. I reel it in and he bolts to the
yak and hits it again biting the lure in half. A good fish but I won't get
him this time. Anyway, I continue to lure fish and with the wind picking
up pretty good both of call it a day quite early. We get back to the beach
and I get a quick pic of my haul.
Some smokers and quality fish for Kayak Wars..
Kingfish... the other White Meat... errr not
We pack up and prepare for the long journey home. Water is nice
looking despite the wind and weed. Bait is getting annihilated by large Spanish
blasting nearly onto the sand itself after frantic Mullet. We've had our
share of fun and are packed up, and on our way off the beach. The tide is
still high and driving horrible. A couple hours pass and we make it to around
the turtle shack. I get close to overheating and pull over to cool off for
a bit. Kip is pretty much right behind me. I get out and look around. After
staring into the water for a bit I notice something... its a fish and swimming
slow. I grab the castnet and throw on as perfect as you could ask for on
a target like that. I get a bullseye and and the fish. It is a large Black
Drum.
It had been hit by a shark very recently, but still very alive.
I get a pic of the fish acquired by the Olympic throw of the net. The fish
is released but whether the shark tracks it back down will never be known.
We continue on for the slow ride off.
A couple more hours and we make it to the high banks. Driving
is absolutely horrible, and as slow as it gets. When all said and done, it
took us nearly 40 miles of pure 4wd driving and 5 hours to make it off the
beach. But we were in trouble... Curtis and Repo left a couple hours before
us and barely made it home on their fuel, but we were cutting it very close.
But our luck had to run out some time. Kip runs out of gas pretty close to
the guard shack of the park. I decide to roll on and get him fuel. I get
to the main road and almost in front of the access road to Bob Hall Pier
and I too run out. We once again get Curtis to save the day!
A long trip... full of surprises and rewards too. The sargassum
is in super thick and for 99.9% of the beach was simply unfishable for longrods
(therefore join Kayak Wars! :twisted: ) While the weed is typical for April,
it seems progressively worse every year. While the conditions were great,
we did not see a single shark despite the predatory chaos on the mullet and
baitfish the entire weekend. When the weed does clear, we'll be back down
there after the toothies. But for now we may be restricted to the yaks or
offshore. It was fun to hang out and fish with the normal crew once again
and thanks to Kip for the killer food and contributing some awesome pics.
- Until next time... see ya on the beach!
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