'Spring Fever'

As I'm writing this, it's about 11:50pm on the first day of Spring. That's great news for fishing, but the weatherman says we're looking at a front coming through with high winds and low temps JUST IN TIME FOR THE WEEKEND! Fortunately, we got out again when we did this past Sunday with Captain Jim. He's back from his big adventure down under where he got to visit and fish parts of Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. He had a great time and has enough stories to fill 10 reports. That's some world class action down there, but he was eager to get back to some local hometown fishing so that's just what we did.

Plan A was to work a familiar spot where we landed and released 3 healthy female sandbars last week. However, when we arrived, the northerly winds shut us down with high surf. As bad as we wanted to go, it was just not a safe proposition for a nightime operation. Jeff Knox, who had joined us last week was there with his sons, along with another friend Doug with his son. They were ready to see some action and we were anxious to show them some, but after more considering and reconsidering and looking at the surf a half dozen more times, it was decided we'd all go home and get some sleep. Brooks and I would drive back out and look at conditions around sunrise ahead of the second high tide at 1pm. It sounded good enough, but everyone kept it to themselves that conditions weren't likely to improve that much.

After everyone else left, we were admiring the souvenirs that Jim brought us from Australia (thanks again, Jim!) when a light bulb went off over his head. There was another spot with some structure that might just give us some relief from the northerly winds. It wasn't that far out of the way so we decided to at least check it out on the way home. It was only about 9:15, we were packed and loaded for bear, anyway, so what the hell?

After driving the 4 or 5 miles north and scouting this alternate launch, we couldn't believe how fishable it actually was. The decision was made to go for it. We called the other guys, but they were already home and on their way to dreamland. We felt bad for them, but knew they'd want us to at least try and feed the sharks so we got to work. After further recon, it dawned on us that we were parked where we could set up camp. How could this be? Had we died and gone to land-based shark fishing heaven? Did we somehow end up in Texas on PINS or the outer banks of Hatteras? On top of that, the conditions seemed to improve in the half hour or so we were there. It was looking like Lake Placid...and had warmed several degrees. Bait was jumping everywhere in the spotlight. Our frowns quickly turned upside down.

But there was one problem -- bait. Jeff had a dozen or more fresh caught ladyfish and some horse mullet, but he was already home. That would be an obvious problem. BUT fortunately, Jim had brought a frozen bonita that Brooks caught offshore on the BayView before the Australia trip AND several fresh ladyfish that a new member of the club (shark bait 27) had given him at Cook's earlier in the day. Thanks 'shark bait 27'. It was enough to get us in the game, and Jeff's meat wouldn't go to waste. There's always another trip. Thanks, as always, Jeff. Although, we haven't had the best of bait catching conditions this year, we've had great results with the frozen stock.
Brooks & Jim dressing up the ladies
First course of the meal
We had a crack team on this night. Everyone knew what to do and we had 3 baits soaking in no time. First drop was 11:45pm with a rising moon.
Brooks nabbed this a month or so earlier while trolling offshore on Jim's BayView. Time to work his way up the food chain.
Jim prepares a late-night snack
Taste test
A man eater's best friend on this night
Hot-swap for drop #2 at 3:15 am
No problem in these conditions
Size 12's
Captain on the bridge
Around 5:00 am, I took over Jim's spot in the truck and tried to get a few minutes of beauty sleep after stretching out my back. It was pretty cold, but I remembered to crack the windows in anticipation what was hopefully to come. Just as I started dreaming of tiger sharks, I was brought back to reality by the sounds of Brooks whistling and calling my name. Apparently, my 12/0 with a double-rigged ladyfish was the lucky one. When I got there, Brooks was handing me the rig as the strike alarm signaled a healthy fish. Jim was making his way back from down the beach where he and Brooks were trying for some bait when the pick up occurred. I strapped in, looked at my watch which read about a quarter to 6, and just about 10 minutes later we had our first guest of the night.
Nice hookset and easy hardware removal courtesy of Captain Jim.
My girl was out all night -- didn't show up till just before sunrise!
Fork length measurement = 62"
Total length measurement = 74"
Another healthy female sandbar with that fork length of 62" and a girth of 31" giving her an estimated formula weight of 74 solid pounds.
Thanks, Jim for pushing us to fish on this night and for your masterfully double-rigged ladyfish.
NMFS tag #287457 about to go into circulation
Thanks again, Penn
That's for showing up late
With the sun comes the crowd
Momma, I'm comin' home...
My injury update: last week's shark hide burn + one day...
+ 7 days. Getting the infection under control, but still raw.
We've definitely enjoyed catching sandbars the past couple of weeks, but we are looking forward to changes the spring will bring in the way of species variety. As soon as the tarpon show comes to town, the bulls and hammers will be more prevalent, along with the usual cast of characters that enjoy the warmer water. This particular location, with it's structural features could be like a big barrel with fish in it when the tarpon and jacks ball up in the lagoon-like setting. Fortunately, the smacks are already arriving. It could be a real shooting gallery, especially at night. We'll probably opt for a zodiac or small launch to be on the safe side. Something about pack-hunting bulls mixed in with tarpon-lusting hammers that makes a 9' frenzy kayak feel like a piece of plywood.

You know we'll keep you posted. Till then, thanks for checking in and all the best of luck to you. p.s. In case you didn't see last week's fish, click here: 03.12.06 Report.