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Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:38 pm
by Gecha (Gerry)
As Dilly Worm mentioned on the forum yesterday, "Never Give Up"... keep trying....you will eventually succeed.
Salt water fishing has not been good for me this year. For multiple reasons I was not able to go offshore fishing, so I did not catch any tuna. Bay and inlet fishing was also a challenge. I put over 100 hours on the boat this summer but could not catch a keeper.
After Melissa left us with many flooded area in the neighborhood last week, water level in the bay slowly went back to normal. Saturday after getting all the crab traps out of the water, I went back in the bay to catch fish. I ended up catching 2 keeper sea trout. That was a first for me.
Sunday was forecasted rain and colder temperature, but turned out to be warm and sunny so I went bait fishing and caught close to 60 spots. Spots are like candy to bigger fish, but not very easy to catch and keep alive. In the evening it got colder and started raining so I could not go night fishing as originally planned.
Monday forecasted weather was rain and wind, but afternoon turned out sunny and calm. I filled the livewell with the bait caught the previous day and headed to the route 50 bridge. It turned out to be my best fishing day of the year. On almost every drift I had a bite. In 2 hours, I caught 13 stripers and a flounder. Finally I caught my first flounder keeper and my first striper keeper of the year. NEVER GIVE UP.... 2 great catches within 10 minutes of each other.
It's almost time to put the boat in storage and head back north... hopefully one or 2 more outings still.

Re: Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 5:41 am
by Dilly Worm
I know nothing about saltwater fishing but I liked your post. Nice fish - good to see all your persistence paid off !

Re: Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:40 am
by Wallyandre (Andre)
Congratulations Gerry!

Call me when you're back!

Re: Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:52 am
by Gecha (Gerry)
Wallyandre (Andre) wrote:Congratulations Gerry!
Call me when you're back!
Will do. We should be back weekend Oct 26.

Re: Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 1:07 pm
by Gecha (Gerry)
I went back to fishing the bridge on Tuesday as the weather was still nice. Temp in low 70's and no wind. 2 hours on the water bringing 9 stripers, 1 flounder, and 1 bluefish to the boat. All were released.
As we are about to close our beach house till next year, there is a bunch of maintenance to do, like painting and fixing, that were delayed during the summer, even if wife tries to remind me every week.
Coming back to the launch, clouds started filling up the sky.
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That's when I got a message from above :o :o
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So today, guess what's am doing :( :(

Re: Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:55 pm
by Reelax
I can see that paint roller spinning now... That flounder looks like a monster..

Thanks for the story.

Re: Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 9:03 am
by raz
Reelax wrote:That flounder looks like a monster..
agreed... and I'd like a plate full of flounder!

Re: Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 5:31 pm
by Gecha (Gerry)
Wednesday was my last day fishing in salt water this year.
Weather was nice and water was calm.
Spent a few hours with my friends Lance and Tom targeting tautog using green crabs.
I only caught one, but it was a nice keeper. Tom caught 2 and Lance had 6. We only kept 2.
These fish have teeth. They use them to crush crabs, sand fleas, and other crustaceans.
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Tom and Lance also caught a bunch of oyster toadfish. They are ugly, have sharp spines on their dorsal fin and gills, and will bite your fingers. Glad I didn't catch any.
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Today we put the boat in storage till next year.
It's time to start packing to head back home this weekend.

Re: Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2020 9:46 am
by fishy1
great reports gerry and pics . im planning a trip to fish sebastian inlet in florida in march if health conditions are okay. did you catch the sea trout and flounder on live bait?

Re: Never Give Up (II)

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 1:58 pm
by Gecha (Gerry)
fishy1 wrote:I'm planning a trip to fish sebastian inlet in florida in march if health conditions are okay. Did you catch the sea trout and flounder on live bait?
Wishing you a healthy recovery and a great trip to Florida.

I fish flounder using live bait, mostly using minnows I catch in the canals and also using a piece of squid.
As for the bigger flounders and strippers, I use 4" to 6" bait, such as spots.
Tautogs are caught using small green crabs.