A Busy Weekend
Story/Photos by Matt Badolato
Those cooler temps this past weekend sure had the fish chewin'. Friday night at the inlet was pretty spectacular--if you could find a spot to fish! On the evening outgoing tide almost every angler on the tip of the north jetty was hooked up with a redfish. They were going absolutely ballistic! Anyone who tossed a live mullet out into the current would have a red on as soon as the bait came anywhere near the bottom. Boats fishing off the tip were scoring massive snook, reds, and even a couple really nice Cubera snapper! Toward the beach and rocks we were pickin up flounder, blues, ladyfish, and spanish. I got spooled on a really nice fish using too light of tackle, but it sure was some fun down there. The mullet were so thick, all you had to do to fill up a livewell or bucket was to half-ass throw a cast net off the jetty into the massive schools below and you'd be set for a couple hours' fishin'.
On Saturday my buddies Jamie and Jason Whitehead were fishing out of Ft. Pierce Inlet in a tournament. I'm not sure of the name of the tournament, but it was for a fishing club out of Orlando. ANyways, the day started out with 3-4' seas and a 15knot dead east wind. After about 10 miles they said the wind calmed down and the seas smoothed out. Once out around 80-90' they put lines in and immediately started catching dolphin. Huge schools (or should I say flocks) of baby flying fish soared away from their boat, attracting good numbers of dolphin to the area they were fishing. They fished mostly between 100-140' and landed 51 pounds of dolphin, the biggest a little over 15lbs. They ended up with first place dolphin and Top Boat, taking home a couple thousand bucks for a day of fishin'. Not bad I'd say...
My roommate Josh went bottom fishin' outta Sebastian on Saturday as well. He reported the same rough seas and crappy conditions early, but it cleared up for them in the later morning as well. Fishing with live pinfish and sardines they managed to pull some nice, big 8-9lb mangrove snapper off the 80-90' bar, about 20 miles out. Josh also hauled up a 22lb gag grouper, another smaller one, and a nice scamp grouper as well. If you've never tried scamp grouper, try to catch one because they are absolutely delicious.
My buddy and I fished the Sebastian area flats and came up rather empty coolered. We caught a few small trout and one tiny red on the flats, which were overtaken by huge schools of giant mullet. We got a half dozen to smoke up and let em be. (They were delicious by the way) We fished the inlet channel and pulled in some oversized jacks and a tiny grouper. My buddy Paul got this killer picture of me with a waterspout as we were puttin' the boat on the trailer:
There is also a flats/nearshore fishing tournament this weekend. There will be no scale to weigh catches brought in to the dock during this Saturday's Blair Wiggins Inshore Slam. Instead of the traditional system of bringing dead fish back for a weigh-in, this is a catch-photograph-release tournament with trophies awarded to the top three anglers bringing in pictures of the largest "slam" -- a redfish, snook and trout.
The captain's meeting will take place at Rusty's Seafood and Oyster Bar at Port Canaveral on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Anglers can register for the tournament, and the starting time for the following morning's fishing will be announced.
Fishing will begin at safe light on Saturday. Anglers can fish from a dock, pier, boat, canoe or kayak. They also can wade. Both live or artificial baits can be used.
There is no check-in during the morning. Anglers can depart from any point, but cameras must be checked in at Rusty's between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Anyone checking in after 2 p.m. will be disqualified. Once checked in, anglers may not fish for the rest of the day. Awards, prize presentation and raffle drawings will begin at
3 p.m. Saturday.
The entry fee is $35 for adults (18 and older) and $25 for children (17 and younger). All proceeds will benefit the World Skin Cancer Foundation, an organization promoting sun protection and cancer prevention.
Well get out there and catch some fish, looks like a semi-flat weekend so whatever that means to you, do it!
Matt Badolato from Whitey's Bait and Tackle
www.whiteysonline.com
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