On the Beach #24

[Riley Smith]

The rain has appeared, an unusual guest in the month of October. It has been dry for several weeks, so it wasn't enough to mess up the fishing. On that note, I slammed the speckled trout not long after arriving with the top-water lure. Top-water is max fun!

I hadn't even considered fishing until something big struck right in front of the house. I armed myself and searched all about until I found the fish. It was ON! They were knocking the heck out of the lure. I caught about 6-8 during the 45 minutes they bit, and probably lost that many. No big fish, just a lot of fun. It was mid-tide too; not often I catch them then. I decided to retire and wait on the tide change at 1 am. We're helping cousins decorate the old house for a bridal shower. All of us got hungry and we ordered Italian from our favorite place. Imma tell you, that lasagna was AWESOME. Sonya and I drank some wine with it and life was very nice.

The 1 pm bite was almost a no-show but I managed to drag myself out of that comfortable bed and trek under the lights to see if I could snag a good fish. I took the top-water lure off and put on a Voodoo Shrimp. I picked out a good redfish cruising under the lights and dropped it in front of it. Instant screaming drag. OH, yeah! THAT'S what I wanted. It was a good fight and the fish was quickly returned to the water. I'll not tell Sonya because she loves redfish. I packed it in, deciding that more shut-eye was better than more of the fish that were striking all over. There's not much skill involved in fishing under the lights. I did see a small shark for just a moment before I left.

[Riley Smith]

Some shots under a cloudy sky. It was raining as I fished, compliments of our friend out on the water.

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The white heron hangs around all the time.

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Specks slamming a shrimp

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The pelicans are a constant show

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The butterflies are everywhere in the wildflowers along the hurricane wall.

[Wayne Howard]

Riley, Have you seen these? Put it on your line, add a swivel and several feet of leader then an Assassin. Fill the bubble full of water and it sinks. Leave an air bubble and it floats on the surface. Lets you cast lures way, way out. We used them in Colorado to fish for trout with flies on spincast rods.

https://www.amazon.com/Double-Tackle-RTB-25-4C-Bubble-Header/dp/B07M6MGHZ3

You can then get lures out beyond the lights where the big boys are. 

[Riley Smith]

I've used them before with bait. On this water though, the clear can get visually lost remarkably fast, and if I do fish with a float it is orange. It's a blast to get into the specks fishing with live shrimp under a cork. The rod I use allows me to cast very far, so no worries about distance. It was actually the base of a surf rod married to the upper portion of another rod with a fast action. Glued it all so it won't come apart and it's 9 feet long with a Penn reel, so plenty of range. I have another rod with heavier action but there are things in that water you DON'T want to get on the hook. A big jack or black drum will take you forever to get it in, if it doesn't take all your line and wreck your fishing pole. A shark is lots of teeth and lots of trouble, but all of them are cool to get a look at.
 I usually keep it simple and only have a couple of lures with me. I carry a top-water Zara Spook for the fun, a 1/2 oz Johnson gold spoon when things get difficult, and a VooDoo shrimp when the bite is on. The gold spoon comes adorned with a red skirt and a plastic piece that are discarded to fish the spoon naked. The Voodoo shrimps  are excellent at mimicking a live shrimp, and the Spook makes a vibration and wave on top to entice bites. It's a natural mullet finish. It's all I really need, and keeps most of those annoying other species off the line. I can't remember the last time I caught a hardhead. For those not in the know, a hardhead is a salt-water catfish with poisonous spines leading the dorsal and other fins. Stick that thing in you even a tiny bit and it makes it feel like your arm is stuck in a hot campfire. Strangely the slime on the catfish's body is the antidote.
I've figured the Spook would draw sharks, because it is pretty large and makes such an enticing action, but I've fished it for years and no sharks yet. Not to say that it won't happen. I feel the fish are sometimes reluctant to hit it because of the osprey hanging around and always hungry. And you have to watch out for the terns trying to nab it when you are fishing it.

[Riley Smith]

Each line upon the water has a message to tell, the colors do too, every ripple and whitecap. Sometimes you can decipher the messages, such as heavier ripples and whitecaps over a shallow, and other times the clues are less obvious. With long knowledge those less obvious clues can be revealed; that's why I knew there was a school of bait off the West side of the old pilings in the shallows close to shore. I saw some slight indications, although it really wasn't at the forefront of thought until the fish struck there aiming for a meal .
That got my attention, although at first I thought it was a diving pelican. The sounds are similar but a striking fish has more thunk in it and the diving pelican has a whisper of feathers about it. It was something of a nice size and I thought about the huge reddish I'd had on the line for a mere heartbeat in that same spot.
At the moment, I'm waiting on the sun to rise and thinking about burning some debris in the beach. A fire ought to be nice in the cool morning, the smoke wafting out over the water and causing no concerns. I caught dinner under the lights and got scared half to death
The local Great Blue Heron didn't see me, being blinded by the lights, and almost landed on top of me! It was like some prehistoric pterodactyl suddenly appeared out of the darkness,  intent on making away with ME!

[Doug SC]

I like the way water speakers to the eyes and the ears if you pay attention. The critters also share their knowledge demonstrating it by actions not words.

[Riley Smith]

The  jump and spit of a menhaden. The "busy" look the water gets when there is bait there. The lines the tide makes going out or in. The "bulge" of a big fish moving through the shallows. I've watched every facet of that water for long years and it never stops teaching.