The Day is Here!

The beginning of serious Surf fishing season.  The plan is to fish hard and fish often over the next 6 weeks.  My primary target will be the Pompano but the hope is to catch a little of everything.  Early afternoon I'll head to Carlucci and sabiki some live pins then head up to Fernandina and see if I can't get a Spinner or two, while also tossing bottom rigs with fresh shrimp.

On Saturday I hope to catch up to a few buddies and fish the sound for Drum and Flounder and maybe some Spanish if they haven't left yet.  Plan to use blue crab quarters, shrimp, cut mullet and live mullet as well as jigging with Gulp minnows.

It's on!

Real Time Bouy Data

One of the keys to planning a fishing trip, going to the right place, bringing the right gear and knowing what to expect is knowing the weather where you're going.  I've added the NOAA near-real time bouy links to the page.  It can be found halfway down on the right.  Hope it helps you land more fish!

Tackle Direct Sale

Tackle direct has a close out sale going on  Close outs happen when the manufacturer discontinues the item, just about the best price you'll get.  Quantum Boca 20 for $80.  Penn Captiva for $30 though I am not a Captiva fan.  Most of it is the high-end stuff.  Pretty expensive $200-$450 range.

http://www.tackledirect.com/

Stalking the Elusive Pompano

They are not easy to find.  They are fast swimmers and are almost always on the move.  Most of us only get a few each time during the migration.  The key is not being stationary.  If we bring a bunch of gear and stay in one spot we may get lucky and get into a school, but generally we'll only catch a few as they pass us by.  You have to travel light and keep on moving until you find the school.  Then keep moving to stay with them.

Where do you start searching?  Look for structure where there is the potential for "shifting sand".  It's been said Pomps are sight feeders who look in the sand for Crustaceans like sandfleas.  If there is a breaker that is crashing and churning up the sand it is uncovering these crustaceans to be eaten by fish that like them.  Those areas of shifting sand are the areas Pompano will feed.  Is there a sandbar being disturbed?  Are the waves crashing into a hole and stirring up the sand?  Is there a runout bringing sand back out to sea?  These areas not only move sand but also the creatures that Pompano love to eat.

Those are the same areas you need to put your bait.  To the left of it, to the right.  Directly in it, just beyond it and just before it.  Cast your baits, wait a few minutes and see what happens.  If you're getting nothing keep moving and try another promising area.

Another thing to keep in mind.  Here in Florida often fish will be right at your feet, especially at high tide.  Take a look at the picture of Hannah Park at the bottom of the page.  Notice there's a sand bar then dark colored water as you move closer to the beach.  That dark colored water is a big hole or trench the surf has carved into the beach.  Once the water rises to allow fish to cross over the sandbar they will fill that hole right up to your feet.  Don't be afraid to cast your bait 5 to 10 feet away. If you haven't already experience it you'll be surprised at the number and size of fish you'll catch right at your feet.

That's why I fish my rods in pairs, one long, one short.  The long rod is an 11-12 footer with a conventional reel (Blue yonder or 525mag) designed to get out beyond the breakers.  It comes in handy during that intermediate tide where you can't wade and the fish can't cross the bar to get in.  It also helps on days when the water is dirty in close and cleaner out to distance.  The short rod is 7-9' with a spinning reel.  Designed to cover the medium to short distance.  If I need to cast 75 yards or 5 yards I can do that with the spinner.


My plan this season is to bring four rods and a cooler on my wheelez cart, with just a very small bag for tackle.  I'm going to bait and cast two rods, one long, one short.  Then move 50 yards and cast the other two.  If nothing on the first set then I'll move them 50 yards beyond the second set.  I'll keep that "leap-frog" going til I either get tired of it or find the school.  Once I find the school I'll park all four rods together and my kids and I will hopefully be pretty busy getting our limit.

Can't wait, the day is approaching!

Closing in on the Magic Number

I get my weather information form the National Weather Service via NOAA.  I've found the closer you get to the date in question the more accurate the prediction is.  For those of us looking for the Pompano to hit our beaches it looks like the magic date will be around Oct 6-8th.  Air temps are going to take a plunge over the coming weekend.  We'll be going from mid 80's down to the high 70's, with night time temps dropping to the low 60's by Sunday.  The Magic number is water temp and we're looking for 78/77 degrees to start seeing the elusive fish.  Get your sandfleas if you can find them they should be getting scarce next week.  Get your gear ready.  The Pomps are almost here!!!  I'll be on American beach all day Oct 8th and 9th to start my hunt!

Tracking the Pompano 9-27-10

There is excellent news in the weather forecast.  Lots of overcast skies and lots of rain this week!  That means the sun won't be able to keep water temps high.  Noaa is even predicting a day time high of only 79 degrees a week from today!  This week water temperatures from southern North Carolina to St. Augustine remain the same, in the lower 80's.  Air temps in NE Florida will be as high as 85 deg during the day and 70 deg during the night this week, continuing a very slow steady decrease.  Winds will be mostly out of the south 8-15 kts, with a few days of light northeast winds.  Swells will be shallow 1-3 feet.  Expect LOTS of rain!  The rivers and creeks continue to be the hotspots for shore fishing.

Looks like the fishing is good up and down the coasts of the Carolinas and GA.   Lots of Reds from just under legal to over 30 inches.  The Black Drum are making a stronger showing as well.  Just a few Pompano in southern NC.  Sharks galore all over the place.  Primarily Spinner Sharks with a few other species mixed in.

If you want a Spinner target them at low tide.  Throw some live bait or chunk bait (I caught one on a half piece of shrimp on a 2/0 circle hook).  Use about a 4/0 - 6/0 circle hook with about 5-6ft of either 80# mono or 50# 7 strand wire as your leader.  It's best to have as much leader as you can because of the spectacular jumps Spinners make out of the water.  They can easily get wrapped around and part your leader from the main-line.  However, if you're casting from the Surf the longer your thick leader the shorter your casting distance.

I use a 7 turn and 3 inside wrap (modified) albright knot to attach my leader to the main-line.  I use to use a standard 10 wrap albright but it would fail occasionally.  Have not had a failure on the modified albright.   20# test is fine because your leader is the strength of the line.  Spinners normally run parallel to the beach and if that happens let him run with moderate drag.  You'll have to follow him up and down the beach.  If that initial run is out to sea you'll have to pay attention to the line on your spool and "feel" when you'll have to make him turn against the risk of losing him.  Your best hope with a shorter leader is for that circle hook to do it's job and latch in the corner of his mouth away from those teeth.  Also by keeping the line taunt you're hoping he won't get wrapped in your leader.  If he stops jumping and you've still got him the battle is yours.  You'll still have to work him in though.  Give it a try, Spinner are a very thrilling and fun catch!

Hooks

Searched a long time to find hooks that I would like. Tried going the cheap route.  Problem is that they rust too fast.  I make my own rigs and after one use the cheapies were done.  Had to make new rigs.  Owner and Gamakatsu hooks are better quality and don't rust quickly.  I've been able to get almost an entire year out of them.  I prefer the Gami's over the Owners because their Octopus Circle hooks have a little wider gap which helps hook up rate. Especially if you're letting rods just sit in sand spikes.
 
On my double bottom rigs I've always used 2/0 circle hooks, however I'd loose a lot of bites because smaller fish would just steal the bait.  Several months ago I heard that #4 circle hooks are best for whiting.   It is a small hook,  really small bait but great hook up rate.  There is a trade off with that small a hook.  You can't get a big enough bait to entice fish like slot reds and larger drum continuously.  Then there's the matter of fighting that size fish with that small of a hook.

I've now switched to #1 circle hooks to solve both problems of hook up rate with 10-12 inch whiting and slot Reds from the same rig.  It's a light wire hook so you still have to be careful with the bigger fish, but I think it'll do the job well consistently.

I also bought some Gulp Sandfleas in Natural color from Strikezone to try on the Pomps in a few weeks. We'll see how they work.

Anxious

I am not much of a summer Surf fisher here in NE Fl. It's mostly whiting unless you have a watercraft to get off the beach or back into the river and creeks.  I also enjoy "action" when I'm fishing.  Summer fishing is pretty slow.  Unless you use live bait from the surf or target sharks it's not very thrilling.  There's a lot of "wait" time.  In 90+ degree heat wait-time is not very fun.

Have not been able to travel like I want this summer to get into fish like I want to with our other priorities.  So I have not been able to fish as much as I would like this summer.  I was on the pier a couple time trying my hand at King fishing; but even that is a hurry up and wait proposition.

I've been "jonesing" for the fall migration now for a couple months.  In two weeks I get three consecutive four day weekends for the sole purpose of chasing the run.  Fourteen days to go and I'm starting to get worried.  I'm keeping an eye almost daily on water temps and air temps and the needles aren't moving very swiftly at all.  We've droppped from mid 90's to high 80's on airtemp, but the water temp is pretty much the same low 80's.  The greatest impact on water temp is the sun and right now the sun is keeping the dial steady.  It's looking more and more like the run is going to be much later than normal; closer to November than September.

Tracking the Pompano - 9-23-10

Unfortunately there are no new reports.  Looks like everyone is focused on work so we'll look again over the weekend to see who got out and what they got.  In the interim we'll just have to keep an eye on water temps.  We should start to see the scouts in our area when the water temp hits 78 degrees and the schools at 75/74 and lower.

Current Water Temps:
Tybee Island, GA 82
Jacksonville Beach, 83
St. Augustine 83

Part II - Where to find the best tackle deals Online

Online retailers.  There are a ton of them.  There are a few "prominent" chain/franchise retailers that get most of the buisness.  Those are actually the ones to avoid.  Cabelas and Bass Pro are hands down the most expensive when it comes to the products they offer.  If a manufacturer lists a product at a recommended price you can bet that price is exactly where those two retailers will list it.  However, the manufacturer is listing the price to drive customers to the retailers.  Some manufacturers will sell directly to the public and some don't.  They understand their business is driven by retailers selling to local customers.  The local retailer has to have the edge in pricing, which is why that recommended price is set to be higher than the retailers should be charging.  Not at Bass Pro and Cabelas.  They charge as much as they can get away with.  For example Cabelas and Bass Pro charge $160 for the new Shimano Baitrunner 4000D at Digital Dagger and Haddrells Point it's $139. 

On top of the high prices those two retailers also have the highest shipping rates in the industry.  They charge on a "how much you buy" scale.  The more you buy the more you pay to have it shipped.  Most online retailers now charge a flat fee and if you buy at a certain level, usally $100 to $250 depending on the retailer, the shipping is free.  To be fair the high end guys only ship via UPS or Fedex.  The mom and pop outfits primarily use USPS priority mail.  That same Baitrunner D ships from Cabelas for $17 and $15 at Bass pro.  Two Day priority at Digital Dagger is about $8 or $9.  Out of your pocket we're talking $177 vs. $148.  That's a $29 difference for the same product.

One note:  If you want to buy from your local B&T (Bait & tackle) there is no shipping but do consider the sales tax.  Rounded to the nearest whole dollar it's $10 on $140 product and $11 on a $160 product at Floridas 7%.  Don't be afraid to negotiate either, but come armed with the knowledge of what it's selling for at the online stores.  If I were to go into a local B&T I would want to spend no more than $148 on the Baitrunner 4000D but would compromise on $155 because of convenice (I can get it today); and the relationship (I can go to them for advice and information).  So I'd say give it to me for $145 plus tax and you have a deal.  They'll usually agree, especially now in these tough economic times. They have to move product to stay in business. Consider what they paid for the product and what they're selling it for:  How do we know what they paid for it?  You can never truly know but you can get a really good idea by paying attention to prices of items that you notice are discontinued.

When a model is discontinued the price will drop and be at or very close to what the retailer paid for it.  They just want to sell it at cost instead of taking a loss.  The new ones are coming and they can't put the new and old side by side.  Just like buying a car when the new models come in it's the best time to get deals on the old models.  A few years ago Shimano discontinued a bunch of their reels and came out with new models.  I bought the discontinued Shimano Spheros FA which was being replaced by the FB.  It was being sold for $110 I got it for $60. I'm guessing but I believe the actual cost to the retailer was still $5-$20 less than that.  At $110 we're talking 50% mark-up.  There's definitely room to negotiate with your local B&T.

No single retailer offers the best prices across the board.  When you find a product you want definitely shop around.  The online retailer with the best prices on most gear across the board is Digital Dagger though you can't actually order online from them.  You have to find the product you want on their website and either email or call them to place your order.  They are a day or two or three slow in getting your order in the mail but if you can tolerate that then they are definitely a store to check everytime you want to buy fishing gear.

Other retailers that I would shop first are:

Tackle Direct - biggest thing about them is they will probably have what you're looking for.  Don't know how big they are but I can count on them to have it.  Their prices are fair, they will also have unbeatable deals from time to time.  I bought my 11' Lamiglas Surf King from them.  At Lamiglas it's $160 I got it a few years ago for $115 shipped.  Today it's $129 shipped.

James Tackle - the guy is very friendly, someone you'd enjoy fishing with, but sometimes forgetful and slow to do buisness with; but the prices are great.  They will also put your name or boat name on any rod for a flat $15.

East Coast Tackle - first time I ordered from them they were selling out of their home.   Very friendly and top notch service.  Got my rods quickly and it was around Christmas.

Alltackle can "almost" be placed in the same category as Bass Pro and Cabelas, however there are a few products that have substantial discounts.  I'm looking at getting a 12' Shimano Tiralejo Casting Rod for my birthday in April.  Most places are charging $350 plus shipping.  The Alltackle price is $330 shipped free.  Part of that is supply based on what these retailers sell to their local customers.  Limited supply higher price, sell a ton to the local people have a lower price.  Alltackle also has some hard to find items.  They have a highspeed mechanical spooler that is tough to find anywhere else.  If you have a lot of reels and don't want to pay or do the work to have each once spooled alltackle has it in stock (at $950).
Shop around for the gear that you like.  You'll start to find retailers that are more favorable for what you're buying.  You'll also save a bunch in the process!   Hope this helps keep more money in your wallet!

Tackle: Where to get the best deals! Part I

I've bought a lot of gear in my time and being a tackle affecionado I still want to own a little of everything.  For me it's part of the joy of fishing, getting to try a new combo (toy) every now and then.  What I've found  is that you need to first set your sights on what is going to work for what you're trying to accomplish.  For example I had used a Daiwa Emcast Sport 4500 with 33lbs of drag to catch whiting and pomps.  However, I decided to downsize because I wanted it to be a bit more of a challenge.   I switched to a Daiwa Regal Plus 3500 BRI.  It's a smaller reel with less power than the Emcast so it makes the retreive with a smaller fish on actually feel like you have a fish on.  If I hook up with something bigger like a slot Red then some skill is going to be required to land it to the cooler.  The Emcast is still in the arsenal, just relegated to throwing bigger baits on bigger hooks for bigger fish. 

Once you've deteremined what kind of gear you want then it's time to start shopping for the item(s) that will fulfill that need.  I always think quality.  A quality piece of gear will last decades if properly maintained; rinsing it off with fresh water after each use, oiling the external parts regularly then taking it apart to clean and grease the internal components once or twice a year.  That will keep it working and looking like new for a long time.

When I first start my search for gear I go to the manufacturer websites, Daiwa, Shimano, Penn, Lamiglas, St. Croix, etc...  I want to see what they've got in the class I'm looking for and see if any new products have been added.  Once I've narrowed my choice then I start looking at online retailers to find out what they are selling it for.  Cabelas, Bass Pro, Tackle Direct, Alltackle and Digital Dagger.  Once I get an idea of price then I go to Ebay in hopes of buying.  Yep.  Ebay.

On  Ebay I tend to shy away from used items sold by individuals. Generally that's where you are most likely to get taken for the ride your wallet wants to avoid.  I generally look for mom and pop outfits that have sold a lot and products that have the letters "NIB" on what they are selling aka new in box.  If I do buy from an individual on ebay, and I have,  I look for individuals that have sold a lot of items and have high ratings.  If there are negative ratings then I dig deeper to find out why.

The countless 'Mom & Pop' shops across the country are the bread and butter of Ebay.  These are people who own small shops for which they make their living.  They sell by volume on the internet and therefore can offer deeper discounts.  They usually have sold thousands of items on ebay, have great ratings and fair prices.  They either sell at auction or buy now prices.  Do pay attention to the shipping rates. Outrageous shipping prices is one place unscrupulous sellers make a killing.  I've bought from sellers on ebay such as poorfish, catfishsupply and simmons sporting goods.  Simmons just sold two Abu Blue Yonders at auction for $122 and $115.  That reel retails for $150, plus tax ($160).

If you want to buy at auction on ebay the way to do it is by being a sniper.  That's right.  Sniping.  No not taking a rifle and shooting anything from long range but by letting everyone else battle it out for the product unitl the last few seconds when you swoop in out of nowhere and take it.  Lets say you want a Blue Yonder.  Find out what the average retail price is for it.  Lets say it's $150, $160 with tax. Determine what the maximum price you want to spend for it with shipping.  Lets say you don't want to go over $130.  Shipping is $8 you can spend $122 + 8 is $130.  Do not bid on it at all until the very last seconds of the auction.  Yes, resist the urge to even place a small bid on it.  All you will be doing is helping drive the price up and benefiting the seller.  Wait until there is the least chance you can be outbid.  For me it's the last 15-20 seconds of the auction.  If you see the item days in advance put an alarm or something in your cell phone or somewhere to remind you when the auction ends.  Get to your computer about 5 minutes before the auction ends.  Keep refreshing the page often to keep abreast of the time.  When the last 15-20 seconds arrive place your bid.  Put in your maximum.  In our example it's $122, then hit confirm bid.  That took you about 10 seconds to do.  Anyone else waiting to bid won't see your bid until it's too late.  They won't have enough time to react to the new price.  By the time they see your bid and enter a higher bid the auction will be over.

The key to trusting sniping is understanding how the Ebay automatic bid system works.  The ebay system will only spend what it needs of your bid ($122) to win the item.  If the item is now $100 when you bid the system will place your bid at about $102.  If someone else bids $110 your bid will then go to about $115.  This will continue until another bid exceeds your max bid or the auction ends.  Sniping just doesn't give someone else the opportunity to outbid you.  On Ebay most bidders place bids days in advance.  They are just hoping someone else doesn't want to spend more than they bid, which is not the case especially if the current price is way below retail.  With sniping you're just hoping people don't drive the price up to where it won't matter where you buy.  I have made 18 snipe bids on ebay and have only lost once, probably another sniper.  In those 17 wins I've probably saved hundreds of dollars.

Part II will talk about the online retailers I've found whose prices are consistently excellent.

Tracking the Pompano 9-20-10...and other tidbits.

Recent reports, which are scarce, suggest migrating Pomps should start showing up in South Carolina.  We've had sustained east winds and that will continue this week along the eastern seaboard due to the hurricane in the atlantic.  Sustained east winds normally translates into dirty water along the surf.  However the water this past weekend has been surprisingly clean.  The amount of chop has varied from day to day and morning to afternoon.  Friday afternoon I found some rough seas at Surfside park just north of Vilano.  Saturday morning the seas were almost like glass at Vilano.

Water temps remain somewhat constant though air temps are ticking down a little bit faster.  You should see nighttime temps dip into the high 60's finally within the next 5-10 days in NE florida.

Dug for Sandfleas while at Surfside and Vilano.  At Surfside the coquina was thick and could only get a few fleas at a time.  At Vilano the tide was out so finding fleas was next to impossible. You run into more coquina at low tide on most beaches.  With that in mind I wanted to scout the beaches and see exactly how much coquina we have to contend with.  I drove as far as marineland looking at the beaches again.  Coquina is basically everywhere. At some beaches it does depend on the tide.  At high tide you get fine grainy sand, while at low lots and lots of coquina.  Coquina is a good thing in itself.  The tiny mollusks help to create an attractive habitat for the fish we all enjoy catching and eating. I've had my most varied catches in a single day at Guana, where there's nothing but Coquina.   However, it creates a headache when attempting to find sandfleas.

The Blues have dominated the surf recently.  Most are undersize.  That will change as the water continues to cool.  In the rivers and creeks, trout and reds and flounder are being caught with a lot being in the 12-14 inch range.

Water Temps:
Topsail Beach 81
Tybee Island 84
Jacksonville Beach 82
St. Augustine 81

Fishing weather this week Swells 2-5, winds are going to be predominately out of the east 10-15 knots.  Air temps 87-71.

Lots of Bait - Lots of Reds

The mullet run is underway in the Carolinas and Georgia.  Plentiful schools of finger and corncob sized mullet being reported, from Topsail beach to St. Simons Island.  Red Drum are hot and heavy after the schools and being caught by anglers in boats, on piers and in the surf.  Most are slot and over, with rat reds being caught in the inlets and ICW.

Tracking the Pompano 9-16-10

Sept 3rd reports of Pompano at Topsail Island NC during the week in big numbers.  One person reported catching 22. Unlike Florida there are no limits on Pomps in NC.  Hatteras is approximately 650 miles north of Fernandina beach, FL.  Topsail is approximately 425 miles north of Fernandina.

Sept 15th other reports put Pompano from Hatteras Island down to Topsail Island this week.

Jax Beach Forecast 9-16 thru 9-23
High 86 Low 74
Mostly Sunny
East winds 8-15 probably due to the hurricane in the Atlantic.
Water temp: 81

Northern Water Temps:
Hatteras Island NC: 78.1
Tosail Island NC: 83
Tybee Island, GA: 84

Next update on or about Sept 20th

Pompano Season

Pompano season.  Two of my favorite times of the year!  A species of Jack, Pompano are one of the tastiest fish in the sea.  Outstanding grilled or roasted.  For the North East (NE) Florida fisherman the season occurs twice during the year.  They make their winter home in central and southern florida then migrate in the spring through our area, following cooler water temeratures, to Virginia and the Carolinas.  They pass through the area again in the fall as the water temps decrease again, showing up usually when the water temp hits the mid to low 70's.  Right now the evening water temp is about 81 deg. (F).

Not only are they delicious to eat they are good fighters and elusive.  The challenge is locating them.  Pomps prefer clean water, so when there's an east or northeast wind sturring up the surf good luck finding them.  I remember three years ago we had successive nor'easters during their southern migration and I went the entire season catching only one.  The good news is it's only a 2 hour drive to their winter home, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach and points south.  They have a distinctive manor of strike and a distinctive manor of trying to get free of the hook. If your line goes slack suddently chances are it's a Pompano.  They will strike and heads towards you, towards the beach.  Don't reel in fast, reel steady until you make contact.  Then the fight is on.  They will swim side to side rapidly trying to remove the hook.  Heading north then turning to head south over and over until they're in your grasp.  Once you've got them in your cooler think "good eats tonight!"

The bait of choice is sandfleas aka mole crabs, which are found in the sand near the waters edge.  Best time to start digging for them is high tide. Prospect with your "flea rake" looking for small indentations in the sand or air bubbles coming out of the sand.  If you find one or a few keep digging in the same hole you should find the pod near that area or a little deeper. However, during the fall season they are scarce.  When the air cools they disappear deep into the sand.

Other baits of choice are Blue Crab knuckles, clams and shrimp.  When you think Pompano bait, think crustations.  This season I'm also going to give gulp sandfleas a try.  It's been said Pompano are sight feeders.  We will see if that's true.  I know fishbites work well.  I've caught redfish on fishbites.

The season is on the horizon because the water is cooling off up north. I would say it is rapidly approaching but it appears that here air temperatures are slowly decreasing.  Night time temperatures have yet to break the 70 degree barrier.  I've already put in for my Pompano Hunting time off in early October.  Hopefully, they will have just shown up on our beaches!

Happy Hunting!

Genesis

Welcome to the Fish Hunters blogspot! 

This blog was started with the encouragement of my wife Nina.  As long as I can remember I've been an avid fan of fishing.  Having gone with my Dad and my Aunt on many fishing trips growing up.  However, it wasn't until the advent of the internet and moving to the captial fishing state of these United States that my knowledge, the challenge and my love of fishing has exploded.  There are countless species, types and techniques of fishing here that I don't think I'll be able to experience it all in my lifetime.  This blog is dedicated to sharing my experiences and knowledge of fishing.  I hope you enjoy and can find usefull information here.

Sincerely,

Eddie