Snooker
Rod Polisher
Leave a few for me to catch[Mo0:0]
Posts: 124
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Post by Snooker on Sept 6, 2010 14:42:44 GMT -5
We arrived with all hopes of a good ole fashion fish fry. But guess what?  We fished from 7:30 pm till 5:30 am. Bait was scarce but managed a couple dozen greenies during slow moving water when I first got there. After that, 3 Ladyfish ( good shark bait - ye-haw) on a snapper rig. Other than that, it was a long night of no fishy. Didn't see anyone catch nadda.  That's getting to be the norm there. I've fished over 50 years and it's gettin bad. I guess that's why they call it "fishing'', not catching. Just a lil frustrated with it. Does anyone have any real luck there except for the occasional straggler. I do know macks are great there but I hate mackeral as a food fish. The convenience is nice , but my god man, I need to catch sum fish and it appears the skyway is not the place. Tried both sides, different stages of tide, baits of all sort ( live mostly but some jigs n spoons) quality line and gear, I even hold my mouth different sometimes LOL. Just no luck lately at all. I've caught plenty grouper elsewhere and use to get a few a the pier but not for a long time. Oh well, hope all have tight lines |
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Post by goindeep on Sept 6, 2010 18:05:39 GMT -5
Hey snooker, I'm afraid it seems like the skyway piers are dying a slow death. Me personally, I think since they closed the east side spans there's just too much pressure on the fish now. Constant barrages of weights, noise, trash, etc and everyone pretty much has to fish the west side now....if I were a fish I'd sure as hell go find another spot to hang out with a little more peace and quiet (east side rock piles anyone???)
That's why I've all but given up on fishing the pier anymore and have been paying to fish on boats. The extra money I spend is worth it to me, as I'm virtually guaranteed to catch fish. And once I add up gas, food, drinks, ice, tackle, pier fees, etc....its really not much more expensive to fish from a boat. I used to fish the pier about 2-3 times a month, I'd much rather use that money go go on a boat once a month.
Its a sad situation, but its not gonna get any better anytime soon. I wish it was different, but we gotta call a spade a spade here.
The piers just aint what they used to be, and never will be again. Sad, sad, sad.
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Post by montylfl on Sept 6, 2010 20:45:18 GMT -5
Hey snooker, I'm afraid it seems like the skyway piers are dying a slow death. ..... Its a sad situation, but its not gonna get any better anytime soon. I wish it was different, but we gotta call a spade a spade here. The piers just aint what they used to be, and never will be again. Sad, sad, sad. Bring me down.  |
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Post by gerard1031 on Sept 7, 2010 10:08:45 GMT -5
To jump your post...I went out Saturday evening from about 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.....fished incoming, with live pins...wife caught a shorty gag and a shorty red grouper.. all within an hour...and then nothing the rest of the night. The red was juuuust a half inch short, the gag a full inch. I caught the proverbial skunkfish....nothing. I did get one hit, run and breakoff...but you never know when you're fishing the other side if a dolphin came by.
Sunday came back around 8 a.m. to fish the last of the incoming, caught a few pins right away, and the greenies a little later in the day on sabiki until the smaller whitebaits were out in droves by about 10 a.m. and there was nothing biting at that time. I did talk to a couple of regulars who had spent the night and caught two 20 inch plus mangroves, one on a live pinfish! I guess big bait equals biiiiig snaps!
Oh and a guy sabiki'ing next to me for bait accidentally caught a nice 12 inch pompano around mid morning which he as getting ready to toss back when I told him that he had a great sandwich in his hand!
But generall not much action around us on both trips. Maybe it's the high water temps or by now the lower salinity with all the rain...or hell I don't know. I did switch to the outgoing around noon but it was just attack of the pins picking off those tiny whitebaits.
Oh, one other interesting thing Saturday night....as I was soaking a pinfish....a huge commotion started up under the east bridge about two sections to the right of me...I mean just a frikken fury of splashing and baitfish jumping every which way! I've never seen such commotion, and it continued to shift from that section to the left..and so on down the way...whatever they were, they were giving those baitfish a serious thrashing! It was getting a little dusky out and I never did catch sight of what they were, I'd guess maybe jacks.
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Post by jaeforceone on Sept 7, 2010 20:28:18 GMT -5
something i've been thinking about for the past few weeks, anyone want to take kayaks out on the closed east span to fish for the grouper that hide there. Almost every trip I've made people have caught keeper grouper freelining pinfish the OTHER WAY. just a crazy thought thats all
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Post by inshorebasher on Sept 7, 2010 21:24:58 GMT -5
i have yak lol if you are willing to tandem i'm game lol
*edit* its my brothers kayak and i have "0" experience on one but i'm a fast learner. once i hook into a grouper while freelining how do i put the breaks on?
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Post by jaeforceone on Sept 8, 2010 23:15:18 GMT -5
haha may take some time to get used to the yak because you do not want to take a dip in the sink! I would assume the buoyoncy of the kayak can bring a grouper up just fine, unless its a jewfish then I don't know but a tarpon towing you across the bay sounds like fun and dangerous....
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Post by David from NC on Sept 9, 2010 8:58:48 GMT -5
Just be careful boys. There's lots of sharks in the water now. We don't want to hear about one of them taking you on a Nantucket Sleighride or watch you wave bye as you pass Egmont Key.
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Post by fishwander on Sept 10, 2010 11:23:30 GMT -5
inshorebasher asked:
On a kayak , you put the brakes on by putting your feet in the water , dropping a drogue ( underwater parachute ) , or using your paddle . If you have a rudder , you turn to increase the kayak resistance in the water, and to steer the fish from rocks, barnacles , or other obstructions.
If shallow enough, you drop anchor.
If in deep water , you still drop anchor- just to increase the water resistance. However , as the fish gets closer to your kayak , you need to retrieve the anchorline , or it becomes another obstruction.
What kind of kayak do you have access to ? Some kayaks offer more water resistance than others .
Fishwander
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Post by inshorebasher on Sept 10, 2010 11:49:12 GMT -5
not sure which one it is i'll find out when i get home but i know its a ocean kayak hasn't even been in the water yet lol.
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Post by jaeforceone on Sept 11, 2010 20:17:57 GMT -5
 Caught this 30-40lb black drum on light tackle in ten mins. Grouper shouldn't be a problem... |
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Post by tylerdurden on Sept 12, 2010 10:23:15 GMT -5
nice blacky, but with grouper u cant really use light tackle. Its all about horsing them out on the first charge, I could see a keeper grouper spilling a yak
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Post by fishwander on Sept 12, 2010 13:50:02 GMT -5
Jaeforceone
Were you fishing during slack tide , or during the tidal change ?
You using convetional , or a spinner ?
Smart idea going with a 'buddy', but.. I didn't happen to see a pfd ?
With Grouper, I imagine it to be a "toug-fest", probably with a conventional with heavy pound test for maximum drag. I am not sure that in much of a tidal flowage I could remain 'on site'.
How close to the Skyway can you get without upsetting the HomeLand Security folks ?
Fishwander
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Post by jaeforceone on Sept 12, 2010 20:37:52 GMT -5
tidal change, current was ripping, baitrunner 4000 with 20lb braid and 25lb leader.
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Post by inshorebasher on Sept 12, 2010 23:05:46 GMT -5
yeah if you've ever caught a grouper (even small ones) they fight like a beast! what i'm saying is floating on a yak you can't really put your feet down and keep the fish from running into the rock. it seems you'll get towed toward their rock. this is the yak my bro got. the inside is a little different from the one he has. his is the Spirit 120 s/t and orange.  |
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