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Post by gerard1031 on Mar 20, 2011 7:27:19 GMT -5
Got to pier around 12:30 pm yesterday, wall to wall mackerel fisher people. Tide was incoming until about 2:30 p.m., found a place to squeeze into, white baits were plentiful, pins on sabikis were easy to catch....but I was there for the macks anyway, (only 11 days to go until grouper dinner!).
Wind and temp were really nice, both mild. So, let's see, I tried frozen shrimp, cut greenies, whole pins, oh and a home made jig with two silver/white steelhead flies.
Caught 4 mini groupers in the rocks on cut greenies, caught a decent grunt on a dead shrimp, put him in the cooler...caught 3 shorty macks , and two keepers, jigging over the 4 hours or so, also went in the the cooler. Mack bite wasn't all that frequent. We left at 5, I kept thinking I'd be ticked if I caught a 22+ grouper and had to let it go...so we had dinner (fish tacos!) and were done.
Seemed to be fairly slow action for those around us as well...I can't find a sheepie on those rocks to save my life!
Heard from some of the regulars further down the pier, past the bait shop that someone had hooked up, fought and lost a tarpon. And on the way out I did notice that the macks were being caught with more frequency, closer to the entrance.
All in all a damn nice day, no pics, the camera battery was dead! Have to remember to bring that in and recharge it regularly.
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Post by dadflyer on Mar 20, 2011 9:07:43 GMT -5
Gerard1031
Good report telling what , when where and how...
Glad you were into fish ; too bad there weren't more of them for you . As I recall , the wind was fairly calm, and while that makes a a pleasant day of family fishing , I believe that the bigger fish are more nervous and tend to stay away , or in deeper water.
When on the pier , I try to make note of which pole/marker I am near so that if I am successful , and the conditions remain similar ,I can come back to the same place and try to duplicate the catch. Also , the pier allows you to "run and gun" from your vehicle to see where they are catching.
Nice improvization with the steelhead flies - did you get anything on them ?
Dadflyer
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Post by bucsfan4ever on Mar 20, 2011 9:47:35 GMT -5
UH this is March rite?
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Post by dadflyer on Mar 20, 2011 11:33:26 GMT -5
Good Catch / Good observation .
Yup , ..welcome to the "Twilight Zone " .. a time warp .
I guess since the thread was marked submitted "today" , I was more interested in the report than checking the title. I dont believe there is a way to edit once you submit the post. Maybe the original post at 7:27 AM was BC... (Before Coffee )
Dadflyer
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Post by gerard1031 on Mar 20, 2011 12:38:42 GMT -5
Man, definitely BC, March 19 not June 19!
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Post by gerard1031 on Mar 20, 2011 12:39:49 GMT -5
Oh, and I got all the macks on those steelhead flies.
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Post by dadflyer on Mar 20, 2011 13:43:29 GMT -5
Ok , now you have my interest .. Do you tie , or were these purchased ?
Any particular recipie / model ? Any unusual characteristics ?
What size hook , .. and were these flyfishing hooks ?
Dadflyer
P.S.: one day on a late spring trout stream in NY , I couldn't buy a hit with any flys. I reached down into the bottom of my vest and found a Caribou Hair "Green Machine",size #14, given to me by a friend from when he went to NewFoundland. I caught two or three trout , and a handfull of Bluegills that day. It was just something that the fish saw in that fly , that I hadn't seen. Go figure !!
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Post by gerard1031 on Mar 20, 2011 18:49:04 GMT -5
They were some leftovers from living in NM trying to catch stripers in Elephant Butte Lake, hook size was maybe along the lines of a short number 4 j hook.
They were mostly white hair with a little bit of silver foil, the whole fly was probably two inches long.
I was trying to find something in all my junk a little bigger than the biggest sabikis they had at walmart. So I tied two on a 6 foot 50# line with 8 in. drops made of 30# flouro and using a 2 oz. pyramid.
I would guess, though, something even bigger might get their attention now that those big baits are back.
Oh and come to think of it, I did get cut off on one really good hit, and retied with another little doo-dad I found on the pier, it looked like a little silver foil shrimp fly, with red eyes. It did catch one of the shorty macks.
Anyway, I have to admit, it was the first time I'd ever targeted and caught a mackerel...they've always been by-catches, caught when launching a bait or retrieving one!
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Post by bucsfan4ever on Mar 20, 2011 20:00:56 GMT -5
OK Will ask again, only cause I have had numerous beers cause my bracket exploded when Pitt lost.......... this is March ? RITE?
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Post by riverviewsteve on Mar 20, 2011 21:52:59 GMT -5
gerard1031 I was raised in NM. I can remember my father taking us up to
Elephant Butte Lake a couple of times. I was pretty young about 10 or 11
I guess. The only trip I really remember was one time my Dad's friend lent
him his boat and we fished in it then that night while we were asleep one
heck of a rain storm came up. Still don't know why that tent didn't blow down.
Anyway the next morning we went down to check the boat and the motor
was gone. My Dad was shook up. Oh what was he going to tell his friend. He
happened to pull on a piece of rope tied to the boat and it was attached to
that motor. So all he had to do was rinse it off and dry it out and it ran just
fine. He was sure releived. I can't even remember if we caught any fish just
that terrible storm. Dad must have done a good job putting that tent up cause
we stayed dry. I lived in Las Cruces till I joined the Navy.
riverviewsteve USN RETIRED and loving it.
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Post by dadflyer on Mar 20, 2011 23:36:27 GMT -5
Rite - Its March
Its all part of March Madness.... and the full moon ain't helping !
gerard1031
Now that you mention it , I recall seeing a posting about three weeks ago , earlier March , where some folks were catching spanish macks using white chenille crappie jigs , with marabou tails.
The fact that you rigged them up on #50 main line explains the line durability and that they were actually landed.
Good show / Good Improvization !
Dadflyer
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Post by gerard1031 on Mar 21, 2011 7:19:21 GMT -5
riverviewsteve:
I was born and lived in the "big city" of Albuquerque, until '92 when I had to follow the job. And you being a "southerner" NM style....probably get the same thought in your head when someone talks about matching the *HATCH* right? My question to you is Red or Green?
I have been in and around the Butte when the weather kicks up...always with electricity in it, I can imagine it was rocking and rolling in that tent!
dadflyer: no surprise on the crappie jigs...I'm telling you, I have "accidentally" caught macks on anything that I've thrown out there, including watching them chase down an empty hook on retrieve! It would seem like it's just about having whatever you're jigging, in front of them at the right time. In fact prior time I was at Apollo Beach, I had thrown a shrimp in and got an immediate hookup to a nice sized mack.
Some of the posters on this board have talked of using a large J hook with a section of a white drinking straw over the shank as a lure with success...
Now it's those sheepshead, that just stump me....I just can't seem to locate those dudes out at the skyway.
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